My Vintage Heart: March 2015

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Westfarthing Homestead

"Today, it is brought home to me, that it is no small thing to celebrate a simple life." Bilbo Baggins

Yes, I'm a J.R.R.Tolkien fan. ;)

One of the things which makes me happy is Backyard Farming. I'm a hobbit at heart, although I sometimes fancy myself an elf.

I will be posting about my backyard farm under the name of Westfarthing Homestead in honor of Tolkien. The actual backyard farm has a different name for privacy reasons.

I'm interested in chickens, raised gardens, container gardens, rabbits, quail, and chickens, and maybe Nigerian Dwarf Goats one day.

Busy today, so I can't write a long post. However, here are two YouTube channels I've learned a lot from, for your viewing pleasure.

Imasurvivornthriver raises Jumbo Coturnix Quail and rabbits, Florida Whites I think. https://www.youtube.com/user/imasurvivornthriver

Pavlov Fowl raises organic chickens and quail for eggs only, I think. I think she's vegetarian. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX1ZrB4FT0mPuxcttCM6ljQ

Now, go dig in some dirt or dance in some mud puddles!

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Living Happily Ever After

It is possible. But, let's get one thing straight - it doesn't happen like a Disney movie. There will be good times and hard times. Your Prince Charming will fart on occasion. Your infant princess will scream her lungs out in Wal-Mart. Your little prince will hand you his poo.

Exhibit A: Grace Kelly

Beautiful American actress. Married a real prince, but I wouldn't call him handsome. Had three beautiful children, each of whom grew up and old surrounded by gossip and tragedy. And, like another famous modern, real-life princess, she was killed in a car wreck. Did she live happily ever after? I'd say so. There was nothing unusual about the heartaches she endured and, by all accounts, her prince did love her. I have no doubt she's looking down from heaven with pride on her children and adorable grandchildren too. (Prince Albert, Princess Charlotte, and their little Heirs to the Throne)

The point is, living happily ever after takes work, hard work. There are no fairy godmothers in real life. Sorry. It can be especially hard when you've gone through times that made you feel like you were run over by a truck. How do you pull yourself up, brush yourself off, and get back to Happily Ever After? I don't know all the answers. I'm still a work in progress. Faith is a big one for me. A bunch of ladies have inspired me, one of them was the Glamorous Housewife

She has a video on YouTube called How to Create the Life of Your Dreams and I found it a great spring board for figuring this stuff out. It's a frequent probably for moms who've totally devoted themselves to childrearing. The little darlings draw on every ounce of us so that we forget what even got us started down that road.

I created a list of things which make me happy:

1)   The Wilderness

2)   Backyard Farming

3)   Babies

4)   Storytelling

5)   Vintage Living

6)   Everyday History

And then I came up with two personal character traits I need to work on to bring those happy things back into my life.

Proactive

Diligence

There are several other ladies who've inspired and encouraged me and I'll be sharing about them in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can look to the left side of this blog to find links to their sites.

Now, get back to work on your Happy. ;)

Friday, March 20, 2015

Book Review Plans

Good morning! As you can see, this blog is still a work in progress. At this point, my plan is to review one book a week, alternating Fiction with Non-Fiction.

Just so you know, I've given up resisting novels set in Ancient Greece, Rome, or Egypt. Call it a Wild Card on a blog devoted to the early 20th century, but I am easily distracted.