Beach Bound

It's that time of year again. The time when our family heads to the beach for lovely rest and relaxation. I have a few simple beach traditions that I always look forward to:

• going unplugged. No cell phone or computer. It is pure bliss! My mind and spirit get "uncluttered" every year when I take that techno-break and I always feel very renewed.
• writing postcards. I love heading to the local beach shop and picking up a handful of postcards to send to faraway family and friends. Finding snippets of time throughout my beach days to pen a few greetings makes me happy.
  
• visiting the beach used bookstore. I usually pick up a little something like beach-y picture books for the kids or bookmarks or a great coastal field guide.
• peeking around Miss Minnie's Antique shop. I always find a few little gems...a pretty tablecloth, a homemaking book, an apron, or some vintage kitchen goods.
• cooking a Lowcountry boil and eating it out on picnic tables covered in newspaper.
  
• reading, reading, reading. I always begin with Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
  
• sitting and contemplating while my kids romp in the sand and surf.
• coffee on the front porch every morning with Mike.

I do believe this is the perfect vacation. Yes, it is.

Writing Letters

Okay, it's crazy that over the period of the last week I have read three different posts regarding the wonderment of letter-writing. Instead of re-writing all of the great ideas that these women have already shared, I'll just leave it to you to go read their thoughts :)

I have written before about the small bag I put together to make letter and note writing easy for me, but I have neglected it since sweet baby Luke came. It's a practice that I miss and is certainly a wonderful way to slow down in life while taking time to encourage another.

How about you? Do you enjoy letter-writing? Receiving care packages? Does it feel burdensome or encouraging? How do you make time to do this?

Shall we begin a letter-writing revolution?

Distracted

I am currently evaluating how distracted I am. My heart and mind have not been with my children lately. And I find myself seeking to get away from them during the day at any chance I get. I don't want to focus on them or move towards them. I have wanted them to stay busy and on their own. This really grieves me. I don't want to view them as a drain or source of frustration and fatigue!

Not sure of all the reasons why I am at this mothering-place. Don't even think that I necessarily need to know why (navel-gazing is an awful distraction too!). I just need to know that by golly I am distracted and need to change.

These posts have all come to me while I have already been thinking these things. Confirmation, I'd say.

Time for Play

Pay Attention

Why The Kids Really Need A Red Hen Mama

Laughing

I take life seriously and spend a lot of my time thinking and reflecting...which can lead me to take myself too seriously and I can forget to laugh...that real deep and loud and long laughing.

Recently my husband and I have been watching past seasons of "The Office" (through Netflix) in bed at night on our laptop. Can I tell you how fun that has been? We laugh and joke as we watch...and then the next day we call each other and repeat off-the-wall quotes from the episodes we just watched and laugh all over again.

It has been so good for our marriage!

It's so easy for us to roll through these days of marriage as co-workers. Getting the daily tasks done around the house, focusing on the children, checking off lists, talking deep and falling into bed exhausted. It's easy to forget to be silly and laugh! To simply chill-out and relax and watch something hilarious is amazingly good for the marriage-soul.

If you find your marriage in a place where tensions are running high or stress is getting the better of your relationship, remember that laughter can be the best marital medicine. Read comics to each other. Learn some corny jokes. Play a little prank. Or watch a silly movie or TV show together. Show your funky dance groove with some favorite music. The point is: have fun again!

It is hard to stay mad or irritated with each other when we are laughing and having fun. In fact, all of this laughter seems to make us more attracted to each other and desirous of more time together. Laughing together heals and bonds and brings lightness...and we really need that in this crazy painful world.

Raising Chickens

Yep. We are raising chickens!

For years Mike and I have talked about having a few laying hens. With having young children, we thought that we just couldn't handle raising more little lives. :) We realized that we didn't want to keep putting aside our small homesteading dreams just because of our "stage of life".

So I checked out a few books from the library. Then I talked to two local friends who raise chickens AND children to get a realistic perspective on what the daily rhythm would look like. I found some helpful websites and entertaining blogs. And then we headed to a local feed and seed and found our little chicky peeps. Six Little Women to be exact.

It has been incredibly easy.

The sistahs are living it up in a Rubbermaid bin with a small feeder, waterer, pine shavings, and a heat lamp in my master bathtub! We make sure their water and food is clean and filled twice a day and change their shavings twice a week. That's it! We have an old dog pen in the backyard that we are converting to the coop quarters and will be moving them out there in the next week. We take them outside every few days for about 30 minutes of fresh air and roaming and exploring. I love it!

Every time we make one small simple step towards a more self-sufficient lifestyle, it feels very liberating and empowering. Living sustainably and knowing where your food comes from is such an exciting adventure. Homesteading isn't just for farmers or families who own a few acres. There are backyard homesteads everywhere and people are growing their own food on teeny-tiny plots of land in urban areas!

If "getting back to the land" and simple living interests you, don't let your location keep you from your dream. Start small with containers of veggies grown on your back porch or apartment balcony. Grow herbs on a windowsill. Bake some sourdough bread and try making your own yogurt. Make your own cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, and deodorant. Put up a clothesline. Plant a blueberry bush. Raise some urban chickens!

Start with where you are and what you have. Keep it simple.

Fresh eggs, anyone?



**by the way, I just finished this great book that I found in the library...a quick and fun read on small-scale homesteading!**


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