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I'm enjoying some time out on our deck. It's always so peaceful and the view never gets old. Sunday my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. 40 YEARS together!!! ... what a great occasion to celebrate! We made a short drive to visit Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company for their August Heritage Days Festival. This is a fun, family friendly place to visit in Mansfield, MO. I love visiting there because it's simple and relaxing. The gardens and varieties of plants are amazing. I love the colors of the plants and flowers there! We were able to tour the tropical greenhouse, which I didn't even know existed. Actually, what happened was this... a large group of people were walking by and one said something about a tour so we all looked at each other as if to say, "wanna? sure!" … and just fell right into line. It was quite interesting and the kids thought it was pretty cool to see the banana trees. We tried some kind of small, orange, berry-ish fruit off of a tree that I can't remember the name of. It was weird and bitter and I really could've spit it out, but, ya know, manners. It was very hot so we walked around the village and some vendor tents for a couple of hours and decided that we were ready to get out of the thick, typical Missouri, summer heat. We headed to a favorite ice cream shop for a bite to eat and of course a scoop or two of cream. After a quick look around at the crowded space we decided to try something new. There are no fast food joints anywhere near, so after scouting out a few restaurants and cafes that looked questionable at best, we decided to head back to the farm. There's no place like home, right?! On our way we stopped by the one and only local "store". (AKA Dollar General... someone is a marketing genius for building them in the boonies!) So it was frozen pizza and ice cream for everyone and we enjoyed it!
While I'm sitting here enjoying the breeze, I find myself reflecting on the yesterday and this week past. It's been quite a week. One of those 2 steps forward, one step back kind of weeks; where it feels like you're not getting anywhere. I am thankful that even though it was a bit hectic, it was also full of some unexpected blessings and we just want to share them with you.
Shorlty after my salsa making day someone contacted us and wanted to bless us with a new food processor. I've had one of those on my radar for a while now but we just never made a point to actually purchase. We were absolutely blown away by this kind gesture. Seriously. When Mike brought it home I think my mouth gaped open for minutes. No words, just teary eyes and a grateful heart. It's a beautiful, new food processor that is going to get worked to death! Hahaha! What a blessing to make that food preservation easier and quicker. What a blessing for someone to gift an item, so huge in our opinion, out of thoughtfulness and kindness towards another.
Our riding mower quit working this week while I was using it. Oops! I just kept thinking "what did I do? I didn't hit a rock or anything. I don't think it's my fault". So I called to tell the Farm Boss and those were his exact questions! Hahaha! After what felt like forever and some ridiculous homemade videos sent via text to him, we did finally figure out that, in fact, it was NOT my fault. I knew it! Gut instinct. It was a cable that had snapped, which, per my brother - small engine repairman extraordinaire - they get worn out and will do that. Imagine my sigh of relief! That was a blessing... easy fix. No major repairs and no new mower needed.
My Dad showed up unannounced, early Friday morning, his mower in tow and took care of the last patch of grass for us. It could've waited, we could've finished it up ourselves with the push mower, but as the Farm Boss says... "Ya do for family." It was a blessing and Dad really didn't mind.
We have been blessed with kind words and encouragement this week about our blog and about our journey. You don't know how nice that is and how much we appreciate it. Even through the hectic week where it seemed tasks just couldn't get completed, it seemed there was a road block, or time was just not enough, I was reminded of the important things in this very temporary life we have. My heart is overwhelmed with thankfulness and gratefulness. Not only toward others that showed kindness to us but just for the simple fact that while there are hiccups along the way, our journey is real. We're actually on our way to farming and homesteading. While that is great, and we are excited about it, we can't focus so much on the end goal, that we miss all the wonderful moments along the way. Unexpected blessings. Sometimes it's so easy to focus on the bad, the what went wrong, the negative (those times can actually be blessings too). We forget to look at the good. Even if it's simple we need to be thankful for it. Those are the things that will keep us going. I promise if we were to let the mess ups, hard times, and frustrations of this journey stop us, we would've quit on day one. Keeping a positive perspective on things will be a must and it will be a chore. But I do believe it's going to pay off in the long run.
So glad you stopped by. Come back and visit 'cause life is better on the farm!