Today marks our one year anniversary of living in our home. Our first home, and what we plan to be our only, forever home. One year! A part of me feels accomplished, proud, and excited that we made it through our first year. Another part of me feels like I've been slacking, and that I probably could have done so much more. In the end, however, we've achieved things we didn't expect and didn't do things we hoped for. That's life.

Life is interesting, isn't it? Even when it seems bland and boring there is still always a chance for excitement, change, or who-knows-what. I'm a chronic reminisce-er (I just made that word up). I love to remember old times, good and bad. I like to think about how each and every moment of our lives creates the future that is now our present. How each and every breath is just a tiny pause before an unknown future. Who knows what will happen? I don't. That's exciting. Even the most mundane days can change in an instant. I try to be aware of each moment.

This weekend I started thinking about how things come full circle. It all started because of some peppers. In the garden we're growing Fatalii peppers. If you like a hot pepper, these are for you. They're HOT, hotter on the Scoville scale than a jalapeno -- 14 to 160 times hotter. They have an amazing flavor, and go great in spicing up dishes, cheese and crackers, or topping the cream cheese on your bagel (one of my favorites). My hubby picked some peppers Saturday, and when he came inside with his hat full he mentioned our friend Lorrie. He thanked her for the peppers, and we both started thinking about the journey those peppers he just picked made.

Five years ago a friend gave us a gallon bag full of a mix of peppers that his friend grew. Some were sweet, some were hot, and all were delicious. One of the peppers we came across in the bag were these small, yellow, pointed peppers that smelled really terrible like cat pee. So, being the foodies we are, we sliced it up and tossed a few rings onto a cracker with cream cheese. And WOW! The flavor was phenomenal, the heat was almost unbearable. We were in love. But, we had a problem. We had no idea what the pepper was, and we didn't know the friend of a friend who grew it, either. So we searched a little online, but couldn't find anything definite. Life went on.

A year or so later I was setting up and selling Niffer's All Natural Products at our local farmers market (Morgan's Grove Market) in West Virginia. It was there that we met Lorrie and Bob from Stony Ridge Farm. One of the Saturdays we were there my husband was over looking at the produce that Lorrie and Bob were offering, and he noticed little yellow peppers that resembled some of those yellow cat pee peppers. "Fatalii peppers!" Lorrie said. Unaware of his conversation, suddenly I see running towards me, my husband with a giant grin, waving hot yellow peppers at me, through the crowded farmers market, "LOOK! LOOK! Lorrie has THE pepper! The cat pee pepper!" We bought them all, of course! We took them home, ate them, and saved the seeds.

I kept the seeds in a zip lock bag for four years. They hung on the magnetic white board for all of those four years. During that four years we moved from RV to friend's, and then to Tennessee. For four years we waited. We didn't know if the seeds would still grow, but I refused to throw them away. After four years of holding onto these seeds we finally put them in the ground. After four years, we have three pepper plants in the garden popping bright yellow peppers all over them. Four years was worth the wait.

One year and one day ago in the pouring rain Lorrie helped load a U-Haul. She sacrificed her precious time on a Saturday, away from her farm, to help me load up a U-Haul heading to Sneedville, Tennessee. In that very truck was the zip lock bag full of Fatalii pepper seeds from her farm. Without her help we wouldn't have been able to leave that Sunday like we planned. I'm so grateful for the few hours she gave, to help me move the boxes up the steep hill into the moving truck, and in the pouring rain! And today, I'm so grateful for her and Bob's wonderfully curious personalities that inspired them to start their farm, that allowed us to have three bushy pepper plants in our own garden.

One year ago today we took a giant leap. We moved over 400 miles into a town where we didn't know anyone. In the last 365 days we have made many friends, fallen in love with our kooky neighbors, and have never tired of the beauty that surrounds us in the amazing state. We have, hopefully, so many more years to come. I look forward to the unknown, to what other circles there will be. New friends, old friends, hard times, good times, and appreciating each and every bit of it.

What do you think about when you daydream about your perfect summer? Do you think about spending your days on a quiet beach or maybe endless hours fishing on a quiet lake? For me I imagine simple pleasures of play and relaxation at home. Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE a vacation away from home, but as a mother I've come to the realization there is no such thing as a vacation when you've got a small child. My duties follow me everywhere, there is no rest for a mama.

When we lived in the RV we had visitors and summer parties, but we couldn't accommodate many people, especially for more than a day. So far my favorite part of this summer has been having friends and family visit. We have had so many visitors in the last couple of weeks and it has really helped drive home the fact that we have our own space here. It is ours to share, it is warm and inviting (if you don't mind a little dust and dirt), and we give really good hugs. 

This month we had an especially busy 12 days with my dad visiting. We haven't seen him in a year and a half and his 12 days here weren't nearly enough for me to get my fix, but I won't complain too much! We got a lot accomplished while he was here and I think he got to relax in between projects. I helped him put gutters on the shed that houses the chickens, and they're very grateful! He read a massive pile of books and played dinosaurs with his goofy granddaughter. He spent a couple of days clearing the overgrown banks of the creek in front of the house, and the snake sightings have already decreased! Best of all, he was able to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet of our 16 acres. He met our incredible neighbors who all seemed to enjoy chatting with him. We even had an exciting 24 hours without power the day after he arrived. My childhood was full of camping trips and the time without power was practically stress free as we just worked together like we did on one of our many camping trips. Luckily my mom gifted me a beautiful, large percolator when we first moved in, and we had a wonderful morning sipping coffee in the backyard.

My dad has a "just go and do it" personality, and if something gets in the way of him accomplishing a task he always finds a way around it. His time here helped me motivate and refocus myself towards the goals that I have. His visit paired with a friendly email from a great customer asking if I could find more eco friendly packaging really motivated me to think more about the packing materials I use.

As of right now laundry powder can be purchased in quart jars or plastic bags. The jars can be refilled over and over again, and originally I planned on offering refill bags at a discount. If you've ordered a jar or jumbo can before you know I send you discount codes to use when you order refills. But, I haven't been able to find the right packaging to offer refills the way I first imagined. The plastic bags were working okay, and I started focusing on new products and many other things. Eventually, looking for the right packaging fell to the wayside and now I've picked it back up. Soon I will be offering eco friendly paper bags filled with laundry powder. You can use the bags to refill jars or keep the powder in the bags in your laundry room. Whatever works best for you. The bags are recyclable, too! I'm still working on finding the right kind of labels that won't hinder their ability to be recycled. Once I get this first set of bags ready to go I'll start looking at increasing the line into different sizes to accommodate all your personal needs.

I ask you all to have patience as I attempt to equally divide my time with family and friends, the farm, Niffer's, and just a wee bit of me time. Now with the garden producing beans and tomatoes, and more, I have to balance the time I have with things I want to do and things I need to do. For example, I need to process and can what I am growing before it spoils and the whole process is totally new to me so I am learning as I go.

While my dad was here he helped me can watermelon rind pickles, pickled beets, and sauerkraut! The beets were grown in the garden. It felt so good to dig them up, wash and process, and can them. The feeling of accomplishment was so great. The watermelons and cabbage for the kraut was grown at a local farm. My awesome neighbors loaned me their propane burner so I could can outside and what a wonderful help that was! With the daily temperature in the 90s, canning inside is out of the question!

In other farm news, one of the chicks we raised has started to leave blue eggs in the nesting box. Our Easter Egger "Woody" has been the first of the three chicks we raised to lay eggs. The other two, Peep and Tom haven't started to lay yet, but I doubt it will be much longer. Peep is our other Easter Egger and Tom is a Rhode Island Red. Our other 4 chickens we acquired full grown and they are also Rhode Island Reds. They've been slacking on the egg laying as of late, so a future post might include a recipe for home grown chicken stew! (I'm only kind of kidding... It is why we have chickens!)

That's enough for today, now that we aren't expecting many more visitors I can get back into writing more often. I enjoy writing updates about what is happening around the farm and what I'm working on next for Niffer's. Many times it's all related and intertwined. Do your best to stay cool, relax, and enjoy the sunny days as much as possible!

I learned a lot about others in the area and I really enjoyed seeing the crafts and things others were selling. We made friends and I really look forward to doing more events in the area.

The evening after the event at Tractor Supply we walked over to the neighbor's who had a litter of puppies ready for new homes and brought home an incredibly adorable new member of the family. Meet Daisy, everyone!

It's been so hot the last few days I haven't really done much during the day, and have been saving outside work for the evening when it's a little cooler. We have some tomatoes starting to form, and beans growing too fast to trellis. The garden is starting to look like we'll have some food to eat soon!
Today I checked on the bees and saw some really awesome sights. First, I noticed different stages of eggs/larvae but then on the third frame I pulled I witnessed a new bee emerging from a cell. Then on the same frame the queen waddled by and laid eggs in some of the cells. This time I remembered to bring the camera along so I'll share the pictures I took today.

It's wonderful seeing how all the different aspects of my business life, farm life, and "regular" life can blend together. I look forward to another week (maybe a little cooler, please!) and seeing what new things come about, what things we get better at, what things we may fail at... Because without failure there isn't any possibility for knowledge and humility.

Have a good rest of your week folks. I look forward to comments and discussions! 
 Until next week....

This week on the farm I rebuilt the chicken's roosting bars, planted beans, squash, and collards, tilled until my hands bled, and created a brand spankin' new product (the first to be born in TN, awwww)!

 Unfortunately, Peep met a sad and unfortunate ending a week later due to a regretful accident between the tiny creature and my daughter's foot. My daughter, who is only four, was heart broken and just sobbed for hours while I called every single co-op/Tractor Supply in the nearby counties, and even looked through Facebook farm groups. Finally, a co-op the next county over had some chicks. We raced down there, and brought home two Easter Egger chicks, Peep II and Woody. My daughter argues they are named Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and Peep II.

The chicks are 13 weeks old now and the pen we made for them was next to the big chickens' yard. They watched the big chickens and every day when I brought them out to their yard and back in at night, they would wiggle and escape to run around the big chickens' yard and pretend to be big chickens. After much debate, I let them move in with the big chickens. But, there was a problem. The roosting tree I made only accommodated four chickens. So, instead of cutting down a tree to make another or buying more wood, we made floating roosting bars from what we had on hand.

Now the chickens are happy, the chicks are happy, and I am happy because I like it when their happy. Happy-go-round.

The garden is growing. Imagine that!? But seriously, I was worried for a little bit. Nothing seemed to want to grow, but now that I'm getting a little better at combating the weeds, and the natural passing of time, the garden is starting to look like a garden. Two weeks ago I was in town on my weekly trip and I came home with a small tiller. Some women want jewelry or clothes for gifts, I prefer tools. So I brought home a tiller and told my husband that he bought me a tiller. We're both happy. It's a tiny little thing, only 10 inches wide, but it works. It beats hand tilling the last 30 feet of the garden. We now have 15 beautifully uniform rows, ready for planting, and I have the energy to plant! We also had our first harvests! Radishes, lettuce, and spinach all were ready for our hungry tummies. The first succession of fall squash was planted, as well as two half rows of beans. The next half I will plant next week. In place of the radishes that were harvested I planted collards. Carrots, spinach, celery, beans, and squash have sprouted this week as well.

Niffer's All Natural Fancy Feet is a mentholated foot soak, made with Epsom salt, baking soda, menthol crystals, with a blend of peppermint and tea tree essential oils. The menthol and peppermint give cooling relief, the Epsom salt soothes achy muscles, softens skin, eliminates smells, and helps replenish magnesium, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of calm and relaxation. Tea tree essential oil is a natural antibacterial agent, and helps get those feet cleaner. Fancy Feet is designed so you can use it in a traditional foot tub/bucket or in a massaging foot bath wit jets. Since it dissolves it won't clog filters or jets! You can order a 6.5 oz. bag of Fancy Feet here! Also, for a limited time, orders $25.00 or more will receive a free bag of Fancy Feet, no coupon necessary. When I receive your order of $25.00 I will automatically add Fancy Feet to your package.

This coming week I plan on working on a new laundry powder formula that will be specifically for hard water! The water here in TN is extremely hard, and while we plan on getting a water softener eventually we have to make do for now. I have been experimenting with different ratios and new ingredients. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will have the formula perfected and then I can share with you all!

Happy homesteading, my friends. Have fun, be safe, and always be all natural!