I had planned to go to Pa last weekend, to visit family and friends. But a few weeks ago my anxiety got so bad that I had physical symptoms. I had a massage and saw my acupuncturist, used lots of lavender oil, and kept up my daily yoga and hikes. I decided I wasn't up to the stress of the travel alone. But my boys had been looking forward to time with Nick. When I told my mom, she sweetly said I could spend Friday night and Saturday with them! So I went for a sleepover, and had such a... Continue reading

Tuesday was sunny and bright, and Alex set up our tent and hammock in our back pasture. We took our books out there and did morning lesson and I read aloud to the boys. We soaked in the warm sunshine and bird song, and had a lovely time. We'd planned to sleep out in our tent to test our new camping gear, but it got so windy that a tent pole snapped! We ordered a new small tent, and I plan to sell the giant one that we don't use often. The boys had fun in their digging pit later... Continue reading

It was very hot here yesterday, the perfect day to spend in the woods at the creek! I needed to return a pack to the outfitters in Waynesboro, so we headed up to a nice creek in Shenandoah National Park after that. Alex likes to hike with all his gear, and Eli likes to carry snacks for us to share, and I love the view from the back of the pack of my sweet hiking buddies! The trail was lined with beautiful wildflowers, I especially loved the purple and yellow violets. We meandered along the South Fork of the Moormans... Continue reading

On Sunday the boys asked to take Nick up to the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park to show him where we've been hiking. We parked at Jarman Gap to show him a section we liked along a beautiful creek. We hiked the 2.5 miles to Sawmill Overlook, and the boys asked to keep hiking. So Nick volunteered to hike back and get the car, and met us at the next road crossing at Turk Gap. It was a wonderful day in the woods together. We'd hiked these sections over the last two weeks, and it was so amazing to... Continue reading

Sunday morning I needed some forest time, and I asked Alex if he wanted to come with me, since Eli joined me last Sunday. We went to one of our favorite trails~ North River Gorge Trail up to Lookout Mountain. The river was very high, the spot we like to play by the water was covered and rushing white water. We hung out on the beautiful bridge watching the water go by, then looked at rocks along the bank. The view at Lookout Mountain is beautiful. We sat on the big rocks to eat our snacks, soak in the warm... Continue reading

The boys and I spent Thursday in the woods at Braley Pond. We even took our tent and set it up by the creek, for a great spot to keep warm while we ate our picnic lunches and looked at some of our favorite nature books. The morning was quite chilly, we were glad for the warmth of the tent. We spent a few hours by the creek, the boys explored and found tadpoles and newts. Then we packed up our tent and headed up to explore around Braley Pond. We saw and heard the Osprey again, we were excited... Continue reading

Alex is very eager to do some backpacking and camping, and to walk lots of the Appalachian Trail. I've been getting tons of books from the library for us to research and plan! There is a 7 year old girl thru-hiking the AT with her mom right now, we've had fun and been inspired watching their YouTube channel. It seems there is lots of gear to purchase, the kids and I need good lightweight sleeping bags, I need an insulated sleeping pad, and larger packs for all of us. I've been to the local outfitter stores a few times, and... Continue reading

This past weekend Eli asked me if we could go on a hike for a date, just the two of us. So Sunday morning we headed to Augusta Springs Wetlands, where we had a wonderful time together. We walked some on the uplands trail and admired the big grand-daddy old growth trees, and the little stream. We saw a newt face off with a big crayfish, a hawk, red winged blackbirds, minnows, and 3 water snakes! I wasn't so glad to see the snakes, but Eli was super excited. (Warning: snake photo!) We took our picnic lunches to eat back... Continue reading

I've been practicing daily morning Yoga With Adriene for over a year now. I started keeping track on my calendar of the consecutive days that I did yoga, and today was day #100! This yoga practice has been so healing for me. I've also been pleasantly surprised by how much strength I've gained, as well as flexibility, my word of the year. Sometimes Alex will ask to do bedtime yoga or meditation with me, which I really love. Yoga is wonderful for my anxiety, physical health and for my soul. I am so glad I make time for this beneficial... Continue reading

The kids and I headed back to Shenandoah National Park today to hike more on the Appalachian Trail. We entered from the southern Rockfish Gap entrance in Waynesboro, only 40 minutes from our house. The first part of the trail winds along a clear mountain stream, where the boys were excited to spot a salamander and a frog. The trail is hilly, but not as rocky as some trails around here, it was a perfect walk. We hiked 2.5 miles out to Sawmill Run Overlook. The AT crosses Skyline Drive there to the overlook. We soaked in the view, and... Continue reading

The boys and I took my parents up to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park to hike on Tuesday. It was a beautiful warm day, perfect for being out together. We parked at the Ivy Creek Overlook and hiked on the Appalachian Trail about 1.7 miles to the creek. We saw two couples that are thru hiking the Appalachian Trail. The boys and I have batted around the idea of thru hiking for a while now, and are still in the dreaming and researching stage. Alex loved the trail, and was so inspired that he chattered the whole hike... Continue reading

We had a lovely Easter yesterday, enjoying the warm sunshine and good food. We hid eggs for the boys in the backyard filled with coins, fossils and rocks. They said it was the best egg hunt ever! While I cooked in the morning the boys worked on digging their small pond in the backyard and explored at our pond in the pasture. After a delicious ham lunch the boys asked if we could go hike at Augusta Springs Wetlands. They got new good binoculars in their Easter baskets, and wanted to try them. Eli took a little notebook along to... Continue reading

I did my first solo hike in the National Forest yesterday, and once I conquered the fear of getting out there it was so lovely! There is no cell service in the forest, so that made it seem even scarier for me to hike alone. But I was prepared with all my essentials and things like pepper spray on my wrist, whistle, knife etc. I read lots of articles with good advice for women hiking alone, and decided to start somewhere familiar. I hiked the North River Gorge Trail that we know and love, and then hiked on the Wild... Continue reading

We've lost a couple laying hens recently, one Black Australorp who seemed to have an impacted croup died last month. This week Gerry, one of our sweet auntie hens died. She had a swollen belly and hadn't been eating. We put her in a separate space, Nick drained the abscess from her belly and got her to eat a bit, but she couldn't recover. We know this is the reality as some of our favorite hens start to get older, but it is still sad. The hens are laying well, we got 30 eggs one day this week, our new... Continue reading

My parents came over this morning and we started our adventure at the Confederate Breastworks at the top of Shenandoah Mountain. We soaked in the amazing view, and hiked the interpretive trail to read the letters a Civil War soldier encamped there wrote home to his wife. His letters depict the tough conditions~ like days of sleet so they couldn't have a fire to get warm, and then marching 12 miles towards Staunton in mud up to their knees. We hiked a bit on the Shenandoah Mountain Trail, I'm eager to get back up and hike more of that lovely... Continue reading

I realized that my goal for this years vegetable garden seems odd, to have less! Last year I had about 30 bell pepper plants, which is about 15 too many! I also planted about 20 jalapeno pepper plants. For weeks we were giving peppers away to everyone we knew. This year I hope to plant just what we need. For the last few years I've started our tomato seeds using the winter sowing method in large spinach containers. Last year I started about 130 tomato plants, and gave away many in my local homesteading group. This year I got individual... Continue reading

Saturday was National Camp at Home Day, but our weather looked iffy for Saturday night into Sunday. So Friday afternoon the boys set up our tents. We had a lovely afternoon outside soaking up the warm sunshine. Alex could set up our mammoth 8-person tent mostly by himself, while I organized our bedding and Nick got dinner. After dinner the boys played soccer, I was the cheering audience. I love to see their soccer skills improve, as well as their good sportsmanship. We had a lovely evening in the tent, playing games and listening to the spring peepers. Then about... Continue reading

The boys and I had dentist appointments in Waynesboro this morning. It takes us about 40 minutes to get there, so we usually do something fun in the area after our appointments. None of us had cavities today, so we celebrated by going for a hike! We drove over the foggy mountain to the east entrance of the Blue Ridge Tunnel. The tunnel is a historic railroad tunnel build in the 1850s, and recently opened as a hiking trail. The eastern trail head is 1/2 mile from the parking lot, and the tunnel is 1 mile long. We were prepared... Continue reading

My parents, the boys and I went to another new-to-us place today, Augusta Springs Wetlands. Just 30 minutes from our house in the George Washington National Forest, this is a haven for wildlife! As soon as we got to the trail we were delighted to hear a lively chorus of spring peepers. We also heard bull frogs and beautiful bird songs. Grammy and Eli saw a Great Blue Heron and Alex saw a tree frog. I've been hoping to see Wood Ducks for years, ever since my boys saw them in Pa. We spotted a pair on the wetlands pond,... Continue reading

I've been wanting to hike to the waterfalls at Hone Quarry for awhile, we finally got to hike there yesterday! We hadn't gone far when Eli noticed blobs of something in the giant puddles. We stopped to examine them, and saw they were Wood Frog eggs! Every huge puddle had masses of eggs, and on the way back when it was warmer we saw teeny tadpoles. The hike was longer than we anticipated, my trail guide book said it was 4.2 miles, but my watch said we walked 5.2 miles. We were tired when we got back to the waterfalls,... Continue reading

The Highland County Maple Festival was cancelled again this year, but most of the maple sugar farms were open for visitors and selling syrup. Alex, my folks and I headed over the mountain Saturday morning. We stopped to see the beautiful view from the Confederate Breastworks, and hiked a bit of the trail. Then we headed to Tonoloway Farms, a relatively new farm operated by a young couple. They sell maple syrup, but also tap black walnut trees too. I got a blend of both syrups that I'm eager to try. After we got syrup and toured the sugar house... Continue reading

We spent the day in the woods with my parents, it was another great adventure! We hiked a couple miles on the North River Gorge Trail in the George Washington National Forest. We enjoyed the beautiful views from the trail of the river way down below, and the rocky cliffs on the opposite side. And of course the rock hounds found interesting rocks to examine! It is so good for all of us to have this time outside together, we are loving exploring the beauty here in our home that still feels new-ish. After hiking we went up the forest... Continue reading

Today is Levi's second gotcha day. It's hard to believe it's been two years since we met him at the rescue. We were instantly enamored with his friendliness and circle tail wags! Alex made a special lunch treat for Levi~ scrambled egg, cooked pumpkin and some kibble. Both of them were very pleased! We love, love, love our friendly guard dog and are so glad he joined our family! Continue reading

May the nourishment of the earth be yours, May the clarity of light be yours, May the fluency of the ocean be yours, May the protection of the ancestors be yours. And so may a slow Wind work these words Of love around you, An invisible cloak To mind your life. ~By John O'Donohue Continue reading

Nick and I had a lovely date this morning. We dropped the boys off at my parent's, got takeout brunch and went to the JMU Arboretum. After we enjoyed our omelets we walked 2 miles through the Oak and Hickory forest. The snowdrops, winter aconite and Lenten rose were all blooming, and so pretty. It was so nice to be out together, to talk about parent-y things, and enjoy quiet time alone in the woods. I hope we get to do this more often! Continue reading