Parenting, much like pimping, ain't easy. Caring for our daughter, two dogs, 30 chickens & 20 acres is one big time suck; especially coupled with full-time employment & managing 16 fantasy football teams. The days melt into weeks into months until now Thanksgiving has past and we are 30 days from our daughter's first Christmas. I had saved my last week of vacation and applied it over the last 4 Fridays so I got a month of three day weekends. We tried to do something fun on Fridays before working on the farm Saturday and resting Sunday. We took Matilda to the Rennaissance Fair, drove west through Brevard & Highlands & did a 7 mile hike in South Mountains State Park with the dogs. We felled and split and stacked 3 huge oak trees into a 10 year supply of firewood. We pulled up the garden, composted most of what was left and hung the remaining peppers in the garage to dry. We mowed and mowed and raked the torrential downpour of leaves into some semblance of mulch for the orchard. Gutters were cleaned and cleared until the leaves stopped falling. Most of all, we enjoyed our time with Matilda...
the MatildaBeast on my childhood blanket
at the Renaissance Faire
the crew on a glorious autumn afternoon
the beginnings of a second woodpile
hiking through South Mountain State Park
first leaf