OK, we’re going to try something new here the next three months. I’m going to break the blog into a few different parts. You will get the usual weekly rundown of what’s been going on in our journey to liberty and freedom. There will be a small section linking to any recipes I used throughout the week. I’ll give an update on the garden. Let’s try this out and see how it goes, shall we?

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Well, this was a busy and fun week. Looking back, there was a lot of community interaction happening, and I cannot even begin to tell you how exciting that is for me.

Last week was cold. I mean, really cold. Now, I’m currently near Chicago, so we’re used to cold. But most of the country was out of their element. People I know in Texas were without power for days in the freezing cold. Same in Tennessee. But you know what I saw? I saw people checking in with each other, asking how they could help, offering advice for managing the cold and power loss. This is what community is – being there for each other.

Thursday morning, I started a new novena. This go round, it is the St. Michael the Archangel Novena. I do these through Pray More Novenas. They send the novenas out via email, or you can listen to a recording of it. I truly enjoy the extra meditation I get when doing the novenas, in addition to my daily rosary.

Thursday afternoon, I sat down for a chat with Mr. Tom Domres from Small Scale Life. I met Mr. Domres over on the MeWe last fall, when he joined up. He’s pals with Miss Amy Dingmann, and she recommended adding him as a friend. I figured, why not, and clicked “Add Contact” on his profile. Well, I found out he not only is in the Minneapolis area, but he also has a podcast. We’ve been chatting the past few months, and a week and a half or two weeks ago, he called me out on MeWe, asking when I was going to do an interview for his show. Well, I figured it would be cool to be interviewed by a podcaster, so I said “let’s do this!” and jumped to do it ASAP before my nerves got the better of me. I had such a fun time talking with Tom. And it was funny, because I’ve listened to the backlog of his podcast, so it felt like I’ve known him forever, even though it was the first time we have actually spoken to each other. I’m not sure when he will be releasing the interview, but you can bet I’ll let you know over here and on MeWe!

Friday was exciting for two reasons. First, I received my first Fiverr gig order! Yay! I did such a little happy dance. You see, I created a Fiverr profile last spring, but it has not gained any traction. I know, I’m priced higher than most other VAs out there, but I also know that charging $5 or $10 to do these gigs, I’m not going to get anywhere. Regardless, I was pleasantly surprise to open my email and see that I had an order. Yippee! The downside – I had to use my mother’s computer, since I’m on a Chromebook and only have Google Docs. Oh well. I got it done, client is happy, and he even gave me a nice tip for the work I completed.

The other exciting part of Friday was my friend Amy Dingmann, from A Farmish Kind of Life blog and podcast, had her new book release! Y’all, you need to check out “Make Friends With a Dog.” I laughed…I cried…And I mentally cursed Amy for once again getting into my brain and telling me just what I need to hear. You can get it on your Kindle or as a Paperback.

Y’know, this week I spent time chatting with people, building relationships, and making future plans. I’ve seen the beauty when people realize that being self-sufficient doesn’t mean they are on their own, but that they have each other to lean on when times get tough. I cannot wait until Squatch and I find our home (we’re still in limbo; nothing new went on the market last week), and we can foster these relationships and build more.

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What did I cook up this week?

• Monday I made a double batch of Irish Soda Bread.
• Friday I whipped together a batch of Sloppy Joes. Mmmm, they never get old.
• Sunday morning, Little Man helped me in the kitchen and helped make Blueberry Muffins. He has so much fun putting the liners in the muffin tins and mixing up the batter!
• For Sunday dinner, I made my Roasted Rosemary Lemon Chicken & Potatoes! It was sooo good! P.S. Be sure to bake a baguette to go with it. Warm bread is the perfect complement to this!

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In the garden, things are looking green and growing! It has been 6 weeks since I started the salad greens in the AeroGarden. They are still growing strong, and I had another big salad this past week. I think I may have cut back too much last time, but I’m going to just sit back and see what happens. I’m crossing my fingers the plants keep on growing.

Saturday morning, I transplanted the herbs that have grown over the past 4 weeks. I moved 2 pods of Dill (5 plants), 2 pods of Chamomile (I’m not sure how many plants; I’ve not actually counted), 2 pods of Echinacea (4 plants), and 1 pod of Lavender (1 plant). They are now in a larger pot that is a self-waterer. I’ve made sure there is water in the bottom, and since it’s only been a day since transplanting, I’ve not added anything. We shall see how this goes. It is truly an experiment! The Aloe plant also went into its own pot. Woo!!!

I did start new seeds in the mini-greenhouse. This time around, I’ll see if this “almost green thumb” can grow Coriander, Lemon Balm (I don’t know why this didn’t work last time), Italian Large Leaf Basil, Italian Giant Parsley, and Lavender (I only had one plant grow last time, and I ADORE Lavender). If all goes well, in 4 weeks, these herbs will be added to the big pot.

I also rearranged the way I have everything growing. Just the one tray table was not enough for the bigger pot, so I’ve now got 2 tables with the AeroGarden in the middle, so the lights can reach all the growing plants.

I think the next set of seeds I start will be flowers. I got a bunch of wildflower mixes when I was at WalMart last month. I think they will be so pretty and colourful!

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Now, don’t forget to follow me on MeWe, where you can get additional content each week, or Odysee, where I’m sharing my podcast and little videos. And, be sure to subscribe to 80s Mom Podcast, where I’m one of the Holy Trinity of Moms.