2022 Year Review - Definitely not 2020 part 2, but a struggle and blessings proportionately played into it.
I usually keep a journal of everything that goes on in my life and around our farm - daily, weekly, monthly and annually. I am notorious for making lists, writing in journals, and taking copious amounts of notes. I am kind of old fashioned in the sense, that I would rather write everything out than keep everything on some technological device that have a knack for not working when I need them to. I don't share every detail of my life online, there are just some things not fit for public scrutiny, opinion or awareness. If you follow my social media, you may even notice when I do videos, I try to stay away from distractions and filming my family or too much of my neighbors/farm.
So, let's jump into this prior year in review, and thank God it's past without any further disruptions. After a fairly wet Spring and early Summer, it dried out terribly. The economy and supply chain took a nose dive. Inflation started playing into every aspect of the farm and our personal expenses. Fertilizer was sky high, if you could get it. We did not! The combination of no fertilizer and drought, meant not getting half the hay that we normally get from our farm. It meant pasture quality was not enough to sustain grazing as it typically is, and the short comings has and will play into our winter preparedness as having to buy hay has been another large expense, that we do not normally have. Grain, animal feed, human food, and most other expenses also increased 2-3 fold. By July, I knew I needed to be able to draw out Christmas shopping as long as possible, to make it fit in the budget a little better. So, that's what I did - that brought a lot of ribbing from my family and many others. While I let them snicker and roll their eyes about my timing, I knew making sure my 5 kids, and my husband and myself would have something under the tree to open on Christmas Day. April began our first raffle to help sponsor/pay for the annual veteran deer/fishing event. We ran the raffle until the second weekend of October, with an overall success. We had some great people helping to make sure the event was a success. We received several donations, that were such a blessing and a true push to keep this event rolling every year. Late Summer we finally started getting a little moisture, seriously..a little, but I was able to keep my garden growing. I was able to try a few new tricks to allow for more things to be put in the garden. I did a lot of canning, but sadly, there was a lot ready during September, and I just didn't have enough hours in the day to do it all. Also in September, we lost my mother-in-law unexpectedly. In a case such as that, you realize the necessities of making every day count - once you lose a loved one, you can't change anything you've said or done. You can't find time for things you enjoy doing together. You realize that we are all here on borrowed time, and at some point, we will all be called home. The end of September brought our veteran deer/fishing event. It truly was a success, and honestly I owe everyone who volunteered, who sold and bought raffle tickets - an enormous debt of gratitude!!! Those amazing folks, helped me stay on track when life was upended, they talked me through stresses, helped manage each and every aspect! We had such a great crew of veterans this too! I am always enamored to listen to their stories. October brought a lot of playing catch up in winter preparations around the farm, and both of my boys deciding to buy a house and spread their wings. I attended the annual gun show during the Villages of Van Buren Scenic Drive Festival in Bonaparte, IA. We raffled off the items, and sold a few shirts from the veteran event during that weekend. November always begins my annual chaotic months. I begin putting up my Christmas decorations usually on Halloween. I do not like that day at all...although, I did get informed that my daughter would really like me to decorate for it because it's her favorite "holiday." So, I'm going to TRY to make that effort in 2023. Anyway, it takes me like 3 weeks to get everything out and up! So, by that point it's Thanksgiving, and we typically have the holiday meals at our home. We ended up having to try a different cooking method for turkey this year, since you couldn't find one under 20 pounds, if you could find one at all. So, instead of my favorite deep fried turkey, my husband smoked one on the pellet smoker. It was good, but deep fried is still my favorite. Then the prep work goes in for our annual Christmas open house. That is 2 weeks of baking, making candy, and all sorts of goodies. Except this year, I was running behind on everything, so a week out from the open house...and I was just getting started. My daughter and I kicked into gear and got it done! In the 9 years we have hosted this, we have had anywhere from 15-53 people. This year we had 34. It's so much fun to get together with neighbors, family and friends, and just enjoy a few hours of real conversation, some goodies, soups, and honestly...it makes the holiday for me. I don't have little kids anymore, so seeing little ones playing and excited by the tree & lights, and cookies...makes it perfect! After that, is usually the final winter preps and getting ready for Christmas. Christmas Eve we enjoyed time with 4 of 5 of my kids, both my father-in-laws, and had to have some video time with my mother-in-law since she was battling a flu. We had the lovely artic cold snap that showed many how unprepared and exactly how cold we can get. We were very lucky to not have had frozen water lines, but most of our neighbors were not so lucky. We fought to keep tank heaters working so the livestock/chickens/ducks/goats would have access to water. We used a ton of straw to make sure all of them had enough bedding to stay warm. I was glad that I had been preparing as I do, and had plenty of food and water on hand, and had containers to be able to give water to the neighbors as they needed it. During this time, my husband was driving my Jeep to work and hit a deer. We didn't think the damage was too bad. Well, long story short...my Jeep is totaled because the cost to repair exceeds the value of my vehicle. So, There's that. I ended up with a chicken that had a suspected case of bumble foot. It is caused by mites that mice bring into the coops, and causes a scale build up and sore legs. I brought her indoors to treat her, as taking her in and out after having to soak her legs twice a day would have caused her to freeze to death. I got excited when she began to improve, and would start walking again. Well the 29th, she started going downhill again. She quit eating and drinking much, and could not stand up. She ended up passing away at 2 am Jan. 1st. New Year's Eve, we always stay home. We fix a bunch of different snack type foods, play some cards, play board games, and we don't have to be out on the roads. This year, we had one of my brothers, his girlfriend, both his youngest daughter and his oldest daughter & her husband, my father-in-law and us. We ended up playing cards till nearly 2 am, and had a great night.
So, I believe that is the nutshell of my 2022. As you can see, there were trials but there were also a lot of blessings. There were some pretty big lessons learned, and a few regrets. My daughter is on the final stretch of 8th grade, and the next 5 months will be a challenge, I'm sure. Then begins the bigger challenge, high school! I survived one, surely I will the second one too! I am constantly striving to learn, so I hope that will rub off eventually.
There are so many projects on my lists, a lot of changes that have to be made, a little reconfiguring of affairs to make everything work, and some necessary time out for myself this year. I've allowed myself to get so busy being busy, that I forget to "stop and smell the roses!" I'm working on that. If I have learned anything this year, it's this: "Man plans, God laughs!"
So, I hope each of you will enjoy this journey in 2023 with me. I'm not perfect, and I will undoubtedly get worked up from time to time, but I am a work in progress! I plan to share more videos, blogs, and updates on social media, and do better about responding to people in a timely manner. I'm definitely a much better "in-person" person, than call or text!
There you have you it! Let's all work hard to make the best of 2023, and find the silver lining in trials. We can raise our own energy by focusing on the good parts, while acknowledging and releasing the bad. As a mentor once told me: You draw in what you focus on. So, if you focus on bad, you are drawing in more bad. So, instead focus on good...and allow more good to be drawn to you.
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