First Year in Review
In September 2023, we moved to 20 acres just outside of Kansas City. We hadn’t been planning a move, but the right opportunity presented itself. This property ticked all the boxes for what we wanted to do. This is going to be our forever home and we have big dreams for it.
Recently, I’ve been feeling a little underwhelmed with my progress. I figured that now, a year later, is a good time to reflect on everything we HAVE accomplished.
What goals I set for myself last year:
Free Monthly Spin-Ins
Day Classes
Weekend Retreats with Guest Teachers
Goats and Chickens to pet
Bonfires - because I like fire
A new virtual web store where you can purchase supplies and swag.
Editing and reposting of some of our best blog posts.
Video Course Content
A calendar of events I’m teaching at
What we have accomplished so far in the last 12 months:
We moved and combined 2 households to create a multi-generational family with my father-in-law.
We lost our dear pup, Sake shortly after we moved.
Built the chicken coop and raised 16 chickens.
Build a fire pit.
Built a minnow/goldfish tank.
Moved all of my fiber and tools into the workshop and set it up as a usable space.
I taught at DFW, Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, Fiber-U, and at the HGA’s Spinner's & Weaver’s Week
Planted and failed to grow a field of flax.
Re-fenced the north pasture so our neighbor can run his cattle in it.
Marked all the invasive Bradford pear trees for removal.
Removed several trees.
Obtained and sadly lost a barn kitty.
Established first Saturday spin-ins in our workshop.
Established 3rd Saturday paint jams in our workshop.
Planted a fruit orchard and asparagus plot.
Hosted our first Bind & Wind retreat with guest teacher Charlou Lunsford.
Procured the materials to build a goat/sheep shelter.
Gutted the doublewide trailer that we want to convert into a filming studio and guest space.
Updated the website with a calendar of events.
Endured a severe flood.
Wrote several pieces for Ply, Spin-Off, and Schacht.
Built a foundation for a school bus stop.
Established raised beds by the house for our personal garden/herb needs.
Established raised beds by the workshop for a dyers garden.
Set up a corvid feeding station.
Harvested and cured black walnut, Osage orange, and Elm wood for woodworking
Received 3 truckloads of mulch and began creating pathing around the property.
Learned how to repair a zero-turn lawnmower.
Installed a water softening system.
Established a sourdough culture from the property and made a LOT of bread.
Had a ground pipe burst over winter and had to dig up and repair it.
Also exploded the workshop toilet during that same winter period and replaced it with a new one.
Oh, and did I mention I still have a full-time job as a librarian, help my partner run his own business, and have a five year old who just started kindergarten? We haven’t exactly been idle. It is still hard to feel I’m getting enough done. There’s so much left to accomplish!
I’ll put together some goals for the next year in another post, but for now, it feels good to see that there is progress being made.
