Some things are learned from books, while others are learned from the dirt you get under your fingernails and the mess you make in the kitchen.

This journal is where I gather the lessons learned from experiences living this life.

Here, you’ll find daily thoughts, seasonal reflections, and stories from our life at Arrow & Boone Farmstead.

Not every article will be a “how to” on doing a particular task – some posts will simply be records of what’s going on right then, like a snapshot. Whether you’re looking for info about life on a homestead or you’re just enjoying the ride with me, I hope you’ll find something here that’s worth your time.

What’s to Come:

The Geese Know Before I Do – A personal story about how the geese keep on alert all the time, what they’ve taught me about paying attention, and how caring for the homestead animals has taught me to approach my life differently

Lessons from a Failed Garden

Why Not Every Weed Needs Pulling

A Junk Pile Reverie

Beauty of Well-Worn Tools

Homemade is Better than Perfect

Mundane Tasks are Acts of Hope

Your Home Doesn’t Need to Impress Anyone

Keeping a Home Worth Coming Back To

Hospitality Begins Before Anyone Arrives

Mending – When It’s Worth it, When It’s Not

Everyone’s Favorite Shoes

The Kitchen is Half Our House

No Prize for Being Busiest

The Art of Lingering

A Mother’s Most Important Tasks Don’t Show Up on a Resume

Choosing Enough

Efficiency Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

Around the Table: Where We Learn We Belong

Things Built Over Time: Communities, Friendships, Gardens, Art

Borrowing a Cup of Sugar – And Other Lost Traditions

Raising Capable Kids

Sharing Work – And Other Lost Traditions

The Slow Work of Becoming

How Nearly Losing Your Faith is Like Surviving a Car Crash

Be the Person You’d Want as a Neighbor

If An Old Book Could Tell Its Story

The Songs That Build Generations

We Learn Who We Are from Stories / Who Told You Who You Are?

Food Either Entertains or Nourishes

What My Great Grandparents Would Say

Keeping Traditions Alive or Living in the Past?

The Life I Almost Chose

Why I Keep Gardening, Through Success & Failure

This journal isn’t really about the tasks of raising animals or planting seeds — it’s about what those tasks reveal about human beings.

An animal is a lesson in responsibility and routine. A loaf of bread is about patience. A family dinner table is about identity. A garden is about hope.

This blog is a place to slow down and remember what matters. A place for thoughtful conversations and the quiet work of building meaningful connections with other humans.

A Thought to Carry Home

Websites, like people, evolve. I’m prepared to allow my online representation of the homestead to take on a life of its own eventually. Here’s to a long friendship, Neighbor!