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| Tulum, last nightof the trip |
As my last post was 4 months ago, and I've skipped straight through autumn, to winter, I realize I am way overdue for an update. Although summer may be a busy season, autumn seems like a mad dash to cram as many activities into the span of two or three months as possible. The tolerable weather fleeting, the leaves turning... it's like nature's way of telling us the clock is ticking.
As I look back on all of the photos on my camera, I realize that we really had a whirlwind past couple of months...
On the homestead front, we are still struggling with getting the goats pregnant. I didn't realize what a chore it was. First, there was drawing blood for the first time to send to the lab for testing for contagious diseases. Willow passed that test easily, but it took 3 people just to hold Sage in place and yet we still weren't able to hold her still enough for me (an inexperienced phlebotomist) to draw blood from her. And now, it's a waiting and watching game for Willow. Goats can menstruate on super random cycles and sometimes it can be for just one day... so I am watching her intently for all of the signs. Her last cycle was at an inconvenient time and now with the shorter, darker days, we are depending on one of her cycles to fall on a weekend that we have the time to take her to her lover boy. So we wait... in the meantime, the goats are hating all of the rain but their brand new winter coats are keeping them warm and dry!
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| Classy Sage |
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| Dashing Jones |
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| Yawning Willow |
And our fall garden is looking decent! After most of our summer crops were finished we upgraded our two main beds and actually gave them some wood sides. We had some trouble with deer in the beginning and it took us three rounds of transplants before we gave in and built cover for them. So now we've got some healthy look mustard greens, arugula and kale... our cabbage hasn't been doing so well but I'm hoping the cooler weather will give them a boost. We also planted onions and garlic in place of the summer tomatoes and those are doing great as well! I am so glad we ended up getting the fall garden in in time, I can't wait to eat some of my own homegrown garlic!
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| The last harvest of the summer crops |
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| First round of transplants (deer ate them ALL!) |
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| Adding some protection |
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| Your average garden feline, Cruiser McGavin |
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| Baby mustard greens |
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| Arugula |
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| Curly Kale |
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| Onions |
The end of October brought us our big annual vacation, another trip to Tulum, but this time with my sister, her boyfriend and our best friends, Kyla and Colt. It was super fun going back to Tulum, we even stayed at the same hotel because we loved it so much, but what made it really great was going back with friends, it was a hole new experience! This time around we got to swim with turtles, visit a monkey sanctuary and James and Colt got to fly fish and had some super awesome catches! We also did A LOT more drinking with company than we did the first time, when it was just us two. It may not for a few years, but we love Tulum like a second home already and we know we will be going back again!
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| The whole crew |
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| My sis and I |
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| Roadside popsicles |
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| 360 view from a top the third deck of our favorite restaurant, Mateos |
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| Ruins! |
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| Last night sunset, magic! |
And then there was Friendsgiving (for which I have no photos) and Friend Christmas, which brought with it, count 'em, SEVEN babies... not to mention, our other friends just had a baby girl right after the party! Christmas this year felt a little rushed and forced for me, but our Friend Christmas was so full of love and fun and presents that it was the most Christmas-y I felt the whole season. Having babies around makes the holidays so fun and I can't wait until they fully understand the concept of it all!
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| James and Hudson |
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| Annah and Hudson |
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| Cain and Ryden |
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| Carson |
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| James and Cali |
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| Colt and one of the babies?! |
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| Steph and Aaliyah |
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| Ramon and Hudson |
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| Brielle and Ryden, the OG's |
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| Mel and Brielle, scarfing! |
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| Proud Godparents to baby Hud! Brittany and James |
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| All the girls! |
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| All the boys |
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| Happy A! |
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| Maybe the best picture of B ever |
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| That's MY baby! |
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| The newest to the clan and the sucker who falls for baby girls! |
So that was our crazy Fall season... and man, it was a good one! Winter is already here and the New Year is only a few days old (but that's for another post). I gotta say I am truly (hashtag) blessed. No, for real... not just in a white-girl, Instagram way... I am so very lucky, surrounded by so many beautiful things and places and people that love me! It's hard to feel the winter blues when there is so much light in my life!
