Tag: dreams

3Splitz Farm

What’s In a Name?

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Today’s Puzzler. What are all these things?

Diva

Crazy Legs

Chick A Dee

Hot Tamale

Groovy

Sun Kissed

Any ideas? Nail polish colors? A wild lineup for a nightclub act?

Actually, these are all underground. I don’t mean sneaky or lurking in the shadows, but literally underground. These are just some of the names of the dahlia varieties we recently planted at 3Splitz Farm.

Part of all the learning we are doing this year is immersion into the world of dahilas. There are thousands to choose from. Every color, every shape and size. I’ve got to admit, the names are a fun bonus. Just like I love a good nail polish name and the names people give to their race horses, show dogs, boats and beach houses. Puns score bonus points.

Choosing dahlias was part of the fun. Pouring over catalogs, posts and webpages, photos and descriptions galore. Some branching, some tall. Lollipop-sized to dinnerplate. How to choose just the right group? The bit of excitement when the box comes in the mail. Tubers, of all things! Who knew gorgeous flowers grew from these? These babies aren’t much to look at now, but I’m hopeful we will have a patch of bright, colorful, blooms to celebrate in a few months. Buried with a little fertilizer and a lot of hope, nourished with water and sunshine. These groovy, sun kissed divas will be bringing us smiles before we know it.

3Splitz Farm

Meet SnoCap

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It’s just a name, right? Snocap isn’t just a name, it’s a new family member. Temporary or permanent? Not sure yet. Four legs. Varied markings. Flowy mane. Totes a heavy weight around too. Makes some sounds that make one turn their heads.

Snocap is a newbie on the farm. A paint horse. She is unique and already so special. She arrived a day before my birthday. Unplanned in a way but planned in another way. I’ve been looking for the right horse for some time now. The right time. The right temperament. The right price.  the right situation. Many factors were hinging on my decision. The choice wasn’t made lightly.

I wasn’t sure if I would lease a horse or buy a horse. I didn’t know if I should consider adopting a horse. Is fostering a horse even an option? I had to make sure I had a detailed care plan in place since I may not always be on the farm 24:7. I had so many items to check off the “I am ready” list. Today seemed like the readiness factors were in the rear view for a foster opportunity. Today seemed like a good day to choose Snocap. The visitor of sorts is checking out the place. I am learning about horse caretaking.

Opportunity was in front of me. I took the chance. I knew when I met her she was the right temperament to come hang on the farm. No bucking or wild behavior when we met. I made the commitment to see if she would be a fit for our farmily. Now it’s time to build memories and see if she warms up to the new environment.

She came from a muddy pasture that was her temporary home while we prepped for her. A good bath or rain shower and some TLC will have her ready to relax in our pastures where she can eat all the grass she wants and dip her toes in the stream. 

For now Snocap is chilling on the farm with a few visiting friends aka horse buddies. She makes lots of poop piles and has the sweetest personality. Still evaluating to see if she will stay with us forever. Need to give her a ride and she if she is the one.

Welcome to the farmily Snocap! We hope you enjoy your stay. Having horses in the pasture has been very rewarding on many levels. Oh how I would like to eat grass all day, loaf around and just watch all that goes on around me. Oh to live like a horse and be wild and free.

Over the past few weeks Snocap has had to take more than the usual rest. My neighbor watched her lay down in the pasture more than she should. My caretaker felt her legs were not 100%. Her legs seem tired and she may be a few years older than we initially thought. 

She is healthy but timid around the other horses. She may not be the one for me to call my own unfortunately. I may never find the perfect match but I can always check out opportunities and foster to get my horse fix for now.

Although I have enjoyed feeding her, talking to her and brushing her she is going to find her way to a permanent home not too far away. Excited for her new beginnings but will also be sad as she departs our farmily. So funny how we can get so attached to animals in such a short time. I will miss feeding mints to my pal Snocap.

It’s been so much fun being a host family to some horses in our local community that needed a crash pad for a few months to escape the mud slides in their pasture. Wonder which horse friends we will tell you about next. Maybe it will be goats instead. Who knows what farm friends we will have in the coming days.

3Splitz Farm, dare to be different

Target Dress-Up Day

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Cousin Sally thought it was a great idea. She made a post on the west coast about a #targetdresschallenge. the super ugly Target dress experience piqued my eye. Of course I bit to represent the southeast.

Off to grab the ugliest Target dress one could find. Settled on the orangey rust colored frumpy dress fit for a polygamy wife. It might have been the only one available. Set the first photo shoot destination at the rustic paradise named 3Splitz Farm in Blairsville, GA. Put the date on the calendar. Wrangled up some friends to join the fun. Dusted off the cowgirl boots. Now I’m ready for the click-click-click of the camera.

Wonder who will join me? Wonder if there will be a second photo location? So much to think about. It was a sunny Saturday after a long rainy week. Three girls and guy made the trek to farm. We laughed, we giggled, we played dress up. Who doesn’t love dress up day? How to wear your hair or the hair was the next big decision. Hat or no hat?

We used the iPhones to snap away as well as the fancy camera. We heard a lot of click click click in between the giggles. We had a barn as a changing room. Playing the role of a super model is a hard job. We might have even gotten a little sweaty. Each individual had their own area on the farm to pose how they wished. Below is a glimpse just for you.

Serious but sexy Kobe. Working girl Beth. Momma Kim calling out supper. Riding caboose was the infamous brunette named Karen. We got a few group shots to add flair and tossed in some black and white photos.

One dress. Four unique individuals. Four different poses. One challenge. This all leads me to the road called perspective. We each have own unique perspectives in life. Sometimes perception seen on the Internet  is not reality. It’s just for fun.

None of us live the frumpy dress life daily. That’s a given. However we love life and opportunities to have fun or poke fun with each other. Judge as you may. We had the best day ever. Dare to be different daily. 

From dress up to dress down this group was all smiles. No matter the outfit, the smiles persisted. This post may have the most photos I’ve ever shared however it’s a photo shoot post which equates to lots and lots of photos. Surround yourself with a group of people who make you smile. Travel to new destinations. Capture the memories. Hit repeat. It’s pretty simple. 

family

Mystery Envelope

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A self-addressed stamped envelope on the kitchen table. (Who even does that anymore?) My own handwriting. A return address sticker with a name I didn’t know. Confusion.

Opened the envelope to find a letter and some photos. A pile of very old and very unexpected memories.

It was her very first plane ride. A whiplash trip to Naples, Florida. Me and my little baby.

Took the 8am flight out, the 8pm flight back. Nothing but a car carrier, diaper bag, formula, a ton of diapers, my little front baby pouch, and some food. Her Great Grandma was nearing the end of life, and I wanted them to meet each other before Great Grandma passed away.

We took a shuttle straight to the nursing home. Met her Great Grandma during recreation time. She sat in her wheelchair. My little Anne, still wobbly on her feet, reached up for her. Great Grandma was deep into dementia by then. I’m sure she didn’t know me, she didn’t know Anne. But still, even through the fog and confusion, Great Grandma’s face lit up. A sweet little baby, soft and curious, reaching up to be held. Their smiles echoed each other’s – wide and cheerful.

We spent a couple of hours. Just talking about nothing in particular. Great Grandma hadn’t been my family for very long. She was my Grandpa’s fourth wife. He had been her third husband. He passed away first, leaving my little known new Grandma to handle his affairs. This wasn’t an easy process, but my Dad loved and accepted her because she had been his Dad’s choice. He still called her every week. But she hardly knew me. I hardly knew her. There was just a lot of smiling and playing with the baby.

We flew home. I wrote her a letter and sent her photos of the visit. As I wrote in the letter, I knew she didn’t have much use for clutter in her tiny single room. So I sent a self-addressed stamped envelope in case she wanted to return them.

Fifteen years later, 2021, the envelope, the photos, appear in my mailbox. My sweet baby in the photos now drives her own car. Still has the blond hair, but she’s five foot nine. She still reaches up. She still smiles, and brings smiles to many.

A letter from her daughter came with it. She had just found the photos, with my letter and envelope, in a long packed away box of photos and keepsakes. Obviously Great Grandma wanted to keep them, she wrote. What can you do but wistfully smile at fate and memory and times long gone?

I got to share the story with Anne, and the pictures. Shortly after that visit, I learned that those were the very last photos ever taken of Great Grandma. Her own children appreciated them, and cherished that we took the time to visit.

Across fifteen years, a whisper from a daughter I may have met once. A memory of an experience that mattered, even if Great Grandma and Anne wouldn’t have known it at the time.

When I think about it, it was kind of crazy. Take a baby on a plane? By myself? Twice in one day? Just to see someone who probably won’t recognize me? Who may not even know why we are there? Yup, I did that. I’m still that kind of crazy. The kind of crazy that will drive hours out of my way for a hug. That will go over and above just to do something little. The little things are the big things.

Take time for people. Take time to write. To chronicle and share. To connect and care.

3Splitz Farm, dare to be different

A Doctor Digs in the Dirt

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I recently wrote a rant-ish post about being a PhD. How I use my degree maybe not as a professor, but more as a thinker every single day.

I’ve recognized this a lot lately as I’ve waded into the first stages of flower farming. It reminds me of my surprise when I had a baby. When I became pregnant, I was immersed in this whole new universe and language I had no idea about. Pick up a baby magazine and I was surrounded by a new vocabulary. So many debates and decisions. What kind of diapers, how medicalized a birth, co-sleeping, onesies, products galore. It was a whole world I knew nothing about, even though it had been there all along.

Flower farming is much the same way. It has its own calendar, its ebbs and flows. So many special bloom varieties to choose from. Growing zones, soil amendments, succession planting…I am wide-eyed and soaking it all in. Just the photos on insta of all the beauty makes me swoony.

On the calendar side, so far I am playing catchup. I’m learning you have to be thinking at least 6 months ahead, and eventually a year. 3Splitz Farm is not even 6 months old (hard to believe!) so I am giving myself a little grace on that. We wanted tulips, but it took a while to find the right ones. In the mean time, I read in all sorts of places about where to source high- quality bulbs and what they should look like. My lightweight crumbly bulbs from the local mega mart weren’t going to cut it. This is a researcher in action. Most major places were sold out, but I finally found a farm with a great reputation that had the flowers we needed. The first set of bulbs went in the ground on the late side, but I’ve ordered seeds now so they should arrive in plenty of time. Slowly but surely the calendar is spreading forward. Soon we will be on pace.

Planning the land is the next challenge. It’s left me paralyzed at times, thinking that where we plant ______________ (bulbs, seeds, plants, veggies) is some kind of permanent decision. What if the flowers don’t thrive there? What if they can’t be seen the way we want them to? What if animals or pests destroy the crop? We took the step and planted the first set over the last couple of weeks. I was guided by my OLW: DO, and reminded myself that mistakes can be fixed. Of course, that’s only if we have the courage to make them! I am listening to the land and trusting that it will tell me what to do. It’s a wonderful intersection between science, wishes, and hard work.