Peace of Thyme Farm

3-4-2012 - Wow, time is flying by and it does seem to go by faster the older we get.  We are in the middle of a big remodel job on our house.  Dan will probably need to be in a wheel chair in the near future, so we have installed a walk-in tub, made the hall wider and opened up the kitchen and dining area - just to name a few things.  I am going to put up a page on the website with the before, during and after pictures of what is going on around here.  We have already replaced four older window with the Pella Low E windows  and put in two new sliding glass doors with blinds on the inside (you never have to dust them and they don't get damaged by animals, kids and older adults with less than great balance).  The windows are great!   More to come.....

6-8-2011 - I have just been informed by Mysite Software that this site has been up and running for 236 weeks. That number surprised me because when I did the math, it wound up being over 4 1/2 years. Time is speeding by for Dan and I as we realize that we have been in Missouri for 7 years. I wrote the last paragraph below in early 2007 and when this site was built we had dial-up internet service which was so slow and very frustrating to work with. We now have Dish Internet service, which is not as fast as several other services available to less rural customers. We did learn that the squeaky wheel does get the oil (attention). Last fall we were able to get the natural gas company to bring natural gas to our place after bugging them for 6 years, so I continue to be the squeaky wheel at the faster internet service providers here in our area.

We are in the process of selling over four acres of our property because we are unable to care for it properly anymore. That part will include our very old oak barn and the stocked pond and creek. Whether we sell it or not is not a major problem, we just don't want it to sit there and get overgrown. The initial idea was to have a place for our children to build a home if they ever wanted to come to the country and a quieter way of life. They are busy raising our grandchildren and don't want to leave California, so we will sell it if we can. We will still garden, plant fruit trees and I will work in the studio making fiber art.  

I write a blog (it is like a journal to me) and it is also on this site.  I tell of the simple everyday happenings on this farm and in our lives.  I try to show how we get through the trials of growing older while still trying to live our dream of being healthier and more self-reliant as we try to age gracefully.  We are able to grow sustainable crops for our own use and to share as God blesses us along the way.  We would love to read your thoughts or questions on any subject that you see in a blog.  Please leave a message in the comment box at the end of each blog and we will do our best to answer any of them to the best of our ability.

This was my original message on Jan 27, 2007 - Hi, My name is Christina. My husband Dan and I moved to Missouri in June 2004 to start a new life on this farm. I'd lived in California most of my life and sadly left 3 children, 13 grandchildren, 1 great grandchild and many long time good friends. Dan, who lived all over the US, but spent most of his time in California, left two children, one grandchild, three great grandchildren, our carpet cleaning business of 28 years and many more friends. We bought a small 5 acre farm, took out the barbed wire fence and replaced it with no-climb fence, then built a fairly good sized pond and stocked it with largemouth bass, channel catfish, red ear perch and minnows. We then partially remodeled a very old oak barn to house our chickens. Why were we doing all that? We want to grow our own organic food, raise Alpaca and a flock of very rare Barnevelder chickens and live a much simpler, more sustainable and healthier life. We attribute our success to a faith and trust in God, who sustains us through the inevitable hard times that we share with most people and who blesses us so much more in our walk with Him. Please, take a few minutes to go through this site and don't forget to look at my wet felted hats made from alpaca fleece. If you find something you like - let us know by signing the guestbook. Thank you.