A look back at 2012.

Our internet has been out for almost a week and I missed it so much. I often think I was born in the wrong century and would love to have lived in a past century, but at times like the the past week without a strong connection to the outside world, I'm more than grateful to be alive now and have the internet.

I had a couple of posts I was planning on doing and I'll eventually get them up, but for now, let's look back at 2012:

January
January started not-so-great with one of the peahens, Indra, coming down with a case of sinusitis. With a little TLC, she quickly recovered. Then, on to Betty White's 90th birthday. I'm a super avid Golden Girls fan, and couldn't let Rose's milestone birthday pass without celebrating it on here. And as Sophia said, "After 80, every year without a headstone is a milestone!"

February
The warmer weather of February led to the animals acting up a little. First, there was the escaping buckling, Solomon, then one of the young geese, Ben, decided to go broody after only laying a few eggs (Personally, I think maybe she's spent a little too much time visiting the Silkies and their bad habits have rubbed off on her). Ben, by the way, was broody off and on all year long after that and is currently setting on duck eggs. To cap February off, the ducks finally discovered the pond at the bottom of the hill, we celebrated my mom's birthday, and I shared a few Southernisms with y'all.

The Scovy boys enjoying the pond a few days ago.

March
March began with the ducks being a little naughty and taking an excursion to the creek that borders our property. Then, I shared a few more Southernisms, Ben's eggs hatched out (really, they were the Toulouse's eggs, but, she tended to those goslings like they were hers, so we didn't bother telling her), and we made our first batch of soap. Back then, I never would have thought that soap making would become a new obsession, especially with how nervous I was that first time.

Our very first batch of soap.

April
April was so much fun. The peahens laid our very first pea eggs, I set several Pilgrim and Sebastopol eggs, and my sweet bottle baby, Penelope, had a little buckling we named Peter. Peter, by the way, still thinks he's a baby and is the first to greet me every morning when I go out.

My little grandson, Peter.

May
The fun continued on in to May, with the Pilgrim and Sebastopol eggs hatching out. Of the three Pilgrim ganders that hatched, we ended up keeping Otto and of course, the lone Sebbie to hatch, Blueberry. A few days later, another Sebastopol, Henry, joined our flock. Then, came the bottle babies, Marcy and Renny (boy, was that a ton of work, but I miss them - they now happily live a few miles away at their new home together).

Blueberry and Otto a few weeks ago.

June
In June, we celebrated Remy and Verity's birthdays and calamity struck when I knocked over an incubator full of eggs (Uh Oh!).

Remy as a puppy. Oh, how miss those days lol. 

July
July was HOT! I made soy candles for the first time, my mom and I returned to soap making after taking a little break, I learned a new use for pine sap, and I realized I haven't done nearly as much traveling as I dreamed of doing as a teenager.

August
In August, we learned how to tell if you're from Alabama, we added my new favorite turkeys, Auburns, and the scuplins were ready to pick.

September
September was a super busy month for us with our family reunion in the first part of the month, Happy joining our family, and a ton of soap making (by the last day of the month, we'd made well over 100 bars of soap. . . yikes!). This was also the month we had our first soap customer (Thank you cousin Lonnie!). Then, at the end of the month, just before a family trip to Georgia, Grandma fell and broke her shoulder. Thankfully, she's healed now, although she still experiences a little twinge every now and then, but it doesn't slow her down any :)

Grandma enjoying Christmas 2012.

October
October is always one of my favorite months. Not least of all because my birthday is the 13th, but also because our hot temperatures finally start cooling down then and honestly, I just love the colors and feel of fall. And this year was an exceptional October, especially since I loved, loved, loved my present! The Rhodebars and Breda are really looking nice now that they're getting out of that awkward juvenile stage chickens go through, and they've been enjoying their new digs in the grow out pen. I need to take updated pictures of them soon, but for now here's their baby picture again:

Also in October, we had our first online soap customers and Myrtle and the bucks proved they're much better gardeners than I am. They still won't share their secrets for watermelon growing with me, though ;)

November
November dawned and we made more soap and more soap and more. . . well, I think you get the drift. By the end of the month, we had made over 400 bars of soap since July (which is why my mom and I are currently taking a little break from soap making lol). I also made lip balm and lotion bars (and a few other things I still need to share). All in all, it was a very busy month that kept us on the move.

The Green Fairy Soap (scented with Absinthe fragrance oil)

December
Remember the Bacon & Egg Soap? Even though I wasn't too sure about it at first, it's become one of my favorite soaps.

December was also all about packaging soap. . . every single bar. A big "Thank You!" to all of the wonderful people who purchased soap, lip balm, lotion bars, etc from us this year. We'll begin restocking our shelves later this month, and I already have a great list of new soaps we're adding inspired by spring and summer (including Neapolitan, Watermelon Crawl, Monkey Farts, Under the Tuscan Sun, and Bama Belle to name a few).

Of course, the year couldn't have ended without Mose having a post all about him (I hate to say it, but I think he's a little spoiled lol). He's already asking when he'll star in another post :)

2012 was such a busy year with everything that happened. Of course, there were plenty of highs and lows. The one low I haven't mentioned, yet, that occurred is that I'm single for the first time in 6 years. I was unsure whether to blog about it or not at the time, but now that a few months have passed I feel much better and less maudlin (even though I ended it, that hasn't it made it any easier). A year ago, I never would have expected some of the things that have happened both personally and with our farm, but I'm grateful for the growth we've seen with the farm and I have big plans for the coming year (and the years to come :) ). And who knows, maybe I'll tackle my bucket list in 2013 and see some of the places on it.

Happy New Year!

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