Ladies, Your work at home is a job. But this work is different from jobs outside of the home in that many people see a woman working in her home as not “working”. A home is a place of rest and leisure yes, but it is also a place we must manage and preen. It is both to be enjoyed and languished in and also scrubbed and fixed by a diligent worker. There are many rewards of full-time homemaking: I come and go as I please. I make my own schedule. I get to prioritize dinner time every day, so that it is not a disorganized, expensive affair. I get…

Ladies, Picture rolling vineyards and walk among the vines with me. Picture apple orchards and meander the rows harvesting. Imagine being barefoot in the garden to cut flowers for the table. Think about the scent of hay in the barn. There are so many different kinds of country properties from vineyards to orchards, to livestock ranches, to a homestead. Many of us have a mix of many different types. Likewise, country fashion does not have just one look. Country fashion can mean a floral dress for the garden to horse back riding. It can be leggings and cozy sweaters with tall boots for walking a soggy field or mucking out…

It can seem unwise to invite guests over or have get-togethers when money is tight. However, we have history replete with times of scarcity to give us ideas for how women offered hospitality with very little. There are specific types of gatherings that allow you to have guests over without spending much money. It is about the time of day you have the gathering in order to communicate that you will only be offering a simple treat not a full meal. It is also about the type of event you plan which will limit the kinds of food and drinks offered which saves money. Then there are old fashioned potluck…

Not all of us are born and raised in the country but we get there as fast as we can. If you, like me, spent years or decades of your life dreaming and trying to move to the country, you may have some solid ideas of what you want. Here are some things that I learned along the way that helped me to edit and curate the dream so that I could buy the right property….and I’m still shopping for it. But I have been renting in the countryside for some time now and have a lot of first hand experience on what to be aware of and the nuances…

There is a special beauty about Christmas in the countryside at my home. But Christmas everywhere else feels pretty stressful to me. Do you feel uneasy with society’s version of Christmas? I find pop Christmas music played in stores to be extremely unpleasant as well as the stress of shopping and crowds. Here are my 5 ways to create a peaceful Christ centered Christmas season and how you can too even if you don’t live in the country. 1) Shop online instead of big box stores or shop local small businesses. The hyper environment of big box stores with loud pop music, stuff overwhelm and unfriendly crowds can be stressful…