Backyard Swing Farm

Happy Friday! Once again, I’m breaking my self-imposed rule of staying off social media until I return from vacation. Today we’re in Kotor, Montenegro, and it is absolutely beautiful! We took a buggy tour high into the mountains, with incredible views overlooking the city and the sea.

One of my favorite parts was seeing goats*, pigs (my niece pet one), horses, and donkeys along the way. I even heard roosters crowing and guinea hens squawking. It made me so happy, I had to share a few photos. I also loved seeing many varieties of foraged mushrooms at the local farmer’s market here.

I’ll be back in Louisiana in a week. I’m having an amazing time, but I’m definitely missing my family and all of my farm babies! ❤️🐐🐴🐷 🫏 🐓

*the pic of the last goat’s face looks so much like my sweet Janice!

Hi friends! This is day 9 off the farm. I’ve been in Arizona, France, Switzerland, and now Italy. I miss home but I’m having a wonderful vacation with my husband’s family.

I told myself I was going to completely unplug and wait until I got back to Louisiana before posting anything, but I had to break my self-imposed rule for this one because it was just too funny/fitting not to share.

I was up early this morning, sipping a cappuccino outside so I wouldn’t wake the others in the villa. As I sat looking out over the Lake Garda, I could feel eyes on me. I turned to my left and found this beautiful duck hen quietly laying an egg.

Halfway around the world and I’m still living the free-range life.

🤭🦆🥚🇮🇹

Hi friends and farm followers… I hope you’re all doing well! May has been flying by….I can’t believe we’re halfway through another week and closing in on the end of the month already.

Just a quick note to say I won’t be on here much for a while. I’m leaving tomorrow for 3 weeks! I honestly can’t remember the last time I was away that long. For so many years, I never wanted to be far from my boys. Now that we’re empty nesters, you’d think I’d be thrilled to pack up and go.

I am excited for the travel and new experiences, but there’s also a little sadness mixed in. It may sound silly to some but I’m going to miss tending to my gardens and all the food we’re growing. I hate leaving my farm babies for so long, too. And of course I’ll miss my husband, although it gives me comfort knowing he’ll be taking care of everything at home while I’m gone. It’s a lot of extra work on top of his “real” job, but I know he’ll handle it just fine.

I keep thinking about everything that could go wrong but need to stop. I have to remind myself that worrying is senseless and the thief of happiness.

Anyhow, just letting you all know what’s going on in case anyone wonders why I’ve temporarily disappeared. I’ll be back again later next month. Meanwhile, take care!

Still my big baby …. ❤️🫏

I’m going to be out of town a lot in the coming weeks so trying to squeeze extra loving time in with my animals before travel starts soon. I’ll miss them all so much.

Our boys (grown adult sons) are home this weekend!

💙💙💙

I am outside looking for fresh eggs for breakfast. Addie is guarding the duck’s favorite laying spot.

😻🦆🥚

It’s Forage Friday! While in the woods exploring with my goats, I spotted a pop of color out of the corner of my eye. I snuck away from my herd to check it out. A gorgeous native passionflower…maypop (Passiflora incarnata).

It’s fruit (maypops) is edible. The leaves and flowers are also commonly dried for herbal tea and are traditionally associated with relaxation and sleep support.

It’s one of the most intricate and beautiful wildflowers with historical Christian symbolism. I was thrilled to find it growing here!