PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION

Happy Friday friends.

As I type, I’m sitting at our dining room table, with the bay windows open and a soft breeze playfully slipping through. There’s a tiny bit of chill in the air and a hint of rustle in the leaves, and it stirs up an excitement deep down in my soul,

Fall is coming. 

Get ready for some basic-ness headed right your way. I confess. I am basic. I adore fall and everything that comes with it. The PSLs (pumpkin spice lattes for the uninitiated), the Uggs, the blanket scarves, the flannel, the bonfires, the apple cider, the pumpkins, and the orchards, oh the orchards. I can’t help it, I feel that chill in the air, I see the leaves start to fall, and something in my heart begins to dance.

Now Fall (or Autumn for my friends cross the pond) is magic no matter where you live. In Colorado I adored the quaking aspens with their shocks of yellow amidst the evergreens. In Tennessee the sugar maples are enough to make you pull over your car (And in fact I’ve done just that) to gaze in wonder at the explosions of color in impossibly rich hues of red and orange. In England, the colder weather and rainy days calls for pulling on the coziest of jumpers and scarves, and curling up on the settee with a cuppa, a biscuit and a good book. (American translation, jumpers=sweaters, settee=couch cuppa=mug of english breakfast tea with milk, and biscuit=cookie) 🙂

However, I humbly submit, that Autumn is especially glorious here on the East coast. And with the vast expanse of hardwoods and an exhausting variety of trees surrounding Hidden Meadow, I think Fall 2019, may be my favorite one yet.

This morning four does and two spotted fawns meandered cautiously through our yard, checking for downed pears and other delights. I was overcome with gratefulness that we get to live here and share our space with so many amazing creatures. Now as I mentioned in a social post previously, the moment these beauties start munching on my garden I may not be as magnanimous, but for the moment, they are absolutely perfect as they are.

Also as I type I’m breaking my daily 16 hour fast with some delicious oatmeal topped with banana, collagen peptides, almond butter, flax and chia seed. I’m trying intermittent fasting for 2 months along with counting macros, regular workouts, and eliminating dairy and gluten. In our facebook accountability group, there’s a lot of talk of focusing on progress not perfection. The idea is just about extending grace, and not getting so hung up on doing things perfectly that we flame out when we fail. (Because we all will at some point)

I was thinking about this concept this morning and consciously extending it’s edges out beyond just my fitness and nutrition, but to our own dreams and to-dos for the farm.

Instead of getting so bogged down with doing everything perfectly, I’ll spend more time focusing on how far we’ve come. I’ll spend less time worrying about making the right choice and more time just getting in there, and figuring it out as we go. I’ll be faithful in the small daily things, instead of getting overwhelmed with the giant future things.

I encourage you to do the same, extend yourself that grace in whatever area you need it this week. 

So what’s new at Hidden Meadow? This past week we snapped up some lounge chairs on clearance from Lowes, and they’re my new favorite place to curl up with coffee in the morning sun. We also bought our awesome zero turn lawn mower and tackled cleaning up the front pasture. It was about knee high with grass. Now it’s a magical space with a glimpse of the nearby ridge.

Next week we’ll share a video update on our first month at Hidden Meadow. Watch this space.