luna acres

Do you remember me mentioning that I'm taking horticulture classes?!  Well, about two months ago I wrote an essay  and applied for a scholarship through the  Old Dominion Golf Course Superintendents Association,  and  I won.  It's been nearly a decade since I wrote something of this nature,  I am certainly (very  very ) out of practice,  and to be chosen for a piece that  feels close to my heart was incredibly gratifying.   I want to share it with you now. Disclaimer: includes the most cliche closing line of all time. crocosmia blooming last summer March 10 th , 2012 was the  first day I ever  really   worked outside .  I'm not talking about mowing the lawn, or weeding the backyard  garden . I'm talking about  really  working. The type of work that leaves your  muscles feeling like   jello . The type of work that challenges  your  mind and your sanit...

Thanksgiving Dinner completely unrelated to the rest of this post. The backwards state of things. Today, it has been two weeks since I walked out of my job. While I am stressing out about the pay cut I took and how in the world I am going to make ends meet now, I was just given another reason to breathe deeply, and feel confident in the decision I made. I mentioned in my post last week that the company I was working for constantly fails to promote and reward the employees who show initiative. I'm not sure if I told you about the people they did move up...  There was another server in the store when I started, I'm going to call him "Adam". On several occasions I would be cooking while he was taking care of customers, and it drove me insane. If you've ever worked in a restaurant you are already familiar with his type; lazy, discourteous, only doing the bare minimum amount of work possible. Regular customers frequently complained to me when he ...

When you work in the service industry, every day can be a challenge. Now that I have started a new job at the cutest little mom and pop place, Chip and Jo's Restaurant, it is becoming clear each day how much I have been taken advantage of by my last employer. One of the most frustrating challenges I faced was working with a ladder of management and paperwork. I completed tons of computer training and learned the finer tasks of restaurant management. Jonathan and I started coming in to open the store each day, because the shift manager at the time ("Rita") was slowly slipping, coming in later and calling out frequently.  Fast forward one year. The store has changed general managers three times, with the most recent one quitting after eight days in charge. There is no assistant manager, no general manager, and only two shift managers. Jonathan and I have been opening the store five days a week. Rita has become incredibly lazy and unreliable, arriving up to an...

the view from the second story we were building onto the cob house I am so behind! The past few weeks have been so hectic, I just haven't had time to catch up. It doesn't help that my laptop will no longer pick up the internet, making it more difficult for me to update conveniently.  I just need to work out a new routine. Anyways, onto some of the things you've been missing! - We spent five days in Kentucky at Disputanta Cob, where we learned how to build a cob house from the ground up. It was an amazing trip, truly life changing for Jonathan and I. We feel so confident in our abilities to provide for our own construction needs now. I will go into more (much, much more) detail about the cob workshop in upcoming posts. - My baby sister, Amy celebrated a birthday. She has always been my best friend in the entire world, and we are closer now than ever before. We had a cookout at her house on her birthday with my parents, then on Saturday we went to dinner at a...

the studio, always changing my new paper shelf i love having my drawing pencils, colored pencils, sharpies, and sketchpads all easy to reach I have been on it this week.  Before and after work I have a list of things to do posted on my cork board, like clean up the kitchen,  bedroom, take out the trash, do the animal chores, get clothes ready for work, pack lunch, stuff like that.  I've also been doing a six move ab workout every day,  along with a great new squat video that I have been doing  with my sister and our friend Savannah,  kind of a pre-weddings get in shape challenge.  It's great having friends to keep you motivated!  The time change has helped tremendously, staying light outside until almost eight o'clock.  On another note, Jonathan and I are now in the process of becoming shift managers at work.  We were discussing ways for Jonathan to get paid more, because he works his butt off,...

some days working in food service isn't so bad. And then there's today. When its miserable. People are mean and rude, impatient. The weirdos and creepers and trash all seem to come out of the woodwork. I sure hope that today isn't a preview of the year to come... Until next time, Angela Kelly

Over the past several months we have had more than our fair share of water issues on the farm.  First there was a broken joint under the house, fixed that. Then we lost water pressure. We moved the pressure tank up from under the house (why on earth do they put them where you can't get to them??) The next move was to pull up the well pump, 180 feet below ground. It was a tough job, but a family learning experience. After a long days work, all five of us covered head to toe in mud, we still didn't have water. FAILURE. The next morning, Sunday, we pull it up again, we're getting good at this now, and return the pump to town in exchange for another one. Put down the new pump. STILL NO WATER. Back to work for all of us on Monday, filthy and sweaty and gross. Tuesday we rush home from work, pull the pump for the third time, we're becoming professionals now, replace the entire line running down to the pump, drop it back down... WE STILL DON'T HAVE WATER. At this poin...