 We've started 2017 with a bang. As I previously posted, my husband had his aortic valve replacement surgery, and I am happy to report he is at home recovering. He's doing very well. We are in the thick of my son's final swim season. He is a senior this year and it's the last year of varsity swim. The schedule is fairly busy at this time of year for us. I have had a little time in the past few days to do some planning for our growing season 2017. For our family, a happy medium is in order. We have decided when our planting matures and are ready for harvest, we will open our farm for select U-pick weekends in season rather than being open to the public full-time. Our products will be available onsite at these events. We also plan to be more involved in local Farmer's markets/craft shows and we will continue to sell online through our Etsy store and ecommerce on this website. Garden Design: I am having a lot fun and getting the creative juices flowing planning the design of our new farm/gardens. We are looking into erecting a small greenhouse and also planning our plots of lavender and a herb garden. Plan for a lavender labyrinth and butterfly garden are also in the mix. We will be doing some mass planting this spring so I will be ordering plants soon. We plan to get some locally and some online. We are really excited about all the changes coming! Please continue to follow our progress.  LAVENDER ROSE FLORAL DESIGNI have started creating bouquets of lavender and lavender and other dried wildflowers, herbs, and ornamental grasses. I used a larkspur, wheat, oregano, yarrow, cedar and berries (see our Etsy store for bouquet offerings). I've found the bouquets are one of my favorites to make. I enjoy working with the flowers and creating beautiful bouquets that can be used for weddings but also for home decor. I do see floral design being more prevalent in our product offerings including more wreaths.
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 Today I just wanted to give a brief note about some personal struggles and blessings we've been going through. My husband was diagnosed with a bicupsid aortic valve in his heart last March when we were living in Marquette, Mi. It's been a long and sometimes difficult journey for us knowing that open heart surgery was in the future. After a job transfer back downstate to the Southeastern Michigan area, we had to start over with his cardiac care at a new facility. This proved to be a true blessing because now he was able to go to the Ann Arbor, Mi VA. For those familiar with the facility, it is right next to the University of Michigan Hospital, which is known as a leader for the cardiac care and surgery. U of M surgical group goes back and forth doing surgeries at both U of M and the Ann Arbor VA. It was finally time to fix the leaky heart valve. I was very nervous about this surgery as it's open heart surgery. My husband on the other hand was completely at peace. He is a man of very strong faith and he felt God had him in this and he just had a sense of such peace knowing he would be fine. I did receive more calm from my husband's assurances and increased my own faith and sense of peace about the operation. He had the surgery this past Monday. Everything went well. The heart was in great condition other than that sneaky ole leaky valve he was born with. He made phenomenal progress in the first two days in ICU, and on the third day he was on step down unit. He was released on the 4th day of hospitalization, which is really accelerated for a lot of people. He had no complications so far. Some pain obviously but is at home and walking on his own. Activity is restricted for about 4-6 weeks, but he is on the road to recovery. I know we both feel so completely blessed so I felt led to post an update about his surgery. We also received a lot of help, support, and friendship from an online Heart Valve replacement Group on Facebook. Here is the link, https://www.facebook.com/groups/15618633322/ We even "met" a young lady online who was having the very same surgery, the very next day, with the same surgeon as my husband's only she was having her surgery at U of M instead of the VA . I kept in contact with Leesa and texted with her on Jeff's progress and have been tracking her progress with her family members/friends after her surgery. She is doing well also. We are so thankful for our Great God for all these blessings and bringing these people into our lives during this time. As far as farm news, the shop is on hiatus until next week. I need to do a little care giving for hubby at home. We also are in the beginning phases of planning for planting this spring/summer. We are planning a larger planting this year of several hundred plants. We also have been thinking of a volunteer planting day for any who would like to help us get these plants in the ground. More updates to come. Have a blessed day. Elaine S.  |
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