A New Beginning

I have been absent from Blogger for several weeks now and have an announcement to make.  O Wise One and I have been down South purchasing a new home and will be moving in the future. Hickery Holler Farm has been sold to a new owner. A young man who has grown up in the area and wishes to return to his roots with his wife and young family. O Wise One and I made this decision some time ago. We felt that we have gotten to an age where the everyday chores and upkeep of this amount of house and acreage had become a daily struggle. We no longer need 3 huge gardens as all the children have left home but Baby O and as she prepares to go off to college it is time to downsize. We no longer want to mow grass all day just to keep the grass down and do not require acres to sustain us.We once filled this 3,000 square foot home with children but alas they have all grown and married now and have homes and families of their own. We do not need to rattle around in this huge empty house and have elected to purchase a smaller home further south and with milder winters. Not so far south as to have to endure those scorching endless summers but far enough to not have to shovel snow for the entire winter. 

We have decided to move to Tennessee.  We return to my Southern roots.

We have purchased a small 1400 square foot single story brick home to downsize into.

 It has a beautiful shaded yard with towering oaks.

It also has a one acre FLAT fenced yard and is out in the country but not far from a small town. Lots of room for the dogs and some backyard chickens and a smaller garden. Closer to doctors and medical care. 

Instead of all that mowing we are going fishing! And investing in a small couples camper.

I will keep the blog but will not be posting often to give us time to move and get settled in. This seems sudden I know but we did not even get our home up for sale and it was sold. We had not one but three people offering to write us checks in the driveway. It had gotten out by word of mouth into the community and was sold within 48 hours of having it appraised and sold for the full asking price.  I will keep the Hickery Holler name because Hickery Holler is not a place but people, my people,  and a way of life.   I will still garden and can produce but on a smaller scale.  I hope to quilt more and maybe find a quilting guild that I like. 

The farm now belongs to new and younger owners, our new house has been purchased and we are simply waiting on the paperwork to be completed. We have started to go through our belongings and started giving things to the children, donating to Goodwill and packing the remaining belongings that we will be taking with us.    

Even more exciting is that I will be reuniting with my childhood friend Shelia. We have been together since third grade. I was maid of honor in her wedding and her in mine. All these years we have visited regularly and kept in touch. We will again be living near one another to share our lives and families. 

For us it is a new beginning as we approach the next chapter of our lives. We look forward to starting a new garden and learning to garden on a smaller scale. New fruit trees and asparagus and strawberry beds. We hope you will all wish us well and visit often once we are established and blogging again. I will leave all content up because I know so many refer back regularly for recipes. 

See you at the new Hickery Holler Farm!

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter