Every year, the summer gets away from me. I think I have everything so neat and planned, and then, as always, life intervenes. There’s so much going on that I’m constantly moving from one thing to the next, and there are babies of all kinds underfoot.
Just when I think I’m going to write to you about something, something else even cuter, better, more insistent or more exciting lands in our laps, waddles across the grass, or in some cases, tornadoes out of its hive and covers the land in a buzzing cacophony. (I’m looking at you, honeybees…)
That’s the way July goes.
They say things come in threes. This month thus far, we’ve had three bee swarms, three newborn kittens, and nearly 30 baby geese. The geese clearly wanted to drive the message home.
Plus, of course, the normal July in Vermont things, like summer camps, hiking trips, and finding a way to get a dip in a pond, river, or lake at least once a day if possible.
Every one of those stories deserves its own letter, and I’m writing them now. Honeybees who won’t stay in their hive, geese who put rabbits to shame with babies this year, and more kitten snuggles than a lap can hold.
Those three are going out over the next couple of weeks, one at a time, but they’re going out through my own email list rather than here.
I’m not leaving Substack, to be clear. The monthly updates will keep landing in your inbox just like always, with some sneak peeks of our life here in Vermont by way of photo journal (as you’ll see below). I write for my living, so to some extent, being on all the platforms is just par for the course.
But more and more, I find myself avoiding posting simply because Substack is becoming less a newsletter platform and more a social media platform every day. There are feeds, algorithms, and rankings…and honestly, it’s just more than I can take.
I’m not a social media person. I’m a feet in the pond, cool breeze through my hair, watching the littles play in the yard kinda person. Reels, short videos, and virality be damned.
I want to create somewhere that’s my own, that I can use to connect with you, my readers, that’s not curated, sifted, or otherwise fiddled with by the tech bros that be.
(If you’re already on my list, signing up again won’t hurt anything.)
Letters from my own list will come from Ashley@PracticalSelfReliance.com, and that inbox goes straight to me. Send me a note there, and add me to your contacts list to make sure you never miss a thing.
Ok, that’s enough administrative kerfuffles for one note. On to the pictures!
What are you harvesting, preserving, building, or exploring on your homestead this week? I’d love to hear about it!
Write to me directly at Ashley@practicalselfreliance.com. That’s my own address now, on my own domain, and it comes straight to me.
If you add it to your contacts, my letters will land in your inbox instead of getting shuffled off into promotions or spam, which matters more than you’d think these days. Replies help too. The email providers pay attention to who you actually write back to.
Starting later this week, you’ll see emails coming straight from me on my new list.
(Already on my list? You’re all set. Not sure? Signing up twice won’t hurt a thing. Here’s where you can make sure you’re signed up.)
Until Next Time,
Ashley at Practical Self Reliance and Creative Canning
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