Blog

Something about January feels like starting over. It is a new year and in this instance a new decade. Out with the old and in with the new. It is time for the January Declutter Challenge!

One way to start over and begin anew is to declutter.  This is not necessarily “in with the new” although some new shelving and cabinets may be required. Ours is more of an effort to clean up, reuse or repurpose as appropriate or find a new home for things that are just not needed any longer.

If you have been listening to Farm Chatter, you are aware of our challenge  to listeners (and now readers) to join in this declutter effort.

It can be daunting, but we have created a system.

Whole House Plan

It has been over 10 years since anything in this house had a real makeover. Throughout the coming weeks we will go through each and every room, sort out what occupies the room, donate what is not needed and re-organize what is left. This may eventually include refreshing paint or adding new color in other ways, but it starts with a thorough deep clean.

One Room At A Time

It is too overwhelming to think about cleaning three levels and 10+ years of accumulation of stuff all at once. That will lead to immobilization.

The antidote to this paralysis is to tackle one room at a time. Some days we have broken it down to even smaller areas: one closet or one kitchen cabinet. Think of the old saying about how to eat an elephant. One bite at a time.

20 Minutes a Day

Often what it takes is to just get started. Some times even looking at a jumbled up closet is too much to tackle. But committing to just 20 minutes a day is doable. Usually I end up spending more than that amount of time, but I know that if I can do at least 20 minutes, I have been successful for the day. Setting this small goal helps.

It may not be a fast pace, but every step is progress.  Each cabinet, closet, and drawer is one step closer to the ultimate goal of having a clean organized house.

Won’t you join the January Declutter Challenge?

While you are decluttering, don’t forget to save on shipping in our online Mercantile. During the month of January use the code SHIP25 for free shipping on orders over $25.00.

 

This has been a momentous year for Five Feline Farm. Much has changed, but our core desire to serve our customers has not.

First the changes:

—We both retired from our “day jobs”.

—Donna was awarded the Paul Overton award at EIU for outstanding service to off campus adult students.

—She was also recognized as an Outstanding Master Gardener.

—Honey Bee published her first book “Honey Bee Comes to the Farm.”

—In July we started attending a second farmer’s market each week. In addition to our regular attendance at the 18^th St. Farmer’s Market in Charleston every Saturday morning, we also are at the Casey Market Thyme on Friday mornings. Both, of course are only during the market season.

—The Mercantile has expanded days of operation from October through December.

—The inside of the Mercantile continues to expand and have finish work completed.

—We have expanded and refined our product line; adding soaps, shampoo bars, re-naming balms, new scone flavors, and mini-pies.

What has not changed:

—Our dedication to high quality, hand crafted products.

—The desire to grow and expand Five Feline Farm.

—Our commitment to value our customers and enhance your lives through fun, quality products and education.

As always, you can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For a real treat, listen to our weekly podcast: Farm Chatter.

 “Is there anything you don’t do?”

It is a question we get a lot here at Five Feline Farm. It’s true we do many things for ourselves; however the short answer is to the above question is: “Yes”. There are a lot of things we do not tackle. But, we certainly are of the mind set that anyone can do anything they want to do.

Today we want to encourage you to dream big. Make a list of all the things you might want to do. Don’t hold back. Put anything on your list that you have ever thought about doing. 

Pick one of those things.

What would it take to get to do that thing? Make another list of the steps involved, then start doing those things.

It really can be that simple, but it also requires work and dedication.

For example, almost two years ago, we wanted to start a podcast. Neither of us have any experience with podcasting, radio, television or anything even close. That did not deter us.

The list of steps to actually publish a podcast included google searches for programs and equipment to use, Youtube videos and even a Lynda.com short course. 

With the native Mac application “Garageband” and microphones ordered through Amazon, we recorded and edited our first podcast. A bit of research on Apple, Soundcloud and our own website host gave us everything we needed to know to set it all up and get it out into the world.  

On January 29, 2018, Episode 1 went live. By February 11, 2018, and the third episode, we were posting directly on fivefelinefarm.com/podcast. The first few episodes were rough. But as we kept doing it, week after week, we improved. At least the recording, editing and posting is smoother; and a lot of people tell us they are listening. Next week we will be recording Episode 100.

You can do this too.

Whether it is a podcast, Youtube channel, blog, business or whatever is in your heart to do. 

Just start.

If what you want to do is build a small business, especially a farmer’s market business, we are developing some tools you can use to walk through the process we followed. 

Let us know how we can help you. 

As always, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on this blog.