Author: Katy Flint

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Garden Update, 5/21/2018

— Katy FlintLeave a comment
Garden Update, 5/21/2018

Two weeks has come and gone! I’m not quite sure how, but that means we’re back for a garden update!

The Past 2 Weeks

The past two weeks have been crazy in our house.  M has started baseball practice, T is crazy busy working with #plant18 in full-swing finally!  And R…well, he’s had a couple of amazing weeks!  Track has come to an end finally (as of this past Friday), but not without him clenching the conference championship in the 110 High Hurdles along with earning a place at the state track & field championship!  I’m always proud of both of the boys, but I have to admit that watching him run at the state track championship this past Friday was the icing on the cake!  For me, it’s more about knowing how hard he has worked, how badly he wanted it, and seeing him succeed!  He already has new goals for next year and I love that!  Now, we have a couple “off” weeks before M starts baseball!  He hasn’t played in a couple years, but has been working hard and I can’t wait to watch him play and see how he does!

R is in the H-D jersey!

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Iowa

Exploring Our Backyard: Simply Nourished in Clear Lake, IA

— Katy Flint12 Comments
Exploring Our Backyard: Simply Nourished in Clear Lake, IA

Do you ever admire someone from afar (on social media) and when you finally get to meet them, they are just as fabulous in person as they are on Instagram?!   Well, for me that was the case with Simply Nourished in Clear Lake, Iowa!  Thanks to friends, I had been encouraged to follow Simply Nourished on Instagram and fell in love with the products they offered there and the ideas of how to use them!  I recently got the opportunity to visit their store in Clear Lake and I was not disappointed.

Clear Lake is one of my favorite towns to visit and it’s a handy 35 minutes from home.  However, due to busy schedules I don’t get there often enough! Recently, while in Clear Lake looking for flowers, we dropped by Simply Nourished!

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To All the Moms in My Life….Happy Mother’s Day

— Katy Flint2 Comments

It’s Mother’s Day and I’ve got a lot of Moms in my life! How lucky am I?!  I have my biological mom, a step-mom, two mother-in-laws, friends moms who have been like second (or third or fourth) moms in my life, and of course the mom of my amazing step-sons!  I thought it was appropriate today to give them all a shout out!

Mother's Day

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Iowa

Exploring our Backyard: Happy Acres Nursery in Osage, Iowa

— Katy Flint12 Comments
Exploring our Backyard: Happy Acres Nursery in Osage, Iowa

Osage, Iowa, is a great, charming little community, full of delightful gems! One of them is Happy Acres Nursery on the edge of town!

Exploring our Backyard

This past weekend, my mom and I took our annual garden shopping trip! This is something we have been doing at least once a year for the last 4-5 years! This year, we decided to explore a new nursery!  Traditionally, we have stuck closer to home (it is almost an hour drive to Osage for us), but this year, the nursery that was always our “go to” for annuals (plants that only bloom one season and then die) is no longer open!   As I was looking for new supplier, I remembered that a friend of ours owned a nursery in Osage!  We happened to run into said friend at a track meet and I grilled him about the items they carried at their nursery.  It was decided then that Happy Acres Nursery was where Mom & I were destined to land!

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Garden Update – May 6th 2018 – Spring Has Sprung

— Katy Flint4 Comments

Can you believe two weeks has come and gone?! Spring has officially sprung here in North Iowa!

An Update

Two weeks has passed since our first update of the season and yes, Spring has officially sprung in North Iowa!  Thankfully we haven’t received any snow since April 18th!  However, we have had our share of rain and that has caused us to not be able to get our vegetable garden planted!  (It is in a very low spot).  When it’s nice out T is in the field with his farmers, so ours has to wait…and when he’s not busy, it’s too wet!  It’s a vicious circle that we hope breaks up soon!  Until then, we have cucumbers and melons growing in our basement under a grow-light and a grape tomato plant in a pot on the deck!  I’m excited to have such easy access to my grape tomatoes this summer!

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Iowa

Block 10 @ 1921 City Hall: Where Coffee & History Collide

— Katy Flint20 Comments

Where do I spend the most time in Sheffield, Iowa? It’s at work, but the second place I spend the most time at is Block 10 @ 1921 City Hall.  This is a fantastic coffee shop around the corner from my office!  For the first 2.5 years I worked in Sheffield there was no coffee shop, but thanks to Randy and Holly Coffee, we don’t go without any longer!  There’s just something wrong with a gas station cappuccino…or whatever they want to call it!  So, I’m thrilled they are a part of our community!

This “Season”

There are certain times in our yearly calendar in which we don’t travel far from home.  Or, if we do, it’s to track meets, baseball games, basketball games, etc.  There are also times of the year that we don’t travel far due to T’s job!  (Read more about that here!)  So, since we can’t get in the car and drive for hours and hours to explore, I thought it would be a good time to focus on what we have right in our own backyard!  That means we’re starting with one of my favorite places in my backyard, Block 10 at 1921 Sheffield City Hall.

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Garden Update – April 23rd 2018 – Spring is Here

— Katy Flint2 Comments

Spring is finally here!!

I might be a little premature starting my garden updates already, but after the delayed spring we’ve had…I can’t hep it, I’m so stinking excited that the warmer weather is finally here and the plants are growing!

Delayed Spring

If you’re not aware, Iowa has had the craziest spring!  We’ve been having more winter than spring!  This includes receiving a winter storm this past Wednesday (April 18th) that included 5 inches of snow plus some sleet!  Thankfully, Mother Nature finally seems to be in a good mood and this weekend we finally hit those 60 degree temps!  Prior to this weekend, I had noticed that some of my bulbs were up, but I was worried about them with the cold temps and snow again!  I’m happy to report that they seemed to weather the storm just fine!

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Oil Pulling with CoCoRoo’s Mint Condition

— Katy Flint6 Comments
Oil Pulling with CoCoRoo’s Mint Condition

I’m rarely intimidated by anything.  When I was approached by the fabulous founder of CoCoRoo about trying oil pulling, it was no different.  I was game, but big time intimidated!  I definitely had never oil pulled before.  Actually, I just started using coconut oil for cooking and moisturizing within the last year or so!  But, I love the people at CoCoRoo and their products so much that I was game!

Image courtesy of CocoRoo Body

Oil Pulling

Oil pulling, according to Wikipedia, is “an alternative medical practice in which oil is “swished” around the mouth…gargled…or held in the mouth”  There are many benefits that can be obtained from oil pulling.   These include oral health, reduction of headaches, acne, and it can help with whitening teeth!  I like to think that I have pretty good oral hygiene.  However, as I age I find it takes a little more work to keep everything “up to par”!

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