A Reflection of 2016 at Duke Manor Farm

In true tradition here on the blog, I wanted to share a reflection of 2016  at Duke Manor Farm. A look back at some of the moments, highlights and life in general that went on during the year. I hope the New Year is going well for all of you. 7  days in and I am still in a fog from the holidays. What about you?

A Reflection of 2016 at Duke Manor Farm

Projects

Last year was less about room makeovers and more about enjoying the house and the property. In fact I only shared a few makeovers here on the blog. One of the biggest projects was installing new floors in the guest house. We absolutely love how the floors turned out and are thinking about using the same product for the boys bedroom sometime in 2017.

The other big project around here was building the Chicken Coop. You saw more updates over here.  As soon as Spring rolls around we will finish any of the landscape around the coop. I have plans this year to share the building process as well the actual plans. If you are chicken enthusiast or just like to read about how we are raising chickens on the farm, look for more of those updates this year.

The other, and not so big of a makeover, were a few changes in my home office. It was more organization than real changes…and it needed it. I am happy to say, that the space is still looking as pretty as it did when I shared it here.  I have been trying hard not to let it get out of control and a dumping ground again. The room can officially be checked off the ‘to-do’ list when I order some curtains and an accent chair in the coming months.

Travel

2016 ushered in quite the milestone for me. Turing 50. And having a twin sister, made it that much more special. Posts like this and this one, help settle the reality for my mind and body. The highlight of my birthday was a trip to Europe in the Spring with my sister, niece and mom. TRIP OF A LIFETIME. I still plan on sharing all of the sites that we saw like the amazing Colosseum in Rome. It is so unbelievable and almost difficult to  put into words how you feel when you are there witnessing the amount of history still standing in the city after all these thousands of years later. You can read some of my traveling posts from Europe here and here.

and I can’t forget the beautiful blooms that we saw everywhere we looked while we were in Paris. Just gorgeous.

The Garden

As I mentioned, I really got to enjoy the outdoors of our property this year. Duke Manor Farm is on 25 acres, so there is plenty to do around here, and nothing is every really ever completely finished. Besides how boring would that be! My passion for gardening was played out during the summer months where I shared some gardening tips here  and here. I had a first this year and even grew my own peaches.

and took watermelons from the garden and made a delicious summer cocktail for adults and a version for the kiddos. Search ‘Garden’ for more tips and ideas for the outdoors.

I faced some of my own fears this year by putting myself in front of the camera. Posts like this actually helped me to get more comfortable with doing that, and at the same time hopefully providing some great shopping tips for you. I will be doing more of this throughout the year.  I will also be sharing more family friendly recipes that work well for busy households like mine.

The last project of 2016

The last project of the year was actually a room switcheroo. One morning last fall we moved the kitchen table into the dining room and created a sitting space to take full advantage of the fireplace.  As you may recall , the fireplace was inoperable for the last 5 years due to an actual fire that occurred because we didn’t have it cleaned timely. We got it repaired over the summer and every since the switch, we have really been enjoying the space. Especially on mornings like today when it is 20 degrees.

Speaking of 20 degrees, we didn’t exactly have the 4-6 inches of snowfall that they predicted over night, but someone still had fun this morning when they work up. Click here for a little video that I published.

I hope you enjoyed my reflection of 2016 at Duke Manor Farm.

Enjoy your weekend!

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grateful

for all the adventure that awaits in 2017