A New Tradition at Sweet Williams at Alder Creek

There is something magical about midsummer on the farm.

The garden is overflowing with blooms waiting to be gathered for bouquets, honeybee's drift lazily from flower to flower, herbs are swaying in the warm breeze on the deck, and baskets are filling with the season's harvest.  It is the time of year when I find myself preserving every little bit of summer I can.

At Sweet Williams at Alder Creek, I've learned that homesteading isn't about doing everything perfectly.  It's about creating a home filled with intention, slowing down enough to enjoy the process, and finding joy in making beautiful things from simple ingredients.

While the flowers are blooming outside my kitchen becomes a place for preserving  memories just as much as food.

One of my favorite new traditions is starting jars of homemade limoncello and homemade vanilla extract.  Neither is complicated. Both simply ask for one thing we don't often give ourselves  enough of --- time.

Why Homemade Pantry Staples Are Worth the Wait

One of the greatest gifts homesteading has given me is the ability to appreciate slow projects. In fact after the busy work day, or day transporting kids this is something I look forward to.

We plant seeds months before harvesting vegetables.

We care for bees long before tasting fresh honey (still haven't after two years for one reason or another harvested.....)

We nurture flowers weeks before they become bouquets on someone's table.

Homemade Limoncello and Vanilla  follow that same rhythm.

There is something incredibly satisfying about reaching into the pantry during the holidays and pulling out a bottle that has been quietly aging since summer.

Homemade Limoncello: Bottling Sunshine

If sunshine had a flavor, I think it would taste like homemade Limoncello.

As a new tradition, every July  I will gather up fragrant acidic lemons and spend a quiet morning peeling them.  As the citrus oils fill the kitchen, the entire house smells clean, bright  and full of summer. 

What You'll Need

• 8-10 lemons (organic if you choose)
• 750 ml quality vodka (80-100 proof)
• Large glass jars with tight fitting lids

Using a vegetable peeler, carefully remove only the bright yellow zest, avoiding the white pith, which can add bitterness.

Place the peels into your jar and cover completely with vodka.

Seal tightly and tuck the jar into a cool, dark pantry or cupboard.

Now comes the easiest -- and hardest ---- part.

Wait.

Over the next four to six weeks gently shake the jar every few days.  You'll watch the vodka slowly transform into the most beautiful golden color as it absorbs the fragrant citrus oils.

When the infusion is complete, strain out the peels.

To finish the Limoncello, prepare a simple syrup using equal parts sugar and water. Allow it to cool completely before stirring it into the infused vodka.  Adjust the sweetness to your family's taste.

Bottle it.  I used these cute bottles I purchased off Amazon.  Store finished bottles in the freezer for an icy after dinner treat or mix with sparkling water for a refreshing summer drink.

Homestead Tip:    

Never waste the peeled lemons.  Juices then and freeze the juice in ice cube trays for lemonade , baking, marinades or fresh salad dressings.

(Photo to be added after the wait time for the Limoncello and bottling process).

Homemade Vanilla Extract: A Baker's Secret

There is nothing like quite like like opening a bottle of homemade vanilla.

The rich aroma alone makes every cookie, cake, loaf of sourdough cinnamon bread or homemade frosting feel extra special.

Even better?

It only takes a few minutes to make.

Ingredients

• 8-10 vanilla beans
• 2 Cups Vodka
• Glass jar or swing-top bottle

Split each vanilla bean lengthwise, leaving one end attached.

Place them into the bottle and cover completely with vodka.

Seal tightly.

Store in a cool, dark cupboard.

Shake gently every week or two.

While homemade vanilla can be used after about six months, I think it becomes even richer after a full year.

One of my favorite parts is that the bottle never truly has to be empty.  Simply top it off with additional vodka as you use it, making sure the beans stay submerged.  When the flavor beings to fade after many months, add a few fresh vanilla beans and continue the tradition.

A Simple Homemade Gift from the Heart

One of the sweetest parts of making these pantry staples is sharing them.

Around Christmas, I will pour Limoncello into pretty glass bottles, tie them with a ribbon, and tuck a handwritten recipe card.

Homemade Vanilla becomes a thoughtful gift tucked into baking baskets alongside jars of local honey, sourdough starter or a loaf of sourdough bread, or homemade bath-salts.

The most meaningful gifts rarely come from a store.

They come from your own kitchen, your own hands, and a little patience.

Slow Living is Built One Jar at a Time

People often imagine homesteading as acres of land, livestock, and endless chores.

While those things certainly have their place, I've discovered that the heart of homesteading lives in much smaller moments.

It's gathering flowers before breakfast.

Watching the honeybee's drift across the lavender.

Hanging herbs to dry.

Mixing sourdough before bed.

Starting vanilla in July so that it is ready for Christmas baking.

Peeling lemons while the windows are open and the evening  breeze carries in the scent of fresh-cut lazy hay from the neighboring farm.

Those ordinary moments slowly become family traditions.

They become memories.

And someday , I hope they're the things my children remember the most-- not because they were extravagant, but because they were made with love.

Thank you for spending a little time here at Sweet Williams @ Alder Creek. 

I hope this inspires you to begin your own slow-living traditions, one jar at a time.

If you make homemade Limoncello, or Vanilla extract this year.  I'd love to see it.  Tag Sweet Williams at Alder Creek so we can celebrate your homestead journey together.

Happy preserving, and may your pantry always be filled with a little homemade goodness.

With love from our farm to yours,

Margo 

Sweet Williams at Alder Creek

From Senior Sunrise to Senior Sunset: A Mom's Heart in the home stretch of senior year

I always knew this week would come -- the final stretch of high school for my first born, the last four days of school bells and hall passes, the last time I'd remind him to grab a jacket, or ask if he finished that assignment.  But knowing it's coming and actually living it are two very different things.

These days feel like a blur of schedules, celebrations, and emotions I didn't expect to hit quite this hard.

The Final Push (aka: "Please, child, don't senior-slide now")

We're in the home stretch, and I swear I've said "finish strong" more times this week than I did in the last four years combined.  Grades still matter, finals still exist, and the next part of his journey still look at transcripts --- but senioritis is real, and it is bold.

So here I am gently nudging, reminding, encouraging... and of course beaming with pride when he is successful.

The Schedule That Could Be Its Own Full-Time Job

These last four days of school and the following week are packed tighter than his backpack on the first day of freshman year:

Last Day for Willamette Career Academy

Awards Night for his WCA program

Finals for SHS- Because apparently the universe thinks emotions and exams should coexist

Senior Sunset -- The symbolic ending, hanging with friends, celebrating watching the sun set with kids who have grown up together; the beginning of the final curtain to this chapter.

Kickball: Seniors vs. Staff- where bragging rights matter more than GPAs

ASB BBQs- because teens can always eat

Hanging with friends/girlfriend- soaking up every last inside joke, late night gaming and more

SHS Awards nights- where I'll be the mom clutching tissues in one hand and my phone camera in the other

Scholarship announcements-  the proud mom explosions

Graduation announcements arriving from friends near and far- each one a reminder that all of us mom are walking this bittersweet road together.

AND SO MUCH MORE

It's beautiful.

It's exhausting.

It's everything.

The Mom Journey Behind the Milestones

Every time I see another graduation annoucement in the mailbox, I think about the moms behind them -  the ones we met just a few years ago beginning in Kindergarten, the ones who packed lunches, sat through freezing soccer games, helped with projects, and whispered pep talks through bathroom doors before big days.

We've all watched our kids grow through scraped knees, heartbreaks, victories, and late-night homework meltdowns.  And now we're watching them step into the world with the same awe we felt the first time they took a wobbly step toward us.  

This chapter isn't just theirs.

It's ours too.

But There's Another Story Happening Too:  The Younger Sibling

While all eyes are on our senior, there's a quieter shift happening in the background-  the younger sibling watching everything change.   

They feel it too.

The excitement (of their own 8th grade promotion and watching older brother with HS graduation).

The pride.

The loss.

Next year will look different for them -- a different rhythm in the house, a different seat at the dinner table, (or and empty one reminding us daily of the change), a different role in the family dynamic.  They're watching their big brother pack up memories and step into a new world, and even if they don't say it out loud, they know life is about to shift.

There's a kind of grief in that  -- the soft, subtle kind that sneaks up on you.

The loss of a built-in best friend.

The loss of the familiar noise in the room next door.

The loss of the everyday moments they didn't realize they'd miss.

But there's resilience too.

Siblings learn to stretch. 

They learn to adapt.

They learn that love doesn't shrink with distance -- it grows in new directions.

And as a mom, I'm holding space for both my boys at once: one launching, one adjusting.  One stepping forwards, one recalibrating.  Both learning who they are in this new chapter. 

Senior Sunset: The Ending We're Not Ready For

In a few days, they'll gather again for Senior Sunset, closing the chapter they opened at sunrise.  They'll laugh, take pictures and talk about the future like it's already unfolding.  

And I'll be somewhere nearby, holding the memories of the little boy he was, the young man he's become, and the sibling who's learning to navigate this transition too.

This isn't just his ending.

It's our family's turning point.

A moment of change, loss, growth, and resilience - all wrapped into one sunset.

The Final Final Week: The Countdown Gets Real

As I think about the next four school days and all that is jam packed into that and I think the emotional roller coaster is slowing down, the actual last week will arrive in June  -- the one that makes everything feel real.

Graduation practice -- where they rehearse the moment we've all been imagining for years

Graduation- with pomp and circumstance, speeches, tassels, caps & gowns, cords, leis and stoles

The all-night senior party -- the last big hurrah with the classmates that shaped their childhood

Home celebrations -- family, food, photos and the kind of joy that fills every corner of the house

This final week  where the cap & gown hang in the hallway like a symbol of everything he's worked for.  The week where the younger sibling overs a little closer, soaking up the last days before the house feels different.  The week where I find myself alternating between laughter and tears with no warning whatsoever.

And even thought I'm not fully ready, I'm cheering him on.

Cheering both of them on.

Because that's what moms do.

Eight Fridays and a Graduation: Letting Go, One Week at a Time

 There’s a quiet shift happening in our house, and I’m not sure I am ready for it.

Somewhere between trade school and high school emails, group chats lighting up late into the night, and the growing to do list for graduation on the counter, I realized we are in the final stretch of my firstborn son’s senior year. The final stretch. Just nine weeks left. Eight more Fridays of school—and the ninth? Graduation.

I keep saying the numbers out loud like they might slow time down if I acknowledge them properly.

Nine weeks.

Eight Fridays.

One cap and gown.

And a whole lot of “first lasts.”

The calendar has become my command center—awards nights penciled in, deadlines circled, reminders scribbled in every available space. Graduation announcements are addressed and  sent,  somehow  that makes everything feel more real. Every day seems to bring a new event, a new milestone, a new moment that whispers, this won’t happen again.

Prom is just around the corner, and with it comes that mix of excitement and nostalgia. The suit fittings, the plans, the photos we’ll take whether he protests or not. It feels like just yesterday I was tying his shoes, and now he’s coordinating dinners and after-parties.

And then there are the “new experiences” that remind me just how much he’s growing up. Conversations about tattoos—yes, tattoos—have entered our world. Carefully thought-out designs, meanings behind them, timing, permanence. These aren’t little kid decisions anymore. These are adult conversations. And while part of me wants to press pause, another part knows this is exactly what we’ve been raising him for—to think, to choose, to become.

His friends are everything right now, as they should be. The late-night hangs, the spontaneous plans, the “one last time before we all go our separate ways” energy—it’s constant. Our house has become a revolving door, and I’m trying to say yes more than no, knowing these moments matter in ways I can’t fully measure.

In between all of that, real life continues. Scholarship applications have been submitted and thanks you cards need to be written. Essays drafted, revised, and submitted. Deadlines don’t care about nostalgia. There are still assignments to turn in, tests to take, and grades to maintain. And lurking in the background is that all-too-familiar senioritis, just waiting for an invitation.

We talk about it often—finding that balance between soaking it all in and staying focused. I remind him (and sometimes myself) that finishing strong matters. That these last weeks aren’t just about endings, but about follow-through. About showing up, even when the finish line is in sight.

Because that’s what this season really is: a transition.

I see it in the way he carries himself now. The way he speaks about the future. The excitement and confidence with every notice of being a scholarship recipient and how he rushes to call me or his father with the news.  The independence, the confidence, the glimpses of the man he’s becoming. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking all at once.

Motherhood has always been a series of letting go in small, almost invisible ways. But this one? This one feels big.

So I’m holding on and letting go at the same time.

I am savoring every, "I love you mom!" and am thankful he says that frequently, every hug and every time he laughs.  

I’m cheering him on as he checks off each final milestone.

I’m reminding him to stay present, to finish what he started, to keep going even when motivation dips.

And I’m quietly taking it all in—the laughter, the chaos, the countdowns, the lasts.

Because in just nine short weeks, everything will change.

And somehow, we’ll both be ready. ( I think?).

Simply Living into 2026

 As the calendar turns to 2026, I find myself craving less noise and more meaning.  Maybe that is because this is the year I turn 50 years young.  (Yeah you heard me, not sure I heard myself, but saying that out loud is certainly something else!)

Not a dramatic overhaul.  Not a perfectly color-coded planner.  Just a gentler way of living that fits into real life-- the kind with transporting kids to and from things, laundry piles, half-finished cups of coffee and kids who need us in the middle of everything.

This year, I'm choosing simple living.

For me, that doesn't mean doing less out of laziness or lowering expectations. It means doing what matters with intention, and letting go of what doesn't.  It means building my days around small habits that support the life I'm already living, instead of chasing some future version of myself who has it all figured out.

The Power of Daily Habits

Instead of big resolutions, I'm focusing on daily practices- tiny anchors that ground me when life feels rushed or overwhelming.

Drinking water.

It sounds almost too simple, but caring for my body starts here.  Before I can pour into my kids, my work, or my home, I need to remember that my own needs matter too.  A full water bottle on the counter feels like a small promise to myself: I'm paying attention.

Being mindful of time.

Not in a productivity-obsessed way, but in a presence-focused way.  Time is one of the most precious things we give our families, and I don't want to spend it constantly distracted or rushing through moments that won't come back.  I'm learning to slow down--pausing before saying yes, leaving space between tasks and allowing rest to be part of the plan.

Being present.

This one is harder than it sounds.  Presence looks like putting the phone down when my child is talking.  It looks like listening without multitasking.  It look slike noticing the ordinary magic-- inside jokes, quiet car rids, bedtime conversations that stretvh longer than planned.  These are the moments that build a life, even though they don't look impressive from the outside.

Letting Growth Be Quiet.

There is also a larger goal I'm carrying into 2026-- one that matters deeply to me-- but I'm not ready to share just yet.  

Not because it's secretive, but because some things need time to grow quietly.

Motherhood has taught me that not everything needs to be announced to be meaningful.  Some dreams are better nurtured in private, protected from outside noise and expectations.  I'm allowing myself the freedom to work toward this goal slowly, intentionally, and imperfectly--trusting  that when the time is right, it will make sense to share.

Choosing "Enough"

This year, I'm releasing the pressure to do more, be more, and prove more.

Instead, I'm choosing enough.

Enough effort.

Enough grace.

Enough Presence.

I want my kids to see a mom who lives with intention--not one who is constantly chasing the next thing, but one who values what's right in front of her.  I want our home to feel calm, even on loud days.  I want my life to feel aligned, even when it is messy.

2026 isn't about perfection.  It's about paying attention.  It's about building a life through small daily choices that add up over time.

And if all I do this year is drink my water, show up fully, protect my time, and quietly work toward what matters most--then I believe that will be more than enough.

Here's to simply living into the new year.