PurdonGroves.com

How long has it been since you truly appreciated the gift of smell? I was in the car the other day and detected an odor that I thought...

I never cared much about history when I was growing up. It wasn’t one of the subjects in school that sparked my interest. Instead, I...

We bought our property as a place to retreat - for ourselves and for others. In the past seven years, it’s been just that. We’ve been...

I’ve never been much of a dreamer. It was my mother’s dream for me to be an exchange student in high school. It’s not something that was...

A few months ago my husband Houston and I made the decision to move from our farm back to downtown Corsicana. After almost three years of...

It’s funny the things you realize during really difficult times. Since breaking her hip, my mom has been in the hospital, and...

The intensity of this past week reminded me of “Stronger,” a piece I wrote back in the summer of 2020. While that column centered on...

Playing isn’t just for kids. Adults need to play too. Having a hobby is great, but speaking from experience, we can get so serious about...

Tuesday morning we woke up to find nine new piglets latched onto Lucille Ball, AKA Lucy, our three year old Kunekune pig. We had just...

We all have a story. It doesn’t matter where we grew up, how much money we have in the bank or what we do for a living. It’s easy to make...

In my lifetime I’ve had the opportunity to learn from some pretty amazing people. Whether older or younger than me, they’ve been examples...

We get the privilege of welcoming retreat seekers on a regular basis to our farm. I love to hear where they’re from, how they found us...

January is the month of new beginnings. The start of the year leads people to make resolutions for self improvement in a variety of...

Our favorite part of owning the farm is welcoming guests. While most spend the night glamping in one of the spacious canvas tents, others...

In the midst of a very busy month we made the decision to adopt a new puppy. Call us crazy, and maybe we are, but when the right one...

I started a jigsaw puzzle on New Year’s Day. I love the whole process - carefully slitting open the cardboard box, dumping pieces onto the table, and then organizing them by outside pieces and by color/pattern. I always look forward to seeing the pieces come together to make a complete picture.  I grew up in a home where we had a puzzle going most of the winter. My parents and my aunt and uncle sometimes got together to work on big, complicated images, like a pile of pinecone

The past two weeks have been a blur, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My plans of making the traditional Clark Christmas goodies...

As a writer, I like to begin my creative time with a writing prompt. I’ve used several websites - and a book or two - with an astounding...

Lately I’ve been considering the idea of scarcity versus abundance. Seems like I’m not the only one interested in this topic. Just do a...

Since the first donkeys stepped onto our property nearly four years ago, I’ve come to love and appreciate these fascinating creatures. Whether they’re rolling in the dirt, taking a dust bath, or quietly approaching a guest’s picnic table, looking for a tasty bite, they’re some of my favorite farm animals. I believe we can learn so much from animals. Earlier this week I learned a lesson from the donkeys. It was around nine o’clock in the morning and I was walking around the pr