Joy Lane Happenings

It's a cool morning this morning, and I'm enjoying the feeling of wearing a sweater, sipping my hot coffee while the girls are finishing their morning chores before school. I'll be heading into the studio to make 8 batches of goat milk soap later, but before then, I'm fixing a car ahead of the farmers market tomorrow. Last year, the lift supports for our 2014 Subaru Forester broke, and I bought replacements, but the Forester is a little unique in that it has 3, not two, and I never got around to getting the third one. We've been holding it...

At dusk, we love sitting out in our yard, watching the birds dart around in circles overhead. There’s dozens of them, all the same kind, that come out as the sun sets. We’ve pointed them out to friends lots of times. Well, a couple nights ago, Katy and I were sitting in the yard having drinks. “I wonder if they’re all over Rollinsford or just over our house,” I said. “One just went in the chimney!” Katy exclaimed. It didn't dive as much as flap to a midair standstill and then fall inside. I did a little research, and they’re...

Hi Everyone! We’ve had a couple hundred more likes and follows this week (woo woo woo!), so we wanted to circle back and introduce ourselves 😊 We’re Joel and Katy, the makers behind Joy Lane Farm. We live in Rollinsford, NH in a historic mill house that we’re renovating with our three daughters who are six and under. Joy lane Farm is the name of my (Joel’s) childhood homestead, and God-willing, our future farm! We have a soap-making studio in the Salmon Falls Mill down the road from our house where we make goat milk soaps, shea butter lotions, and lots...

I was cleaning out some old boards stored in the ceiling joists of our basement, when some dusty scraps of paper fell out and landed on the cement floor. They were war letters written from 1943 to 1945 to a Grace Dionne who lived in Rollinsford. They were from her sweetheart, Eddie, writing first from NY, then from Italy until the last letter on July 18th, 1945, a couple months after V.E. Day. In one letter, he says it would be a miracle, but he heard he might get to come home by October. It was written in 1943. In...

I was cleaning out some old boards stored in the ceiling joists of our basement, when some dusty scraps of paper fell out and landed on the cement floor. They were war letters written from 1943 to 1945 to a Grace Dionne who lived in Rollinsford. They were from her sweetheart, Eddie, writing first from NY, then from Italy until the last letter on July 18th, 1945, a couple months after V.E. Day. In one letter, he says it would be a miracle, but he heard he might get to come home by October. It was written in 1943. In...