A Little Bit About Me
Happy 2026!
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and visit for a while. I thought I would share a little bit about myself here.
I am Donna, a Homemaker for almost 46 years. While that sounds like a long time, it feels like it has gone by in the blink of an eye! That word – Homemaker – has encompassed so much. It has been the greatest journey and experience I have ever been on.
I married very young at the age of 17 and we have four children and (at current count) 5 grandchildren. While I have worked for a few months outside the home over the years, I have been primarily a stay-at-home wife and mama. We homebirthed, homeschooled, home-businessed, made lots of mistakes. learned tons of stuff and so much more over the years.
Back in 2005, I discovered blogging and had my original Mice and Moonbeams blog. What fun those days were! I posted almost daily and had developed so many great friendships along the way. It was so cozy back then – like visiting friends for a cup of coffee and a basket of muffins to share our days, our ups and downs, our successes and “failures”. Comments were left and responded to – there were no “like buttons”. We held “blog parties” and blogging challenges. We wrote posts that were actually read and commented on and not “swiped” or “scrolled”. I learned how to paint from artists who visited my blog and shared tips of how to improve my art; I learned all about fiber arts and fell in love with needlefelting. We participated in seasonal “parties” and I created items to offer as giveaways on my little blog. We did “artist trades” and shared recipes.
Things in the blogging world began to shift when blogs became more of a business model than a cozy place to visit with friends. Still, my friends and I kept plugging along. I was full of ideas about what to write about and post. I was given a little digital camera and took up amateur photography, which opened a whole new world for me. However, as the business models for monetizing blogs, drive for view counts and Blog Feed subscriptions grew, it became less cozy, less friendly. Social media changed the landscape completely and everyone shifted to platforms like Facebook. Gone were the actual interactions and comments – replaced by a like button.
One day, I was backing up my blog – or thought I was – and ended up deleting the entire thing. It was irretrievable. I was devastated. I just did not have the energy to try to recreate it. I ended up also eventually losing my domain name for a time, so I just let it all go and moved on to other things.
One day I was curious and did a search online for the Mice and Moonbeams domain name and found that it was available. I snatched it up and have sat on it for years. I have decided that 2026 is the year to begin publicly writing again.
I have missed writing and sharing fun things online. I have missed those interactions with other bloggers. AI has changed the landscape again, but in talking to others, I hear a frustration and weariness – a desire for REAL people rather than AI blogs to learn from, share and interact with.
I want to be one of the REAL ones.
I intend for this blog to be a cozy spot to visit – the place I share my life – daily life, gardening and growing things, baking and cooking, preserving foods and building a pantry of staples. All the happy homemaking things that go on in my little Mouse House!
So thank you for stopping by and getting to know a little bit about me. I hope you will come back again and stay for a while. There will always be a cup of tea or a mug of coffee and a basket of homemade muffins to share! xo
