Lavender Jolly Acres — Developer Journal

Author: Laura Hunter

Created: October 2025

Project Start: October 1, 2025

Last Updated: October 5, 2026

Purpose: Internal reference for LJA site structure, assets, colors, and SEO best practices.

“An abecedarian’s notebook for a living, growing website.”

🐾 Animal Family Reference

Dogs

Iorek, Coco, Freckles, Tiny, Anna (Anastasia), Gypsy Rose, Ragnar, Freya Rose, Teddy, Dot (Dottie)

Goats

Sammy, CupCake, Snowy, Phoebe, Violet, HalfPint, Sugar, Brownie, Matilda

Cows

Ella, Elsie, Sven, Cinnamon

🎨 Brand Color Palette

Lavender Purple — #A78BFA
Farm Green — #166534
Hay Gold — #F59E0B
Off-White — #FDFCFB

🖼️ Image + Alt Text Guide

![Guardian dog Coco lying in the grass beside the pasture fence.](/images/Coco.jpg)

Markdown: ![Alt text](/path/to/image)
Astro/JSX: <img src="/images/Coco.jpg" alt="…" />
Keep under ~125 chars; include natural keywords.

⚙️ Common File Paths

/src/data/cows.js — Cow data + alt
/src/components/CowCard.astro — Card layout
/src/pages/cows.astro — Cows page loop
/src/data/abecedarian.ts — Abecedarian lessons
/src/pages/abecedarian.astro — Abecedarian page
/src/pages/dev-notes.astro — This handbook
/public/images/ — Photos & graphics

📈 SEO Best Practices

Unique title & description per page.
Use keywords naturally in first 150 words.
Readable URLs (e.g., /poems/living-loving).
Every image has descriptive alt.
Internal links between related posts.
Resubmit sitemap after structural changes.

🧭 Developer Refresh Checklist

Monthly and quarterly tasks to keep Lavender Jolly Acres current, healthy, and glowing.

🌿 10-Minute Monthly Quick Pass

Sync & Build
git pull
npm ci
npm run build
npm run preview
Check dependencies
npm outdated
npm update
Framework versions
npm info astro version
npm info tailwindcss version
Lint / Typecheck
npm run lint or npm run typecheck
Click-through test — key pages, images, alt text.
GA4 & Search Console — 30-day glance, coverage, sitemap.

🌾 Quarterly Deep Tune-Up

Deps refresh
npm outdated
npx npm-check-updates -u
npm i
npm run build && npm run preview
Security & perf
npm audit → npm audit fix; run Lighthouse; keep images < 1MB.
SEO & content — titles/descriptions, OG tags, internal links.
Accessibility — headings order, contrast, alts.
Backups
git add -A && git commit -m "Quarterly tune-up"
git push
Uptime check — load on iPhone (cell + Wi-Fi), HTTPS lock.

🧰 Optional npm Scripts

  {
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "astro dev",
    "build": "astro build",
    "preview": "astro preview",
    "lint": "eslint .",
    "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",
    "refresh": "npm ci && npm run build && npm run preview"
  }
}

Cadence: Monthly Quick Pass | Quarterly Deep Tune-Up

Muse checks the web for the latest docs before any coding steps. 🌾💜