Residing at the Helm...........Being Your Own Village

A shared posting from a website I subscribe to........enjoy:

Sometimes we need to be our own village and utilizing all of our skills and learning more.





Simple survival requires us to be in possession of many skills. The pursuit of dreams requires many more. Most individuals rely on the support of a village, whether peopled by relatives or community members, to effectively address the numerous ways we need assistance. This can mean anything from asking favors of acquaintances and leaning on loved ones for support to paying a skilled artisan to handle specialized tasks. However, each human being is born with the capacity to be their own village. We embody many roles throughout our lifetimes, all of which are representative of our capacity for self-sufficiency and self-determination. In different moments in our lives, we are our own counselor, janitor, caregiver, cook, healer, teacher, and student. Our willingness to joyfully take on these roles grants us the power to maintain control over the direction our life’s journey takes.



In times past, human beings learned all of the skills needed for survival. Today, the majority of people specialize in a single discipline, which they hone throughout their lives. Thus, many of us feel uncomfortable standing at the helm of our own existence. We question our ability to make decisions concerning our own health, happiness, and welfare, and are left feeling dependent and powerless. But the authority to take ultimate responsibility for our lives is simply a matter of believing that we have the necessary faith and intelligence to cope with any circumstance the universe chooses to place in our path. Proving that we can each be our own villages through action enables us to accept that we are strong enough to exist autonomously. Cooking, cultivating a garden of fruits and vegetables, undertaking minor home repair, or adopting a healthier lifestyle can help you reassert your will.



Being your own village does not mean embracing isolation, for a balanced life is built upon the dual foundations of the inner and the outer villages. Rather, being your own village is a celebration of your wondrous inner strength and resourcefulness, as well as an acknowledgment of your innate ability to capably steer the course of your life.

Peace to all of you, who find your inner and outer villages!







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~ Silly Boys...........Trucks are for Girls! ~

I'm not sure when my way of thinkin' about life shifted. I was once a young woman travelling around the countryside backpacking, and working for the Department of Natural Resources, now.....I'm a farm girl who knows how to "buck" hay, and birth lambs.

Outside this afternoon, stacking a cord of wood on the ol' woodpile, a hay truck drove by.  I looked up as it went by, just in time to observe the "quality" of the hay.  It was evident (to a trained eye), that this particular load of hay had gotten wet!  The dreaded curse of farmers..........a perfect day of cutting, then a random rain storm to drench it all.  At that point it becomes "cow" hay cuz only cows can eat it.  I also happened to note how many "squeezes" were on this truck...........that's when it dawned on me that I'm not your average girl!  I had to laugh at myself, because I'm not sure when this transformation happened.

Here's a lil,' "good to know" trivia I have in my head, y'll might want to pay attention to this bit of information...........HOW TO FIT 39 BALES OF HAY INTO A STANDARD SIZE PICK-UP TRUCK!

Bottom 1st Row

9 bales on their sides-4 on their sides on the bottom first row(running front to back direction of truck)

1 on its side between the tire wells(running side to side)

4 on their sides on the bottom last row (running front to back & near tail-gate)

Second Row

10 bales on their bottoms (running side to side)

Third Row

10 bales on their bottoms(one bale running front to back, two bales running side to side, then one bale running front to back again.  Then...two bales of hay running side to side to block in the first four bales.  Then repeat with one bale running front to back, two bales running side to side)

Fourth Row (Top)

10 bales on their bottoms (running side to side)

So now, y'll know how to stack 39 bales of hay on a pick-up truck.  Another lil' trivia:  If you're so lucky as to go into the farmers field and "buck" these yourself (for a much cheaper price) you won't have to "tip" the young man at the feed store.  Because that's another lil' bit of information for you............. it's etiquette to tip the young buck who's loading your hay into the pick-up for you.  Kinda like you would a waitress when she serves you food. 

Also keep in mind that any errand runnin' you might have to do that day (such as pedicures, manicures or beauty parlor), do it before you get your pick-up truck load of hay..........unless you're really good with those side mirrors ladies!  I happen to be one of those gals that's real good with those mirrors!

Somehow, somewhere along the way, my way of thinkin' and livin' has certainly SHIFTED!!

"As long as we are all here, it's pretty clear that the struggle is to share the planet, rather than divide it."

~ Imagine~

IMAGINING the many paths we could pursue in life helps us get up each morning and face the world.  But there's sweeter satisfaction in finding the power to follow through. 

In the country, firsts come year after year---all memorable and most heartwarming.  Imagine your first bite-sized potato from a garden you planted yourself.  Imagine waving your arms frantically at a failed attempt to round up an escaped sheep.  Imagine a scar-covered farmer who tells you stories from his childhood as if they were only yesterday.  Imagine the tiniest breeze as a baby wren attempts its first flight inches from your ear to the calling of its mom--going nowhere fast, but determined to make the journey.  Imagine a place where an owl screeching in the tree next to your window at night is, quite literally, an eye opener.  Imagine a place where the world really does stand still for moments at a time.  So I did...................................................................................... 


  I've imagined this little farm since childhood.  It's always been my dream, to be surrounded by animals.  In my estimation, it is in the presence of animals that we develop a higher sense of ourselves and the world in which we all participate. Animals teach us much, if we would only listen and observe........  I pass through the seasons of a year in step with my flocks cycle.  Breeding turns to lambing and shearing turns to grazing and so on.  I credit my life to my animals for teaching me that we all fit together, that we all hold a place and purpose in the world.

  Imagine a productive garden full of food.........Sometimes I think to myself that maybe, just maybe, a person's time would be as well spent raising food as raising money to buy food.

I pass through these seasons with the cycles of my sheep, the cycles of the garden, the cycles of a country year.... It's hard work, it takes a patient hand, and being satisfied when everything is taken care of at the end of the day, even if it isn't perfect.

Imagine a place.......where your most far-fetched ideas come to play...

A poem by Pat Lynn Reilly:

Imagine a Woman

Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is a woman.

A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.

Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman who trusts and respects herself.

A woman who listens

to her needs and desires.

Who meets them with tenderness and grace.

Imagine a woman who acknowledges the past's influence on the present.

A woman who has walked through her past.

Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life.

A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf. 

Who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and wisest voice.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods.

A woman who imagines the divine

in her image and likeness.

Who designs a personal spirituality

to inform her daily life.

Imagine a woman in love

with her own body.

A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.

Who celebrates its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who honors the body

of the Goddess in her changing body.

A woman who celebrates the accumulation

of her years and her wisdom.

Who refuses to use her life-energy

disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who values

the women in her life.

A woman who sits in circles of women.

Who is reminded of the truth

about herself when she forgets.

Imagine yourself as this woman.

~ Energy N. 1. The strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.

Energy, seems to be lacking in many people these days...........hmmm?  I've always been an industrious and hardworking individual.  I don't really know if it's due to good genes or the work ethic my folks instilled in us as young kids (chores galore, including weeding a large lot by hand every summer!).  I've always worked.

The sustenance of my energy is a culmination of a few things: 1. Diet 2. Exercise 3. Living life to it's fullest every single day. 4.  Genes.... we'll give credit where credit is due!

I was a young women once.........I had dreams, ambitions, and ENERGY!  I've hiked mountains and lakes most people will never see, I've rock climbed granite slabs on mountainsides, I've back-packed in Alaska twice, I've river rafted on an Alaskan river (they are huge & ferocious), I've lived off-grid in the mountains of Washington state, hauling my own water with a wee baby in tow.  I've always gardened, eaten well, and taken care of my body. I've never stopped LIVING!

Now that our children are raised and gone, I'm busier than ever.  I still grow a huge garden (because I know how wonderful the veggies are), I preserve what can't be eaten, I'm an avid spinner and knitter, I belong to a weekly, women's group,  I now market my yarns (which is a full-time job of it's own), I handle all the husbandry on our ranch (castrations, dockings, and illnesses), I handle all the breeding (more detailed than you might think), I clean my own house (which gets darn dirty on a ranch w/three dogs and two cats welcome indoors at any time), I maintain the lawns, flower beds, garden and watering on our ranch.  I find the time in the day to meditate, do yoga & walk 3.5 miles most mornings. 

Bottom line: This IS my LIFE.  How can I NOT have the energy to grab it by the horns and LIVE it???  It amazes me how many people I know are awe striken by my "energy."  It's not so much about having energy as it is living life, and being healthy. When you have that, you have the energy.



If you want ENERGY...........get up, get moving, do something new everyday, go for a hike, eat well and be concious of your eating, what you're eating, get plenty of sleep, drink 64 oz. of water daily, meditate for 30 minutes ..............my ENERGY runneth over because of my lifestyle. Anyone can have this, they just have to want it!

If I could tell y'll one thing about "obtaining more ENERGY" it would be to throw out all conventional foods and sugars in your pantry, cut them out of your diet, eat more organic (especially meats!!!), slowly work towards becoming completely organic in food choices.................AND......................dance, hike, do yoga............just move! 

Have a happy, loving heart, and abundant life, it'll do ya good! It will be a life fulfilled!

For The Love of Gardening





Heirloom lettuce



Heirloom Ruby Okra

I was a young girl when I fell in love with gardening, it started with my grandma's garden.  She was not only a fantastic gardener, but she was also a phenomenal cook.  My grandma was originally from Wyatt, LA.  Thus began my love of gardening.

I grew my very first garden when I was 17.  I lived in a lil' house off Oak street in the "big city."  I had a lil' flower bed in front of the house which I tore out to plant veggies.  Along the side of the house, I dug up the lawn and put in peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce. Before I could reap all that I'd sown, I moved to Northern California.  I kept in touch with a few of my neighbors in the area.  Since the lil' house didn't rent out too soon after I moved, my good neighbors took advantage of my garden............they said, "your peppers were HOT, and the tomatoes were sweet."  I knew then, that I would always garden.

There haven't been but a handful of years since that day that I haven't grown a garden.  I'm now into my 33rd year of gardening.  I've learned a lot along the way, in fact, I'm still learning.  I've advanced from store bought plants, to raising my own seedlings.  I've also concurred that organic is better, and heirloom is the BEST!  These days, I start my own seedlings from organic, heirloom seeds that I save from year to year.  After all, gardening is about frugality in once sense and bounty in another.

There is truly nothing more inspiring or loving than tending to a garden........giant sunflowers on their tip-toes, looking up towards the sun, and following it throughout the day.  Heirloom squash, melons, and cucumbers with their long tendrils unfurling outward, reaching into the cacophony of green.  Heirloom beans with names like greasy grits, dragon tongue and rams horn.........one can only fathom what those might look like.  My lil' friends; the toads, lady bugs, lizards, hummingbirds, butterflies, bees (yes, we have lots of bees), occasional snakes, and our bug seeking ducks.  Every breath is a giveaway dance between you and the plants.......for this reason, I garden!

Three Little Purls



2-Pair Woolen Socks

It's taken quite sometime to learn how to spin and knit.  I've also noticed that people LOVE a quality craft.  Everybody wants to learn, but few actually take the time to venture into something this time consuming.  You definately have to be passionate about this craft in order to go forth with it.  Then....theirs the "doing something with all the yarn" aspect, like learning to knit!

I learned how to spin on a wheel approximately 1 1/2 years ago, a 2 hour lesson. I left a mountain town with a wheel in tow, I brought it home, and the rest is history.  Practice, practice and more practice.  I had an incredible teacher, a real sweet lady.  She would email me the first month and ask, "are you spinning, making yarn?"  AND......if I wasn't, I darn sure was reminded that if I didn't, I wouldn't!  Thus began my huge LOVE of spinning and knitting. 

A lot of women knit, but not many make their own yarn.  Personally, I think that when you spin, you become a part of that yarn, wooven into each strand, pulled tightly into that unique yarn!   Thinking the whole time, "just what other fibers would go good with this particular yarn, should I make a 2-ply or a 3-ply, should I make thin or thick yarn or bumpy yarn........the mind is always engaged.  And so, for me, I couldn't imagine going to a store and "buying yarn."

In this process of learning, I've also learned that if you spin well, people want to buy your yarns (with a small commission attached).  Maybe I'm a bit stingy, but when I raise the wool, shear the wool, skirt and scour the wool, spin and knit the wool, I'm not really diggin' the idea of sharing my hard earned profits with anyone! 

So I've decided that since I already like to spin and knit, I will now knit for profit.  I started a business page on Facebook to announce the new site (I'm still working on the construction of it).  This way I only have to share funds with one person, "The Man," and some sweet sheep! 

If any of "ewe" are interested in purchasing: socks (casual and hiking), scarves, hats or cotton dishcloths/washcloths, drop me a line.  In time, I intend to learn to knit baby items and shawls, at the moment, I do not.  If you are interested in socks, I need a shoe size(USA).  If you're interested in hats, I need a head circumference measurement, this is specific so email me on "how to measure the noggin' " info!


As most of you know, my passion's are many, but my biggest is our sheep!  I love these critters like I love "The Man" (DON'T tell him I told ya that!).  Each one has a very unique personality, some are stubborn, some are cuddly, and some are just plain troublemakers.  But each and every one is loved unconditionally.  Once ya love a sheep, then ya love the fleece/fiber/yarn/clothing!!!!  So for me, this isn't so much about earning a buck or two knitting, this is about my passion............


Janet Frame (quoting some of her prose)

And Francie's father would pick at something else, the way someone who is knitting will pull
at the threads to make a hole, but their father tried to pick
and unpick something inside himself that every year of being alive
had knitted, with the pattern, the purl and plain of time gone
muddled and different from the dream neatness.



Why We LOVE Sheep!

Our Sweet "Gracie"

Years ago, when I was a young women, I wanted sheep.  I think it's every girls dream to raise sheep.  I mean, what's not to love about them?  So, in 2006 I was finally able to raise them, I wasn't a young women anymore, but I still had the desire and fortitude.  Thus began my journey with sheep.

I don't want to get into detail about how I purchased my original sheep or which breeds I started with, however it is important to note that I did want to end up with Jacob sheep as my main flock.

Sheep are incredibly smart animals, the bonds they form with one another and their shepherd are deep. People have to earn it though, they have to be trusted, gentle, and willing.  I am one such person, I'm very connected to my sheep.  I talk to them on a daily basis, study them, pet them, and hand feed them.  For a sheep, that entails a lot of trust, for a shepherdess, that entails a lot of love.

My sheep give me so much more than I give them in return.  They give me peace, love, pleasure and joy.  But they also give me meat, wool, compost and dairy.  

Handspinning is my joy.  It's meditative and calming.  When my world gets a bit out of kilter, I turn to my wheel, knitting or carding. It sets my world in perspective once again.  

The barn cleaning is also a huge bonus.  All sheep manure is readily available for use in a compost pile or to be directly sown into a garden, around trees & shrubs or made into manure tea instantly.  Sheep completely digest their food, thus any weed seeds that may be in the hay you feed them, are gone, completely.  The same goes for goats if you happen to raise them.  So, my sheep give me terrific compost which in turn gives me excellent food in my garden.  The better the soil, the more "good" amendments you put into it, the healthier the quality of your food.  I let my girls glean my garden at the end of the season, they've earned it. 

When I have a ewe that is producing too much milk for her one lamb, guess who gets to milk her?  If you've never had sheep milk or cheese, you're missing a phenomenal treat.  In my opinion, it's far superior to goat milk. 

Annually we cull two sheep for our freezer.........lamb is super healthy containing a great source of protein, iron and zinc.  It delivers a healthy dose of B12 and niacin. It is by far healthier for you than beef.  It's a red meat that packs it all!  I haven't had a cut of beef in six years.  I utilize the fat from the lamb for making our own tallow as well.  Ever had potatoes cooked in lamb tallow.............OMGosh!

In essence, we use the sheep "poo" for our own food, the wool for our clothing, the meat for our health.  What we receive in return from our woolies completes the circle.  We give them a clean barn, medical care and vitamins, love, attention and proper care all around.....daily!  Did I mention that I also market some of the fleece?  Yep, I make money by selling fleece to women who also like to spin.  I also sell lambs to good homes annually.

I posted this article to inspire others who may be thinking about raising animals.........sheep are the ultimate farm animal to have.  You reap so much from them..........trust, love, affection.  Also, the lil' lambs are pretty darn cute and so fun to watch!