Farm Tales & Sheepish Stories

Happy to Dye (that’s D-Y-E, not D-I-E)

August 17, 2021 2 Comments

yarn

Earlier this year I gave away two ‘dyeing’ sessions using yarn from our farm. The first winner was my friend Pam. Let’s call her Guinea Pig #1.

Filed Under: New Life Tagged With: crafts, giveaway, wool, yarn, yarn dyeing

Music Under Construction

June 29, 2021 6 Comments

cocobolo

The day before my April 20 knee surgery, I was scared. I knew what I was in for and it wasn’t going to be pleasant. I was desperate for a distraction, so I pulled out my credit card and starting buying stuff online that I’d had my eye on for awhile, including a custom-made ukulele.

Filed Under: Memoir, New Life Tagged With: cocobolo, luthier, NFC Ukuleles, Nicaragua, retail therapy, sound hole, ukuleles

Bad Art Can Be Charming

May 25, 2021 5 Comments

pastels

I dislike being new at anything. It makes me feel uncertain and lost and frustrated, none of which are my favorite feelings. Yet despite this, I’ve taken up both the art of painting with pastels and the ukelele. I’m confident I’ll figure out the ukelele—it’s just learning notes and practicing. But art…? Most of the […]

Filed Under: New Life Tagged With: art, beginnings, sheep

Ukelele Porn

April 20, 2021 3 Comments

ukelele

The pandemic has had interesting side-effects in our household. To combat the stress, Melissa pursued her love of orchids. I’ve pursued a different addiction.

Filed Under: New Life Tagged With: orchids, pandemic, ukeleles

Yarn Dyeing Giveaway

April 13, 2021 1 Comment

I still have lots of yarn from our sheep, and am ready to start dyeing yarn again this summer. Want to join me?

Filed Under: New Life Tagged With: giveaway, yarn dyeing

Former Farmer Flashes Neighborhood

March 23, 2021 15 Comments

lamp

We are not used to having neighbors who can actually see us. For 25 years the only living creatures who passed by our windows were deer, raccoons, birds, and sheep.

Filed Under: New Life Tagged With: city living, neighborhood, neighbors

Nonfiction: Better Than Drugs

February 23, 2021 3 Comments

sad owl featured image

I may look calm, but inside I’m sort of an anxious person. Sometimes reading fiction just winds me even tighter. But to my surprise, nonfiction has become my medication. If I need to calm down, to banish my often irrational anxieties, I ignore fiction and reach for nonfiction. With nonfiction, my heart rate returns to […]

Filed Under: New Life, Nonfiction Tagged With: anxiety, calm, conflict, nonfiction, tension

Pivot? Me?

February 9, 2021 21 Comments

Black Girl and Catherine

If you’ve ever seen the Friends pivot scene, you know how difficult it can be to pivot when moving a sofa up a too-small staircase. Pivoting is hard work, whether you’re “pivoting” a sofa, or a life. For twenty-five years my life and my writing career have been centered on sheep, and on our farm. […]

Filed Under: Farming, Memoir, New Life Tagged With: changing direction, Friends, memoir, new life, pivoting, sheep

The Big Pivot

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About Me

After twenty-five years on the farm, I’m adjusting to the adventures of city life. Part of that adjustment is figuring out what I want to write about now, since sheep are no longer part of my daily life. I’m challenging myself creatively by painting with pastels and playing the ukelele as I seek my new writing path.

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