Monthly Archives: August 2013

I’ve received so many emails and comments lately asking about how things are going with the farm that I thought I should take a moment to address where things currently stand. But first  I want to emphasize that I know that all of these questions are coming from a kind, caring place. I totally get that. And I love that y’all are invested enough in our little farm to go to the trouble of writing to inquire.

At the end of April, the animals and I moved from the property where we had spent four glorious year. I was bummed to leave, because that particular slice of heaven had been a magical, healing place for me and so many others, but there were many reasons why it was time to move on.

Probably the most important reason was that I suffered a health crisis in 2012 that nearly did me in and completely wrecked my body. I was incapable of physically running the farm by myself anymore. And the truth is, that even though I have recovered much of what I lost, my health is unreliable in the extreme even now. I have super-fantastic days in which everything is easy and I soar through the world. Sometimes those days turn into weeks!

But the trouble with auto-immune diseases is that they can lurk under the surface and pop up at the most inconvenient times.

So my health was issue number one.

Issue number two was the fact that the property I was leasing was for sale. I wasn’t entirely sure the price was right, and I wasn’t entirely sure I was ready to commit to purchasing it, so I passed on my option to buy. It was one of those heartbreaking decisions that kills you even though you know it’s the right thing.

Finding the right place for me and the farm was going to be difficult, particularly given that I was very specific about where I wanted to be and I had several unbreakable commitments this summer which I knew would prevent any serious house hunting. So I decided to take a break from stressing over this and just get through the summer.

I am now starting to think about what I want in my next farm, where I want it to be, how much I will be able to handle on my own, etc. But I am not in any rush and I won’t be hurried into anything. Two years ago, not having a definite plan or knowing where I’ll be living in a few months would have freaked. me. out. But getting ill has changed me in many profound ways, including giving me the gift of being able to live in the moment.

I hate to repeat the cliche-iest of cliches, but it true: right now is the only thing we can be sure of. I have learned to appreciate the hell out of right now, y’all. (More on this soon.)

There is one other BIG thing that has influenced my thinking on all this, one other big reason that I am not in such a hurry to get everything sorted. When I was sick last year, my family was amazingly supportive. And, while they were being supportive, something amazing happened. I remembered how much I enjoy being around them. Spending time in Texas for medical care really made me appreciate how lucky I am to have my mom and my sister.

So, for now, I will continue to spend about half my time in Virginia with my sheep and dogs and pigs and half my time in Texas with my family.

It’s not a perfect solution by any means, but it’s perfect for me right now.

For most of you, this whole post was way more information that you wanted. (I won’t hold it against you if you skipped over that great wall o’text.) But for those of you who have been part of our farm family, I thought you deserved an update. I’ll be headed back to Virginia soon and I am so excited see the animals and my friends. You’ll soon see some more photos of sheep. I bet you can’t wait almost as much as I can’t.