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Making a New Friend

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Once, I came home from vacation and, stepping onto a certain patch of land, took a deep breath and sighed, "Hello friend, I've missed you." I noted the moment as the first time I called the land my friend. I had spent time in this place. I knew the rocks and the ditches. I had watched trees grow. I saw deer, turkey, fox and even a coyote during my time with that land. I knew the smell of the pine, the shape of the oak in the back corner. Who would have thought that land could feel like a friend?  You know what's a bad way to start a friendship? Judgment. Telling everyone you know that a potential new friend is "weird" or "ugly". In a mid-April post, I talked about the "barren" and "damaged" land around our house. What was I thinking??? We hadn't even said "hello" or shook hands. April is about to roll over into May, we have been in this house a little over a week and the land is just beginning to reveal itself. Abs...
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The Art of Letting Go (While Holding on with All Your Might)

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 Crazy Cat Lady is on my vision board. Or it would be if I had a vision board. I have made tremendous progress towards this goal over the last few years. It has been my pleasure to care for an evolving feral cat colony that magically showed up at my house, beginning with MoonPie (aka ChickenCat). Since his arrival and subsequent disappearance, many cats have come and gone. The largest number visiting at one time was 8. When we decided to move, there were 4 regulars. Moonpie Kora brought us a couple litters before we had her spayed 6-8 TNRs were done, ShadowCat didn't hang around long after his. I agonized over the decision of whether or not to take them with us. Attempting to move a feral colony is not easy. Even with trust built and confidence in being able to capture them, where would I hold them for 3-6 weeks? I went back and forth, changing my mind every day.... talking to the poor souls who are my friends. I mean, it was only 6 weeks of indecision but I just found myself spinn...
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Little House on the Prairie

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I have a love/hate relationship with Little House on the Prairie. It is super saccharine and preachy but the simplicity of life, work ethic and the way the community builds itself speaks to my soul. People hear me talk about my Little House on the Prairie Life Choices frequently. But I will never give up indoor plumbing, no worries. This isn't actually about Little House on the Prairie, however. This is about the fact that we are moving. A somewhat random decision and if you ask, I don't really know why.  I think it was supposed to be a joke. When I started Horse and Harvest, I had a FB ad show up for a ready made farm on 33 acres with barns and greenhouses (well over a million dollars). I said "here it is" haha. ha ha. See? a joke. But I started getting listings from Walt. We started sending some back and forth. He got in touch with the realtor we used when we moved to NC; she had one of the listings we were looking at... We were driving by houses. We looked at 2 or ...
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Horse and Harvest. Welcome.

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In December of 2024, I started teaching at Roam Acres Farm. In January of 2026, I left Bramblewood Stables. Before I left, I was teaching 2 days at each barn and going to 2 home barns, teaching clients on their own horses. My plan and hope was to work out a notice during January, then add a teaching day at Roam in February where I had clients waiting for additional days. When it was not necessary for me to work out that notice, I thought about going ahead with that third day at Roam right away but I decided to just.... not. I had an extra day in January. It felt like a real gift. I visited with friends, gave Jasper some much needed time, attention and extra long walks. Atticus and I got a little more time together. My sister came for a visit; we talked and worked on a puzzle. We hadn't been together like that in years. Clients and friends threw me a party (my sister and husband were there too). Just because they didn't want me to feel like the work I had done meant nothing... a...
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