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| Snow Camp, NC |
Well it has been 4 years since I left Columbia, SC. Every time I thought I was at a place where I could say, "This is what I'm doing now..." everything would change again.
Let me back up a little and bring you up to speed...
My job at the beautiful, paradise of a farm in Snow Camp, NC ended in February of 2016 due to the owner preparing for retiring. I was handling most day to day operations with the cattle and beef business but he really needed someone who could do the heavier, infrastructure maintenance type jobs, and handle things like chainsaws and fence post slammers. You may remember that I worked with an older man (Howard Faust) who taught me so much and whom I became very fond of, and who maybe in the end was fond of me too... the brat from the city who thought she could come to a farm and be a farmer. He was so very patient with me though and when we needed to connect the PTO shaft of the bush hog or mower, or fix fences, or any other of a million things that need to be done on a farm, I'd be his legs (he had trouble walking) and he'd tell me what to do. He always knew the right tool and the right trick to get stuff working again. Howard's health was failing and he passed on a couple months after I left. I'm still in connection with the owners and that community and love them all so dearly.
From Snow Camp, I came back to SC to work on a commercial Angus farm. I thought I could learn a lot from this "other side" of the cattle industry, and I did, but given my strong beliefs and values in regenerative agriculture, mainly what I learned was that it didn't make any sense to me at all. It affected me deeply and changed me in ways I'm still unraveling in my head.
I then went to work for Trail Ridge Goat Dairy (whom many of you know for their amazing goat cheese and milk sold at Rosewood Market. I helped some around the farm, with cheese making, and milking, and I managed a booth for them at the downtown Augusta, GA River walk market which was really fun. I absolutely loved working with the Hammond family and their farm. I also had some other farm clients in Saluda, and Prosperity for farm sitting and was caring for the property where I was staying in Ridge Spring.
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| My mom and I |
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| Scottish Highland Cattle |
Through all of this I have realized that while going 100% into farming helped me learn an awful lot I couldn't have learned otherwise, I can't depend on getting farm work for my main employment. I remain very passionate about the farming education outreach I want to build, but also know now it will have to come about through different means.
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| Where I live now |
There has been much joy in serving my church in music, and helping to build a new church plant, meeting and connecting with
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| Don & Nancy Wilk @ Local APX Market |
A couple of months ago I was dealing with some health issues... serious memory and brain fog, lots of headaches with dizziness and nausea. Serious joint pain and pain in my 'cells' if you can imagine what that might feel like. It was baffling. I spent more than 30 hours of watching youtube information videos on brain health and nutrition. I decided to seriously detox my life. I let go of a lingering distance relationship that was not benefitting either of us, joined the gym, addressed the abundance of blue light I'm exposed to and started tracking my sleep cycles. I started a breathing/meditation program, and radically changed my diet to follow the Bulletproof diet. It has made a dramatic change in my life and I am more focused and energetic than I have been in quite some time. Carbs no longer run my life! If you are interested in any of this please feel free to email me or check out the products that have helped me on my products page. I'm an affiliate for these things so if you order from my page, I'll get a small commission... thank you! :-)
Through all of this, I have been firmly re-assured in my faith, that God has it all under control. I've seen him provide in amazing ways not just for me, but for the well-being of my little furry family as we transition from one place to another. I have never gone without and have been blessed with kind and true friends both old and new. I know this time of interlude has been a time of pruning and adjustment and clinging to what I know is true, so that when it comes time to produce again, I'll be well-equipped. Just like the vine and the branches... Jesus said...
John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
I'm stepping forward into 2018 in greater faith, laying a foundation of Gratitude, Giving, and Growth... all for HIS Glory!
I'm so grateful for you!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, may your 2018 be filled with love and blessings!
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| Snow Camp, NC |
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