3" long millipede in my bed at 1am😱

Oct 05, 2024

Happy Saturday friends!

I've had a lot of people reach out to see if we were alright after the news of the hurricane reaching western North Carolina. So I just wanted to start out with, we are okay!

This week was stressful to everyone wasn't it? Iran launched missiles into Israel, the dock strike on the eastern seaboard promised shortages (but it's been handled, temporarily at least), our election is a never ending source of panic (although the vice presidential debate was just a breath of fresh air wasn't it?), and then a hurricane went through our mountains—I'm sure you're seeing all the photos. We had a lot of rain come down in a short amount of time and a tornado warning (spotted nearby) here in Apex but no damage and didn't even lose power (shocking.) Our little farm is about 4 hours away from Asheville and there was no flooding here. When I took I Love Lucy for a walk in the forest a few days later though, there were so many new water paths down the hill to the little creek that runs way down behind our house. My neighbor across the pond from me said in the nearly 40 years she's lived here, she's never experienced rain like that and she remembers a time in the 1990s when our two ponds became one from a hurricane!

So, with all of that weighing heavy on my mind, I went out to talk to the animals one morning. Sweetness decided to take a rester, so I sat close to him on a little stool in my jammies:

I told him what was going on and he immediately offered to help. He said he could feel the stress from us humans and asked that I hold a meditation event on the ranch for the public. A time to disconnect from everything and to allow the natural world to soak in for awhile.

You can get your free ticket here for the Meditation with the Animals of The Mother Ranch, October 19th, 3-4:30pm. This will be a free event but any love offerings received will go to hurricane relief in western North Carolina.

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FALL CLASSES!

Upcoming Women's Circle dates (you can learn about what happens at a Women's Circle here):

The next Women's Circle session starts Wednesday 6-9pm, October 23rd—November 20th, $175 for the 5 weeks.

Women's Circle Holiday Edition! Runs December 4th—January 29th, skipping both December 25th and January 1st. $245 for the 7 weeks.

There are not currently links to the upcoming Women's Circles, you just get on the list and then pay when you come to the first one. Maybe I need to make a link to pay online? Hmmm...

Online Mixed Media Art Class w/Julia@The Mother Ranch! (Angel Horse, Root Chakra) via Zoom. 2 hour class, once a week for 3 weeks. 10/25, 11/1, 11/8, 7-9pm EDT/EST

Because you guys are my favorite people, you can get $10 off this class from now until next Saturday by using the code AngelHorseRootChakra10Off!

Online Watercolor Class: Windy Piglet 10/28/24 via Zoom

You can get $5 off this class from now until next Saturday by using the code WindyPigletWatercolor5Off!

More new class links to come next week!

Speaking of fall classes, if you have an artsy kiddo that would like to have some private art classes (or semi private if you have more than one), contact me! I have recently been working with a sweet, smart, sensitive 8 year old girl who loves animals and art. Her grandmother brought her to me for some art lessons when she tracked out of year round school. It feels like play to me, and hopefully to her too as we just follow her whims—and what's more fun than child-led play? This last class we finished up working on her current passion: Axolotls! (amphibians from Mexico.) In our first class we worked on a simple little watercolor goat portrait while she told me all about axolotls. I asked if she wanted to paint one next. Yes! She pays close attention to detail so I figured she'd be able to freehand it with some explanation. So, the next time I pulled up photos on my iPad and we discussed which one really appealed to her and we went through step by step on how to draw it, "Well, it's head is an oval, it's gills are long triangles...". As we began painting she told me about school and friends and life in general. This week we finished our axolotl paintings and I totally forgot to take a picture of hers! In case you've never seen one (I hadn't) this is what they look like:

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My brother came to visit and caught this sweet moment with Jaffee and me, if you're sitting, he will often just lay his head right in your lap:

See my taped up finger? Ugh. I sliced the knuckle to ribbons with a broken piece of glass in the recycling bin! Arrrrgh! It was one of those run water on it while B-Rad was looking at it while I had my head between my knees so I wouldn't pass out. Weird how I can see other people's blood but not my own. I didn't go to the doctor since I could move it, no cut tendons. Cleaned it well with all the things and of course the blood pouring out of it helped that too. Took myself off to Target CVS pharmacy and got a tetanus booster since I hadn't had one since 2008. I know, I know. I live on a farm, those things should be kept up to date!

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And to outdo the grossness of my finger, that night in bed, 1am, I woke up with an itch on my neck...kind of a crawling sensation...

Oh gawd...

I swiped at it and whatever it was wrapped around my thumb. It was cold.

I flung it onto the ground, turned on the light, searched the floor, nothing. Looked back to the bed and a freaking three inch long millipede was booking it across the blanket at the foot of the bed!

Strangely my shriek didn't wake up any of the 3 boys in the house! (That's disturbing all on its own.)

I tried and failed three times to catch it with a tissue but it was so fast! My skin is still crawling just typing this! You can tell by all the exclamation marks!!!!! Arrrrgggghhhhh!!!!! I did finally get it but it was wiggling so hard I dropped it on the bathroom counter to get a better grip on it and the horrible creature fell off the counter and scurried behind the washing machine!

So, now I have a millipede as a roommate.

(Apparently millipedes symbolize good luck, energy, healing, transformation, navigating life's complexities, and shedding burdens. I will try to focus on that and not the feeling of it crawling on my neck, or its long, cold body wrapped around my thumb. <shudder>

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With all the rain we are back to not being able to mow again. I almost lost the babies in the grass the other day and Mama Dancer has no legs:

Looks like it will be dry this week though so I can get it mowed before the next hurricane comes in. I can't believe there is another one set on the same path as before. Pray it just disappears!

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The Polar Bear has found her favorite spot in the house, B-Rad's bedroom/office, particularly when he is working at his desk:

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More Mushroom Madness (and other curious things I found around the farm):

This thing was huge! About 7" across:

They look massive because of the zoom but they are about the size of the end of my thumb:

Oh my gawwwwwd! A fairy house log!

THE MEMES:

Generally funniness in this section but if you're looking for feisty Julia memes, scroll to below my photo with Sweetness at the bottom!

Click here for something that will make you laugh and laugh! This could totally be me if I had to speak in public!

And one from me directly: B-Rad wants a fridge for the downstairs garage that he is converting to his own little pool hall/workshop. A few days ago I found one on Marketplace. I messaged her and found out that it was only $300 and 9 months old, cool. Below is my second message, from tonight:

Hi! I texted my hubby about your fridge and he said, “k” so I left it alone. Apparently I was supposed to have understood that what he meant was, “Hey! Great! Get it!”
🙄 I can’t roll my eyes hard enough.
It’s probably gone but if not, are you in Apex or the general area and when would be a good time to pick up?

🙄🙄🙄

Reading that 👆🏽 made me think of Mom and Rayn of course.

I saw this bit about mares written on Instagram (@riding_miss_rose):

"Anyone who's ridden a mare knows just how hard it is to figure them out. They are SO particular and demand a certain level of respect, which I never knew about since I always had geldings growing up.

But honestly, I've come to really appreciate it over the years of owning Rose. She wasn't just going to let me bully her into doing things just because I wanted to. It's when my mindset shifted from more of a dictatorship (as I was taught growing up) to a partnership is where things really started to come together."

I so miss that partnership. I'm starting the search for a mini mare (pregnant or not) or filly now. We will see what happens.