In Which I Return to Facebook and Eat My Words

Happy Saturday friends!

Yes, I’m back on facebook dammit. 

I can’t believe it either. It was so good when I was off. My brain was quieter, my body less…jangly. And yet, here I am. Back to scrolling like the rest of humanity.

It was a slow creep. I was still posting on my page and responding to comments on those posts but that was it.

Then I allowed myself to read one post at the top, whichever friend it was.

Then I allowed myself to watch a few of my favorite artists.

And from there it was a downhill slide.

I missed my Facebook friend Jenn O, who has a gift for taking beautiful photos. She’s always heading off to somewhere gorgeous, catching some slant of light or mossy tree that makes my whole day better. She doesn’t know it, but I save some of her photos to my phone to maybe paint one day :-)

Then there’s my friend Mary, whose Border Collie, Finn, deserves his own fan club. He’s the perfect dog and if anyone deserves a fabulous dog like that, it’s Mary!

The list goes on.

And then! There’s Melanie, the “We Do Not Care Club” lady. I stumbled upon her about six months ago. Now she’s popping up on morning shows and being celebrated everywhere and how fun is that? I love her sense of humor and her vulnerability. She’s definitely hit upon something and it’s fun to see all the women of a certain age who pop up and say yep, us either: We do not care. Not in an “I give up” way but in a protecting our sanity way. 
For me that means if I had a long day and I’m exhausted and it’s my day to cook, we will be having sandwiches and we will all be making our own. We are 66, 56, and 18 and can all manage.

Or when someone walks in while after a long winter’s nap and asks what’s for dinner and I’m still working, I will say, “I don’t know.” instead of stopping all forward momentum on what I’m doing, shifting gears, and figuring it out. And since I started doing this, my business is finally growing. Instead of fitting a little bit of work when I could, between everyone else’s stuff, I get to actually spend real time on it, and it’s paying me back, yay!

It’s funny how many women are talking about this right now and if you are all in on this concept, you really have to read this article The Great Unfuckening (just the name makes me grin!)

You’re gaining time. All the energy you spent managing everyone else’s experience? That’s now available for literally anything else. The return on investment is staggering.

And from the comment section of that same post:

"I don't hate men. I just refuse to prioritize their needs over my own.
It turns out that, for many men, that feels like hate."

--

This is timely going into Thanksgiving and Christmas when women are called on to produce elaborate feasts and repair family bonds. Well, I am tired and over it. Forget the turkey and stuffing, I’m making simple quesadillas if I do anything at all.

So many women are talking about how women’s needs are different than men’s and how maybe what we really need, is a nap and not a 5am jog. No more hustle culture. Ha, yes. Read this: I Wish I knew at 50 that Motivation was a scam.

In other news, I’ve just finished another six week round of my Women’s Circles. Everything else at the ranch continues as usual, but I’ve learned to give myself two weeks between sessions to reset and prepare for the next session. During the break I’ll be refining my schedule and making space for what feels most alive in my work right now. I’m particularly excited about the Online Women’s Circle and being able to reach women who can’t make it to the ranch!
On Monday I held my first freebie art Playdate and that was fun and easy and relaxing and worth it! 

THE RANCH:

Come play with me! The next FREE Playdate will be Monday, December 1st, 7:30pm-9pm and we'll be painting this purple cone flower/echinacea. Click here to join and get the short supply list and Zoom link, look forward to seeing you there!

I made a fun thing this week! This is one of those recipes that gets created in my family, part something I saw on Facebook and then ideas that my brother Michael, B-Rad, and I threw in and we came up with this yummy, lighter feeling alfredo dish. I wrote about it a few weeks ago. I thought I would illustrate it, fun!

If you'd like a pdf of this recipe sent to your email, click here!

B-Rad and I went out to do chores one morning and found our little golf cart like this! Later I asked ManChild, "Soooo...did you notice that the golf cart was driving funny recently?" And then he described the sound lol.

Getting along once more:

Ok, GAG. I was cleaning out the goat's stock tank and when I flipped it over, I found this weird creature. This picture was taken after my discovery but originally I saw this..."casing" is the best word, that had something coming out from it. Everything was wet and at first I thought it was a snake shedding it's skin and it was just wet. I hadn't seen it's "head" yet. Gulp. If that isn't alien looking, I don't know what is:

Google said: The image shows a hammerhead worm, likely Bipalium kewense, a type of land planarian known for its distinctive semi-circular head. These are invasive flatworms that prey on earthworms. 

Key Information 

• Appearance: It has a long, ribbon-like, yellowish-brown body with dark longitudinal stripes and the characteristic half-moon or crescent-shaped head.
• Origin and Habitat: Hammerhead worms are native to Southeast Asia but have spread globally, likely through the horticulture trade in the soil of potted plants. They thrive in moist, shaded environments like garden beds, under mulch, rocks, and logs.
• Diet: These worms are predators, primarily feeding on beneficial earthworms, which they track using chemoreceptors.
• Toxicity: Some species, including B. kewense and B. vagum, secrete a potent neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin (also found in pufferfish) in their mucus to subdue prey and deter predators.
• Reproduction: They reproduce primarily asexually through fragmentation; a small part of the tail can pinch off and regenerate into a new, fully formed worm. 

• Do Not Touch: Avoid handling the worms with bare hands to prevent skin irritation from their toxin. Wear gloves if you must move one.
• Do Not Cut Up: Chopping the worm into pieces will not kill it; instead, each piece can regenerate into a new worm.
• Disposal Method: To effectively kill and dispose of the worm, place it in a sealable bag or container and add a killing agent such as salt, vinegar, or citrus oil. Sealing the bag and placing it in direct sun or a freezer for several hours also works. 

B-Rad sent me a text while I was with a client with the message, "Someone's at the door."💜😂

Donkeys playing like they do every morning and evening. Jaffee looks like a character from the Alien movies:

Bonnie prettied Blu up, I think he loves it:

Obviously a fairy cave:

B-Rad made a little road so he could get the tractor back into this area of forest to chip the smaller trees on the back side of the pond dam. We found this huge oak with 4 huge trunks coming out of the main part:

Coming up on 9 years old on January 9th and still as energetic as a puppy:

She loves to roll around on Brad's new grass:

Throwback to 2017, I was 48 and she was just under a year (I wish she would still do this):

From back in the Colorado ranch mudroom, in the middle of painting and packing. I heard this horrible noise and went to see. I don't know how she managed to get that bag handle around her neck but she took out the hall tree and then was stuck!

She's always up for playing and laughing and be silly!

This is amazing and every single person needs to listen:

I get to see Princess Penelope next week for Thanksgiving! (Oh yeah and Michael and Nic too ;-)):

THE MEMES:

That 👆🏽 actually does help just a little bit.

👆🏽 Once in my senior year of high school, I was called into a meeting with my English teacher who accused me of plagerism on our final paper. I was horrified. I went home in tears. My Mom and I went back to the teacher, in person, and explained that I had not, in fact, copied anything and was, in fact, a capable-beyond-my-age writer. He gave me an A+

The correct answer, at least this year is: this weekend, before Thanksgiving! You?

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This is an AI-free newsletter! While I love to use AI to help me figure out a piece of software I don't understand, my intention is to use it to help me with the drudgery, never with writing, art, creation. All em dashes are intentional and mine, I was using them way before ChatGPT was a twinkle in Sam Altman's eye :-)

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Thank you for reading :-)

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