New gatherings & gentle goodbyes

Happy Saturday friends!

Ohhhh boy, we've made a big decision here on the farm: we are having our big pines out front cut down, along with a maple with a pulpy hole in it, an oak with 2/3 of its base hollowed out, plus several more odds and ends trees, 19 in all :-( Ever since the fire, we find ourselves being hyper-aware of unexpected things that could happen to our home. I could never have predicted that we'd have a house fire. You know what I can predict? That one of these huge trees could hit our house during storm. We have hurricanes and tornadoes here in North Carolina and while pines are fairly safe in a forest with other trees as support, they are much less so on their own.

But ugh. It hurts my heart! 

This is what the front of the house looks like now:

And this is what it will basically look like after. I asked ChatGPT to take out the big trees and while a little wonky looking (it removed a crepe myrtle from the right side and placed it on the left and various other "what in the world?" things with windows and doors and the Polar Bear) but it will look something like this:

Our house looks naked! OMG! We will plant a bunch of either crepe myrtles or loripedalum or something along those lines probably along the pond side of the curved driveway that goes down to the lower pasture. Here in the south, crepe myrtles can get to be 25' tall so we will want them away from the house a bit. 

We are surrounded by trees and yet I'm sad about losing these. I've gone back and forth on this decision but when it comes down to it, 5 months displaced because of the fire was no fun. Plus, even though insurance was all like, "Hey, we've got you." When it comes down to it, they don't, at least not 100% so you're left with credit card debt, also no fun. This time the brain is going to overrule the heart but I sure have some big feelings about it. I think I will be creating a goodbye ceremony 💜

THE RANCH:

It turns out that last week's triplet fawns are a possibility, I looked it up and Google says 2-8% of seasoned does have triplets! Cool!

Speaking of deer (video at top), I was out walking I Love Lucy on Friday morning when I saw something big swimming quickly across our neighbor's pond. I stood and watched it, wondering what it was...it got to the other side and stood up in chest deep water, it was a deer! Well how odd! It stood under a tree for a bit and never moved so Brad and I drove over to see what was going on, concerned that it was entangled in branches or an old fence. Nope, I guess it was resting. When we got close, it wheeled around and took off swimming back across the pond! Life is never boring here :-)

This tree is the first one at the edge of the forest behind the house that turns and I'm always thrilled to see it!

Goat trims this week. Usually I have B-Rad with me to help out but this time I was on my own. Other than having to wrestle most of them onto the milking stand, it went fairly smoothly. 

Dancer tries to get out of it by kneeling down, she doesn't realize that it just makes it easier for me by tipping her little feeties toward the sky lol:

Her daughter Parsley is better behaved:

In case you're wondering about that milking stand, yes, they are stuck! No it doesn't press on their neck (even though it looks like it in Parsley's pic) it's just a way to contain them while I'm trimming their feet or giving a vaccine. 

We had a few pretty, sunshiny moments in between all the rain we've been getting:

Mostly we are seeing a lot of this:

And with all the rain a ton of mushrooms:

And even cooler, fairy rings!

I suppose with all the trees coming down, we'll have more fairy rings in the future. 

THINGS TO DO AT THE RANCH:

The next Women's Circle session starts this coming Wednesday, August 20th, 6-9pm, and is $210 for the 6 weeks. I have 2 spots left! These are intimate gatherings of women who want to explore their creativity, share their stories, and support each other through the twists and turns of life. 

Good news! For the October/November session, I’m adding a Tuesday morning circle from 10am–1pm. So if you’ve been eyeing my Women’s Circles but the evening time wasn’t your thing—whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, retired, or just have a flexible schedule—this is your chance!

Morning or evening, the magic’s the same. See if any of these sound familiar:

• You’ve spent years caring for others and now wonder what’s next for you.
• You’ve lost your creative spark—or never thought you had one.
• You'd love to connect with kind, empathic women who lift each other up (where are they?? Right here!)
• You miss in-person conversations that truly nourish your soul.

Check out the upcoming dates and times here!

NeurOptimal Neurofeedback (keeping your mental and physical self healthy without having to dig deep like in a coaching session—as a matter of fact, you can read, write, or even nap during the session!) Click here to schedule online!

Equine Gestalt Coaching Sessions (these are private emotional wellness sessions for YOU not your horse ;-)) Click here to schedule online!

Art Classes! Give me a text/call, I’d love to help you plan something fun! I'm envisioning this as a fun thing to do with your coffee group, friend/family group, female work friends, book club, bible study, etc. I can take a group of 9 women. Fun and easy watercolor that I walk you through step by step, and we can snuggle the mini ponies, mini donkeys, and goats, or even take the ponies or donkeys for a walk in the woods if the group is interested :-) Call, email, or text me, and I'll cater it to your group!

If you'd like to talk about some of these, please email, text, or call me! 

THE MEMES:

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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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The Mother Ranch on YouTube.

The Mother Ranch art on Substack.

Thank you for reading :-)

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