"This is your safe place." 💜

Happy Saturday friends!

Sometimes you don't notice something about yourself until people start commenting on it. We bought our first farm in 2016 and I started creating my dream of The Mother Ranch as a healing space. The first year was a heavy learning curve. I had coaching sessions but mostly it was all about learning to live on 15 acres with animals. The day in and out of fencing, near catastrophes, actual catastrophes, death, accidents (both animal and human). Two years in I was having multiple goat yoga sessions a month, coaching clients, neurofeedback clients, art classes, and retreats. Through it all, the one thing I heard the most was, "I feel so safe here." Second was, "As soon as I turn down the driveway, I feel my whole body relax." 

That's when I started to realize it was, indeed, my overarching goal in life. I wanted to create a safe space, a place for people to feel safe with me, the land, the animals, the work I do. I've never thought about where that need of helping other people feel safe comes from, it's just a part of me. But this week in the middle of a coaching session, we were talking about having a safe place when a memory hit me like a bolt of lightning.

I'm in elementary school and my 5 year younger brother Michael and I are fighting about silly stuff like siblings do. Mom walks in and says (for the one thousandth time), "Enough. This is our safe place." 🥰

I can hear Mom laughing right now :-) "Just accept it, I'm always right." 😂

Who knew that I would build my entire life and business on a single idea that Mom gave me? Yes, I offer all kinds of healing modalities but the umbrella over them all is safety. First and foremost, safety is what I offer here.

THE RANCH:

I had a super fun experience happen this week. I was in the house, walking by the front door, when I noticed a doe and fawn out front by the pond. I took a little video through my window but wanted more of course. Little did I know what would happen! I opened the door inch by inch while it creaked (I must WD40 that thing) and finally squeezed outside, barely moving, barely breathing. They looked over at me, but didn't seem bothered. Over the next few minutes I realized there were three does and one fawn (it's been a low baby year for some reason, the drought maybe?) The fawn got sillier and sillier, kicking up its heels and then racing around in a huge circle—down the hill into the forest, up the side of the dam, and then a straight racetrack down the dam back to the family. Round and round, I was grinning like a fool 😁

You can watch it here!

Same Blue Heron from the video :-) I love watching it fly to the turtle rafts and use them to hunt from, although I'm not sure how it works, those things float and if he lurches in his hunt, they will move...:

When the Crepe Myrtles bloom, they leave a carpet of pink around them:

Brad found the donkeys fooling around in my dirt pile in the pasture. I wonder what Sweetness was doing up there?

Ok now, the Beautyberry bushes are a little over the top for the bed they are in. I've never seen them get this big AND they were cut down to 12" stumps in February. This fall/winter we will be moving them to a place that suits them better and putting something a bit smaller into this bed instead:

This little Green Anole on the stone fox made me smile:

And I found this pic from a few years ago when we were first here. Imagine my surprise when I was walking along and saw this cute little Rough Green Snake. What a beauty!

I loved watching this conversation between Jaffee on the left and Tori on the right. They both wanted this bag (there are 5 bags out, one for each) and finally after some fussing, decided to share. Tori's angry ears and Jaffee just not caring lol:

A random Johnny Jump Up, just, well, jumped up in the grass. I suppose it's the cooler temps we've been having with all the rain:

Bonnie has taught Blu to drink water out of her hand:

This is how Blu is when she's around, sweet, calm, gentle. He adores her:

Sweetness:

Tori:

The trimmer came out to do the ponies on Monday. I go out early to halter them and have them ready:

As much as they love people, they are not fans of the trimmer. (He's never hurt them, and the donkeys feel the same.) This week, after he left, I've been practicing making sure I can touch everyone's legs and feet, they all lift them nicely for me, at liberty, with no treats. If I don't go out early to halter them though, as soon as they see him coming, they cannot be caught. It's fascinating. 

While in his halter, Blu was hanging out and learning how to not walk on his lead:

I kept putting the lead doubled across his back so it didn't drag but he managed to get it on the ground repeatedly. I figured I would let him and watched him start to figure out where his feet should go and how to not step on the thing.

Brad caught a photo of the mom and baby out the kitchen window:

Last weekend we had inches of rain, about 6-7 we think. This feed bucket for Cash (our full sized boarded horse) is attached to the upper pasture fence. It has to be attached because the ponies and donkeys will flip it off if we don't. Anyway, it's our unofficial rain gauge. No trees near it, in the middle of the open:

Looks like more rain is coming our way, and it's so appreciated! I know we are headed into El Nino, and this is what Google says:

Yes, El Niño is not only on the way, but it is actively arriving and pacing to be potentially historic in strength. According to the NOAA Climate Prediction Center, there is a 97% chance it will persist through early spring 2027. 

Sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific have skyrocketed, with the latest July 2026 data revealing anomalies already exceeding +3.1ºF to 3.8ºF. Climate models suggest this event could easily peak as a "Super El Niño," potentially rivaling or exceeding the most powerful events on record.

Expected Impact on North Carolina

While El Niño is a global event, its local impacts for Apex and the broader Southeast typically become most evident during the cooler months: 

• Late Summer / Fall: It heavily suppresses Atlantic hurricane activity. Stronger upper-level wind shear cuts off tropical systems before they can easily organize and approach the East Coast.
• Winter 2026–2027: It typically supercharges the southern jet stream. For central North Carolina, this means a much higher probability of a wetter, stormier, and more active winter pattern.

Happy to have it! It will be a great fall to plant some trees and more perennials. With all the rain, I wasn't able to continue working on the big bed by the pond, looks like Saturday is the day to at least get the cardboard/paper down, dirt, and then wood chips before yet another set of wet days descends upon us!

A COUPLE OF SWEET MEMORIES:

I still feel this way about the tractor, all smiles:

Rayn LOVED her trimmer. She was special:

HOW TO WORK WITH ME

Equine Partnered Coaching! With horses (early morning appointments in the summer), without horses, or online, your choice. 

Neurofeedback Train your brain to calm and ease. The most common response I hear about neurofeedback is, "I'm so much less reactive in my life!" It really does smooth out the sharp spikes. Super helpful if your world feels harsh and spiky right now. 

Reiki Another way to facilitate relaxation, calm, healing. If the weather is nice, you can choose outside, or outside in the herd (this is an early morning appointment) and of course in my office is always available :-)

And Women's Circles! I've updated my website yet again so read up and then contact me if you want to talk about joining my Women's Circles!

Wednesday Women's Circle has a waiting list, I will add you to it if you'd like. Newer people do indeed get in occasionally, as sometimes the people higher on the list end up with upcoming vacations, too busy at work, or just life is life-ing. 

Tuesday Women's Circle, runs 11am—1pm, Aug 4—Sept 8, the 6 weeks is $210, contact me if you're interested, there is one more spot left!

Monday online art class via Zoom. Ongoing, every Monday, 7:30-9pmET. $35 There isn't a public link for this one but you can contact me for the supply list and link here. I teach you something fun in watercolor or mixed media. It's a low key, jammies kind of class. Right now it's small so you get more one on one instruction if you want it. 

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Hope you all have a great week!

Thank you for reading :-)

All of my art and writing is made with human intelligence!

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