We've been in NC one whole year?!? (newsletter)

Happy Saturday friends!

lf you've been with me awhile, you might remember these photos of when Wynter, Rayn, and mini donkey Sweetness were reunited after their trip across the country from Colorado to NC. Sweetness was in a separate, higher compartment in the semi and they couldn't see each other:

I bring this up because it's finally here, we had our 1 year anniversary of moving to NC this week! Brad arrived in the truck on the 20th with Josh (older son), our dogs Lucy and Tessa, pulling the horse trailer full of items that we didn't want on the eighteen wheeler. ManChild and I stayed in CO, basically camping in our home with blow up beds and camp chairs borrowed from friends. We stayed until the horses, donkey, and goats were picked up by their own eighteen wheeler/transport truck on the 22nd and then he and I finished packing up the 6 huge duffels full of all last minute stuff and flew to NC that night. The animals arrived the following afternoon. If you want to see pictures from those few days you can do that by going here.

I was talking with someone last week about her wanting to move away from Colorado and maybe back east but she wasn't for sure. It's funny how we all end up in the places we do and for so many different reasons.

I totally get the reasons to leave Colorado AND the reasons to stay—I miss so much: the sky, the wind, the intensity of the sun, the mountains, the views of those mountains from my front windows, the dry air, my friends, the way the grasses wave in the wind, the list goes on. 

And yes, back east has bugsticksfleasmosquitoeshumiditysnakesmud and more LOL It was scary and intimidating to care for all these animals in a completely new atmosphere! But here we are, one year in now and doing great but the beginning of that year, holy smokes, life was weird and hard and muddy. The bugs were crazy, the humidity crazy, the lack of air movement was crazy, the horses were sweating, we were sweating, the goats were not in a real house just a hoop house and they were so unhappy, no one was eating the new hay, the horse shelter was barely adequate and so freaking hot inside, our house was a mess with all the boxes.

And yet

It was pretty and green and growing and no fires and family all around.

So we just slogged through feeling all the feels, all the yuck and learning moment by moment and that learning never stops really. We learned what worked and didn’t and adjusted every day. And even when you live in the same place for a long time, things are changing. Even when it feels like you’ve got the pattern down with caring for the animals, there is change. Someone gets sick and needs meds or hoof dressings.
You get sick and have to do chores anyway and it takes 10x as long or someone does them for you and accidentally left a gate open. Stuff happens. Change happens.

So, I say, if you’re thinking of moving, to wherever, go for it! :-) You'll learn new things and it will be an adventure!

I learned to walk the property in the rain to watch where water pooled and flowed. About 6 months in we started to figure out what we wanted to do about the muddy spots and fixed them.  

I learned the best natural bug spray works, for now anyway.

I learned to hose off the horses in the worst heat—starting at their feet and slowly working my way up—and that even though they aren’t fans at the start, they eventually settle down and enjoy it.  

I learned that 2 showers a day is a must in the summer with morning and evening chores—and I learned that 2 towels a day are a must because they for sure won’t dry before my next shower in this humidity.

I learned that my laundry needs to be done twice a week in the summer because during chores I will sweat right through my clothes, including my jeans. Ew. TMI? Probably :-)  

I learned to wear an ice neck wrap on the hottest days. My dad has a vest that he puts ice in.

I learned to stop in the shade and just breathe for a few minutes, take off my hat and accept the heat and humidity and know that I will get a cool shower when I’m done.  

I learned to wear a wide brimmed hat to keep the bugs from dropping down my shirt, for the most part. 

I broke my foot/ankle in 2 places when I stepped in a mole hole and rolled my ankle, so I learned to wear ankle boots.

I learned to love the Canadian geese even though they poop all over and they are in a molt right now, they are funny and interesting to watch and are good parents.

I’ve learned to like cool showers!

I’ve learned to do morning chores early on the super hot days.   

I’ve learned that the lawn needs to be mowed more than once a week in the summer.   

I’ve learned cutting back bushes in the fall is a must, the growing season is so long here that they will take over if not cut back.

I’ve recently learned that the power can and will go out for 12 hours, so a generator is a must to not lose the fridge contents. But that the newly purchased generator will never be able to run the air conditioning :-/ (The power goes out so often because in a storm, trees fall down and fall on the lines.)  

I’m grateful for:   

The goats and horses all have good, sturdy, comfy houses now and everyone is safe from weather.

The main part of my house is unpacked :-)  I still have the bonus room and the downstairs garage to go but that will happen a tiny bit at a time.  

Baby goats.  

Watching the wind in the tree tops.  

Watching all the birds and wildlife around. The deer in the forest. The two squirrels who are playing in my favorite tree outside my office—a 40 year old Japanese Maple. The baby geese. The Blue Herons. The Purple Martins in the special purple Martin house that my aunt got me for my first birthday here. Bluebirds, brown thrashers, tufted titmice, 18” tall pileated woodpeckers and their crazy sounds. Carolina wrens, cardinals, and so many more!  

The joy in my dad's eyes when I showed up for Father’s Day with homemade oatmeal raisin cookies, his favorite.   

Taking my mom to dinner and a movie for Mother’s Day.  

Baking days with my aunt.  

The ease of my brother driving down from Pittsburgh for a visit. It’s 8 hours but that’s easier than Colorado!  

Getting the barns done and new fencing up.   

Seeing the goats, horses, and donkey happy in their new areas.  

The ease of weeding because the ground is so wet.  

Our beautiful neighborhood and the ponds.  

The ability to see the sky over the ponds because I’m a big sky girl.  

Walking with Lucy and Tessa in the forest. Even in the heat it’s not too bad.  

Moving the house around a LOT until it worked for us and my business.  

Growing my business. Seeing all the animals get excited when a client comes.  

Moving a farm across the country and starting new is all about embracing the the suck for awhile and enjoying all the little things that make life good :-) For me, it’s fun to figure things out and come up with new ways that work.  Do I miss Colorado? Absolutely, I will forever miss this view from my front yard at my Colorado ranch:


Does it still make me cry? Sometimes. Like right now, writing about it. But you know what? When I was in Colorado and I would get home from dropping visiting family off at the airport, I would cry too. It's okay. It's okay if my heart is split in half (honestly I'm surprised so much of my heart holds Colorado so closely—that a place can be so precious) and it's okay to grieve the loss of that place AND rejoice in being with family again. It's okay to have all the emotions sometimes.  

ART?

Well yes, but nothing you can see yet lol. Current work in progress is a beach watercolor for someone that I'm having to learn how to do because I've never painted anything like it before! Another 16x20"—this time a "dancing horse," and I have no idea how it will turn out because that's how it often works for me, and I was hired to create a set of 12 illustrations for a local nonprofit's book about canine epilepsy. Happy to be painting more!

I did have an interesting experience recently. I took a local commission to paint two dogs that had passed away. We communicated only through Facebook Messenger and agreed on a realistic oil painting. She sent me the deposit. I needed to come up with a pose for these two as most of her photos were taken from her height, not the dog's eye level. After getting more info about their personalities I decided on a pose that seemed to suit them. They were two pit mixes—one was more pit looking and full of energy and the other more lab looking and much more laid back. They sounded like they were very missed. There were several commissions in front of her and when the time came to paint it, I made the mistake of not going back to our conversation and painted it the way so many people want their pets right now—colorful and fun. More illustrative and whimsical than realistic:

I sent her the digital copy and heard...nothing. Crickets. Hmmm...I waited a few days because everyone is busy right? Nothing. It occurred to me that I had done something wrong. I went back and realized my mistake. OH NO! I immediately contacted her and apologized and told her I would paint her oil or refund her deposit. She didn't respond. After a few weeks I gave up and just refunded her deposit. Why do I bring this up? I guess to say I'm sorry publicly. I don't know, maybe to say, sometimes owning my own business is hard and I make mistakes.

ODDS AND ENDS

Brad got a grill/smoker combo for Father's Day this year and every time I open the fridge, I'm confronted with piles of smoked meat. I feel like I live at a butcher's house. I kid, it's actually very yummy, but he's trying all sorts of new recipes so we really do have a lot of it around right now!

The power went out the other day for 12 hours and we spent the evening playing scrabble by battery candle and then went to bed at 9! It was nice actually:

We had a few cooler mornings this week and Tessa was happy to sleep the morning away while I did chores. I know she sleeps during the night but I do think it's more of an alert sleep than this:

Every time I see my baby Dancer look at me like this I think she's saying, "Mom! Mom! Mom!"

Look FoodLady, fill this up and we won't have any problems okay?

He's nearing metamorphosis completion, his winter coat is nearly gone... His coat above his forehead and around his ears is like velvet!

Give it another week and I'm not going to be able to tell the babies (4 on the left) from the parents:

Two different early morning pond views for you:

You know how I mentioned missing the intense sun in Colorado earlier? I also missed the clouds and rain when I was there. I guess there is no perfect place. I'm lucky to have lived there, lucky to live here :-)

MEMES OF THE WEEK

I can't stop giggling 😂😂:

I'm sure you've heard the news from Friday, June 24 about Roe being overturned. I just feel sick.

 

GIVEAWAY

Somehow I forgot to announce the Pride baby goat giveaway from last week! Pat Berguson, you've won! I will be contacting you via email!

The next giveaway date is July 2nd and will be an 8x10 of one of my new pieces, Beachy Friesian:

If you're receiving this email directly from me, you're entered! If this email has been forwarded by a friend because they know you'd love to win this one, you can enter here!

You can find prints and originals in my Etsy store!

If you are in my area (Apex, NC and surrounding areas) I'm offering a special deal for you to come try out neurofeedback and/or coaching!

Half off your first neurofeedback session ($30 for 30 minutes instead of $60)

$25 off your first Equine Gestalt Coaching session ($100 for an hour instead of $125)

Please take me up on these—and yes, you can have both, in fact I encourage it! Doing neurofeedback before a coaching session puts you in a regulated state which the animals love and is ideal for the work. Doing neurofeedback after helps you process your session :-) so it works either way. The coaching setting is beautiful with the horses, donkey, and goats and in my air conditioned neurofeedback room you have a view of the pond and the wildlife that surrounds it. We are in a covered barn for coaching so are in the shade and out of any rain or weather.

You can read about neurofeedback here!

Thank you for reading :-) My blog is reader-supported—that's you my wonderful friends! The best way to support my work locally (Research Triangle area of NC) is:

I'm a life coach and partner with horses to help people heal—schedule an Equine Gestalt Coaching session.
Or, schedule a NeurOptimal Neurofeedback session.

Commission a painting or bring your logo idea to life,
buy a tshirt or a print with my artwork.

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