Chickens were the first step in our homestead journey.  They are fairly quiet, provide eggs and hot fertilizer.  They are also often referred to as the gateway livestock animal.  I love my girls, not enough to snuggle them or decorate their coop all pinterest pretty though.  I know they are just going to cover it in crap.

2020 changed almost everyone's perspective.  I've always been into emergency preparedness, you see... I even had our own flannel bum wipes before Covid was even a thing.  Man, did I love being proven right during the TP-pocalypse!  My food storage plans had to change in 2019.  After an ER visit, CT scans, and many doctor visits we finally figured out I had some food sensitivities.  Go figure... that was my first question and the Dr. had shot it down.. How could I possibly know more about my body than he did, the audacity!  But I digress... Beans and rice are the best long term storage complete protein.  Beans are one of the many foods that make a lymph node in my gut swell so much I thought I had appendicitis, it can hurt that bad.  Enter Rabbits!

I started breeding rabbits in 2022 and it has been an amazing experience!  They are quiet and provide meat, ready to go fertilizer and delicate fur pelts.  I'm still working on that last one. They also make for some great therapy animals.  I started with New Zealand and Standard Rex and I have dabbled in Silver Fox and Holland Lop(bred for cuteness not for meat).  Now that I've been breeding a while I'm planning to stick mostly to the New Zealand.  

Some wise women once tried to teach me crochet at around age 8 and again at 12 and it didn't take. I couldn't figure out the tension and I was too impatient. Then I started  knitting with a hat loom around High School as a service project but I could not stop.  I made a hat for EVERYONE, I absolutely loved it.  

After I became a mother and started our little homestead with chickens, I decided to try one last time to crochet.  YouTube had been born and learning fiber arts became a LOT easier. 

So began my love of fiber arts

Once I had become proficient at crochet I began to long for better quality materials.  After looking at the prices of 100% wool yarn, I thought to myself, "is it cheaper to make?"  Yes it is, unless you account for time, but the meditation is priceless. So in the beginning of 2025 I purchased an Ashford Kiwi 3 and started my spinning journey.  I found some local wool(Targhee and Icelandic) in 2022 while purchasing my first rabbits and stashed it away for the future.  It has been an enlightening learning process that I've absolutely adored. I've enjoyed making my own dyes...