Because I have, from a very young age, identified as a writer, and now work freelance as an editor, people always assume I have a massively active blog to go along with my massively busy farm and fiber business, and are then genuinely confused when I mumble and mutter my excuses and direct them to my Instagram account if they want to keep up with me. It’s true, I *was* a writer. Once upon a time. But I’ve never really embraced the concept of ‘blogger’. I truly love my editing work and the wonderful writers that I am honored to have as clients and friends. But ask me to blog, and I will give a dozen reasons why I can’t, all of them feeble and flimsy.
But I DO truly want to share the farm with y’all, that’s part of the reason I initially set up Barn to Yarn, and it’s the reason I have to blog. 2017 was an awesome year with Barn to Yarn, I had so many visitors – some from as far away as Oklahoma! Families came, schools, homeschool groups, fiber artists and enthusiasts, and we had just the most wonderful experiences together. And that program is so important to me, as an independent farmer and business owner, because I want people to see the amazing process that turns the fleece of a sheep into a work of fiber art. So many people enjoy the experience of purchasing their weekly groceries from the Farmer’s Market, or have a box delivered from a farm-based CSA, or purchase a half cow for their freezer straight off the farm – well this is the fuzzy equivalent! It’s so rewarding for everyone involved and if teaching myself to be a better blogger helps me to get the word out about the program, then I need to get it done.
2017 was also the year I set up my Etsy store, and that has been so rewarding, sharing my fiber art with others and having them enjoy it. It’s one of my absolute favorite parts of the farm business and I can’t wait to see it grow in 2018.
Today, January 16, it snowed. We don’t get much snow up here, so it’s conversation worthy. The shelves of Dollar General are
bare of milk and bread, and the roads up and down the mountain are slick and cautionary tales abound on Facebook of why we need to use 4wd if we’re venturing down to the local towns. I had plans to run down to Scottsboro to pick up some Pasturella vaccine from the vet, but it’s going to have to wait. This southern girl does not know how to drive in the snow. Temps should be back up in the high 30s by Thursday, so it’s not going to last. But for now – did it really snow if you didn’t do donuts with the fourwheeler like the responsible adult you truly are?
