Look who came to wish me a happy birthday!

A deer in the yard
The weather is still off stinking… I can’t believe it. I have never seen a July this ugly. The humidity is absolutely suffocating…. It is sort of raining… I have been busy studying herbalism, reading In The Woods, by Tana French, for book club, hanging with my doggies, doing the usual homesteading junk. Frusterated over the state of the garden due to the weather conditions… And today is my birthday. The weather and the sunshine may not have shown up as it usually does. But just look at who did make an appearance this morning. Dr. Farmer Moomin, took these when he went out with the dogs who were none too happy to have to go out to pee in the rain.

A visitor
He is a big one…. Look at those horns! WOW… Such a beautiful animal… Perhaps an emissary from the Queen of the fairies, the Lady Of The Forest, a birthday wish for me from deep in the natural recesses… Where miraculous horned creatures still roam about freely… What a beautiful gift to have The Fairy Queen, send one out to wish me happy birthday. Who needs the sunshine when you see this majestic creature in the back yard? Nature may be under attack from all sides. But like me, it still lives. But for how long? If you want to help the nature I depends on to live the way I do… Please donate for my birthday.
https://www.nrdc.org/
Home
https://earthjustice.org/
https://www.earthisland.org/
https://www.sierraclub.org/
Home
Home
https://itif.org/issues/clean-energy-innovation
https://www.climateemergencyfund.org/
Adopt a whale or dolphin
Thank you for reading and celebrating my birthday by donating to somewhere that will help preserve the deep dark wild place. Few still remain. But the more we put back, the more we will have for generations to come. This way of life that I live, can continue… It is dependent upon the health of the planet. So for my birthday, donate to planet earth’s go fund me cancer treatment.
Thank you for reading
Thank you for helping preserve the way I live and the nature my way of life is so dependent on.
Amanda Of Wildflower Farm
Tags: ag, agriculture, agro, barn yard, birthday, deer, environmentalism, farm, farm blog, farm wife, farm wife blog, farmer, farmering, farmstead, homestead, homestead blog, homestead farm, homestead wife, homestead wife blog, homesteader, homesteading, homesteading New England, housewife, housewife blog, inn keeper, inn keeper blog, inn keeping, life style, New England homesteader, new england homesteading, new england wildlife, self sufficiency, self sufficient, self sufficient homestead, simple living, simpler way of life, travel, visitors, wild animal photos, wild animals, wildflower farm, wildlife

Wildflower Farm, is a small New England homestead, B&B and AirBnB, in the Baystate. We came out here 7 years ago, when we returned from the better part of 10 years as peripatetic aristotelian nomads, for my husband's post docs. Upon our return, we had a plan. We had a lovely home. Everything was so clear. Then, I got sick. Things I used to eat all the time during our travels elsewhere in the world and even here before I left almost 10 years earlier made me ill. It took a couple trips to the ER and a trip to specialist... It became clear, something had changed in the way food is processed in this country since last I lived here. Some off label things was inevitably going to be my demise.
My husband and I looked around to see the clear path we were on, had exploded in front of us. We decided we had to create a new path for ourselves. We put children on hold. We found a small piece of land with a house we loved in a rural suburb in a right to farm area. I began researching how to do it ourselves. Grow it ourselves, make it ourselves, survive on our own as much as possible. We bought the property, and began plotting a new course. One that didn't involve off label chemicals. Closer to nature, with a lot more DIY, gardens, and animals for the products they provide. We created a life we loved though it hasn't always been easy and has of course come with compromise with each other, and even with ourselves.
Our family thought we had lost our minds. What were we doing leaving the city? We had no idea how hard this would be. They thought we would be back in 6 months. That was over 7 years ago, now. We have been making it work. They were not wrong, it isn't easy. But has anything worth doing ever been easy? And for us, avoiding as much store bought food as possible was simply necessary so I could live given how sick I was getting.
Then Covid hit.... We were lucky to have this place. It has allowed us a lot less need for public use territories which has kept us a lot safer and spared us much of the risk others face daily. This place, has given us a privilege through this of great meaning to us. To be of use in a difficult time. We have been able to help friends family and even strangers in need when things couldn't be found on store shelves. Or money was tight due to not working, rent being due and a child at home, or some other draining situation. We are so very grateful to have been able to not be helpless like so much of society through this miserable time. Our families, got used to it some time ago, us being out here. They made peace with it the day there was no bread and they had to ask me for some. Or when fresh vegies were rotten due to supply chain issues but they could find plenty in my garden.
Wildflower Farm, was a place I dreamed of. One of those sweet pastoral dreams a city dweller grows up knowing will never come true, that became unavoidable when I became ill. I never expected to get to do this. I never thought I had what it takes to make this work. I have learned pacing myself is important, compromise is critical, hard work never ends, burn out is real so breaks are just a necessary evil.
We are not fully self sufficient, but we work hard in that direction as we create a new path through life for ourselves, always reaching to do even more ourselves and to get closer to the ideal we envision. We are however far more self sufficient than many in this world. 7 years in, we continue to learn and grow in this homesteading lifestyle. We welcome comments and advice and ideas and questions.
We welcome visitors from all over to our home with strict covid policies in place. We spend our time learning to live all over again in a more environmental and sustainable way though even there we are far from perfect always learning and growing doing better as we know better.
This little homestead farm is a magical place named for the New England wildflowers that grow all around. A place where a physicist, watches the night sky on clear nights with the aide of mirror and glass, and a woman, works endlessly in the gardens, the kitchen, and a variety of projects to create and to keep a very unique life style running and functioning. Wildflower Farm, has become so much more than simply a piece of land we can grow a few vegetables on. The longer I spend here, the more alive the land seems, the more I learn about it's function and the more meaning it has. My place in the universe and the next steps on our new path become ever more clear.
We welcome you on this journey with us.
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