This is my Lilac bush. Actually it is the third I have started but the only one I managed to see through a winter. And considering that this winter offered up 100 year floods for our area and unprecedented snowfall I would say we have a bell ringer. Why Lilac? Because in the house I grew up in from 1955 until I finally left for the last time in 1967 had Lilac bushes that were my Mama's pride and joy. Interestingly enough when my youngest sister and I came together and forged a new relationship as adults in 2015 when our Daddy passed , I noted she too had a Lilac bush in her yard.
So here is the thing. I am a now single woman living on 42 acres (that outnumbers me right there) and I have livestock, I have the usual assortment of canine and feline companions and working dogs. I have chickens. I am now at the tender age of 70 years old ( not young for I have forged ahead and earned each one thank you!) the captain of this ship. I now can hand split wood by hand to keep warm, weed whack, string mow , run a two inverters multi solar panel off grid unit that has its own barn, birth kids ok I cheated I have um multiple years of practice on that one. Keep everyone warm, fed, healthy and pump 1,320. gallons of water from under my house on my new gas run pump. I am also exhausted more often than not (and fire season isn't here yet) I am understaffed and over worked . No not under paid as purrs, crazy kids jumping on my lap and dog kisses are high scale pay you know. And I am without a support group closer than the 5 and one half hours it takes for a sister, kiddos or grand girls to get here.
So the heartbreaking ( I won't lie here) choice was made to , a gasp from the crowd, sell my beloved "42 Acres of Paradise". I am figuring if the worst thing in my life is moving back to the central California area then perhaps I am doing alright. I am looking for a smaller, much smaller place in the foothills of Fresno county. I will be no more than an hour from my family. I will take every critter with me as I am responsible for 90% of them being on this earth to begin with and the rest through choice. I will continue to as life permits pursue the life of sustainability I love. I will have goats but they will more likely than not be glorified lawn ornaments only, chickens will come too . What would I do without my Flame? Of course Sherman and Yarrow will be needed to keep everyone safe from those wiley coyotes . Ari and Calli need to keep me in line and the cats too.
I will miss my land , my fiber friends, the amazing events which have forged who I am today. But on the flip side I will have easy access sister time on a regular basis, enjoying my son and daughter. And the grandgirls? Oh yes that is part of the plan. "Aubrey and Emily you two are the oldest could you come and stay at Gammie's for a week in October to feed while I go to Idaho to visit friends?"
What could possibly go wrong???! 😉
