47.
there she is.
soft heart. strong body.
(or is it the other way around?)
(and does it even matter?)
i see her
desire. and the words she is finding for it.
her curiosity. and the bravery she summons for it.
love. and her patience for it.
her passion. and its rage.
i see her. honestly.
i see the grace & tenacity she dances with every day.
it has taken time ... to get here.
and we’re here now, she and i. for all of it.
for the yum. the mess. the everything in between.
truth be told …
we maybe even kinda like it. 😉
the beautiful mess of being. and becoming.
over & over & over again.
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anais Nin
#midlife #perimenopause #solarreturn #taurusqueen #foreverbecoming 🤍
… lots of floofie fun lately. I am grateful for all the love & trust & laughter & helpers, and all the sweet sheepies, of course. what a neat thing to be able spend my days doing. 🐑💕
#sheepshearing #sheep #wool #womenwhoshear #shearing 🤍
it’s been a minute since i’ve shared what i’m reading. (and if you know me, you know i’m always reading *some*thing). this was a real sweet book, one that i think would be particularly enjoyed by my fellow shepherd/shepherdess friends, but also anyone shepherd-curious. 😉
i keep coming back to this passage …
“You know the sheep, but to know is to be separate from. Now try to love; to love is to join. Then, you will be a shepherd.”
TO LOVE IS TO JOIN.
#brittanyappbooklist #goodbook #thesaltstones #shepherdess #helenwhybrow 💛
… come watch me shear, y’all ! 💛 THIS SATURDAY 💛 May 9th 💛 12-4pm 💛 in SLO at @cityfarmslo 💛 it’s the Annual SHEEP SHEARING SHINDIG 💛 and it’s freeeeeeee 💛
see EWE there! 😉🐑💕✨
#sheepshearingshindig #cityfarmslo #farmsteaded #womenwhoshear #sheepshearing
my brain is full of fog today. it happens more often than it used to, now that i find myself trudging through the bog of perimenopause. like … there is so much that needs my attention … edits & emails & pre-production & shearing day prep & house tidy & calendar stuff & meeeaaaagghh … but each task i try to focus on… feels far away … feels hard to see …
and my desires are shifting … deep down … which feels something like an overdue earthquake on a slip fault … the irony not lost on me, as i live & work & breathe & build & love, in the shadow of the Temblors, daughters of the San Andreas.
teenage ground squirrels prance around the garden, eating foxtails (god bless them) & my fruit trees (argh) and teasing the dog dogs with their mere existence.
life is weird. and so much is out of our control. but there is magic here. in the little moments. in the sky. in my heart. even when the fog feels thickest. and i am grateful. 🤍
#perimenopause #brainfog #howlingowlranch #desire #magic
life becomes death becomes life…
one does not exist without the other. the forever cycle of becoming.
yesterday i picked up my sheep, now meat ... expertly cut & packaged by the good folks at @sintonandsons ... and shared out the bounty with friends & family.
as a shepherd, it’s one of the biggest days of the year. physically, emotionally, logistically.
as i’ve said before, to be present in this cycle … hands on, heart open, every step of the way, is powerful medicine. the sheep give all. to be able to love & protect & nurture them, and then to be nurtured by them in return? i can’t imagine a truer way. to become each other. to live within the cycle.
i know that my way is not for everyone. i know that some folks will never understand how i can love an animal & also eat that animal. and that’s okay. i know that this feels right, for me ... as a shepherd. as an omnivore. as a human ... to provide a good life, a good death, and love the whole way through. and then to be able to share the abundance with my family & friends? ah. what a gift.
love is a verb.
thank you, sheepies. thank you. 🥹🙏
#omnivore #shepherdess #goodmeat #howlingowlranch #butcher
BELTANE 💛
“We too can begin a new life, one that brings satisfaction and enrichment, whether this is by singing, dancing, running through the waves, walking barefoot on the grass or making love under the stars. Perhaps your dreams are greater than this, or perhaps more conservative, but whatever they are, Beltane is a wonderful time for expressing who you truly are.”
- Carole Carlton
#beltane #mayday #scorpiofullmoon #becoming #chasetheweirddream
“Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, When Women Were Birds
#loggerheadshrike #butcherbird #carrizoplain #howlingowlranch #bird
“…something was starting to take shape, out of magic and will. Smoke and bone.”
- Laini Taylor
#bones #magic #chasetheweirddream #usethewholeanimal #howlingowlranch
