About Us

The actual 24/7 of farm and critter life is not for anyone but a crazy workaholic! Its not unusual for me to be up every 3 hours around the clock feeding babies of some variety, puppies, but also baby pigs, bunnies, and some other critters that seem to just fall into our lap.

I have had extended family and friends visit, move in and stay a time for a temporary home as they each build their own dream.​ I am blessed to be a part of it all. 

My Uncle AL moved here in 2013.

In 2016 my aging mother and frail aunt also moved here full time. We completed their own little house here on the farm in fall of 2017.

My cousin Brenda lived here for a time. Then Aryne, a young mom with 3 little boys, we had met in December 2016 and moved in April 2017. She needed a place and we needed help with paperwork and getting the house for my mom and aunt completed. She has her own place now and a few furry friends of her own including a cavalier named Sophie, and her poodle boy Sonny.

My daughter left her corporate job, worked here part-time and is raising their wonderful boys. (My only 2 grandchildren. I am SO fortunate they live close so I am a part of their life!) Nothing like a job that you can show up and go home, whenever it works best for your family. Family is #1!

Libbie worked here awhile, a sister to a friend of ours mid-2018 to spring 2020. She added more help for the puppies and dogs to have socializing. She has had some schooling to be a therapy dog trainer. Plus she's good at paperwork! She is now doing her own thing; original art work! If you would  like a custom puppy, or dog portrait please contact her, she is exceptionally good! She also does art of other animals and people, Seriously talented!

Things evolve. In winter 2019 we hired Brandy, an accountant part time, who was also a full time college student. Her husband, Mike, lucky for us, wasn't very busy so he started working here helping with basic livestock animal chores, some help with the dogs, plus big time farm clean-up and renovation. My son, Keith, and Mike work great together and have steadily organized and repaired the things Art and I couldn't get to with the furry critters taking all our time and attention. Mike and Brandy lived on the farm, for a few years.

The farm is really a stepping stone for tohers as they of course have their own dreams. With the Covid pandemic it was very fortunate for me to have help who lived here as Kim and Libbie were home on the stay at home order. Kim was also home schooling the boys. Brandy had family matters and college on-line taking all her time for awhile. Mike was my only help, which he did livestock chores morning and night, keeping up with long term goals of building and repairs with Keith and helped with dogs when I just couldn't keep up from early April to this update, mid-May 2020. Kim would come by and couple hours here and there as she could. I had to set up an auto-reply on email as we were getting thousands of emails, and doing all the dog chores. Art had moved out and was gone, and I had no help with the jobs Kim, Libbie and I did for office work. It had been all I could do to try and keep up. The critters come first! Covid hasn't effected them in the least, even if I am ready to drop from exhaustion! When Brandy's semester was over and family matters settled down she helped with the phone. She is doing the accounting farm stuff. Kim worked a bit more to help with registrations and the things Libbie was doing that had piled up when the stay at home order lifted. Ethan started work in May and caught on really fast. He has been terrific with helping with dogs and puppy cleaning. It let me go back to working just the typical 1.5 to 2 people worth of work. 

Its August now 2020. Brandy and Ethan are going back to school, Kim will have her 2 boys being homeschooled. Art had come back, slowly getting his health back, although not able to help with any work. I just heard the first 4 cases of covid are in Bunker Hill, the town closest to us. Prayers everyone reading this and their families and friends are ok! 

I can still look across the fields and trees and feel blessed every day to be so fortunate to have a beautiful space to call home with friends and family all living here, never a dull moment.

Like many, the stress of Covid was always on our mind with so many susceptible people living here, plus friends and family who are all at risk. 

I felt so bad for those many people who were isolated during the stressful pandemic when accustomed to going out and socializing! Hopefully everyone had windows to be able to notice the shapes in the clouds, dream of new projects, complete some goals, and catch an occasional rainbow! Hang in there! Even after the Covid crash if your having issues coping, look up many articles on ambiguous loss to understand the immense invisible stress, and please call; hotlines, friends, or family and get help! 

There is beauty all around us, and in us, despite our emotional brain blocking what our senses can pick up in the here and now sometimes!

Its now 2024. The farm adapted and went through some changes. Libby went back home to Utah, Ethan moved to Wisconsin for his research and schooling. Brandy and Mike bought a house in town closer to where Brandy works and goes to school, Dustin started to work here part-time doing all the basic chores. Kim had started doing registration paperwork again regularily between house flipping jobs. I became a liscened foster parent in 2021and have had up to 4 children at a time call the farm home, the one child I could, I adopted. Art moved out in 2023. I am blessed Dustin and Keith do all the farm maintence. Uncle Al, mom and aunt Carole are still here and doing well. I have met some very wonderful people whom I could only hope to be a 1/4 as kind and organized through the foster parent trainings and groups. I started going to a tiny church, Country Bible Church, in Woodburn IL. Pastor Patrick and the congregation are a bunch of just amazing people. I have always felt like I was a christian but couldnt stand the hypocrisy of some of the people when I went to church long ago, and felt it was the oppisite of good, so I didnt go. A tragedy had me hear an eulogy by Pastor Patrick. I have never been so moved and now go to church for his sermons. Prayers you are where you can hear God, and know you are loved.