This week, Millie, one of the ewes we’d bred to be a fall lamber, had a set of twins. She is a bit shy and often hangs back when some of the other, more social ewes crowd around to greet me. …

There are hints autumn will arrive early this year and that winter might be long and hard: a few yellowing leaves high in the canopy of the cottonwoods, an abun dance of chokecherries and wild plums, …

Six years ago, I buckled my two-year-old daughter and four-year old son in their carseats and started driving east. We were heading to Duluth so we could meet their brand new baby cousin. What ensued …

Spring is the time for babies; babies in the barn, babies in the brooder, babies in the field, baby seedlings sprouting in the green house, and in the soil. It is an embarrassment of riches. But, …

I woke up a little after five am to the feeling of something crawling across the back of my outstretched legs. I was in the middle of a dream about riding in the back of a bus hur tling down a very …

We’ve reached the part of the year that is as close to a vacation as we ever get on the ranch. The garden is in, and the plants are established enough not to require the intensive care of new …

Two summers ago, we brought home a POA yearling named Sally. POA stands for Pony of America, a breed that was created in the 1950s. The foundation stallion of the breed was an Arabian/Appaloosa/ …

I have been trying for years to stop calling weeds weeds. Instead, I’ll try saying, “plants grow ing where I don’t want them to be…”, “plants I didn’t …

It was the night before the trip. One of the dogs had already had an “accident” on the camping gear. Due to unforeseen circum stances, everything I’d packed into the larger, …

For the last ten years, I have written some variation on this theme every year at this time: It was the longest, darkest night of my life, but when dawn finally crept across the brick courtyard, and …

One of the challeng es of crafting a weekly newspaper column is writing for a reader who may know your work well and one who may never have read your work before. That being said, I think it is good …

Four years ago this weekend, my friend and her daughter arrived for a visit from Seattle. Ini tially, the weather was bright and sunny, but Seattle missed them, and almost immediately, the dry heat …

Earlier this year, I wrote that instead of a cake, candles, party, or presents, I told my hus band all I wanted for my birthday was a camper. This was back in Feb ruary, but I was already dreaming of …

Right now, we are experiencing some thing our region rarely experiences: RAIN, and a lot of it. Our county was opened for home steading in 1908, and the area was immediately f looded with hopeful …

Last year, I sent the best of my fleeces to a mill to be spun into yarn for the first time. The moment I held one of the warm, squishy skeins, I knew all the hard work had been worth it. As I wrote …

The second-to last lamb was born a few days ago. Regular readers of this column will recall I’ve only been lambing for two weeks, making this the fastest and most furious lambing season …

I’ve long said that it doesn’t matter how many children you have, they somehow manage to require the same amount of time and energy to parent–which is to say exactly as much as you …

When I put the ram in with the ewes last November, I calculated gestation, marked my calendar and planned for lambs in the mid dle of April. But, I re cently discovered that Finnsheep, the breed …

Before I submitted my first column, before I ever even thought of publishing a book, back when the only writing I’d done was in private journals and song lyrics, I adopted two orphan lambs and …

A musician I used to tour with once introduced me by saying, “She writes quiet songs in a loud time. I think we need more quiet songs.” I remember being surprised–it was like catching sight of myself in a mirror I thought was a window, and I didn’t recognize myself at first. I’ve thought a lot about the comment over the intervening years, marveling at what an interesting thing that was to say, and also wondering if it is true. I have done more than a decade of creative work since then …