Meet Jean from Red Sky Homestead
Finding gratitude in the simple things life offers at the homestead
“Gratitude Turns What We Have Into Enough”~ Aesop
Why Now?
Not so long ago I was asked when I started doing all “those things I post on Facebook.” My response was that I have always done those things, I just didn’t share them publicly on social media. Let’s face it, at my age, computers weren’t even a thing when I was in my twenties. I remember my first cell phone. It was a small suitcase! So how long have I been like this? Well, as long as I can remember actually. I have always had a fascination with the old ways. Doing things the hard way was my tendency growing up, and still is today because I value the work that was put into the task. So why now? I think there is a growing movement in the idea that we can, as individuals, be more self-reliant and at the same time build a community with like minded people. I want to be part of the movement. I want to be one of the educators of the young who never learned the skills that are so valuable. Now is the time.
Of the Earth
One of my teachers from middle school recently was talking with my older sister. He always confuses us at first, and this was the case during their conversation. When he realized his mistake, he told my sister that he remembers me as always being “of the Earth.” I think what he meant by this is that I was the quiet one. The one that was interested in history, the reader, the environmentalist. Those values carried with me throughout my life which has been spent as a caregiver and an educator, and now, as I near the end of my professional career I look forward to continuing to educate others. Not in reading and mathematics, but rather in how to grow and preserve food, how to use herbs as medicine, how to cook from scratch. These are my values. These are the things I want to teach others.
Red Sky Homestead
When we bought our first home we were in our fifties. We had a checklist of things that we needed and of things we wanted. The house we bought checked all the boxes. It had enough property to have large garden, raise some chickens and hunt. It was near water for fishing. It was an older house and has the charm that goes along with being built over 100 years ago. It had been the home of an older couple who had passed away, but at the top of the driveway that slopes downhill was a handmade sign that read, “Red Sky in the Morning Homestead.” So when I started my small handmade business I shortened it and kept the name in homage to the homesteaders that came before us.
I think that our world is hungry for returning to the old ways, living off the land, in peace with each other and Mother Earth. I hope that you are interested in following along with me as I build this website where I plan on sharing all the things that I know, documenting things that I learn along the way and finding gratitude in the simple things.