Spotlight Series: Sandra Morris of Clearwater Farm

I've wanted to do a spotlight story on Sandra for a long time.  She has so many talents, one of which is photography.  I'm glad she decided to share her story with us.  She has beautiful sheep!  I love sheep and don't have any so I enjoy seeing hers.  Everyone has a story to tell.  Sandra's is very interesting and well, I'll let her tell you all about it.  Here is her story in beautiful photography and in her own words....read more.....

What a nice surprise when Dolly asked if I would be a part of her spotlight series.  I appreciate her kindness and am honored to be a part of her series.

I am a forty-something year old, shepherdess, married to my best friend, and a mother to 6 amazing daughters.

My husband and I decided to take the plunge and move to the country about 17 years ago.  I am not quite sure what persuaded us.  I was raised in a rural community, but had never lived on a farm and was quite sure I wanted to live in the big city.  My husband was raised in the country and worked on farms growing up and was quite convinced, that he would never work OR live on a farm if he had any say about it.  It is funny how things work out.

When we first decided that country living was for us, I poured over every book I could find on homesteading, country living, and raising livestock.  It didn't take me long to decide that I wanted sheep.  My husband wasn't really sure about the whole livestock thing, but being the supportive man he is, I had my first four sheep, within the first year of moving to the farm.

Since that move, life has been an adventure!

Earlier this year my husband and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary.  With the exception of the twins, (babies), our girls have grown up and are now living their own lives.  This brings me to a point in life, I never really imagined myself being at.  Everyone tells you someday it will come, but when your children are little, you just never quite believe it.  It has taken some adjustment, getting used to.

With that extra time, I have been able to focus more of my energy on expanding my sheep venture.  I have always loved the dual purpose of raising sheep, (meat and wool).  This past year I (with the help from that amazing husband) have started focusing more of my energy on the wool aspect of raising sheep.  My husband, Mike set up a small mill to process my sheep's wool.  Something, we have talked about doing for many years.

So this past year has been filled with making some dreams a reality.  The spinning wheel, that sat in a corner, collecting dust while the children were little, has been dusted off and in use.  I have a mill, where I have been learning to process wool into roving.  I also have an area, for experimenting on how to make natural dyes from plants found in our fields, to dye yarn.

If you had told me 25 years ago, that I would be blogging about sheep, processing wool, and making my own yarn, I probably would have laughed!  Thankfully, life doesn't always turn out how we expect.

Did you enjoy Sandra's Story?  I know you did!  I certainly did, and appreciate her sharing with us all!

Thank you Sandra!

You can find Sandra at these places:

Sandra's Blog:  Clearwater Farm Journal 

Clearwater Farm Facebook Page

Sandra's MittenStateWool Etsy Store

Until next time,

 

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