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sibelover's Journal
Created on 2008-11-11 21:44:56 (#17137354), last updated 2009-01-28
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Basic Info| Name: | sibelover |
|---|---|
| Website: | http://www.thebluebirchbakery.com |
BioGee...where to start! I guess the basic vitals are a good place. I recently turned 39 and I'm the mother of one very cute (albeit a pain in the ass) 14-year old daughter. I'm a cancer researcher by day and a wannabe farmer/homesteader/master baker the rest of the time. I was born and raised in a run-down mill town outside of Pittsburgh to first generation Croatian-American parents. My family were coal miners...in Pittsburgh you either risked your life daily in the steel mills or in the coal mines. Once the mills closed and the mines dried up my little suburb turned into a ghetto...my high school was the first in the area to install metal detectors back in the '80's. What fun. The only way to escape was to go to college, which I did. I put myself through school on a partial scholarship, grants, loans and part-time jobs. I got my degrees in biology and biochemistry and I've been working in research ever since.
I left home at 17 and never looked back. My father abandoned us when I was four and my mother had some serious addiction problems that I didn't feel the need to deal with. Besides, I had plans to move to the country someday...a plan that everyone thought was crazy. What did I know about growing stuff or raising animals? NOTHING! But undeterred I continued to plan for my life as a farmer. In the meantime, I married, had my daughter and started to save up money for some property.
About ten years ago, my ex-husband and I bought five acres in the middle of nowhere about 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. A year later, we built a beautiful log home and life was good. Then I was diagnosed with Arnold Chiari malformation...basically my cerebellum is herniated into my spinal column. It's a congenital defect, present from literally the day the brain begins to form in utero. Seven years ago I had a pretty brutal surgery to try and make room for the herniation since there's really nothing else that can be done. Today I'm missing the entire base of my skull and bits and pieces of cervical vertebrae. I feel fine most days but I'm still prone to horrible headaches and dizziness. I try not to dwell on it, though. Other people have it worse. Two years after the house was finished I filed for divorce. He couldn't deal with my health issues and the house and property didn't hold any interest for him whatsoever. I wanted the house and full custody and that's exactly all I got!
The divorce was final six years ago and a lot has changed. I met the true love of my life on Match.com, of all places, and I pressed on with my farming plans. I also started a small baking business three years ago...I'm licensed by the state to work out of my kitchen. I sell my stuff at a local farmer's market during the summer and from home the rest of the year. I still work in research, too, and plan to until my daughter graduates from college. That free tuition reimbursement is too good to give up!
I have three dogs - two Siberian Huskies (Stoli and Apple) and a Rott/Shepard mix (Juliet) - two cats (Sophia and Claudia), two Pygmy goats (Delilah and Lily) and currently 23 chickens. Once or twice a year I incubate some eggs...I usually need to replenish the hen population in the spring because a few of the older girls inevitably die over the winter. I also sell chicks but since most people just want the girls I usually end up with quite a few left over boys. They end up on the table...good eating and I feel good knowing that they were raised humanely on pasture and not pumped full of drugs. The hens, of course, are all pets...each has a name and they all have unique personalities. I truly grieve when one of them dies. Most people can't figure out how I have no problem killing the boys but cry my eyes out over the girls. That's easy...I don't let myself get attached to the boys. I know from the minute they hatch what their fate is and I reconciled myself to that fact long ago. Such is life.
I have a 3500-square foot garden where I grow almost enough to feed us all year. I also plan to start growing grains for both our use and as animal feed. I also started a small orchard that hopefully will yield fruit in a year or two. And I LOVE my goats! They're like barnyard dogs...very sweet, they follow you everywhere...and they're so stinking adorable!I'd like to get a few more soon.
So as you can see in the abbreviated version of my life, I made my dreams come true despite some major set-backs along the way. I'm writing a book, mostly for my daughter's sake, to document my journey. I don't know if I'll ever publish it but I want her to know where she came from and what has motivated me to reach this point in my life.
I left home at 17 and never looked back. My father abandoned us when I was four and my mother had some serious addiction problems that I didn't feel the need to deal with. Besides, I had plans to move to the country someday...a plan that everyone thought was crazy. What did I know about growing stuff or raising animals? NOTHING! But undeterred I continued to plan for my life as a farmer. In the meantime, I married, had my daughter and started to save up money for some property.
About ten years ago, my ex-husband and I bought five acres in the middle of nowhere about 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. A year later, we built a beautiful log home and life was good. Then I was diagnosed with Arnold Chiari malformation...basically my cerebellum is herniated into my spinal column. It's a congenital defect, present from literally the day the brain begins to form in utero. Seven years ago I had a pretty brutal surgery to try and make room for the herniation since there's really nothing else that can be done. Today I'm missing the entire base of my skull and bits and pieces of cervical vertebrae. I feel fine most days but I'm still prone to horrible headaches and dizziness. I try not to dwell on it, though. Other people have it worse. Two years after the house was finished I filed for divorce. He couldn't deal with my health issues and the house and property didn't hold any interest for him whatsoever. I wanted the house and full custody and that's exactly all I got!
The divorce was final six years ago and a lot has changed. I met the true love of my life on Match.com, of all places, and I pressed on with my farming plans. I also started a small baking business three years ago...I'm licensed by the state to work out of my kitchen. I sell my stuff at a local farmer's market during the summer and from home the rest of the year. I still work in research, too, and plan to until my daughter graduates from college. That free tuition reimbursement is too good to give up!
I have three dogs - two Siberian Huskies (Stoli and Apple) and a Rott/Shepard mix (Juliet) - two cats (Sophia and Claudia), two Pygmy goats (Delilah and Lily) and currently 23 chickens. Once or twice a year I incubate some eggs...I usually need to replenish the hen population in the spring because a few of the older girls inevitably die over the winter. I also sell chicks but since most people just want the girls I usually end up with quite a few left over boys. They end up on the table...good eating and I feel good knowing that they were raised humanely on pasture and not pumped full of drugs. The hens, of course, are all pets...each has a name and they all have unique personalities. I truly grieve when one of them dies. Most people can't figure out how I have no problem killing the boys but cry my eyes out over the girls. That's easy...I don't let myself get attached to the boys. I know from the minute they hatch what their fate is and I reconciled myself to that fact long ago. Such is life.
I have a 3500-square foot garden where I grow almost enough to feed us all year. I also plan to start growing grains for both our use and as animal feed. I also started a small orchard that hopefully will yield fruit in a year or two. And I LOVE my goats! They're like barnyard dogs...very sweet, they follow you everywhere...and they're so stinking adorable!I'd like to get a few more soon.
So as you can see in the abbreviated version of my life, I made my dreams come true despite some major set-backs along the way. I'm writing a book, mostly for my daughter's sake, to document my journey. I don't know if I'll ever publish it but I want her to know where she came from and what has motivated me to reach this point in my life.
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