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I am Cecilia. A New Zealander who farms in Illinois.
My farms are organic and regenerative and full of stories. I have been writing here about environmentally sustainable farming and food and travel since 2011.
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LATEST POSTS
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Bath-time for Ducks and Chooks
The Barn Yard Ducks don’t actually need a pond full of water as long as they have deep bowls of water but they LOVE it most when they can have a proper bath in a pond. Ducks preen after a bath. The main function of preening behaviour is to re-distribute the oils secreted at the base…
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Tima and The Beast
I suspect these cows of grooming Tima. Their long rough tongues must feel good on her back. And she is not choosy. She is getting much more comfortable with the cows being in ‘her’ field. But lying down behind them to wait for her massage seems less than sensible. They are enormous and she looks…
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Upstairs, Downstairs
Nelson the Wescue Wabbit who has been living in the upstairs of her outside rabbit hutch, like a posh rabbit, has discovered the downstairs. Yesterday she joyfully leapt up and down the ramp showing off her newfound freedom. She has joined the rabble! Her food and water are still upstairs so it is super easy…
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Writing with Soap in the Shower.
The best ideas come to me in the shower. My mind is on a pause and all the little searches I have launched during the last few hours suddenly get busy and bring me answers. So I write myself notes on the shower walls. This may look like an utter failure when I go back…
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Too much for a Title with a hook. Gotta read it!
There was dramatic drama yesterday and a delightful delivery. Let’s begin with the delightful delivery. New calves. These two bobbies are so quiet. We brought them back from a big noisy place so they are probably quite shocked at the warm straw and old barn and relative peace of The Farmy. Angus cross. They quickly…
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Sell me Your Dreams.
If I am allowed to wake naturally, I wake at dawn. No matter when the dawn is. Always a dream is with me. Like a mist. A diaphanous fabric of colour and movement and air and dreams. Do you wake up like that? I rise fast and often write down as much as I can…
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