I am the wife of a fabulous man who not only puts up with my grandiose ideas but is willing to help me bring them into reality. I not only love that man but I genuinely like him. There is nothing quite like being married to your best friend. It would be hard not to admire such an authentically good person.

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I am the mother of 7 fabulous children. I have 3 daughters and 4 sons. Their ages span from 6 years up to 22. I grew up with many siblings and always wanted that for my children. No one understands you quite the way a brother or a sister does. As an adult, I still count my siblings as some of my favorite people. Being a mother of many has inspired me to find time and money-saving techniques that I love to share with others.

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Having grown up on a small farm, I wanted that same lifestyle for my children. We now have a little 2-acre farm with chickens, ducks, rabbits, and alpacas. We have a large garden, a small orchard, and a berry patch. I love being able to make the most of the earth’s bounty. I have developed a love of building and working with my hands as we have adapted our property to fit our purposes. Many of my favorite moments have been spent working under our amazing blue sky with my husband beside me.

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I am passionate about exercise and healthy eating. Running and weight training have been my workout focus. After my second child, I decided I wanted to do something amazing, so I trained for and ran a marathon. I was pleased and surprised when I came in second in my age bracket. Having babies back to back definitely made it harder to stay in shape, (Mostly because my shape kept changing.) but being strong made the pregnancies and caring for my little ones easier. I grew up with hearty, healthy food. When I moved out on my own I went through a 3-month foray into junk food. I found I felt terrible, changed my diet, and have never looked back.

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I worked for 12 years as a cardiac nurse and trained as a midwife. I am currently retired and focusing on raising and homeschooling my children. I will forever be grateful for my time caring for others. I have always supported holistic medicine but having the education and experience behind me has helped me to understand how to do that safely.

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I love to crochet, knit, and spin. When my children were young I found I had many times when I was waiting, at soccer practice, doctor appointments, etc. I decided to learn knitting as a way to be more productive with my time. Eventually, I found many patterns I wanted to do that were crochet and decided I should learn that as well. Spinning yarn came as a result of raising alpacas which have the best wool for spinning. Five years ago my teenage son came home with a picture of a sea dragon he had drawn. Since I had been crocheting a lot of stuffed animals then, I was feeling ambitious and told him I would crochet it for him. I was so pleased with the result that I posted it on Etsy. My first designs were all from drawings my children made. It was so much fun to see their interest in my progress in bringing their drawings to life. Our local fair loves to see the new creations I bring in every year. My specialty is dragons and I love researching new techniques to get the results I want. Creating crochet patterns as OvertonFancies on Etsy is now a beloved part of my life. If you are interested in seeing my creations there are many pictures in my store.

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My mother and maternal grandmother have been my biggest inspirations. My mother was raised on a farm and has been my example of self-reliance, creativity, and hard work. She has a love of reading and learning that I have inherited. She is never afraid of trying something new. My grandmother’s parents were second-generation American-born Germans who owned and operated a German delicatessen. She was always in the kitchen. She took care of those she loved and that often involved food. (Not that we minded.) She was often at her grandmother’s farm in the country and later married a farmer. She was a natural when it came to taking care of animals and gardening. Her garden was massive and a treat as a child to harvest from. She owned an antique store and was the one who taught me how to refinish furniture. She taught ceramic painting in her community and loved life. (I miss that woman.) Having grown up during the great depression, she could often be heard saying, “Waste not, want not.” She was probably my mother’s inspiration for her saying, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” With powerful women like these in my life is it any wonder I want to preserve the things they taught me for future generations? It is a good way to live.

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Some of the lost arts I enjoy are:

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1. Crocheting, Spinning, Knitting

2. Food Preservation; Canning, Dehydrating, Freeze Drying, Freezing, Pressure Cooking

3. Reclaimed Wood Projects

4. Kitchen Arts

5. Holistic Natural Medicine

6. Gardening