Our story

Our camera is once again returned to Canon so I won't be taking any photos of new projects.  I thought I would post a few old photos with a little story to go with it.

Fabien and I once vacationed in Miami and decided to call this vibrant city our home.  We enjoyed the Art Deco District and the calm pristine beaches. Like many others, we worked in the Real Estate industry and did well. I eventually became tired of the stress and constantly ringing cell phones. Deciding it was time to make a change,  I threw away my phone and went backpacking for a few months.  A hobby which I loved before I was married. I flew to Thailand where I travelled overland to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam,  cultivating my desire to learn more about the simplicity of other cultures. Enjoying Yoga and Tai chi retreats.... that was about 8 years ago.

At 29 I felt myself yearning to be a mother, so was elated when I found out I was pregnant with Sasha.  Spending 9 months nurturing myself in order to care for my unborn child in the quiet space of our home.  There are no other experiences in life that could emulate my feelings at that time.

Sasha was born at home in February, a very difficult birth.  He contracted group b strep and was taken to the hospital where he spent 10 days.  It was the longest 10 days of my life.  He was not critically sick so they allowed me to care and nurse him in a nursing room nearby, until he was able to finally come home and share the comfort of our family bed.  Sasha loved nursing and holding this little baby in my arms night and day left me in a state of euphoria.  He continued to nurse throughout my pregnancy with Sania and long after Sania was born.  This I believe has nurtured their amicable relationship.

Birthing Sania at home was an easy 3 hour labor and Sasha was delighted to be there to welcome his little brother who has captivated the hearts of all around.  Sasha demonstrating such tenderness and has been a loving role model.

We had a beautiful house in Miami where I  savored every moment with my little children.  Playing, cooking, swimming, planting and decorating our children’s home and garden.  We enjoyed beautiful times with a wonderful group of Waldorf home-schoolers who inspired me immensely.

Our farm life began with a three week vacation with my two little boys.  Sania was 6 months at the time and Sasha 3 years old.  Driving up a magnificent driveway lined with coconut palms, cycads, yellow and red flamboyant that flamed the sky with their radiant colors.  Views of cows enjoying the lush green pasture.  We crossed a small bridge that hovered over a large pond enjoyed by many wild ducks.  Looking over on the other side a dense jungle.  I was overjoyed by the reminiscence of my youth growing up in the wild bushes of Africa.

Living in our airy house in Miami led me to an uncertainty and no special fondness of the farm house which contained many small rooms.  I felt claustrophobic but as I looked out the windows it took my breath away.  The jungle, the towering trees the rolling hills.  Captivating!

The expanse of the countryside, the scent of the sweet earth.  Listening to the croaking frogs and the symphony of the crickets.  The bellowing of the bull and the sweet birdsong transcends a city lifestyle.  Myself and children reveled in the nature.  Exploring all the beauty which surrounded us.

Three weeks turned into four years and an incredible illumining experience for our family.

We spent most of our days exploring the property and devouring all the amazing tropical fruits.  In front of the house lies a citrus orchard; limes, oranges, nectarines, and grapefruit.  Coconuts grow in abundance, we savored the sweet milk and tender meat within.  Thick sticks of sweet sugar cane devoured by the children.

The calfs that were about 6 months had been severely neglected and were in desperate need of attention and proper nutrition.  They were probably weaned on the 2nd day of birth from the mother so that all milk could be collected for sale.  The mothers were sold and we were left with the sick babies.  My motherly instinct told me that they needed  raw milk from a mother so we bought 5 milking cows and fed the calves by bottle. Not only was a beautiful bond formed but the babies were well on their way to recovery.

They waited for their milk every day, twice a day.  Many of our cow births in the future were difficult because most of the cows we had or purchased were artificially inseminated, and were kept in small feed lots with little exercise.  After a few years of natural living they’ve become strong and now need very little attention and we haven’t had a complicated birth in 2 years!  Our calfs that are born remain with the mother until 5 months.  If we feel they need longer we leave them.  We only milk our cows once a day.  We are grateful for our delicious raw milk,  yogurt,  cultured creme and  cultured butter.

We installed a green house because I was keen to get our vegetables and herbs growing.  The tropical rain seasons here are persistant so the green house was a necessity to preserve  our produce.  Being new to agriculture the concept of growing different vegetables and herbs was an experiment.  I ordered as many seeds as I could think of and sowed them in seeding trays and soon found out what grew well. Initially we  struggled with the pests, especially fire ants.  Our compost from collected cow and horse manure, mixed with grass and leaves is dark, rich and the best organic nutrient for our soil.

I will continue our story in another post.  It's hard to compact 4 years in a few short paragraphs.