Other Interests

Favorite word: DABBLE

Favorite place to be when not at IVCC: HOME

I was born in Chicago, grew up in Arlington Heights, IL, and traveled for years in business, but now I call this late 19th century farmhouse my home. When I bought it, there was no electricity upstairs, and it was very "rustic". It still is, but I enjoy the process of working to make it a nicer place to live.

Besides raising many critters, I also have a garden and small orchard where I grow a variety of vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruits. I try to use only organic methods to produce chemical-free foods for my family and friends. Choosing varieties that are healthful, delicious, hardy, disease-resistant, and ripen when I have time to process them is an interesting challenge.

I enjoy reading, writing, painting, stained glass and pottery; sewing, quilting, weaving and spinning; carpentry; cooking, baking and canning and preserving; hay making; tending orchard trees and vines; and planning, planting and tending gardens. I do some of my most creative thinking while I am working on my farm. Then, when I go back to my more intellectual pursuits, the ideas seem to go into place more easily. Maybe that's why Voltaire told us to "Cultivate our gardens."

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