Tag: blog

A First Market, Again.

It was a rocky start and not in the way you would think. The rocky part of it was the successful part. When my daughter, Isabelle, was around eight years old, she began painting rocks. She’d collect buckets of rocks from a secret beach source lugging a filled container to the car. The rocks were of similar size – a bit smaller than her slender hand. At home, scattered on a tabletop she had tubes and tubes of bright colors. She’d start by brushing on a wildly bright base coat on each rock – Cornflower Yellow, Ocean Breeze Teal, Winter Plum Purple, Robin’s Egg Blue, Spanish Olive Green and so many more yummy colors. Each coating would be followed by polka dots and other simple shapes. Lastly, on each rock an inspiring word was written – joy, comfort, hope. She had created a long list of words to choose from to paint on her rocks.

Her first market was the Suttons Bay Art Fair. The art fair supported young artists and always provided a tent for these young entrepreneurs to have a booth to sell their items. Before market day, Isabelle carefully wrapped each rock and placed them in a box. She got a cash box from her Grandma Goat (…there is also a Grandma Frog). Under the shade of the tent, she set up her booth of assorted painted rocks. It was her very first market. I stayed at the art fair with her, sitting quietly behind her watching her sell her rocks. Her booth was the busiest one in the tent. People would come by and remark, “Oh, you’re the talented girl with the painted rocks for sale.” Everyone who came to her booth left with a rock or two. I couldn’t tell if she felt overwhelmed because she looked cool as a cucumber as she conversed with customers, wrapped her sold rocks, and calculated the change from sales. It was a rocky start for sure and she was all smiles. 

(Fast forward seventeen years later.) 

Again, I had the opportunity to join Isa at her first market. It would be the Florence Fest at the Grow Benzie market. Over the course of many months, she had been diligently creating her products – herbal medicines and skin care, natural dyed silks, native and medicinal plants. Again, she methodically planned out her first market from product to set-up. Again, I was able to sit under the shade of her tent and quietly watch her. Again, she engaged with her clients and poetically told them about her products. She was flawless. She was confident. She was beautiful. As her mom, I was bursting but not with pride. Pride wasn’t mine to feel. This was HER achievement. I was bursting with pure joy. The joy of still being able to “ride along” during these times. To watch her create. It is something amazing to see your child do what they love. I am grateful for these times that seem so simple but in fact for me are so very BIG for this mama’s heart. Isa’s first market as an eight year old was a wonderfully rocky start and as an adult she is still rockin’ it. 

Circles And Cycles Botanical Alchemy
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What Begins With “RE-“?

It’s not a trick question. There are numerous words that begin with the letters ‘RE’. Since moving back to our up north farm there are a few of these words that resonate with me. Reconnect. Rediscover. Reflect. Renew.

Reconnect. In the late 1990s, we purchased this 12-acre farm located in a valley from my grandfather who I called Grandpa Jack. This plot of land holds many childhood memories for me. When we had the opportunity to buy the farm, my husband and I jumped at the chance. We had recently built a home just outside of Leland at the time. Without much hesitation, we put the Leland house on the market along with the vacant lot next to it. The farm would offer us so much more than our town house would. The farm had a barn with four horse stalls. It had fruit trees. There was a fresh water spring that fed a creek that diagonally cut across the property. It was surrounded by a wooded area that various species of trees populated. Above the valley where the house and barn sat, was a steep hill that overlooked the property and Lake Michigan. But the best part was that the property had memories. My childhood memories. It was my desire to reconnect with this sacred land so it could begin to create memories for my own children. Now, I have returned again to reconnect and continue adding to my memory bank.

Rediscover. Being back at the farm has allowed me to rediscover why I have loved this property so passionately. This rediscovering has been facilitated by my daughter – Isa – who is studying permaculture. Through her knowledge and guidance, I am discovering the ever present potential of the farm. She is showing me how we can provide for the land and honor what it has to offer. I am excited to work alongside her as she plans and teaches me how to truly value the beautiful gifts of nature that this farm if giving us.

Reflect. When we first moved to the property, we seemed to be on overdrive. Things were done quickly and with short-term goals in mind. However, this return is allowing for reflection – a more thoughtful, longterm approach to how we envision the property. This will be our last move. (This was our 12th move and we aren’t even a military family.) This will be our retirement home. This will be the space that my children inherit. This reflection includes walks around the property, residing in the house, discussions with my family, and observations of plant growths.

Renew. Being on the property, I feel renewed. I made it back and now I can submerse myself in projects on the property. I can renew my creative spirit. I can renew my love of the property. I can renew the life I once had.

I am home.

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The House That Jack Built

“The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and freedom.” ~ Sharon Ralls Lemon

During the early 70s my grandfather, H. Jack Brown, and my grandmother, Roberta, purchased the 12 acre plot. They moved from West Virginia to retire in Michigan. My grandfather raised quarter horses (along with my Aunt Larri) and brought three with him from West Virginia. The horses wer Blair Cody Miss – “Missy”, Daylight Dancing – “Joey”, and Golden Gain – “GG”. Therefore, the first structure he built on the property was a barn with four horse stalls that could withstand a hurricane. While the barn building took place, he and my grandmother lived in a camper. On the side of the barn, opposite of the stalls, he built an apartment. It was a one bedroom apartment with a loft and an open floor plan for the kitchen and living room. It was tiny but functional. Later he added a sunroom which added light and space to the apartment.

After the apartment was complete, he built the main house. It was completed in 1983. It was a ranch style home. He did the stonework for the fireplace and the front entrance by himself using rocks from the property. There are a few rock with “fool’s gold” embedded in them. If you look carefully, you can find them. I remember when the walls were set for the basement, my siblings would climb up and move along the perimeter of the top of the concrete block walls. I couldn’t, even though I tried, because I was terribly afraid of heights.

For the horses, he erected a large paddock that had a fresh water stream running through it. Large willow trees lined the roadside of it. Nestled in a valley, it was the perfect home for the horses.

In 1998, my husband and I had the opportunity to purchase the property. We jumped at the chance. We sold our home that we had recently built in Leland and the vacant lot we owned adjacent to the home. My grandfather’s property was perfect for raising a family – it had a creek, lots of land, fruit trees, and plenty of space for play. Eventually, I would fill the stalls again with horses. I had two Egyptian Arabian horses – Razine and Tairza. I also had two quarter horses – Jack and Norman. I miss raising horses and the smell of a horse barn brings a flood of sweet memories and a deep longing for horses.

Eventually, we moved due to my husband’s job. During that time, we had many renters stay in the home. But we are finally returning home. Returning to the home my Grandpa Jack built – the house that Jack built.

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Hello Friend

PC: Jessie Zevalkink

Hello, I’m Shannon – a wife to my high school sweetheart, a mother to three adult children, and a pet owner of many chickens and two doodles.

I decided to start a blog to journal things happening on our Northern Michigan farm that we purchased in the mid ’90s from my Grandpa Jack. We have left that farm for many years and are finally returning to our roots – to the land that is our family connection. I have many wonderful and lingering memories of my childhood and my children’s childhood submersed into the history of that property. It has been the place we have always considered our “true home”.

There are BIG plans for the property. My daughter will be doing gardening and land care projects. My sons will be helping with the renovation of the main house. I hope to have workshops with my daughter, dinners under the willows, bonfires with friends, and so much more. I hope to share all of this with you as way of documenting the life that emerges and evolves on the property we call Willow Glen Farm.

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