Today I'm talking with Becca at Moon Ridge Acres.
A Tiny Homestead Podcast is sponsored by Cottage Foodie Con. The code HOME 15 will get you 15% off any ticket and is valid for the month of November
www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead
If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee
https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes
You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. Have you thought about being a cottage food producer? Or if you're a cottage food producer, have you thought about expanding it into a small business? Cottage Foodie Con is probably for you. You can find more information at cottagefoodiecon.com and if you use the code HOME15, you'll get 15% off your registration costs.
And that price is valid through the end of November. So again, check out cottagefoodiecon.com. A tiny homestead is sponsored by uh cottagefoodiecon.com. Today I'm talking with Becca at Moonridge Acres. I think it's the name of your place in Alberta, Canada. Good morning, Becca. How are you? Hi, I'm good. How are you? I'm good. Is Moonridge Acres the right name? That is correct. Yeah. Okay. And do you, you have a separate page for that or not on Facebook?
I actually do have a separate page for it, but I don't really use it very much. um just, I'm spread a little too thin, but eventually I would like to do it and have it be more, you know, promotional for the horses. But right now it's just kind of sitting there. Okay, cool. I looked at your personal profile. was like, I know she has a business name, but I couldn't remember it. And I was like, oh yeah, Mooner Jakers. Okay, cool. So how's the weather in Canada this morning?
It is brisk. Brisk is what I would call it. It's, I think we were at minus 11 last night, that's Celsius. So I don't know what that works out to in Fahrenheit. I'm still, I'm trying to get the conversion in my head, but it's not going super well. So yeah, it's cool. It's one of the cooler mornings that we've had so far. And honestly, this is a really great fall. It's been really nice. So I can't complain.
Is it sunny there? Sunny? Yeah, it is. is sunny. It's, uh, Alberta's kind of known for being cold, but sunny. So you, you get one, one evil and one good thing. You know, the sun is nice. Cause when it's dreary and cloudy, that's just depressing. Yeah. Um, yesterday all day, looked like, um, dusk cause it was rainy and cloudy all day yesterday. um
And I was okay with that because the weatherman was predicting that we were going to wake up to one to three inches of snow this morning. And I was excited. Oh, wow. And I got up and we got like half an inch of snow. I was like, it's going to be another one of those winters where they hype the hell out of the forecast. And then we get nothing. I swear every single year, like in the last like four years, they were like, this is going to be the worst winter ever. And then it's fine.
Like, I'm not sure if they get more clicks on that. Like, maybe they make more ad revenue by saying it's going to be terrible. I'm not sure. I have no idea, but I was in my five-year-old pram of mind of, okay, it's going to be the first really nice snow. It's going to be beautiful when I wake up. And oh no. No. I was also excited because my dog loves the first real snowfall of a couple inches because she goes out and rolls in it.
And I was so excited for her to go out the door and be all crazy. And now I was like, okay, well, this was not the day already. No, they seem to be doing that a lot. told us Calgary, which is just a boat three hours south of us, they got a decent dump. Like I think it was 10 inches or not 10 inches, sorry, 10 centimeters. ah And they said it was coming our way and to expect a big storm and nothing.
Yup, I don't believe the weather people anymore. The weather is what it is doing outside my window right now. And right now, it is really windy. It is 28 degrees and I would call it brisk. So I think we're probably in the same, the same. I think so. think Fahrenheit to Celsius, believe 20 is zero Celsius. So we're minus 11 Celsius. So that's gotta be like.
I want to say around like the, in the single digits of Fahrenheit, I think. So we're having kind of the same weather day. It's all good. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So you've been on the podcast twice. They have been wonderful conversations. And just to catch people up, tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do. Uh, so I breed miniature horses, um, here in Alberta and we breed for
show purposes um and we show them and my, you know, my whole social media is all about promoting the breed and hopefully getting more people to get into them and see that miniature horses are truly awesome little creatures. I really, really love them. ah And yeah, that's, we're all about the minis right now. Okay. So in the first interview we did,
You had mentioned rabbits and goats. Do you still have those? So I no longer have my rabbits. I would like to get back into the rabbits eventually. I really miss my rabbit people because I did rabbit shows as well. um But right now I am just spread too thin. I don't have the time to give them proper care and rabbits are very time consuming because they're all in individual cages.
and they all need individual feed. And it's just a very time consuming uh hobby to get into. I just, I'm spread too thin right now to do rabbits to the best of my abilities. ah And so we're pausing on that. I would love to get back into them though, cause I really do miss them. Okay. And do you still have goats? We do still have the goats and they are just ruling my life. They're feral in my yard for whatever reason they don't leave. So I don't lock them up.
And they're just, you know, eating my horse food and causing troubles. That sounds about on par for goats. Yeah, they're just out there living their lives and being menaces. Okay, and did you have chickens? I can't remember. No, we did not have chickens. We would love to have chickens. Like, I mean, I would love to have a whole lot of everything, but...
um We're just kind of limited on space right now and the the minis are currently our major focus. Okay, I just wanted to check in on on what I remember. Well, I went and listened to both episodes this morning. I was like, what did she say to me the first time? And I was like, there's got to be I don't know. I didn't know if you were just really focusing on the horses or if you still had the other things. So and that's
You are still- My husband would really like me to get rid of the goats because they eat all of our trees and they're they're just menaces and I don't do anything with them other than laugh at them when they climb on things they're not supposed to. ah But I just really enjoy laughing at them. They are highly entertaining and my husband is really thankful that I have not like demanded that we get goats because he knows how much I love them.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, they're big trouble. um I like, yeah, there's something about them that I love, but they're really more trouble than they're probably worth. But here I am. Yeah, I use demanded loosely because I never demand anything from anyone I request. don't demand. But the thing is, is that I really love the baby goats, the adult goats. I'm not as thrilled with so.
So I just let other people raise goats and I go see the babies when they're little and then they take care of their goats and I just get the benefits of seeing the babies when they come. That's fair. The babies are so entertaining and I'm not like breeding the goats anymore because I can't really sell them. So it just, doesn't make sense to continue on with it, but I, yeah, I am entertained by their shenanigans.
Yes, to quote Dawn's dirt. She's another person that does a podcast on Bershett or something like that is her last name. Her podcast is Dawn's dirt. She calls that tic-tac-titioning, math-ing.
That's awesome. Now anytime somebody's talking about it not making sense to do something because there's no return in it, the thing that pops into my head is tic-tac-titioning every time now. That's funny. I love it. And she's in Canada too. Oh, no way. Yeah, I can't remember. I want to say Alberta, but I could be wrong. I would have to look it up. Yeah, I'm going to have to look her up too and see. It's always good to connect with some other
you know, Canadian people that are probably trying to do the same thing that I'm trying to do. Yeah. If anybody wants to listen to Dawn's podcast, and it's really great because she's, she's very, very blunt. She's, she's friendly and she's honest and I love her, but she does not pull any punches. And she's, she's, uh, she's very, um, anti-government.
And she's very honest about that too. So if anybody wants to listen to it, all I have to do is type in Dawn's dirt in Google and it'll come up. promise. That's awesome. I might have to do that. So anyway, um I want to learn more about what's going on with the mini horses, but I want to say that I am so glad you're still in the world because I saw that you hit a moose. oh yes. I just did that with my favorite.
car ever. I absolutely loved that car so, much. um And it's, you know, I got really lucky because it was a cow calf pair and I was paying attention. It was just a really bad lighting situation. And, you know, where they came out of the trees were super close to the road. So I saw mama and if I would have hit mama, we could have had a much different outcome. um But I swerved and I just
just nicked the hindquarters of the calf and it totaled my car most likely. I'm still waiting for insurance to let me know on that. But you still haven't heard yet? No, I won't know probably until the end of this week or even early next week. Oh, my goodness. And, you know, the adjuster was like, start car shopping. And I'm like, OK, I'm going to find a vehicle that I really love and then you're going to fix my car or.
You know, it's just one of those frustrating situations where the insurance companies make it really convenient for them and you're at their mercy. So, the best option is, is you find something you like and you do have your vehicle back. So, yeah, yeah. I mean, I would be happy to have my vehicle back. um Unfortunately, I'm probably going to have to look at getting a truck because in reality I was probably towing a little bit too much with that vehicle. um
And it sucks because I really, really did like that vehicle, but a truck will be more versatile, I suppose. Yes, absolutely. And I'm not giving you a hard time. swear I adore you. But it could be worse. It could be so much worse. So much worse. at the end of the day, my daughter didn't even feel the she was like, what was that? And I was like, oh, you know, just our car crumpling into an oblivion.
But she didn't even know what happened. you know, like I had a slightly sore neck the next morning. ah But I couldn't even tell. It kind of felt like I just slept on it wrong. So I'm not even sure if it was related. um So, you know, us being okay is all that really matters. And I'll whine about that car for a little bit, but I'll get over it. Yeah. And like I said, I wasn't giving you a hard time. And I am so glad.
that you are okay and that your daughter is okay because that could have been a terrible outcome for both of you. Yeah. Most are no joke. So the last time we talked, we talked about your horses and we talked about the PayPal fiasco that you have since gotten figured out and really, really quick. Can you catch us up on how that got fixed? Cause it was actually a very simple fix once you knew what to do. Oh, it's so like looking back, it's so frustrating that I
had to go six months in just absolute agony over this. ah Because what ended up happening was it wasn't that Metta wasn't trying to pay me, it was that PayPal was rejecting the payment because I used a PayPal account that I had had open for years. ah They had asked me to verify my account uh like years ago.
And I had never logged into the account. I never saw the notification and the notification just went away. And so there was no notification and I had called PayPal. They didn't know about this. They had no idea. Facebook obviously had no idea about it. then Greg from PayPal, I called, I asked and Greg was eating his Wheaties that day. He was like,
This is what you got to do. And it was like a two second fix and boom, payment in my account and life is good. So yeah, and it has been fine since. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And this is uh specific to Canadians. ah It is a regulation put in by the Canadian government that any deposit over a thousand dollars needs to have a verified account.
And that means like with your driver's license and you know, it was a couple steps to get it verified, but it was easy and now we're all good. Good, because I know that was driving you absolutely bug wonky to use it when my mother uses. I mean, you know, was beyond frustrating. Like I had $50,000 sitting in that account.
that I couldn't access and my husband was on disability and like we were, we were struggling and I was at the point of like, do I give this up and just, you know, get a real job or, or what do I do? Right. Because I'm like, I'm seeing this money here. Like I know it's working, but it's not working if I can't access it. thank Greg from PayPal. are my hero. Shout out to Greg. Yeah. Okay. So.
Let's get to the horses, because I know that's what you really, really love and what you really, really want to talk about. How many babies were there this spring? Ooh, this year. So we had five babies total, but one of them was in the fall, and that's been a whole situation. Okay. So yeah, we had the first four were born all without a hitch. Everything was great. um And then...
We had the never ending pregnancy of the mare that I picked up, George, from Tennessee. I drove to Tennessee and I picked up this mare in Niagara Falls and drove home and she was bred. And she was supposed to be due most likely at the end of June. And we got to, the baby was born September 7th. So it felt like she was pregnant forever.
Um, so yeah, the, uh, that whole scenario, but this little baby, such a sweet, sweet baby. And we've had problems. Uh, her mama wasn't making enough milk. Her mom just got diagnosed with Cushing's. Um, but we've got her all figured out now we're bottle feeding her, uh, just as like a supplement. And it's been great. It's been great. I think I've learned 10 years of knowledge just with this one full.
Which is going to be terribly beneficial to you in the future. So yay. Yes, exactly. It's the, we're just getting it all out at once. Like I feel like a pro now. Good. Awesome. And the fact is you're never going to know everything because that would be a lot to keep in one brain. Absolutely. Is this, is this the fool that's named after your friend? It is. Yes. Okay. Can you tell that story without crying or would you rather not? um
I mean, I could give it a go for sure. Okay. We're, we're, we're a little bit more healed. I don't know about healed, but anyways, um, so my neighbors were, they moved in a couple of years ago and we got connected because they were looking for someone to feed their cats. Um, and I offered, you know, as my services to make a little bit of extra money and we ended up becoming like,
close. And the this July, I was at Stampede and the husband of the pair called me and informed me that Crystal had been in an accident and that she was gone. And that was just like, oh, I have no words. I
I cannot imagine and I feel just so awful, know, like you go through the last thing that you said to that person or, you didn't respond to that message and now you like, it's just, I've never lost a friend in that way. So suddenly and so tragically and, you know, her husband who was just...
you could see how madly in love with her he was and they'd been married for like 27 years or something like that, you know, and he was still just that golden retriever husband that every woman dreams of, you know. I love it. And I just, my heart breaks for him. It still breaks for him. I can't even imagine. um And
Yeah, I asked because Crystal loved coming over and she would always save her vegetables that they didn't get through in the week for the animals and she loved coming over and, you know, seeing the animals and I asked him, could I name this baby after her? And he gave me his blessing. so now we have little Crystal and it's so funny because this little baby is sweet as pie, but she's got that little...
devil and I think that's that's kind of how Crystal was as well just the sweetest woman and but you could see there was a little bit of you know uh a sparkle in the eye a little bit of devious. uh perfect way to honor your friend. Yeah yeah it's I feel really good about it and I hope that Crystal is up there smiling and enjoying watching
little baby crystal kick me when her milk is not correct. Uh-huh. Laughing her ass off in heaven is how I would see that. I hope so. I really do because this little baby is, my goodness, you better have that milk to temperature, let me tell you. She's worse than a human baby. Uh-huh, uh-huh. And cuter than a button, cuter than a button. You couldn't ask for a cuter baby horse. Oh yeah, and they're all cute.
All the babies are cute. Your friend, I think it's your friend. I can't think of her first name. Her piercelle is how you- Oh, Nicole. Yes. Yes. Yeah. The baby that she had, the horse baby that has the rhinos. Yes. Riley. That is one of the cutest baby horses I've ever seen because of the shape of its face. Yeah. Yeah. Very, very cute.
um Yeah, she's a... It's just, it's crazy, the things that can happen, but you know, it gives them character and you know, you love them for it. Yeah, absolutely. And we're all different. It doesn't matter whether we're humans or animals, we're all different. We have our own things about us that make us specials. Exactly. Okay. So I'm super glad that Crystal is doing well and...
I follow you, follow Nicole, I follow Katie. And again, like I said in the last episode, I think I don't have any mini horses or horses. I don't intend to have any. So I don't live vicariously through you three amazing women who are doing the things because that means that I can enjoy it and I don't have to do it. Absolutely. And I think like that's kind of the point of social media. Like that's how I view it. I feel like
You know, a lot of my followers are people that might never even live on an acreage or might never get the chance to own one or never want the chance, you know, and they get to kind of enjoy these animals through me. And I can't think of a better thing. Like, I think that's amazing. Yeah, exactly. And it's almost, it's going sound really dumb, but I'm going say it anyway. It's like a virtual petting zoo.
I don't get to pet your horses, but I get to see them and I get to like in my head I can sort of picture myself there with them. Yeah, absolutely. like that's something I'm really trying to get better at with my content is showing off each horse's like individual personality because they all have their own personality. Some of them are very
you know, chill and calm and you know, they never do anything bad. And then there's some that are total clowns all the time. And I'm really trying to capture their essence in the content, which is a learned skill, I'll say that. But I think that's what makes it so fun, is getting to know the personalities of these little creatures that, you know, they all have their own.
Yeah, they are all good. Yes, I just love it. And I feel so weird sometimes. Like I feel like a stalker. Because I didn't know about you until a good year and a half ago. And then I found your page and I was like, Oh, more mini horses. This is awesome. And then I got to sort of know you through your videos. And I was like, she's really sweet. And then I was like, Hmm, wonder if she talked to me on the podcast.
And since we talked the first time, you're now a new friend to me. So I'm not always talking to you, I'm just keeping up with a good friend. I love that. I love that. It's just so cool to like, you know, have these friendships all over, like all over the world, really. I mean, I would say most of my followers are in the US, but you know, to see people from Australia being like, you know, I just, that's just, it's bananas. It's, it's a very surreal.
kind of feeling, but it's super cool because knowing that somebody across the world is rooting for you is just, it's amazing. It's amazing and it's crazy at the same time because I'm an old lady, I'm 56. We didn't have this technology back when I was a kid. Right. Yeah. You know what? And I was born in 91. So I was right on that. I was on the line. I remember life.
before technology, uh but I was like one of the first to get it, right? Like I was in high school when the iPhone came out. um So I kind of know both worlds and it's just so crazy to think of how different my kid's childhood is versus what mine was. yeah, it's just wild. And you now my kid, my 10 year old is like, I want to be a YouTuber. And I'm like, I created this, didn't I?
Uh huh. Like how would I say no? Like I, it's a valid career. Yeah. And when I was growing up, my mom was one of those moms who was like, okay, you've had a good breakfast. You've had a big glass of orange juice. You've had a glass of water. Get out of my house and don't come back till the streetlights come on. And I'm saying that jokingly, but she might as well have said that because we spent all our time outside. Absolutely.
No phones, no screens, no nothing. And I lived in a little tiny town in Maine and the neighbors all kind of knew each other and they all kept an eye on the kids. they saw, the moms would make a note of who they saw go by if they saw them. if mom called and said, you seen Lynn? My nickname is Lynn. Have you seen Lynn today? They would be like, yeah, like at one o'clock I saw her headed that way. And that way my mom sort of had an idea of where I was.
It's so wild. think of the things that I did as a child. Like I was, I was an only child and I would, you know, I was a little bit older than my kids are right now. I was like, you know, 13, 14, but I would get on my horse and ride like miles away by myself with no phone, no nothing. And my mom was just fine. It was like, I would, I would have a conniption if my children did that. oh
Absolutely. When my kids were kids, they're now all grown. The youngest is 24 next month. The oldest is 36. Oh my God. We lived again in a small town. And so pretty much the same situation. The kids would head out the door and all the moms in the neighborhood would keep an eye on everybody. And we had a library not a block and a half away.
If all else failed, I knew my daughter was probably at the library. Right. So it worked out fine. It's uh such a different time. Like now, my oldest is at the point where I will send her into like a gas station by herself if she wants a drink uh or like a small grocery store if I need milk, trying to build that confidence of doing things on your own.
You know, if she takes an extra two minutes, I'm like on my phone, I'm messaging her, I'm are you? Like, meanwhile, I was literally swimming in a river by myself. I feel like kids used to be feral cats and now they are pampered house cats. Absolutely. Yes. And there is something to be said for both. I, you know, I do not want to disparage the way my mom raised me and I certainly don't want to disparage the way that you're raising yours.
And I sure as heck want to think that I raised mine right. So we're all doing the best we can with the information we have at the time we have it. Um, my, my horse was a bicycle cause I didn't have a horse. So I would ride my bike and the best freaking day of my childhood was when my parents said, yes, you may ride your bike the two miles to the library and we're not going to worry about you. Wow.
fast day of my life because I love to read. have loved to read since I was in first grade. Yeah, that's amazing. And I didn't have to wait for them to have time on Saturday morning to drive me to the library anymore. I could just go. Right. And two miles. That's a decent distance for a little kid. Oh, I had legs like tree trunks. I was so strong. was like, I think I was five foot four when I was 12. Oh, wow.
And I think I weighed about 80 pounds. And so I was tough. wasn't fat. I was solid. Yeah. And that's something I think that a lot of kids, mine included, are lacking is the physical activity of being outside and having to get from point A to point B. you know, even me, I was horseback riding, but that is not, you're not just sitting there.
You know, it was something. I'm really, I'm really pushing this year to get my kids into more stuff that is going to build muscles because it's just so easy to, to sit around on a device, you know? How many kids do you have, Two, I have a 10 year old and a five year old. So they're a good age, but they're a terrible age at the same time. You know, the, the five year old wants to play with the 10 year old and the 10 year old doesn't always want to play with the five year old.
But the 10-year-old can help with the five-year-old, help her with some things and that sort of thing. there's pros and cons to the age gap, but I like it. Yeah. And you have many horses. I know you must be feeding them and hauling hay and doing all that. Do the kids help? Absolutely. Absolutely. My oldest, as my youngest, is a little bit of a princess, especially in the cold. But this year,
We got round bales and we bought a skid steer in September. So my winter chores are honestly so much easier than my summer chores because in the summertime I am individually feeding horses for show. I'm making sure their diets are ultra specific. And in the winter time I get to be like, here's a bale. And I go out.
I make sure everybody's good, do that twice a day. And that's about it. You know, we fill it, we have to fill the water every other day, but it's very streamlined in the winter because we made it that way. Cause I don't want to be outside at minus 30. No, I don't blame you at all. It's no fun. No, it's terrible actually. Okay. So in the summertime they can, they can really kind of get into it. Yeah. And of course the kids are a lot more willing to, to help in the summertime, um, with, you know, when we're feeding the square bales and we're
We're being specific about it, but right now the horses are all just eating and happy. Fat and sassy. That's exactly how I like it. Good. So I don't want to ask a rude question and if you're not comfortable answering it, just say so. How many, many horses do you have?
It's so funny because this is a question that I get asked all the time and my typical answer is, I don't know, like a lot. And, know, I have 34, I believe. Okay. Wow. This is where I, you know, I know everybody's name, but I can never remember the exact number of the count because I go out there and I look for names. don't.
look for, you know, names and faces. I'm not doing a head count. I'm, you know, if I, as long as I see everybody that I need to see, then, you know, I don't, I don't count so much. And I'm, it's hard to, with the foals, like three of my foals are sold, or sorry, not the foals, two of the foals, and then a yearling is sold. So do I count them? It's like, you know, they're still on my property. They're not leaving for a couple of months. Um, but
Yeah, 34 is a rough estimate, maybe not including the three that are sold. See, the only thing I think of when you tell me all that is in the springtime when the cows have babies around here, they put the mamas and the babies out in the pastures to eat and babies nurse and it's very cute. baby cows out here are called grass puppies. And your mini horses aren't
Well, they're a little smaller than a calf. probably about half the size of calf. And all I can think of is the equivalent of grass puppies at your house. Yep. And it is the best thing ever. Like there's, there's really nothing better than watching the babies, you know, run around and play with each other and get lost in the grass when it gets nice and tall. And it's, it's the best. Okay.
So um I had a question when you were answering my question and now it's gone because I do this all the time. um When did you get your first mini horse? So first mini horse goes back, oh, I have to do the math on the years. We're going into our third breeding season, so it would be four and a half years ago. So it skyrocketed very fast, but that's just
who I am as a person. I do something, I do it 100%. Um, and it was at the time, my 30 year old Arabian horse that I grew up on, he was my childhood riding horse. I, he was that horse that I was riding down at the river by myself and he always took good care of me. Um, he was starting to, he was not holding his weight. He was starting to have a really hard time moving around and
we knew his time needed to be soon. So I made a deal with my husband and I said, I think a fair exchange when Flair passes is for me to get a miniature horse because I've always wanted one and I wanted it for the novelty of it just because I thought they were cute. And he said, that seems reasonable, way cheaper on food and you know, that seems good.
And little did he know that I would become obsessed with them. So did you just get one to start with? No, I bought one. And then my dad saw that one, which is Boomer. And I actually just gelded him. So he was a stallion and he was a nice looking manager horse. And my dad saw him and he was like, oh, that's a nice little mini horse. And he said, you know what? I've always
wanted to have a little miniature horse breeding program. And I was like, sign me up. Let's go. Immediately. Yes. You're not going to have to ask me twice about that one. And so my dad ended up buying a few mares and, uh, you know, then we found a stallion that was
a little bit nicer than Boomer and then, you know, it just, it snowballed very quickly. And there, there's something about them where, you know, they don't really eat all that much and it just feels like it's totally fine to just buy another one. So what you're saying is that mini horse math is like chicken math. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Because they're addictive and they're so sweet and you
like yeah, they come in every single color, which a lot of horse breeds don't. um But minis come in every color. So there's a lot of collecting you can do. Well, this must be why um Katie Vance like has the mini cows because I feel like it's almost the same thing. Absolutely. Absolutely. I would love to get some of the mini cows. Absolutely love. But I don't have the space for them yet.
Yeah, we don't have the space for goats, let alone many horses, let alone many cows, let alone any four legged critter other than the dogs and the cat. Fair, fair. mean, and most people don't. I think that's, you know, I thought to myself when I, before I started social media, I was like, you know, to be able to live this life with these horses and get to experience them, it would almost be rude.
of me to not share them, right? Like it's almost a crime to not share them with everyone because not everybody gets that. And I live a very privileged life and I'm very aware of it. I- you are thankful for it. can hear it. Exactly. Like I'm so grateful that that is, that this is what I get to do. And it would just be, it would be rude of me to not give other people at least
the opportunity to have a glimpse into it. know, and to get, you know, if my horse brings a smile to someone's day, like that's the most beautiful thing in the world. agree, because every morning when I see new videos of you on your Facebook page, I smile and it makes my day better. So thank you for doing that. That is amazing. That's like just, that just warms my heart. I have no words.
It's so, it's so funny. I get up early. I go to bed early. I get up early because my husband snores and I've mentioned this in the podcast before and he does not care that I tell the story. My husband snores. So I go to bed early so I can get at least four hours of solid sleep because otherwise I will not. I average about four hours of solid sleep a night, which is driving me insane. And so, and so I get up at like between three 30 and four in the morning because I just can't.
stay in bed and listen to the snoring anymore. And I get up and I get my coffee and I go on the porch and I drink about half my coffee and I just listen to the outside because outside is quiet. And you know, I hear the breeze, I hear the barn cats meowing and I'm like, okay, that's better than snoring. Absolutely. And then I come in and I grab my phone and I open up Facebook and I start looking at Katie's page and Katie's friend, um, Becca Miller's page and your page.
And Nicole's page because it's all happy. Well, most of it's happy. 98 % of what I'm looking at is happy and uplifting. And it's a really nice way to wake up. So you guys save my sanity every morning. If that makes you feel even better. does. Like I, I, I feel just like my heart is full right now. Cause that's so amazing to hear. And you know, it, it's.
Sometimes I get caught up in responding to the negative people and that's just a good reminder to try and ignore them and just post the happy stuff. You can respond all you want because it gets you more clicks and viewers. That is true. But don't take it to heart because it's not... Other people's behavior has far more to do with them than it does to do with you. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Don't let it get you down. And there are times where you may have done something or said something and you may have to look at it and go, okay, was that actually out of line? Right. Because we all need to, we all need to like check ourselves here and there. Of course, of course. But for the most part, everybody is going through things and you can't know what they are. Exactly. Exactly. So true. And I don't want to be all Pollyanna about it, but
you can't let it, you cannot let it screw up your psyche because it's probably, it probably has nothing to do with you. Oh, absolutely. I, this is one situation where I think the ADHD plays a very solid role in how I'm able to kind of move past things because I genuinely just forget. uh I just, you know, it'll bother me for
five minutes and then something else will happen and then it's gone. It just leaves the brain because my brain can't handle any more information to dwell on. So I focus on the good and the bad things kind of float in and you know, I'll feel it and then it floats away again. Yes, and I'm going to say something that will probably make you giggle beyond belief. My dad used to say, and he used the actual swear word, but I'm not going to.
He would say, Mary Evelyn, opinions are like buttholes. Everyone has one. That is the truth. 100%. Absolutely. And if you can imagine him saying the actual word that butthole is replacing to a 12 year old who was very upset, who had been bullied at school, which was me. was sobbing. And then he said that to me and I was just on the floor laughing with tears streaming down my face.
Oh, that's amazing. mean, sometimes you gotta say it straight because it's the truth. It really is. Yeah, and I just looked at him, threw my tears, guffawing, took a big deep breath and said, you said a bad word and he just fell on the floor too laughing. uh Oh, that's funny. So, you know, every, they tell, the thing they tell people, they tell kids mostly, is don't be judgmental. The thing is,
All human beings are judging beings because we have to look at a situation and make a decision every moment of our day. Absolutely. It's not about not being judgmental. It's about not imposing your viewpoint on other people. Absolutely. Absolutely. That is a true life lesson. I mean, it goes back to if you don't have anything nice to say, just don't say anything at all. You know, like learning
when to keep an inside thought inside. Yeah, the trick I used to pull is some, if one of my friends would say, what do you think of my dress? And if I didn't like it, I would say, it's a dress. Yep. And my, my close friends were like, okay, I'm going to go change. Right, right. Cause they knew they knew that what that meant. Yes. But I couldn't, I couldn't bring myself to
give my honest opinion because I was like, you like it. Absolutely. And oftentimes I, I'll even ask, like if my daughter asked my opinion on something, um, you know, like, cause she's very crafty and she'll say, do you like it? And I'll say, do you want like, you know, if there's something that could be better about it or whatever, I'll always say, do you. oh
Do you want my mom answer or would you like some input on how to make it better? And sometimes she'll be like, I want the mom answer. I just want to know, do you like it? And I'm like, yeah, I love it. You couldn't make something that I didn't like. um But on the other times when she says, yeah, you know what, I'll take the critique and I'll say, this is what I really, really love about it. And here's what I think you could do to improve it.
You know, I try and always word everything whenever you're delivering maybe something that isn't what they want to hear. Always, there's always good in everything and delivering that alongside a way to make it better and being constructive about it. Um, but I always give her the option. Do you want, do you want my, your, my mom answer, which is absolutely, I love it every single time. Or do you want the critique and it's her choice.
Yep. And I'm going to wrap this psychology big net we're on with this. I always say to people when they start talking to me and they're like, what do you think? I say, are you venting or do you really want my opinion? Right. Absolutely. Because the last thing I want is to give someone a place to just vent their feelings and then step in and be like, oh, you could fix it like this. And they're like, I didn't need you to fix it. absolutely. Okay. So.
Yeah, definitely respond to the people who say things that are inflammatory because you benefit from that, but please don't take it to heart because you're awesome. Thank you. Canada does not celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Is it Boxing Day or is it Boxing Day after Christmas? can't remember. Boxing Day is after Christmas, but we do have Thanksgiving. It's just on a different day than the States. Like the US celebrates tomorrow, I believe, which is at the end of November.
um And then Canada is usually the second weekend in October. Oh, okay. And is it a harvest festival like we have here? I mean, kind of sort of. I guess our harvest is probably just a lot sooner than yours because we go from Thanksgiving right into winter, whereas you guys are probably just starting to get the super cold weather now. um
But yeah, I would say it's kind of like a harvest festival and wrapping up the season of growing and that sort of thing. It's just, it happens sooner here. Yeah. And it's not, it's not based off of the same lore that ours is based off of, because ours is based off of the pilgrims or the settlers and the Native Americans coming together to break bread and eat food. Right. And I'm guessing yours is not based off of that.
I do not think so. No, I've heard of the the pilgrim stuff, but I've never really heard it talked about in a Canadian kind of fashion. So I mean, somebody could correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it has the same lore. It's just mostly about giving thanks. Well, at our house, we just get together to basically enjoy family and eat way too much food and be thankful for the year's gifts.
That is exactly what we do. just, we like put our belts down a hole and, and fill up. Yeah. Well, we are having the most unconventional Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow that anyone possibly could think of. My husband is going to make homemade pizza pockets because our kid is going to be at his girlfriend's house. Oh, that actually sounds delicious. We are on a pizza pocket kick right now. whole house is, we're just kind of like.
We've been eating a lot of pizza pockets and they're really expensive. So I would love to try and make one homemade. Well, he found, okay, we are so far afield, but I don't care. My son who lives in Nebraska was introduced to something called a Runza, R-U-N-Z-A. And it's like a meat sandwich pocket thing. And I guess it started in Nebraska and he had been talking to his dad about it. And my husband was like,
We should try making those. So we made some beef, sausage, onion, cabbages part of it too. Pockets last weekend and they were pretty good. And I was like, you know, I said, I feel like these would make excellent pizza pockets if we put pepperoni and cheese and onion. uh A little bit of pizza sauce in there. And he was like, that sounds really good. So then I find out that my son is, my youngest son is going to his girlfriends for Thanksgiving and I was going to do a whole turkey dinner.
Right. I'm not doing a whole turkey dinner for my husband and I that's craziness. Yeah, absolutely. And I said, you know, we have all the ingredients on hand to make homemade pizza pocket runs us whatever we want to call them. I said, yeah, I just make those. And he was like, yeah. And the reason he makes them is he's the one that makes the dough and it's a bread dough and I suck at making yeast bread. So he's dinner. He makes the dough. That's amazing. So we're to do that. So as I'm talking to him about this, I said, by the way, I said,
Do you feel like making Christmas sugar cookies for Thanksgiving too? Because he makes the most fabulous sugar cookies. They are soft. Oh, I love those. Yes. And he was like, we didn't make any last year at all, did we? I said, no. He said, will you make the buttercream frosting and slather on them? And I was like, yes. He said, OK. Christmas cookies in the morning and pizza pockets for dinner. I was like, OK.
The scene sounds like the worst ever food for us, but yes. I love it. I love it. But that's what it's all about, right? you know, that'll probably be like a solid memory, you know, in the future, right? Because it was different and it was a little bit off, like off the cuff, a little bit crazy, but it'll it'll stick with you. Yeah. And Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only times that we really cook together. I usually I usually make dinner before he gets home, so it's ready when he gets home. Right.
So we love to cook together, we just don't have a lot of time to do it. Fair enough, yeah, absolutely. When you get older, you gotta find new things to do together. I fully understand that, I fully understand that because we have a very big age gap in my relationship and my husband is very much in his sit at home and watch TV and typically not even good TV, like politics.
I don't want to do that at all. trying to find some common ground that we can do fun activities together, it's a challenge. It's definitely a hard thing, but it's so important. Well, if you want to stay together until you die, yes, it is. It's very, very important. Absolutely. Okay. So Becca, where can people find you?
Oh, on Facebook, um my handle is at Becca Bia Moon um or just search Becca Hammond. And that should bring me up. That's for Facebook and Instagram. And then I'm at Moonridge Acres on TikTok and YouTube. And I really need to make all of those the same, but I just haven't done that.
When you're not completely busy with the horses, you will get it done. have faith in you. Absolutely. Okay. As always, people can find me at a tinyhomesteadpodcast.com and I am lowering the price on my Patreon account because I priced it too high. So I'm going to be doing that today. And if anyone wants to check out my Patreon account, is patreon.com slash a tiny homestead.
Becca, it was a joy to talk with you again. I adore you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. I love our conversations. This has been fantastic. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Have a great day. You too. Bye.
