Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Grounded In Maine Podcast
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Grounded In Maine Podcast
Today I'm talking with Amy at Grounded In Maine Podcast.
https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/
https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/
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
00:00
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. Today I'm talking with Amy Bolduc at Grounded in Maine in Virginia. I know that's weird, but that's how it falls. Good morning, Amy. How are you? I am doing fine. Thanks. I know it's such a funny thing. People are like, where are you? Like I'm in Virginia, but why is your podcast Grounded in Maine? Well, because you'll always be.
00:29
Your heart will always be grounded in Maine. That's why. mean, 49 years, not like that's nothing. That's not nothing. Yeah, exactly. Well, what's the weather doing in Virginia this morning? Oh, geez. It's so cold this morning. Like, I'm sure it's not Minnesota cold, but it's still cold. mean, it was 15 degrees when we were walking this morning. um And yesterday, yesterday, it was so yesterday we had 45 mile per hour winds. um And it was not much warmer.
00:59
So but then two weeks ago, I mean, if you're asking about weather, the weather here is so weird. I mean, all of like November, December, it was beautiful, like 40s, probably. And I know I, you know, everyone was like, oh, my gosh, it's so cold. It's snowing, snowing, snowing. And I'm like, well, you know, don't want to say anything because I'm in the south, blah, blah, blah. But then two weeks ago, the weather forecast was looking like we were.
01:27
My weather app was telling me we were going to get up to 21 inches of snow. And I was like, what is this about? ah And then when it actually came, it was like a dusting of snow, but then an inch and a half of freezing rain, ah which I would so I would prefer 21 inches of snow a million times over freezing rain and ice. ah Anyone who's dealt with freezing rain would agree a thousand percent freezing rain is so dangerous.
01:57
Yeah. it's, you know, it just is like, but since then, so last weekend, I, my, my trusty weather app that I've been using for years lied to me and said, you know, maybe, maybe one between one to three inches of snow. I'm like, okay, you know, that's no big deal. But then we got 10 ish inches of snow and it was fluffy snow, which was cool. But then like, when I moved here, I did not get a snow shovel because I was
02:26
You know, last winter we had four inches total, like all winter long, two, two inch storms. And I was like, that is no big deal. And then this year, you know, and then the ice, I was like, I'm not I'm not even shoveling. I literally can't shovel that. But so I have a travel trunk shovel, which it's in two pieces and it's rickety and plastic. I've had it for probably 20 years uh and.
02:54
I ever used it, only when I was working and I got stuck in a snowstorm. But so that's what I've been using. I actually went out yesterday to try to get a real shovel and they were out. Of course. Of course. Because we just got 10 inches of snow. yeah, I mean, the weather is great. And then, know, Tuesday is supposed to be like 60. I like, there's no, I don't think there's like Virginia weather. I think it's just whatever.
03:23
happens, like what it just feels like.
03:28
Yeah, Mother Nature has become extremely bipolar over the last two years. That's a great way to say it. Maybe she's going through menopause too. I don't want to make you jealous, but it's seven, it's, what is it right now? I'm looking at my weather app. It's 27 degrees here in Minnesota in Lesor right now. And it's supposed to be 38 for the high. Tomorrow 45 for the high, Tuesday 38, Wednesday 38.
03:57
Thursday 40, Friday 40. Well, that's like making up for the last two weeks when it was below zero. That's exactly what I was going to say. We had, we had 14 or 15 days in a row where we never got close to freezing to 32 degrees. And it was the longest stretch I've seen in years and it sucked. No question. So anyway, um, that's the weather update. I would do weather update. Um, start with a weather update folks.
04:26
Oh, always do. In case you need to know. Every podcast opens with how's the weather because we're all doing stuff that weather impacts and I figure it's a good way to do it. We're all experiencing weather. We sure are. And when we're trying to grow stuff or, um you know, if we have chickens. Raise animals. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of important to know what we're walking out into. So that leads me to my first question. I saw that your chickens are starting to lay again, beautiful eggs.
04:55
How are the chickens doing and how many do you have? The chickens are good. I have five. I've actually, so I've had one. Miss Lacey never stopped laying. Like every so often she'll skip a day, but then the next day she's like, before I even get there, she's already laid her egg. She has not taken a break. Jason, however, has not laid an egg for at least two months. uh Jason is a hen. She came to me with that name. don't, Jason Kelsey. I don't know.
05:24
I think that's football. Yes. I don't know. It's football. That's the name that she came with. That's so funny. And she's very nice and she's very pretty, but she had a really, really rough molt and she was really funny looking. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jason. I know you can't hear this, but she was funny looking. But it's always the worst timing when they molt. Do you have chickens, Mary? I have 18. You have 18. Okay.
05:52
How many kittens do you have now? um Well, technically we have three kittens, but they're about five months old now. Oh, well, they're still kittens. um Okay. So I have, yeah, five still. I have not lost a single chicken in a year. Good job. They barely see the light of day, but I feel like that's a good trade off. mean, they do. They get out. um
06:17
like an hour at the end of the day, because that's when I am not working and I can actually be out there with them. And even if I'm not out there with them, like usually when I get out of work, so now because the time, because with the time change and the light, longer darkness, whatever. So I get out of work at 4.30, my dog and I walk at 4.30 and I let the chickens out at 4.30 because 5.30 it's going to be dark.
06:44
So I let them out at 430 and I leave my phone while we're walking with music playing so that the critters don't feel like the predators don't feel like they're alone. I just looked at my farmer's almanac wall calendar and daylight savings time is March 8th. So we only have a few more weeks until literally a month, literally a month from today. Yep. So
07:10
Yeah, I know me too. I was like, yay, more light in the evening. It's so sad that we have to wait until March. like really winter is just, I know winter is a season of rest, but some of us don't get to do that. And then it's just miserable. Absolutely. I just had a thought and it went bye bye. Cause that's what happens. Um, I'm very excited to know that, uh,
07:39
daylight savings time switch is only a month away because that means that good, spring weather is only two months away. Yeah. It's just, you know, it's like there are no holidays. So we're like March 8th, come on, come on, come on, March 8th. You know, never push the time to move as quickly as this last month for sure. Yes. And I figure
08:04
In Minnesota, we have March Madness, which is the hockey tournaments, I think. oh is it? It's not baseball? Baseball? I can't remember. It's hockey or basketball. It might be both. Who knows? I'm not a girl. Don't take sports information from us, peeps. Yeah, I am not a sports fanatic at all.
08:25
What I do know is that March, because of the tournaments that are going on, is always terrible for weather because of course it would be because people are traveling in for the tournament. Well, it's like that in between, right? You're waiting for spring and you're so anxious for spring, but winter's like, eh, I'm just going to hang out a little bit longer. Just going to throw a little crap your way. Yeah, yeah. And it's always March. It's always the worst month. February's okay. I can deal with February, but March is the worst.
08:55
Cause everybody's so excited about this tournament thing. And I'm like, yeah, good luck driving in that three feet of snow we're probably going to get.
09:05
Oh, it's so yeah, it's like going out with a bang. The last hurrah. Yes, it is. then I'm like, okay, it's going to be peonies season soon. So I'm all for it. let's get back to the whole grounded in Maine and you live in Virginia now. When I first interviewed you two years ago, I think it was you were in Maine. I was in Maine. And then you got divorced and then you moved to Virginia. Yeah.
09:36
It's for the people who don't know it is kind of a pain in the butt to change the name of a podcast. Yeah. So I don't blame you for not changing it. Plus I know when we last talked, you had mentioned that you were trying to get back to New England. So how is that? Is that anywhere on the horizon? Um, well, I mean, I would love it to be on the horizon. I really don't want to do another summer here in Virginia. Yeah. Um,
10:04
So my goal is to get back there in some form by like May. I don't have any big things happening though. My house has been on the, on the real estate market since July and no one, no one has even like looked at it, which is sad. But, um, you know, my realtor says it's just really expensive, but at the, at the same time, like I put $25,000 in solar panels on this house. And so.
10:34
the electric bill, except for this month because we got 10 inches of snow, uh has been literally $10. Like 11 months of the year, it's $10. Okay, I forget the nearest big city to you in Virginia. So I am about an hour from Greensboro, North Carolina. I'm about an hour from Danville, Virginia, and I'm about an hour from Roanoke, Virginia.
11:03
Okay. What's the next biggest town from you though? I mean, like how far? Uh, Martinsville is right next door. It's just like 10 minutes, but it's not, it's not like bustling by any means. Everything is about an hour. Let's use the, the, American definition of how far away you are from stuff. How far is the nearest Walmart from you or Home Depot? Oh, uh, Home Depot. don't, I think.
11:32
is like an hour. Walmart is like 10 minutes. So if somebody wants to move to Virginia, Amy's house is on the market. You should go check it out. Cute little house. Very simple, but you $10 electric bill, man. And it's on an acre, a little bit over an acre.
11:52
Well, maybe somebody will hear the podcast. you can have chickens. Yeah. Maybe somebody will hear the podcast episode and be like, I would like to check out Amy's house. Maybe it's somewhere I would like to live. I would not be mad at that. Yeah, exactly. And then you can go find your house where you want to be. I did though. mean, just yesterday I got, so Saturdays I get an email from the New England Farm Finder website, which is really fun. I don't know if you subscribe to that, Mary, but it's really fun if you're dreaming.
12:21
Well, I'm not dreaming and putting that in front of me would probably be a bad plan. So I would get nothing done. But so a new one came out yesterday and I actually sent a letter of interest to two different properties. Good. And they were not selling. They were like leasing per se. I actually I got an email back just like an hour ago from one of them.
12:49
So that's like, that feels like progress, even though it might not become anything, it's progress. uh I also, have my actually next week's podcast episode, the guest hooked me up with this guy who's also a podcaster and Mary, you might be interested in speaking with him. His name is Ting, Tim Ang. I have already talked to him. did? Okay. His wife actually. Okay. Sophia. Yes. Super, super nice. Fabulous. Yes.
13:19
They both are very, very nice. And so I got hooked up with Tim and he's a homesteader realtor banker. And so I paid him to help market my house to homesteaders. And he's put it on a list of off market homes, properties, which I've never heard of, I'm like, I'll take whatever.
13:48
Anything to get the word out at this point. And so we took new pictures. We changed the wording and the listing. I changed the wording in the listing because it was too sterile and it did not highlight the solar panels quite enough and the great things that are around here. Well, fingers are still crossed. Love and light to get your house moved because I know how much you want to get back to New England. I totally understand.
14:17
I don't want to go back to New England. I am really, really happy with where we ended up. I feel like a traitor saying that, but I am assimilated. Minnesota is pretty similar to Maine. It is. is. It's just But that's where your people are. Yeah. It's just missing the ocean half an hour away and mountains the other half an hour away, but I can live without those things. It's okay. Yeah. I mean, a funny little...
14:43
I mean, it's not really a complication, just like literally yesterday, my sister, so my sister's been in Greensboro, North Carolina. She took a job transfer a month ago. She started in December. then uh just yesterday, she and her spouse and their dogs drove from Cincinnati where they've been living for the last like eight years to North Carolina. So now they're living an hour away from me.
15:12
God, I can't imagine moving again. I know. I can't either, but I also can't imagine staying. Yeah. If I didn't love where we are so much, it would be a different story. But my God, trying to move a 20 years worth of stuff out of a small house into a bigger house, you would have thought that we would have had lots of room. And after five years, we're starting to...
15:39
starting to be like, okay, it's time to really deep clean the house and get stuff out of here again. Right. Well, I think you and I are similar in that we don't, we're thoughtful about what we let go of. Um, my sister was like, I don't want to move this. I don't want to move this. And so they had a dumpster and she was showing me, she showed me the pictures of her new place, which has this beautiful deck. And she was like, I'm not sure if I'm going to bring the grill or not. And I'm like, but you have that deck. And she was like, well, but you know,
16:08
It doesn't work that great. guess, you know, they also move a lot. mean, eight years is a long time for them to be in the same place. I think they don't have... um
16:26
What's the word that I need? um Like nostalgia for stuff. uh Stuff doesn't hold their emotions like it does me. doesn't hold their hearts, Travel does. So here they are again. Yeah, I hate travel. I hate it. I have done so many road trips between New England and the Midwest in my life because my grandparents lived in Illinois when I was a kid.
16:56
um That I'm just I'm kind of over it being stuck in a car or an airplane or train just does not do it for me anymore Yeah, I would rather have people come visit me at this point then then go you know For sure uh So I we're gonna totally jump tracks here I saw that your your cats maybe one of them got sprayed by a skunk. Is that right? Yeah a couple months ago uh Maybe a month ago
17:26
And you mentioned that you had a trick to get rid of the stinkiness. So what's the trick? Right. Well, I mean, I just Googled it because I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this actually happened. I never thought that it would actually happen. Google said, what was it? A quart of hydrogen peroxide. um I forget how much baking soda, but I can get that to you. Yeah. So
17:55
Hydro and peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. Was it specifically Dawn dish soap or is it any dish soap? Well, I don't have Dawn dish soap, em it might've said Dawn. Okay. Well, Dawn's just really good at really, really good. I mean, I'm not sponsored by Dawn dish soap, don't take it that way, but Dawn dish soap is really good at cutting oils. But Dawn, if you're interested, uh Mary's looking for sponsors.
18:25
Well, I always am, but I'm not sure Dawn would be the one, but we'll see what happens. But it's really, really good at cutting oils. It's fantastic. They use it after oil spills. Yeah, exactly. And so I'm assuming that the skunk spray probably has natural oils from the skunk in it. And maybe, maybe that would help. don't know. Well, I mean, what I did worked great. mean, I, was, I was very, very happy and I was like,
18:55
Oh my gosh, I can't let her inside. Because I don't want that in my house. But then it was cold enough that I was like, we're just going to take this into the entryway. I gave her the little bath in the entryway and then it was, you know, better. My parents dog when I was a teenager got sprayed by a skunk and he was a Samoyed. So much hair. Holy moly.
19:24
My dad tried using tomato sauce. Well, that's what we grew up learning, right? Tomato juice cuts it. But then it stains a white dog. Well, that was fine, but he was still stinky for months. And the worst part was that he took a full-on hit of skunk. of course, my dad let him in the house to try to clean him up, and my clothes smelled like skunk for months.
19:54
And I was in high school. Can you imagine how that went over? mean, somebody told me that cats and skunks usually get along pretty well. And I was like, what? But then as I was thinking about that, somebody said, really, is that true? And then it clicked with me that Pepe Le Pew from Looney Tunes was in love with a cat. uh
20:20
So, mean, I think they don't necessarily not get along, but I think that my male cat was hissing and probably freaked it out. and skunks are finicky. There are times where you think they're going to spray and then it's like, no, I'm good. And then there's times where you think they're fine and nope, they're going to spray. But so this skunk came around. So it was like, it was 715 in the morning. I felt so bad because I was like, get away, you know, screaming.
20:47
and slamming, like I have a galvanized uh bucket that I keep my bird food in and I was just slamming it on anything just to scare it away and it wasn't moving. And I was like, Oh my gosh, like, I wonder if it's rabid. And someone eventually said that it's mating season for skunks. Oh gosh. But it was like, it was around all day and I haven't seen it since. But that day, like it was, it was circling my house.
21:16
And it creeped me out so much. Uh huh. Yeah. The joys of living in an area where there's wildlife that can just come visit anytime they want. Yeah. But I've seen, this is probably the fifth time that I've encountered this skunk. I assume it's the same one because this is the, I'm guessing that this is the same one that I caught last year in a trap thinking that I was getting a possum. Oh no. So I put the trap, the have a heart trap in my
21:46
chicken pen, which is where one of my chickens was killed. And I saw the possum. So I'm like, I'm going to catch that bugger. I caught a skunk. Yeah. And I got sprayed when I tried to move it, of course. And then I found out that it's illegal to um to move it from where it was living. So it's not like you can just move it seven miles away or something like that. They said it's illegal. So
22:16
The options are kill it, which there's no reason to kill it. It's doing it's skunk thing. Yeah. Or release it. Oh my God. I had a trapper come and he released it back into the woods and. No, and it keeps coming back. I mean, I've seen it in my chicken coop a couple of times and I've just like, the chickens now are barricaded so that no one can get into their coop. They have a safe space and then usually all the critters are gone.
22:44
when the light turns on at 430 and the light starts to come in. uh You know, most of them are nocturnal. So they, they bail and I just leave the chickens in until it's light. Your chickens have a safe room. I know it's so, I can't believe that this is, it's taken me this long, but I mean safe as in like they are barricaded by with cinder blocks. I've got them all around the outside of their.
23:12
the inside and the outside of their coop and um their door, which was, it used to be just like a pillowcase, a pretty pillowcase with a tree heart uh that they could just push in and out. Now it's blocked. Not only do your chickens have a safe room, they have a fortress. That is true. That is true. sure this is the love that you have for your chickens.
23:41
for not wanting a skunk to get in there. Heck yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's just, it's, think that that's, it's actually part of homesteading ish, isn't it, Mary? Like you, you learn as you go how much, know, if you're, if what you're doing is not safe enough, you need to add to, right? Or like be innovative and figure out how to make everyone safe and get everything done right.
24:10
absolutely is part of being homesteadish. had I, did I tell you about the raccoons that showed up this past spring here? Yeah, mama. have a raccoon story. Yeah. A raccoon showed up, a big raccoon showed up and my husband tried to dispatch it and missed. And then about a week and a half. No, I'm sorry. Couldn't have been that shortly. Couldn't have been that short of amount of time. Like a month later.
24:39
I got up in the morning and was going out on the porch, drink my coffee, and I opened the door to the porch and I heard all these little scritchy noises and it was a mama raccoon. had like four or five babies and they had all come up on the cement pad that's outside the porch. It was their little feet scritching to run away. That would have been fine except that they proceeded to find the weak
25:08
heart in the fence for the chicken run and they killed like four or five of our chickens. my husband and my son went out and and fortified uh the fence. And it was really weird because I never saw the raccoon or the babies again.
25:30
And I know that my husband shot the shotgun off a couple of times after they fixed the fence. He didn't shoot it at anything. He just discharged the rifle or shotgun. And I think maybe the gun going off a couple of times scared them and left. Maybe. But uh raccoons will rip, literally rip chickens apart just for the fun of it. Yeah. They don't even eat.
25:55
And what a waste. I mean, I wasn't I wasn't crying upset, but I was just like, you know, those freaking chickens cost us twenty three dollars apiece. Oh. Five of them. Are they fancy chickens? No, it's just that laying hens that that are old enough to lay or just getting to be old enough to lay were expensive last year. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What do you call them? Pullets. Thank you. Yeah. So we lost like.
26:23
almost $125 in one go. And I was just like, this is not okay. And my husband said, this is homesteading. I went, mm-hmm, sure is honey. Speaking of homesteading, have you seen the Homestead Living magazine yet? I haven't. Oh my goodness. If you have an extra $30 burning a hole in your pocket for a subscription for the year.
26:51
you might want to subscribe to it because it's really beautiful. started over two years ago and it used to be monthly. Now it's bimonthly. So one um issue, not episode, one issue every two months now. And it's gorgeous. And I get it because I was one of the founding people that subscribed and I am not willing to give up my subscription yet. But I...
27:18
had an article that was supposed to be published in the, I don't know, December issue. And it might, my article got bumped because of the gift guide and I was very sad. my editor said, how about we put the article on the blog? And I was like, yes, please. em So it was published on the blog on like December 17th, I think. And it was just really cool to see it. Cause I spent time writing that thing. It was nice to see it get out in the world.
27:48
Absolutely, but it's it's a gorgeous magazine and their blog has all kinds of information for people who want to look into getting into homesteading or who are homesteaders and want new ideas. I need I need outlets where people are supportive. That's good. That's good to know. Yeah, it's very very fun. um I really want to interview Melissa Canora. She's the lady that started the magazine.
28:17
But she's really busy. This woman has her hands in everything. I just, can't, I can't get her attention. I'm like, Melissa, please come talk to me. That I just can't, I can't get her. So, um, we have a few minutes left. wanna, I wanna tell you, I'm very impressed with your podcast. You have had some fantastic guests lately. I feel the same way.
28:47
Yeah. And your podcast is really about sustainability, right? Yes. Although I take some poetic license with that. Everybody does with podcasts. There are no rules. That's right.
29:04
sustainability and then some. Yeah, I just, I love it. I see, I see your little snippets or whatever they're called on your Instagram account. And I'm like, Ooh, that's going to be a good one. Yeah. I've got a really interesting one coming up in a few weeks. mean, I've got, I've, so I don't, I don't know if you're on pod match. I am. Okay. You are.
29:34
Why am I not seeing you? Maybe I'm not. I'll have to look. I'm on a whole bunch of pod things, but that may be not be one of them. don't remember. So a lot of the guests recently have come from there, but also some of them I've just found on Instagram and some of them are just chance. Like I think um if you happen to listen to the one with Tia's prom closet. I did. She just, and there are people that
30:03
that just follow people because my podcast is grounded in Maine and she's in Maine. So I think that she was just following me because of that. And then I saw what she was about and I was like, oh, heck yeah. Getting prom dresses and formal dresses back into circulation is so, so cool instead of being wasted. But then the story behind it was just like...
30:30
you make makes you cry to listen to but you know, in the most inspiring and and happy way, right? Yeah, it's always the stories behind it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love to be able to bring those out. And then I just think that, you know, she was totally chance like I was looking at her profile and I was like, Oh, I want to hear more about that. And then as I you know, when she filled out her guest form, she was talking about pain and to purpose and I'm like, Whoa,
31:00
This is going to be so good because it's so much, you know, I don't know what happened, but I'm, I'm here for the, you know, the, the stories I'm here for the stories. And I, I love when they have a good story. It's a stories are a hook. and I, I personally hate the word hook cause it's like tricking somebody, but, but in this case, it's not a trick. It's a gift. Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, it definitely was for me.
31:30
But then it also, it just makes them, it makes it relatable because people, know, everyone's lost a friend. Well, not everyone, but you can imagine what it would be like to lose a friend and to be able to make, create something so powerful from that friend's memory. And to honor that friend. Yep. Yeah. And I just thought, you know, she's got,
31:58
the girl that I interviewed, think she said she has three kids, three young kids. her youngest is just months old and she's also running this place. I was like, you know, that just says so much about their friendship. Yeah. And about her, about, about the girl that, you interviewed. Yep. Yeah. I just, mean, there, there are some really cool people there, you know, and I just, I find them, I find them everywhere. I mean, I, I do a lot of, I scour
32:27
Instagram, not, not like in a creepy way, but just, you know, there are so many cool people out there and I'm, I'm out there to find them. It's a lot of work, but it is always worth it when I get a really good conversation. Yeah. It's a ton of work. mean, I used to do, I used to release an episode every day, Monday through Friday in the morning. And now I'm down to at least one a week because right now I'm having trouble finding people to talk with me because people are really busy.
32:57
Yeah. So anybody listening who knows somebody they want to, if they want to chat with me, you can get ahold of me through the, through the podcast information in the show notes. ah Amy, did you know that I started another podcast? know the, the last time we talked to you were, oh well you had interviewed me for this potential podcast. Did you start a podcast about podcasting? I did not. Oh, okay. Then what is the second podcast? It is called.
33:26
What is it called? oh I do this every time. Like I read it every day in front of my eyeballs. But every time I go to say it, I completely forget grit and grease in the heartland women in agriculture. And I have a cohost. Her name is Leah. She's clear Creek ranch mom on Facebook and on Instagram. And I had interviewed her a whole bunch of times for a tiny homestead. She's a cattle rancher in Nebraska and
33:56
I just off the cuff was like, do you want to do a podcast together with me? And she's actually, is 2026 is Leah's year. She, she just got invited to do her first paid speaking gig, um, at the end of 2025. Like she was invited then and she just did it, did it yesterday, day before yesterday. don't remember this past week, Friday, it was Friday. And, um, she said,
34:25
She said, can I have a week to think about it? And I was like, absolutely. And so I, I messaged her a week to the day and said, did you have time to think about it? And she came back with, I absolutely want to do a podcast with you. ah And so basically I didn't know, but 2026 is the international year of the woman farmer. I didn't know that when I asked her and I found out about it afterwards. So.
34:53
Our whole mission for this year is to find women who are doing big things in agriculture or little things in agriculture or women who have had to leave agriculture and have turned that into promoting or advocating for agriculture. I think we have eight episodes out now since the very end of December. Tell me the name of it again, Grace. In the Heartland. In the Heartland. Women in agriculture, colon, women in agriculture.
35:23
But the podcast is actually called Great Grace in the Heartland.
35:28
Okay. So yeah, you might want to. Gotcha. I have some people that I can recommend. Awesome. Fantastic. We, we just interviewed Carol from the old farmers' Almanac. we. Oh, Carol Conair. Yes. And I had interviewed her for the tiny homestead for this one. And I messaged her marketing person.
35:51
I was like, a friend of mine started a new one, this is what it is. Could Carol come back and talk with us? And she was like, absolutely. And Carol has the most gorgeous laugh. And when she's talking and she's happy and she's animated, her voice completely changes into this other register of sound. And I love it when she's tickled. It just, makes me giggle.
36:18
Right. Well, I think it's also part of something that excites you, if you're talking about homesteading as opposed to, not that the almanac is not exciting, but it's something that you're doing, something that you are very involved in, something that just makes you really happy. hear that a lot.
36:46
I mean, I think I do that too sometimes, but it's, uh
36:53
Yeah. It was, it was just, it was so fun to have her on. of course, with Leo being a cattle rancher, she is a D a devotee of the old farmer's almanac. And there was a rumor going around that the old farmer's almanac was going out of print. was not, was the farmer's almanac. The farmer's almanac was going out of print. So we had to talk about that. It was just really, really fun. Yeah. It's very confusing. I didn't, I never knew that they were two. I did.
37:21
And I always knew the difference was that it was the old Farmer's Almanac that my dad used to buy. So I would just get that one. But anyway, so where can people find you, Amy? Are you just on Instagram? I am just on Instagram. I've deleted everything else except for LinkedIn. So Instagram is grounded in Maine podcast. Okay, cool.
37:47
And you guys should go listen to Amy's podcast if you want to learn about new ways to be sustainable and all the amazing things that people are doing, like the woman she talked to who is recycling prom dresses, because that is amazing. All right. As always, you can find me at AtinyHolmsteadPodcast.com. If you want to support the show, can find that at AtinyHolmstead.com slash support, because I'm original like that.
38:16
And please go listen to the other podcast again. is written grace in the heartland Yes, exactly. Thank you because I was gonna call it again women in agriculture Yes, yes It needed a tagline because grit and grace in the heartland apparently could mean anything and I was like, okay Well women in agriculture pretty much says it all. Yeah So Amy, thank you for coming back and chatting with me. I appreciate it. It's always fun Mary
38:43
It's a joy. love you so much and I wish you all the luck in the world with your home search. Thank you. All right. We'll talk again soon. Okie dokie. Bye. Bye.
View all episodes
By Mary E LewisToday I'm talking with Amy at Grounded In Maine Podcast.
https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/
https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/
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
00:00
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. Today I'm talking with Amy Bolduc at Grounded in Maine in Virginia. I know that's weird, but that's how it falls. Good morning, Amy. How are you? I am doing fine. Thanks. I know it's such a funny thing. People are like, where are you? Like I'm in Virginia, but why is your podcast Grounded in Maine? Well, because you'll always be.
00:29
Your heart will always be grounded in Maine. That's why. mean, 49 years, not like that's nothing. That's not nothing. Yeah, exactly. Well, what's the weather doing in Virginia this morning? Oh, geez. It's so cold this morning. Like, I'm sure it's not Minnesota cold, but it's still cold. mean, it was 15 degrees when we were walking this morning. um And yesterday, yesterday, it was so yesterday we had 45 mile per hour winds. um And it was not much warmer.
00:59
So but then two weeks ago, I mean, if you're asking about weather, the weather here is so weird. I mean, all of like November, December, it was beautiful, like 40s, probably. And I know I, you know, everyone was like, oh, my gosh, it's so cold. It's snowing, snowing, snowing. And I'm like, well, you know, don't want to say anything because I'm in the south, blah, blah, blah. But then two weeks ago, the weather forecast was looking like we were.
01:27
My weather app was telling me we were going to get up to 21 inches of snow. And I was like, what is this about? ah And then when it actually came, it was like a dusting of snow, but then an inch and a half of freezing rain, ah which I would so I would prefer 21 inches of snow a million times over freezing rain and ice. ah Anyone who's dealt with freezing rain would agree a thousand percent freezing rain is so dangerous.
01:57
Yeah. it's, you know, it just is like, but since then, so last weekend, I, my, my trusty weather app that I've been using for years lied to me and said, you know, maybe, maybe one between one to three inches of snow. I'm like, okay, you know, that's no big deal. But then we got 10 ish inches of snow and it was fluffy snow, which was cool. But then like, when I moved here, I did not get a snow shovel because I was
02:26
You know, last winter we had four inches total, like all winter long, two, two inch storms. And I was like, that is no big deal. And then this year, you know, and then the ice, I was like, I'm not I'm not even shoveling. I literally can't shovel that. But so I have a travel trunk shovel, which it's in two pieces and it's rickety and plastic. I've had it for probably 20 years uh and.
02:54
I ever used it, only when I was working and I got stuck in a snowstorm. But so that's what I've been using. I actually went out yesterday to try to get a real shovel and they were out. Of course. Of course. Because we just got 10 inches of snow. yeah, I mean, the weather is great. And then, know, Tuesday is supposed to be like 60. I like, there's no, I don't think there's like Virginia weather. I think it's just whatever.
03:23
happens, like what it just feels like.
03:28
Yeah, Mother Nature has become extremely bipolar over the last two years. That's a great way to say it. Maybe she's going through menopause too. I don't want to make you jealous, but it's seven, it's, what is it right now? I'm looking at my weather app. It's 27 degrees here in Minnesota in Lesor right now. And it's supposed to be 38 for the high. Tomorrow 45 for the high, Tuesday 38, Wednesday 38.
03:57
Thursday 40, Friday 40. Well, that's like making up for the last two weeks when it was below zero. That's exactly what I was going to say. We had, we had 14 or 15 days in a row where we never got close to freezing to 32 degrees. And it was the longest stretch I've seen in years and it sucked. No question. So anyway, um, that's the weather update. I would do weather update. Um, start with a weather update folks.
04:26
Oh, always do. In case you need to know. Every podcast opens with how's the weather because we're all doing stuff that weather impacts and I figure it's a good way to do it. We're all experiencing weather. We sure are. And when we're trying to grow stuff or, um you know, if we have chickens. Raise animals. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of important to know what we're walking out into. So that leads me to my first question. I saw that your chickens are starting to lay again, beautiful eggs.
04:55
How are the chickens doing and how many do you have? The chickens are good. I have five. I've actually, so I've had one. Miss Lacey never stopped laying. Like every so often she'll skip a day, but then the next day she's like, before I even get there, she's already laid her egg. She has not taken a break. Jason, however, has not laid an egg for at least two months. uh Jason is a hen. She came to me with that name. don't, Jason Kelsey. I don't know.
05:24
I think that's football. Yes. I don't know. It's football. That's the name that she came with. That's so funny. And she's very nice and she's very pretty, but she had a really, really rough molt and she was really funny looking. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jason. I know you can't hear this, but she was funny looking. But it's always the worst timing when they molt. Do you have chickens, Mary? I have 18. You have 18. Okay.
05:52
How many kittens do you have now? um Well, technically we have three kittens, but they're about five months old now. Oh, well, they're still kittens. um Okay. So I have, yeah, five still. I have not lost a single chicken in a year. Good job. They barely see the light of day, but I feel like that's a good trade off. mean, they do. They get out. um
06:17
like an hour at the end of the day, because that's when I am not working and I can actually be out there with them. And even if I'm not out there with them, like usually when I get out of work, so now because the time, because with the time change and the light, longer darkness, whatever. So I get out of work at 4.30, my dog and I walk at 4.30 and I let the chickens out at 4.30 because 5.30 it's going to be dark.
06:44
So I let them out at 430 and I leave my phone while we're walking with music playing so that the critters don't feel like the predators don't feel like they're alone. I just looked at my farmer's almanac wall calendar and daylight savings time is March 8th. So we only have a few more weeks until literally a month, literally a month from today. Yep. So
07:10
Yeah, I know me too. I was like, yay, more light in the evening. It's so sad that we have to wait until March. like really winter is just, I know winter is a season of rest, but some of us don't get to do that. And then it's just miserable. Absolutely. I just had a thought and it went bye bye. Cause that's what happens. Um, I'm very excited to know that, uh,
07:39
daylight savings time switch is only a month away because that means that good, spring weather is only two months away. Yeah. It's just, you know, it's like there are no holidays. So we're like March 8th, come on, come on, come on, March 8th. You know, never push the time to move as quickly as this last month for sure. Yes. And I figure
08:04
In Minnesota, we have March Madness, which is the hockey tournaments, I think. oh is it? It's not baseball? Baseball? I can't remember. It's hockey or basketball. It might be both. Who knows? I'm not a girl. Don't take sports information from us, peeps. Yeah, I am not a sports fanatic at all.
08:25
What I do know is that March, because of the tournaments that are going on, is always terrible for weather because of course it would be because people are traveling in for the tournament. Well, it's like that in between, right? You're waiting for spring and you're so anxious for spring, but winter's like, eh, I'm just going to hang out a little bit longer. Just going to throw a little crap your way. Yeah, yeah. And it's always March. It's always the worst month. February's okay. I can deal with February, but March is the worst.
08:55
Cause everybody's so excited about this tournament thing. And I'm like, yeah, good luck driving in that three feet of snow we're probably going to get.
09:05
Oh, it's so yeah, it's like going out with a bang. The last hurrah. Yes, it is. then I'm like, okay, it's going to be peonies season soon. So I'm all for it. let's get back to the whole grounded in Maine and you live in Virginia now. When I first interviewed you two years ago, I think it was you were in Maine. I was in Maine. And then you got divorced and then you moved to Virginia. Yeah.
09:36
It's for the people who don't know it is kind of a pain in the butt to change the name of a podcast. Yeah. So I don't blame you for not changing it. Plus I know when we last talked, you had mentioned that you were trying to get back to New England. So how is that? Is that anywhere on the horizon? Um, well, I mean, I would love it to be on the horizon. I really don't want to do another summer here in Virginia. Yeah. Um,
10:04
So my goal is to get back there in some form by like May. I don't have any big things happening though. My house has been on the, on the real estate market since July and no one, no one has even like looked at it, which is sad. But, um, you know, my realtor says it's just really expensive, but at the, at the same time, like I put $25,000 in solar panels on this house. And so.
10:34
the electric bill, except for this month because we got 10 inches of snow, uh has been literally $10. Like 11 months of the year, it's $10. Okay, I forget the nearest big city to you in Virginia. So I am about an hour from Greensboro, North Carolina. I'm about an hour from Danville, Virginia, and I'm about an hour from Roanoke, Virginia.
11:03
Okay. What's the next biggest town from you though? I mean, like how far? Uh, Martinsville is right next door. It's just like 10 minutes, but it's not, it's not like bustling by any means. Everything is about an hour. Let's use the, the, American definition of how far away you are from stuff. How far is the nearest Walmart from you or Home Depot? Oh, uh, Home Depot. don't, I think.
11:32
is like an hour. Walmart is like 10 minutes. So if somebody wants to move to Virginia, Amy's house is on the market. You should go check it out. Cute little house. Very simple, but you $10 electric bill, man. And it's on an acre, a little bit over an acre.
11:52
Well, maybe somebody will hear the podcast. you can have chickens. Yeah. Maybe somebody will hear the podcast episode and be like, I would like to check out Amy's house. Maybe it's somewhere I would like to live. I would not be mad at that. Yeah, exactly. And then you can go find your house where you want to be. I did though. mean, just yesterday I got, so Saturdays I get an email from the New England Farm Finder website, which is really fun. I don't know if you subscribe to that, Mary, but it's really fun if you're dreaming.
12:21
Well, I'm not dreaming and putting that in front of me would probably be a bad plan. So I would get nothing done. But so a new one came out yesterday and I actually sent a letter of interest to two different properties. Good. And they were not selling. They were like leasing per se. I actually I got an email back just like an hour ago from one of them.
12:49
So that's like, that feels like progress, even though it might not become anything, it's progress. uh I also, have my actually next week's podcast episode, the guest hooked me up with this guy who's also a podcaster and Mary, you might be interested in speaking with him. His name is Ting, Tim Ang. I have already talked to him. did? Okay. His wife actually. Okay. Sophia. Yes. Super, super nice. Fabulous. Yes.
13:19
They both are very, very nice. And so I got hooked up with Tim and he's a homesteader realtor banker. And so I paid him to help market my house to homesteaders. And he's put it on a list of off market homes, properties, which I've never heard of, I'm like, I'll take whatever.
13:48
Anything to get the word out at this point. And so we took new pictures. We changed the wording and the listing. I changed the wording in the listing because it was too sterile and it did not highlight the solar panels quite enough and the great things that are around here. Well, fingers are still crossed. Love and light to get your house moved because I know how much you want to get back to New England. I totally understand.
14:17
I don't want to go back to New England. I am really, really happy with where we ended up. I feel like a traitor saying that, but I am assimilated. Minnesota is pretty similar to Maine. It is. is. It's just But that's where your people are. Yeah. It's just missing the ocean half an hour away and mountains the other half an hour away, but I can live without those things. It's okay. Yeah. I mean, a funny little...
14:43
I mean, it's not really a complication, just like literally yesterday, my sister, so my sister's been in Greensboro, North Carolina. She took a job transfer a month ago. She started in December. then uh just yesterday, she and her spouse and their dogs drove from Cincinnati where they've been living for the last like eight years to North Carolina. So now they're living an hour away from me.
15:12
God, I can't imagine moving again. I know. I can't either, but I also can't imagine staying. Yeah. If I didn't love where we are so much, it would be a different story. But my God, trying to move a 20 years worth of stuff out of a small house into a bigger house, you would have thought that we would have had lots of room. And after five years, we're starting to...
15:39
starting to be like, okay, it's time to really deep clean the house and get stuff out of here again. Right. Well, I think you and I are similar in that we don't, we're thoughtful about what we let go of. Um, my sister was like, I don't want to move this. I don't want to move this. And so they had a dumpster and she was showing me, she showed me the pictures of her new place, which has this beautiful deck. And she was like, I'm not sure if I'm going to bring the grill or not. And I'm like, but you have that deck. And she was like, well, but you know,
16:08
It doesn't work that great. guess, you know, they also move a lot. mean, eight years is a long time for them to be in the same place. I think they don't have... um
16:26
What's the word that I need? um Like nostalgia for stuff. uh Stuff doesn't hold their emotions like it does me. doesn't hold their hearts, Travel does. So here they are again. Yeah, I hate travel. I hate it. I have done so many road trips between New England and the Midwest in my life because my grandparents lived in Illinois when I was a kid.
16:56
um That I'm just I'm kind of over it being stuck in a car or an airplane or train just does not do it for me anymore Yeah, I would rather have people come visit me at this point then then go you know For sure uh So I we're gonna totally jump tracks here I saw that your your cats maybe one of them got sprayed by a skunk. Is that right? Yeah a couple months ago uh Maybe a month ago
17:26
And you mentioned that you had a trick to get rid of the stinkiness. So what's the trick? Right. Well, I mean, I just Googled it because I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this actually happened. I never thought that it would actually happen. Google said, what was it? A quart of hydrogen peroxide. um I forget how much baking soda, but I can get that to you. Yeah. So
17:55
Hydro and peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. Was it specifically Dawn dish soap or is it any dish soap? Well, I don't have Dawn dish soap, em it might've said Dawn. Okay. Well, Dawn's just really good at really, really good. I mean, I'm not sponsored by Dawn dish soap, don't take it that way, but Dawn dish soap is really good at cutting oils. But Dawn, if you're interested, uh Mary's looking for sponsors.
18:25
Well, I always am, but I'm not sure Dawn would be the one, but we'll see what happens. But it's really, really good at cutting oils. It's fantastic. They use it after oil spills. Yeah, exactly. And so I'm assuming that the skunk spray probably has natural oils from the skunk in it. And maybe, maybe that would help. don't know. Well, I mean, what I did worked great. mean, I, was, I was very, very happy and I was like,
18:55
Oh my gosh, I can't let her inside. Because I don't want that in my house. But then it was cold enough that I was like, we're just going to take this into the entryway. I gave her the little bath in the entryway and then it was, you know, better. My parents dog when I was a teenager got sprayed by a skunk and he was a Samoyed. So much hair. Holy moly.
19:24
My dad tried using tomato sauce. Well, that's what we grew up learning, right? Tomato juice cuts it. But then it stains a white dog. Well, that was fine, but he was still stinky for months. And the worst part was that he took a full-on hit of skunk. of course, my dad let him in the house to try to clean him up, and my clothes smelled like skunk for months.
19:54
And I was in high school. Can you imagine how that went over? mean, somebody told me that cats and skunks usually get along pretty well. And I was like, what? But then as I was thinking about that, somebody said, really, is that true? And then it clicked with me that Pepe Le Pew from Looney Tunes was in love with a cat. uh
20:20
So, mean, I think they don't necessarily not get along, but I think that my male cat was hissing and probably freaked it out. and skunks are finicky. There are times where you think they're going to spray and then it's like, no, I'm good. And then there's times where you think they're fine and nope, they're going to spray. But so this skunk came around. So it was like, it was 715 in the morning. I felt so bad because I was like, get away, you know, screaming.
20:47
and slamming, like I have a galvanized uh bucket that I keep my bird food in and I was just slamming it on anything just to scare it away and it wasn't moving. And I was like, Oh my gosh, like, I wonder if it's rabid. And someone eventually said that it's mating season for skunks. Oh gosh. But it was like, it was around all day and I haven't seen it since. But that day, like it was, it was circling my house.
21:16
And it creeped me out so much. Uh huh. Yeah. The joys of living in an area where there's wildlife that can just come visit anytime they want. Yeah. But I've seen, this is probably the fifth time that I've encountered this skunk. I assume it's the same one because this is the, I'm guessing that this is the same one that I caught last year in a trap thinking that I was getting a possum. Oh no. So I put the trap, the have a heart trap in my
21:46
chicken pen, which is where one of my chickens was killed. And I saw the possum. So I'm like, I'm going to catch that bugger. I caught a skunk. Yeah. And I got sprayed when I tried to move it, of course. And then I found out that it's illegal to um to move it from where it was living. So it's not like you can just move it seven miles away or something like that. They said it's illegal. So
22:16
The options are kill it, which there's no reason to kill it. It's doing it's skunk thing. Yeah. Or release it. Oh my God. I had a trapper come and he released it back into the woods and. No, and it keeps coming back. I mean, I've seen it in my chicken coop a couple of times and I've just like, the chickens now are barricaded so that no one can get into their coop. They have a safe space and then usually all the critters are gone.
22:44
when the light turns on at 430 and the light starts to come in. uh You know, most of them are nocturnal. So they, they bail and I just leave the chickens in until it's light. Your chickens have a safe room. I know it's so, I can't believe that this is, it's taken me this long, but I mean safe as in like they are barricaded by with cinder blocks. I've got them all around the outside of their.
23:12
the inside and the outside of their coop and um their door, which was, it used to be just like a pillowcase, a pretty pillowcase with a tree heart uh that they could just push in and out. Now it's blocked. Not only do your chickens have a safe room, they have a fortress. That is true. That is true. sure this is the love that you have for your chickens.
23:41
for not wanting a skunk to get in there. Heck yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's just, it's, think that that's, it's actually part of homesteading ish, isn't it, Mary? Like you, you learn as you go how much, know, if you're, if what you're doing is not safe enough, you need to add to, right? Or like be innovative and figure out how to make everyone safe and get everything done right.
24:10
absolutely is part of being homesteadish. had I, did I tell you about the raccoons that showed up this past spring here? Yeah, mama. have a raccoon story. Yeah. A raccoon showed up, a big raccoon showed up and my husband tried to dispatch it and missed. And then about a week and a half. No, I'm sorry. Couldn't have been that shortly. Couldn't have been that short of amount of time. Like a month later.
24:39
I got up in the morning and was going out on the porch, drink my coffee, and I opened the door to the porch and I heard all these little scritchy noises and it was a mama raccoon. had like four or five babies and they had all come up on the cement pad that's outside the porch. It was their little feet scritching to run away. That would have been fine except that they proceeded to find the weak
25:08
heart in the fence for the chicken run and they killed like four or five of our chickens. my husband and my son went out and and fortified uh the fence. And it was really weird because I never saw the raccoon or the babies again.
25:30
And I know that my husband shot the shotgun off a couple of times after they fixed the fence. He didn't shoot it at anything. He just discharged the rifle or shotgun. And I think maybe the gun going off a couple of times scared them and left. Maybe. But uh raccoons will rip, literally rip chickens apart just for the fun of it. Yeah. They don't even eat.
25:55
And what a waste. I mean, I wasn't I wasn't crying upset, but I was just like, you know, those freaking chickens cost us twenty three dollars apiece. Oh. Five of them. Are they fancy chickens? No, it's just that laying hens that that are old enough to lay or just getting to be old enough to lay were expensive last year. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What do you call them? Pullets. Thank you. Yeah. So we lost like.
26:23
almost $125 in one go. And I was just like, this is not okay. And my husband said, this is homesteading. I went, mm-hmm, sure is honey. Speaking of homesteading, have you seen the Homestead Living magazine yet? I haven't. Oh my goodness. If you have an extra $30 burning a hole in your pocket for a subscription for the year.
26:51
you might want to subscribe to it because it's really beautiful. started over two years ago and it used to be monthly. Now it's bimonthly. So one um issue, not episode, one issue every two months now. And it's gorgeous. And I get it because I was one of the founding people that subscribed and I am not willing to give up my subscription yet. But I...
27:18
had an article that was supposed to be published in the, I don't know, December issue. And it might, my article got bumped because of the gift guide and I was very sad. my editor said, how about we put the article on the blog? And I was like, yes, please. em So it was published on the blog on like December 17th, I think. And it was just really cool to see it. Cause I spent time writing that thing. It was nice to see it get out in the world.
27:48
Absolutely, but it's it's a gorgeous magazine and their blog has all kinds of information for people who want to look into getting into homesteading or who are homesteaders and want new ideas. I need I need outlets where people are supportive. That's good. That's good to know. Yeah, it's very very fun. um I really want to interview Melissa Canora. She's the lady that started the magazine.
28:17
But she's really busy. This woman has her hands in everything. I just, can't, I can't get her attention. I'm like, Melissa, please come talk to me. That I just can't, I can't get her. So, um, we have a few minutes left. wanna, I wanna tell you, I'm very impressed with your podcast. You have had some fantastic guests lately. I feel the same way.
28:47
Yeah. And your podcast is really about sustainability, right? Yes. Although I take some poetic license with that. Everybody does with podcasts. There are no rules. That's right.
29:04
sustainability and then some. Yeah, I just, I love it. I see, I see your little snippets or whatever they're called on your Instagram account. And I'm like, Ooh, that's going to be a good one. Yeah. I've got a really interesting one coming up in a few weeks. mean, I've got, I've, so I don't, I don't know if you're on pod match. I am. Okay. You are.
29:34
Why am I not seeing you? Maybe I'm not. I'll have to look. I'm on a whole bunch of pod things, but that may be not be one of them. don't remember. So a lot of the guests recently have come from there, but also some of them I've just found on Instagram and some of them are just chance. Like I think um if you happen to listen to the one with Tia's prom closet. I did. She just, and there are people that
30:03
that just follow people because my podcast is grounded in Maine and she's in Maine. So I think that she was just following me because of that. And then I saw what she was about and I was like, oh, heck yeah. Getting prom dresses and formal dresses back into circulation is so, so cool instead of being wasted. But then the story behind it was just like...
30:30
you make makes you cry to listen to but you know, in the most inspiring and and happy way, right? Yeah, it's always the stories behind it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love to be able to bring those out. And then I just think that, you know, she was totally chance like I was looking at her profile and I was like, Oh, I want to hear more about that. And then as I you know, when she filled out her guest form, she was talking about pain and to purpose and I'm like, Whoa,
31:00
This is going to be so good because it's so much, you know, I don't know what happened, but I'm, I'm here for the, you know, the, the stories I'm here for the stories. And I, I love when they have a good story. It's a stories are a hook. and I, I personally hate the word hook cause it's like tricking somebody, but, but in this case, it's not a trick. It's a gift. Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, it definitely was for me.
31:30
But then it also, it just makes them, it makes it relatable because people, know, everyone's lost a friend. Well, not everyone, but you can imagine what it would be like to lose a friend and to be able to make, create something so powerful from that friend's memory. And to honor that friend. Yep. Yeah. And I just thought, you know, she's got,
31:58
the girl that I interviewed, think she said she has three kids, three young kids. her youngest is just months old and she's also running this place. I was like, you know, that just says so much about their friendship. Yeah. And about her, about, about the girl that, you interviewed. Yep. Yeah. I just, mean, there, there are some really cool people there, you know, and I just, I find them, I find them everywhere. I mean, I, I do a lot of, I scour
32:27
Instagram, not, not like in a creepy way, but just, you know, there are so many cool people out there and I'm, I'm out there to find them. It's a lot of work, but it is always worth it when I get a really good conversation. Yeah. It's a ton of work. mean, I used to do, I used to release an episode every day, Monday through Friday in the morning. And now I'm down to at least one a week because right now I'm having trouble finding people to talk with me because people are really busy.
32:57
Yeah. So anybody listening who knows somebody they want to, if they want to chat with me, you can get ahold of me through the, through the podcast information in the show notes. ah Amy, did you know that I started another podcast? know the, the last time we talked to you were, oh well you had interviewed me for this potential podcast. Did you start a podcast about podcasting? I did not. Oh, okay. Then what is the second podcast? It is called.
33:26
What is it called? oh I do this every time. Like I read it every day in front of my eyeballs. But every time I go to say it, I completely forget grit and grease in the heartland women in agriculture. And I have a cohost. Her name is Leah. She's clear Creek ranch mom on Facebook and on Instagram. And I had interviewed her a whole bunch of times for a tiny homestead. She's a cattle rancher in Nebraska and
33:56
I just off the cuff was like, do you want to do a podcast together with me? And she's actually, is 2026 is Leah's year. She, she just got invited to do her first paid speaking gig, um, at the end of 2025. Like she was invited then and she just did it, did it yesterday, day before yesterday. don't remember this past week, Friday, it was Friday. And, um, she said,
34:25
She said, can I have a week to think about it? And I was like, absolutely. And so I, I messaged her a week to the day and said, did you have time to think about it? And she came back with, I absolutely want to do a podcast with you. ah And so basically I didn't know, but 2026 is the international year of the woman farmer. I didn't know that when I asked her and I found out about it afterwards. So.
34:53
Our whole mission for this year is to find women who are doing big things in agriculture or little things in agriculture or women who have had to leave agriculture and have turned that into promoting or advocating for agriculture. I think we have eight episodes out now since the very end of December. Tell me the name of it again, Grace. In the Heartland. In the Heartland. Women in agriculture, colon, women in agriculture.
35:23
But the podcast is actually called Great Grace in the Heartland.
35:28
Okay. So yeah, you might want to. Gotcha. I have some people that I can recommend. Awesome. Fantastic. We, we just interviewed Carol from the old farmers' Almanac. we. Oh, Carol Conair. Yes. And I had interviewed her for the tiny homestead for this one. And I messaged her marketing person.
35:51
I was like, a friend of mine started a new one, this is what it is. Could Carol come back and talk with us? And she was like, absolutely. And Carol has the most gorgeous laugh. And when she's talking and she's happy and she's animated, her voice completely changes into this other register of sound. And I love it when she's tickled. It just, makes me giggle.
36:18
Right. Well, I think it's also part of something that excites you, if you're talking about homesteading as opposed to, not that the almanac is not exciting, but it's something that you're doing, something that you are very involved in, something that just makes you really happy. hear that a lot.
36:46
I mean, I think I do that too sometimes, but it's, uh
36:53
Yeah. It was, it was just, it was so fun to have her on. of course, with Leo being a cattle rancher, she is a D a devotee of the old farmer's almanac. And there was a rumor going around that the old farmer's almanac was going out of print. was not, was the farmer's almanac. The farmer's almanac was going out of print. So we had to talk about that. It was just really, really fun. Yeah. It's very confusing. I didn't, I never knew that they were two. I did.
37:21
And I always knew the difference was that it was the old Farmer's Almanac that my dad used to buy. So I would just get that one. But anyway, so where can people find you, Amy? Are you just on Instagram? I am just on Instagram. I've deleted everything else except for LinkedIn. So Instagram is grounded in Maine podcast. Okay, cool.
37:47
And you guys should go listen to Amy's podcast if you want to learn about new ways to be sustainable and all the amazing things that people are doing, like the woman she talked to who is recycling prom dresses, because that is amazing. All right. As always, you can find me at AtinyHolmsteadPodcast.com. If you want to support the show, can find that at AtinyHolmstead.com slash support, because I'm original like that.
38:16
And please go listen to the other podcast again. is written grace in the heartland Yes, exactly. Thank you because I was gonna call it again women in agriculture Yes, yes It needed a tagline because grit and grace in the heartland apparently could mean anything and I was like, okay Well women in agriculture pretty much says it all. Yeah So Amy, thank you for coming back and chatting with me. I appreciate it. It's always fun Mary
38:43
It's a joy. love you so much and I wish you all the luck in the world with your home search. Thank you. All right. We'll talk again soon. Okie dokie. Bye. Bye.