First let me say, welcome to Women Not Dabbling In Normal! I’m so excited to see this collaboration come into being and look forward to watching it develop. What an amazing group of women, we have, I feel so blessed to know each of them and so grateful that they agreed to do this project with me! I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones here.
I’m Kathie and I’m not normal. At least not normal in the way its defined by mainstream culture. I live in northwest Montana with my very handsome soulmate, Jeff, and our two cats, Patches and Meggy. We recently bought a home on just shy of an acre, that we hope to turn into a small “urban” homestead. I live a simple life and do my best to build a life by my own hands instead of counting on culture at large to tell me how to do things.
I was born and raised near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by an interesting, wonderful family. My grandmothers are without a doubt the two biggest influences on the woman I am today. My grandmothers canned, crafted, cooked and baked from scratch, worked hard, and were incredibly kind. My father and both grandfathers were amazing gardeners who taught me more about growing vegetable than I’ve learned from any book or website.
Today, I grow my own fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers organically. I practice vermicomposting and traditional composting to feed my little patch of earth so that it can feed me. I can, dry, and freeze my homegrown food as well as food I find from local farmers. I’m very much the novice when it comes to drying foods but am learning and hope to share some of that here. I cook and bake from scratch with whole foods and do my best to avoid pre-processed and GMO foodstuffs (if they can even be called food). I enjoy a creative life, where I quilt, sew, and craft. I make my own clothing or re-purpose thrift store clothing, often. I also very much enjoy the art of homemaking and life lived fully at home.
I’m honored to be your host every Sunday here at Women Not Dabbling in Normal. On Sundays you expect a honest posts with a dash of photography now and then about a life that doesn’t dabble in normal, but does revel in simplicity, creativity, love, and hard work. Most often these posts will tackle the topics of gardening, cooking, crafting, frugal and simple living tips, and much more. I look forward to spending these Sundays with you.
What a great idea, Kathie. I look forward to the posts!
Hi Kathie – have been reading all the contributors blogs for some time and am looking forward to following this one. I don’t comment often because life seems to be very busy right now – my husband and I live in southern colorado and we are building an adobe house – this is the third year of the project and we are going to move in this fall. I garden and do all types of food processing. I often feel that my old hippie days are coming back in style – the gardening, cooking from scratch, self sufficient lifestyle has always been one my husband and I have done to some extent but we are just now getting back to it in a big way. I love these blogs because it is where I get my support for my lifestyle – most of my peers think I am something of a nutcase! My husband and I have always been independent thinkers though so this doesn’t bother either one of us – makes us kind of proud!
The best of luck to you all on this blog and I will try and get more involved in the commenting.
Cathy
This is such a great idea – looking forward to all the diverse subject matter.
It’s blogs like these that will make a difference in the long run, change is so slow, and good information is sometimes hard to find. Thanks gals.
Best of luck to all of you on your new endeavor. I look forward to reading the words of others who are dabbling in the wonders of the Not Quite Normal.
Hi Kathy,
I am very much looking forward to reading this blog on a regular basis and getting to know the extraordinary women who make it up.
I still live in suburbia but dream of one day living a very different life.
Hey! This sounds very exciting and I look forward to the interesting information you all will present. As a woman so “not normal” I don’t get the opportunities to “chat” with other women much so this looks great!
Hi Kathy, Can’t wait to read your posts Sundays and meet the other ladies too. Great Idea! Sirena
Welcome Kathie,
I look forward to reading your posts on Sundays!
I have been reading some of the blogs from your great group of contributors and I am looking forward to adding this blog to my list of favorites. I am really a novice at living simply and I am taking it slow. (It’s hard to transition to a completely simple way of living, plus I don’t have much space to grow and raise alot of things.)
I love gardening and I do want to get into canning. I hope I can gain some great tips along the way!
Hi Kathy, I enjoy Two Frog Home and look forward to this as well.
Cheers, Karin
I am looking forward to reading about all the other wonderful not normal women and what they are doing!