when blogging becomes poetry - my 2nd guest artist

Sometimes art is obvious to see, but sometimes it's the artist's spirit you sense first.  So it was for me with Anne-Marie at NaDa Farm.   I think I first noticed Anne Marie when I heard about her barn sale this year.

Now,  I've held a few barn sales in my time so I have some idea and lots of happy memories of what's involved.  I felt instantly drawn.

I started following Anne-Marie, stocking her in my mind's filing cabinet under the labels, 'farm, young family, chickens, flowers' ..... then I realised that behind all the everyday stuff lay a true poet.

What intrigues me is how the poet survives amidst her impressive daily routine.   Anne Marie runs an organic farm, home schools five young children, sews, takes great photos, reads alot, for goodness sake, the girl even bakes her own bread! I don't know when she finds the time to sleep! I decided to dig a little deeper and  I asked her a few questions:

- You express yourself in a very poetic manner, where do you think this comes from? Is this a character trait you find in your children too?
- The children surprise me with their poetic wisdom, especially while in the garden working with their mama. Most often times, the most personal discussions come up when alone with one of them in the potager or walking the prairie. Since we don’t watch television, because we choose not to have one, there is more time for reading, playing games, creating music together, praying together, and talking at the table during meals….every meal is shared together. We all have to adapt to the seasons that surrounds us here on the farm as well, which contributes to my candid poetry within my posts. Nothing is face value here….it all has a deeper meaning….from the chicken egg we hatch with mother hen to the farm dinners we prepare from the garden to serve our close friends.
- I do however write poetry, I particularly love old lyrical poems, as does my oldest son….my favourite poet is Martin Tupper, an 1850’s poet.
 

What influence do your words and pictures have on your daily life and on those around you?
- The pictures I post are of that week’s activities or discoveries, and I do find that while I am viewing my life through the lens of my camera, I notice more details. Farm chores and daily activities consume a large amount of all of our time here on the farm, but there is a constant hum of gratitude for this opportunity to live and work on this land and the people who preserved it. My mind doesn’t see things one dimensional….it is constantly moving and being inspired by my daily life. 

- What does your family think about your blog?
- My husband keeps abreast of the news online, and only reads my blog on occasion, but his support of my creativity and journals, both on paper and the computer is very encouraging. The children notice my depth of intensity while writing a post, so they usually close the office door for me, and give me silence, but they are always learning things on the computer through my teaching of working with the photos I take and that they take…they very much enjoy watching me pick out the photos I use for each post and the finished product. My eleven year old daughter’s opinion on my header is the last word….either yeah or nay.

 You blog, sew, garden (tell me if I missed some)......What is the most creative part of your day?
- The most creative part of my day for creating things for myself, seems to be early in the morning or extremely late at night….those are the times that I am not completely focused on my children and their needs, or the needs of our home and farm, but I do find that the most creative part of my day is being with my children, teaching them, and having them be a part of my daily life in and out of the garden.

- Your garden looks spectacular - are there many gardens like that where you live?
- There is not, and I wish there were to gather inspiration, but the growing interest in designing potagers for others, through the many compliments and inquiries from visitors to the farm, has made me and my husband strongly consider in opening up a business doing so. 

- If people were to retain one element or characteristic from your NaDa blog, what would you like it to be?
- Preserving simplistic traditions………..weaving the core moral values of faith and the beauty that surrounds us in a positive light, while working hard to achieve this goal.

Thank you Anne Marie for giving us such a  generous insight into your daily life.

Maybe one day we'll have this chat for real over the kitchen table!