I was a bit worried before I left for several reasons but one of the main ones is that I don't get along well with many women. The women I've met though this blog are the exception ... I guess it's because we are all discussing like minded goals & aspirations.
I do have close friends & family whom I love, & the women that I have come to know through this blog are amazing. So, I don't dislike women, I am just not drawn to them. My husband is my best friend & I wouldn't change that for the world.
Also, I am not a chit chatter, especially about mundane crap like shoes & purses & other silly things. I dress nice, when I have to, wear makeup, when I have to & mind my manners.
I also must mention that I don't have a whole lot of patience either. If someone annoys me I walk away rather than say something 'not nice'. And, I get annoyed easily, especially the older I get.
This past weekend was a test for me. There were 61 attendees at the retreat, 57 of them women plus an additional 10 or 12 instructors or moderators. The age range was 23 - 70, with the median age around 50. I was prepared to pretty much stay to myself if I found that I couldn't tolerate ... whatever. I was pleasantly surprised that for the most part, everyone attending was as focused as I was on learning the things that were being offered.
There were 4 or 5 younger women (age 23 - 27). Each had come with a mother, or were there w/a friend who had come with their mother. They were lovely young women & truly interested in all the activities. It was very refreshing & gives me hope about the future. They even put their iPhones down while eating & during conversations!
Yeah, there were a couple of Hazels in the crowd, but for the most part the others were easy to talk to & not overbearing with their opinions. I just steered clear of the Hazels. My cabin mates were an eclectic mix with great personalities to match. I even met a couple of women that I think will become long term friends, we had much in common.
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| Sleeping quarters |
There was plenty of discussions about books, excercise routines, sewing & other things like that, as well. But it all seemed, to me anyway, that it was centered around one common goal & that was Self Sufficiency. By choice now & necessary when the time comes.
It was a bit surreal knowing you were pretty much surrounded with that many like minded
I learned a LOT & what I liked about this specific retreat was that the classes were taught by real women. Some had been doing whatever they were teaching, for years while others were fairly new & were just good at it. Also, for the most part, it was hands on which is what I was looking for.
I helped make apple butter, biscuits & pie crust. I learned what I was doing wrong w/my biscuits (cutting them too thin). I hope to never buy another can of biscuits or pie crust again.
I have dabbled in dehydrating, water bath canning & pressure canning, but I needed to make sure I was doing it right by actually participating, while a knowledgable person looked on. So I took dehydrating & pressure canning classes. I felt reassured & most certainly learned many new tips & techniques.
I took soft cheese & hard cheese making. I didn't learn much in the soft cheese class, as I had already made mozarella using the same recipe, but learned a lot in the hard cheese class. I plan on making Romano as soon as my husband builds me a cheese press.
I loved the bread making class & I hope to never buy dinner rolls again. Another goal is to cut down on the amount of bread we buy.
But, I think my favorite class of all was the Goat Husbandry class. The teacher, Shelley from Twiggity Dairy Goats, has been doing this for a couple of years & you could just feel her excitement & love of her goats. She & her husband brought 2 Nigerian kids, 1 adult kid & a Mini Lamancha. We loved them all. We learned how to select a good dairy goat, preventative maintenance, how to look for signs of trouble, how to administer shots, how to trim hooves & how to milk!! Shelley is an excellent speaker & you could really tell she loves what she does. They also brought Cheddar & Queso cheese as well as samples of milk to try. It was wonderful!
We ended with a party at the CITR farm on Sunday afternoon. I've been following this blog since the beginning of the year & it was nice to see all of the animals & understand the layout of the farm. There was a swap table, coffee roasting, yarn spinning & soap making demos, lots of food, hay rides & pony rides. The weather was perfect! With a glass of wine in hand it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.
I had a great time & the lesson I learned was to keep an open mind, you never know who you might meet & what you might learn.
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| WV sunrise on my last morning |
