Le Rêve: The Dream
Our story isn’t so unusual, really. Just two people following a dream.
Sometimes we have enough rain that the grass is as tall as the sheep.
Violet was our very first goat and is the matriarch of our dairy flock of Nubians.
Welcome to our Farm Stay in Paso Robles
Seasonal Sheep and Goats Milk Cheese from our Farmstead Flock
Several Roosters Welcome the Mornings on Our Farm
Goats are so curious, it's always fun to interact with the kids!
The unusual thing is, we didn’t know it was our dream, until one day when I asked absentmindedly, the first thing that popped into my head; “what do you think we should do when we retire? And where should we do it?” Now, Evan and I are not “young” but we’re not close to retirement either, so this was a rather random question. We started throwing out ideas, as far-fetched as the question itself; ‘I want to retire to a beach cottage’ or ‘I think we should become ex-pats and live abroad, you know, like Paris or something’ and then Evan said, ‘I’ve always wanted to own land and a few sheep…’ Really??? I did not know that!
Paris, France
My husband, Evan and I went to Paris for our honeymoon, back in November 2011. We fell in love! It was breath-taking, romantic, and all around, a magical experience. We spent every day wandering the streets, eating at cafes, sharing bottles of wine, and munching on baguette and cheese. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I have many pictures of Evan on that trip where he doesn’t have a baguette in hand!
We also took a day trip to Reims, and toured the caves at several of the Champagne houses there. Anyone that knows me, knows more often than not, you can find a glass of champagne in close proximity to my hand! I love it, what can I say! The country side of rolling vineyards was stunning, and we both secretly wished we could live there forever…
Napa, California
Fast forward to August of 2012. Evan is a wedding photographer by trade, and he had a job in the Northern California region, where I got to be photographers assistant, (that’s a fancy way of saying camera gear carrier, errand girl, and all around go-fer!) which I don’t mind, because I get to see love in action, and I get to spend time with Evan, which is always a plus!
We stayed a few extra days, and drove to Napa. As we were riding through beautiful vineyards, that was when I asked the fateful question …. “what do you think we should do when we retire? And where should we do it?”
Driving home, I couldn’t stop thinking of this crazy idea of owning a bit of land and some sheep. What did that mean? Where would we own land? Ev knows I hate the cold, so his dream of Big Sky Country Montana was OUT! But, I could see us whiling away the hours surrounded by open space in our golden years. The more I started thinking about it, the more I started thinking, why wait? Why wait until we’re both unable to take care of land and sheep? Why wait until we are both too tired to work that hard? Why wait?! What could we do to make it happen sooner rather than later?
That was the beginning of a conversation that has lasted to present day…
Here is what we came up with: We’ll make cheese from the sheep and goat milk, we’ll have a cottage or two on the property to host guests and we’ll raise sheep and goats! We’ll do it in the middle of wine country (because I mean, we’re dreaming here, right?) and we’ll make it happen in the next five years. Wait, what??? Are we crazy??
""Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. The potential for greatness lives within
each of us."
"To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan,
but also believe.
"Dreams are the seeds of change. Nothing ever grows without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream"