meet julie.
Tell us about yourself.
I’m a mum to Gus (11) and Nora (3), and wife to Craig. We live on a homestead in Maine and spend our time gardening, raising animals and living what people would define as a ‘simple life’. In the summer, we garden, and in the winter, we work with our hands in different ways. I enjoy sewing, knitting and quilting. And Craig is a potter.
What animals do you keep?
Our original homestead had sheep, cows, pigs, geese, guineas, chickens, ducks, barn cats and dogs. But when we started foster parenting, there were lots of rules about what your home could be like. Nora was only three weeks old when she was placed with us, so she was allowed to stay in our bedroom until she turned one. But after that, she was required to have her own room. We didn’t have another bedroom in that house. If we stayed there and her case was not at a point of reunification with her biological parents (which it wasn’t), she would be moved out of our home and into another foster home. That was unfathomable. So, we moved house.
Our current house is about 170 years old, and it’s in the centre of the village in our town. Because our neighbours are closer, we’re mindful of not having too many loud animals these days. We now keep miniature goats for milking (and cheese making) and have dogs and a barn cat. In the summer, we raise chickens for meat.
Before you lived in Maine, you were in Boston. What was life like there?
We lived in an apartment with Gus until he was two. Craig worked at a natural grocery
