Welcome

“Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:11-12)

If you’re new here, welcome! I’m glad you stopped by. I hope you decide to stay awhile. Below is some information to help you navigate my site, if you’ve a mind.

If you’ve been visiting awhile, welcome back! It’s great to see you again.

So, what is The Herbal Hare Tomestead and Animal Sanctuary? Well, we’re not an “official” sanctuary yet with nonprofit status, though that is a future goal. At present, we have a house full of felines that were abandoned to our farm during Covid-19 shutdowns. We’ve fallen in love with them and given them forever homes. They’ve been vetted (shots, neutering, etc.) and they receive regular veterinary care. They’ve also taken over the house with cat toys and cat beds, litter pans, scratching posts and cat “trees”. =)

In addition to the cats, we have one geriatric cockatiel named Smoky Bones. He, too, was abandoned when his owner had to go into a nursing home. He has been here since 2006(?) In the past, we have taken in abandoned dogs, rabbits, birds and goats. And, though we’re no longer a working farm, we still have a few geriatric chickens and ducks. These were not rescues. They were purchased as young chicks and ducklings to provide our homestead with eggs, and tick and garden slug control. They, too, receive veterinary care when needed.

Our goal is to provide sanctuary for more cats, rabbits, small livestock and senior dogs once nonprofit status is obtained.

“Tomestead” instead of homestead because yours truly is both a writer and a librarian, who also homesteads and preps. I’m an avid reader and frequently “rescue” unloved books from secondhand stores, yard sales, and even the local transfer station. If you want to know more about my writing, click on the tab labeled “The Author”. You can also find a hyperlink (“Home”) to my author’s page.

Herbal Hare because a.) I’m a certified herbalist and b.) my first rescues were bunnies. I absolutely adore them!

The icon below, and featured throughout the site, is a caricature of my first English angora bunny, Jillian, holding a dandelion in her mouth with a honeybee buzzing overhead. Though I don’t have any honeybees at the moment, I have been a beekeeper in the past…and hope to be again.

For those of you who have been here awhile, I’ve added a tab entitled, “The Herbs” that contains hyperlinks to every post I’ve done to date on specific herbs. It’s a great way for both of us to find the information we’re looking for (and for me to keep straight what I’ve already done so I don’t repeat myself!). There are also some links to some how-to pages on preparing the herbs.

Lastly, “the Blog” is pretty self-explanatory.

PS Though it’s not part of the name, this is a faith-based blog, website, homestead–life!

God is. And that’s enough. You don’t have to be a believer to visit, or to stay awhile, but I won’t stop prefacing each post with a line or two of Scripture. If you’ve landed here, maybe it’s not by accident…but I won’t press you.

May God bless you & keep you!