All About Me

Hi, I’m Dawn, the creator of Thistle Be the Day, a place where you can read the musings and adventures of an enthusiastic gardener (me). My aim is not to make a “how-to” blog because I’m still learning myself, but I hope to take you along for the ride on all my gardening adventures. Hopefully, we’ll laugh together and learn together because I believe the garden is an excellent teacher.

So, you want to know a little bit more about me? Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning, or at least close to it. Growing up, I had three passions: animals, art, and nature. You could often find me sketching, spending time with my animal friends, or gallivanting around the many fields and woods surrounding my home.

I grew up in a small town in Vermont, so small that the cows outnumbered the people, and that was fine by me. Nature fascinated me, and I would spend hours exploring and building forts in the woods. Fast forward a few years, and my mom and I attempted our first perennial garden. We didn’t have great success, due to the lack of sun and overabundance of rocks in the soil. But, we did manage to grow a few beautiful blooms such as lily of the valley, lilacs, and forget-me-nots.

Whenever we would visit my godmother, who had much better soil, I would stand in awe of her beautiful perennial and vegetable gardens. When I was about ten or eleven, she gifted me with a book on perennials, and I became hooked. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until much later in 2003, when my husband and I bought our first home on half an acre, that I could finally realize my dream of having a garden that consisted of more than a few houseplants. Then in 2008, when my husband gifted me a beautiful fenced vegetable garden for Mother’s Day, my fate was sealed. I became a full-blown enthusiastic gardener.

Besides loving all things garden, I’m also an animal lover, becoming a vegan in 2001 and working in the animal care field for several years in both the animal rescue and veterinary sectors. In 2007 I decided to change careers after having my son and tried my hand at being an author and illustrator. I started my own publishing company, Sleepy Sheep Publishing, LLC, and have written, illustrated, and published four children’s books to date. They are: Drumsticks, Broccoli for Santa, Have You Ever Been Kissed By A Cow?, and Where’s My Cape? all of which have compassionate themes.

My other passions include refurbishing old furniture and such, and you can often find me perusing salvage yards and flea markets looking for my next treasure. I also love photographing the world around me, especially what’s going on in my garden. Finally, I’m a self-appointed foodie. I love everything to do with food, growing it, harvesting it, cooking it, canning it, baking it, and especially eating it!

So, full disclosure, you might see some posts on all of these topics too!

Finally, and most importantly, I’m a mother and wife who tries her best, with varying degrees of success, to get her family in the garden as much as possible. When I’m not in the garden I’m happily spending time with my husband, teenage son, and five furry adopted family members.

So there you have it, now you know all about me. Now, let’s get growing because Thistle Be the Day!

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