04/13/2026
Forty years ago, I was given my first sheep for Christmas. Eight years ago, I should have died. Both changed everything.
Growing up in the suburbs of Toronto, Scarborough to be precise… it was highly unlikely that I would become a sheep owner at the age of 12. In 1985, my sister gave me the best Christmas present ever. The gift that keeps on giving – 40 years later – my very first ewe, Georgian. 🐑
Although I lived 3 hours away, I would take the bus any chance I could get - all holidays and the entire summer. My sister marveled at how I could go away for sometimes months at a time and go out to the flock of hundreds of sheep and call, “Georgie,” and she would push through the pack to greet me.
What started out supposed to be a “nice pet” for me turned out to be my life’s passion. I convinced my sister and her husband that I should be able to keep the first born female at least. Then, one a year would be fair, I thought. Although Georgian passed away the year before I was old enough to farm on my own, I brought 5 of her descendants to live with me in 1995.
From there the flock grew to 100 ewes. Over the years, I had decreased numbers to 35 to increase the rare breed Red Poll cattle I had imported in 2017.
April 12th, 2018, started out a day like any other – and was almost my last. While hauling a hay wagon with my young son, Clayton in our pickup truck – a car speeding at 80 km/hr came 100% in our lane and hit us head on. The injuries I sustained were fatal – but I didn’t die.
With a double break in my C2 vertebrae, brain injury and other problems – I lost most everything. My independence, my marriage, my farm, most of my animals and even became homeless with my son by 2021. It was living in survival mode at its best. But through it all, I somehow managed to keep the sheep – not a lot of them, but at the lowest count 6. I could not bear to lose that which I had worked my whole life for.
In 2023, Clayton and I moved to Nova Scotia for a fresh new start. It is here that I made the most strides in my ongoing recovery. Although I deal with chronic pain and brain issues every day – they are invisible to the people around me – and I am working towards a day when they will be invisible to me too.
I spent more than the last seven years trying to figure out what I am supposed to do with my life if I wasn’t able to be farming anymore – till I realized that it is all I have ever wanted to do, and I AM doing it. I have held Georgian’s line continuously for 40 years – through it all. This anniversary deserved an expansion, not just of the sheep but with our new online shop: Sacred Eagle - The Shop. The shop will be in honour of our animals – past, present and future.
Although the shop isn’t open yet, it will be soon - will let you know. It can be found at our new website:
SacredEagleFarm.com
This is Part 1 of 3. The story continues here:
Part 2 - Sacred Eagle Farmstead & Retreat
Part 3 - Sacred Eagle Pyrenean Mastiffs
Never give up. 🦅
