So, for the past five weeks I’ve been saying what I want in a mate, and I admit that I’ve set the bar pretty high.  Why?  I’m worth it.  In wrapping up this short series, I’m now going to tell why I’ve set such a lofty goal.

First, I know it will sound very egotistical what I’m about to describe, but there’s no way around that.  I am what I am.  I’m 5’5” and height/weight proportional, and reasonably fit.  I’m considered attractive by most; I have long, healthy hair and clear skin and that’s because I’m healthy.  While I do eat some meats, my diet leans heavily on vegetables that I grow myself, and I avoid preprocessed foods.  I live where the air is clean and so is the water.  There is almost NO pollution here at all.  I take no life sustaining medications and never have.  The most is an Ibuprofen when I’ve been working hard and the muscles ache.  I have a great sense of humor, I’m smart AND intelligent, IQ of 148.

Skills:  I’m a good cook, a very, very good cook, and that includes baking just about everything, from bagels to breads to tortillas to pastries.  All of that on my wood cook stove, which heats my house and has for the past 17 years.  I grow my own herbs, for cooking and healing.

I can use a chainsaw and a log-splitter, and have both.  I split & stack my own wood every Spring, and currently have 18 months ready to burn.

I raise chickens and do my own butchering.  I also butcher the venison in the family, including making the sausage.

I’m a really good gardener (hold a Master Gardner certificate), and process what I don’t eat fresh.  But the garden is designed to produce enough for canning and drying, which I also do.

My home is small, but it’s on ten acres of woods, with a small creek.  The creek is carved into a small valley right behind the house, with a steep hill going up the other side.  This makes for a perfect shooting range, so yes, I shoot and am fairly proficient at it.  I’m well stocked and well armed.  Oh, and my home and property are 100% paid for, as is my car.

As a Massage Therapist, my training was deeply medical, which I found fascinating.  That has helped me in many areas of my life.  I do not go running to the doctors for every little scrape or pain, I treat it myself.  I’ve got two grown sons, and I’ve removed their stitches and my own.  I can set a broken bone and cast it; stitch up a wound and treat sprains.  I’ve done massage as a profession for over 25 years and make a very good living with it.  It’s hard work, but I’m a hard worker.

I’m an avid wild mushroom picker, but I did take extensive classes to know what I’m doing!  I also wild forage by the seasons.

I love all animals, but prefer a cat to a dog as a pet.

I do most of my own home repairs and maintenance myself, but leave the electrical to my son.

On the personal side, I can sew, and have made much of my own clothing over the last 50 years, on the treadle machine I learned on very young.  I know the basics of knitting and crocheting, though neither have ‘called’ to me like sewing has.  As a hobby, I write (obviously.. lol) and I paint.

For seven years, I lived off grid even deeper in the woods than I do now. It was rustic without being rough.  I heated water on the stove for laundry and bathing; used oil lamps for light. I’m low maintenance, but I’m not NO maintenance. I loved the life and I’d still be there, but my companion had other plans.  He left, I stayed, his loss.  That was ten years ago.  I’m very independent and I’ve proven to myself that I can be a self-reliant woman, but I’m ready to move forward.