Where are you from originally? I grew up on a farmette not even a mile away and as a girl I would escape here to work with my grandfather as much as possible.

Tell us about him. Wyllie and I have the neatest relationship. He can give me a hand signal or describe a spot on the farm and I know exactly where he’s talking about. If one of us leaves I feel bad for the poor person who tries to understand the directions we use.

Where does the name Wylymar come from?
It comes from my grandfather, Wyllie. Make sure you call him by his name. If you call him grandpa, you’ll probably regret it. It also comes from my grandmother, Lydia. She’s a city girl from Chicago…and from their only child Margo—my mom. The first few letters in each of their names spells Wylymar.

What kind of animals live at Wylymar? Mostly black angus beef cows, a few registered and a few simmental crosses. We’ve got 6 horses and a pony. Curly is a Hafflinger pony that’s the most bullheaded pony ever. Whenever my friends and family would go on long trail rides, I’d ride Curly. Once we went to a huge national forest in Southern Illinois where everyone had these big horses with saddlebags. I was on Curly with just my backpack. The guide asked if I seriously thought my pony would make it. Curly stayed right behind his horse all day and if any other horse got near her, she’d lay her ears back and start running. She never even broke a sweat. Then there’s Shilo, my dog. He’s the happiest, cutest animal out here.

What do you do with all your time? What time? Farm work is never ending. It takes a lot to keep this place going.

Can you describe some of the things in your home? I don’t buy things for my home but there’s still a lot of stuff in here. There’s art from my friends, family, and some of my own. We were cutting trees one day and there were some interesting pieces left over. I made them into a table. It serves it’s purpose. And then… there’s Veronica.

Veronica? So you live with another woman? She’s the “roommate” my mom and friend Jamie gave me for Christmas a few years ago. I talked about making a tall stained glass lamp for a long time, so when they found a tall lamp they created Veronica. She wears all my ancestors’ jewelery. She’s got my mother’s sun glasses that are back in style now. I’m thinking about swiping those. Her hair is a pony tail of mine from when I was a kid. The hairpiece, gloves, and clothes belonged to my great-grandmothers and great-aunts. I guess you could say she lights up my life!