Life on the Farm

So, before you skip ahead and watch this video without any context (you’re going to anyway, aren’t you? Yeah, fuck it, I would too…) Well, if you’re not the skipping-ahead-type, I’d like to say a thing first: It wasn’t an easy decision to let a production company come out to the farm and set up a shoot that involved some of my current projects and a lot of my actual real life (and a lot of my real life family and friends too.) Maybe there are a lot of people who would do that just for a chance to be on TV? I don’t know. But I do know that telling an authentic story is a big part of my life, so handing the reigns over to “other people” wasn’t easy, but Joyce and Roberto from Fog Edge Media are fucking fantastic.

I loved having them here, and they were amazing about putting up with my “you know I kind of hate being around other humans when I’m working” tendencies. And I also gained a ton of appreciation for what they do…

KIT_WEB from kitliz on Vimeo.

Just for reference, that half-second shot where I crossed something off my chalkboard list? That took at least 30 minutes to set up, and there were twenty of my closest friends and family hiding just out of the range of the camera… just knowing they were all there trying to be super quiet makes it one of my favorite shots of the reel.

chalkboard

And I also love this part where my house looks like it should be something in a Pottery Barn catalog  (that’s this room, if you want to see my take on it) …

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I mean, it’s really a hot mess, but this is how I see it in my head, so I don’t mind if it actually turns up that way on camera.

But other than the fact that they captured the most photographically beautiful parts of life on the farm, they also actually cared about getting the story right. And I know that this video is a lot of me talking about me… but in between all that, I think you get a real glimpse of life on the farm. Of why it’s not a burden to me to be here, to take care of the animals, and to do what I do. I’m amazed, and excited, and feel completely blessed to be here every day, no matter what it requires of me.

I’m so grateful to Fog Edge for showing that.

And I’m also grateful to all the friends and family who are in this shot for pretending to use spoons to eat pasta with when we ran out of forks mid-shoot…

pergola8

Clearly we’re professionals around here.

And if nothing else comes from this I’m so grateful to be able to share this little glimpse of life on the farm with everyone… it’s not easy or perfect, but it is quite wonderful even on the hardest days.

66 Responses

  1. What a fantastic video!

    It is so different to hear your voice and see “live action” vs. still pictures.

    That table is gorgeous.

    So much awesome!

  2. Kit…I loved you before seeing the video, but now that I hear your voice and watch you emote, I just want to hug you and tell you how fantastic you are! We are all so proud of what you’ve accomplished and we can’t wait to see what happens next! Keep flying, sweetie!

  3. ***Long-time reader, first-time commenter*** Fuck yeah. This is solidly my favorite blog, and that video just showed me, in a whole new/different way, why. You’re fun, amazing, talented, articulate… all in all, you rock. Keep on keepin’ on. =)

    1. Exactly this. Another first time commenter, long-time reader. You go, girl. I don’t even know you, but I’m so proud of you!

  4. I loved this! Your enthusiasm is wonderful and your place is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing it with us.

  5. Well.. it’s just you!
    Right the way we’ve started to know you by reading your blog and watching the pictures.
    It’s just how I’d imagined you would be like.
    I like it!

  6. This was amazing and i think it totally got your badass-ness! (i love it when you can get a good picture with chaos all around!)

  7. Kit, I’ve followed you for quite a while, and you continue to be a source of inspiration! The video is awesome, and I hope you continue to feel inspired and energized by the farm and the love you put into it. You deserve a big ‘Atta Girl!’

  8. great video- I love seeing how they captured the farm and your life. 🙂 (Also, I just bought that miter saw and I’m pumped you have it too… helps me to feel like I actually picked out the right tool for once! haha)

  9. You know how sometimes you watch the movie adaptation of one of your favourite books, and you think ‘shit yeah! That’s exactly how I envisioned it would be’? Well, that’s what watching this clip was like for me. Just awesome

  10. you are amazing, beautiful, hilarious, strong, and oh so confident! I wish more women in the world were like you!

  11. Love it, love it, love it. You embody the spirit with which we tackle all the projects in our house. I takes super long, everything, because we have two kiddies running around and on top of that because we are perfectionists.

    Life is made for creation and more people need to understand that they too can make anything they set their mind to.

    ps. That table is super ace!!!

  12. This was so good! You are both exactly how I expected you to sound as well as totally different if that makes any kind of sense. You remind me a little bit of the Rehab Addict woman, but a bit more real, either more or just different skills, and with a side of farmer lol. Very cool video. I really enjoyed it!

  13. I’ll say it now since I don’t really chime in despite reading your blog for nearly three years. Good on you! It’s great to see you in action. Your blog is my sole favorite probably because your writing seems honest, introspective, and you don’t take yourself too seriously. Of course, I like to imagine I can do everything you do and dream about trading in the suburban life for the farm life. Thank you for continuing to share what you’re up to. 🙂

  14. I have been reading your blog for about three years now and to watch the video of you doing the work is just awesome! I can only hope that one day I can be as awesome as you and build all my own stuff. I love it!

  15. You are amazing! Even though you don’t know me, if I promise to bring MANY bottles of wine, can I come visit Black Feather Farm!?!? I can’t even put into words how admirable I think you are, and how I wish we could be friends in real life.

  16. I smiled the entire time, watching the video. You should be very proud of the life you are building.

  17. That was wonderful!

    I loved seeing clips of the farm and you in the action. And the story they captured seem so authentically you.

    What a great project to be able to be a part of.

  18. That was inspiring. You came across as so funny, personable, beautiful and powerful. I loved every second of it.

  19. I’ve read you for what seems like forever. I never comment but I have to tell you that the video is awesome and the farm is beautiful. Also, I now want a pet donkey.

  20. I noticed that Pottery Barn shot and thought, heck yeah, your house is looking awesome. You were fabulous in the video. You have the best laugh! And if nothing comes of it (which, I doubt, because you are meant to be on TV), what a wonderful keepsake of your life this moment on your farm.

  21. I teach middle school. More specifically I teach college/career/leadership classes. I’m totally going to show this video to my students as an example of how you make a life around what you love to do and how forging your own path and being your own person is the ultimate form of success. I also want my girls to see a woman using tools and doing all this rad shit on her own. Thanks for rocking!

  22. Great video! My favorite scenes in TV shows or movies is the gathering of family and friends around the dinner table…it always makes me teary-eyed.

    That you made that table and had your friends sit at that table – amazing.

  23. love the video! great to see you in action with the donks, and walking around with the nugs and guinea close behind. i especially love when you hold the kitchen door open for the nug close behind. they did a great job!

  24. Love the vid! My favorite line: “If I can do stained glass, then I can build a window and if I can build a window, then I can build a house.”

    Exactly. Yes.

  25. Freaking AWESOME video!!!! I loved watching you and Sarah on Periscope, but this is just WOW.

    I’ve bought a small farm which I hope to be moving to in the next few months, just finishing up some renno on our current 110 year old farmhouse in the center of an old historic town in CT to put it on the market and move up to Maine and our REAL farm where we can have goats, chickens, dokneys, pigs, cows, an orchard and veggie gardens. You’ve given me the confidence to tile walls, tile countertops, paint and customize a huge bathroom vanity/linen closet structure and put in tile flooring in the bathroom we’re just finishing up in CT. And frig if it doesn’t look awesome!!! AND to be able to say I did it! Priceless. Kit, keep on doing what you do and having FUN with it!! bay far you and Sarah are my favorite blogs. I look forward to all of your new adventures!

  26. EEEP I FREAKING LOVE IT!
    and when i saw the video of that still you talked about – i really did think of pottery barn!

  27. How freakin’ cool, after years of hearing your voice through only words (albeit magnificent ones!), to see and feel you and the farm! Like a book come to life! I’m so happy for your success, no one deserves it more and I wish you good times and good people for the rest of your life (yeah, I have that power!).

  28. I don’t normally comment …. but I have to this time. The video is incredible, and it was a wonderful way for us faithful followers to get to really know the real you. Really fantastic.

    And I would soooo watch any show you are a part of. Good luck….hope the whole process–and any opportunities it may present–ends up the way YOU want them to.

    As others have said, YOU ROCK! Thank you.

  29. Kit, you have been such an inspiration to me for many years! I continue to read (and re-read)your stories for motivation and courage. This video is so f*cking awesome! Yes, you are “all the things”, thank you for being an incredible example of how others can also be all the things too!

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