While being a full-time mother, wife, homemaker, ranch hand, and a cook at Head Start, Virginia Carlson is also a crafter and soon to be "master" gardener. Of her many hobbies, Virginia is into beekeeping, birds, Geocaching, woodworking, upcycling, cooking, sewing, birds, dogs and goats.
I caught up with Virginia the last week of March and she had made me a gnome. A creation that she and her daughter have started making and selling since December. The adorable gnome is an item that would make a great gift, or even just to have as a decoration. I am always trying to think of something besides just flowers to get for that friend who might need a gift, or for someone in the hospital trying to get well. The cute little gnome is a fun alternative to the stuffed animal or card. While visiting her home, I also noticed all the plants that Virginia has started. She explained that she is doing a "Master Gardener" course. The course requires a certain number of hours and part of that is volunteering, and she donates some of her produce. Gardening is very much a family event with her mom and sister. They each help with each other's gardens, and they do it as a family every year. She and her sister also help run the family farm. One of her other hobbies/products is her beekeeping, which she uses to make soaps and chapstick.
In her free time, (I don't know how she has any) Virginia takes her kids Geocaching, a fun outdoor activity that is catching on everywhere. I have long wanted to start geocaching, and wanted to ask her more about the activity. Virginia said that it is such a fun group or family activity, and you don't have to be young to do it, she has spotted older folks geocaching. In essence, the sport involves using your cell phone with a geo caching ap to locate "treasure" that is placed all throughout the world. There are several locations just around Roundup, many in Billings and elsewhere. When you find the location and item, you then leave something for the next person to find. Some items are "trackables", as the owner you get to decide where it goes, perhaps Europe, so people who find this item can help you get it there. They would check the number and then relocate it somewhere else. They can follow the number to see if it eventually gets to its destination. Virginia has found items in the water before. Items and locations can be tiny (micro) or huge. She said there are caches inside buildings, including the Billings library. Virginia took a group for a geo caching event from the Busy Bee last summer, and will likely do another group in the future. Some of the geo caches involve a lot of hiking. There are even geo caching conferences if you really get into it. The ap will direct you to the location and tell you the difficulty of location. You can also make a geocache location. You can do this activity anytime of the year and it is always fun.
Virginia and her husband have been through the last two floods which took a tole on their property and Virginia mentioned how much it meant to her that people came to help them during that time. Virginia herself is a very community minded and has done plenty of helping others as well. She explained to me "I LOVE Roundup, I LOVE our community, I am Roundup's Auntie".
Virginia mentioned that Roundup has several siblings who work together, which is a great story in itself. She and her sister work together on their family ranch, the Sellars sisters work together at the flower shop "Sellars Place", her cousins Stephan and Nathan are moving home to run their dads ranch, and the Hochmuth brothers are also moving back to run their family ranch. Coming together later in life and running business together is a special thing to do. Family and children are the most important thing in Virginia's life, and if everyone had the same values the world would truly be a happier place. If you have any interest in purchasing a gnome, you can message Virginia through Facebook and visit her page.
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