Catherine Friend

A former “city girl,” she lives on a small farm in MN with her wife Melissa and several four-legged creatures. She writes adult nonfict, fict, and kids' books.

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Friday Farm Flashback Foto: I loved feeding corn to the calves. They‘d get so excited. Lots of snuffling and crunching going on! #farmlife

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Friday Farm Flashback Foto: I was trying to hold a knitting party on the pasture, but Black Girl hogged all the attention and no knitting happened! #sheep #farms #knitting

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Friday Farm Flashback Foto:
Lamb: You’re kind of intense. Wanna let me go?
Melissa: You’re too cute to let go.
Lamb: Seriously. I think I hear my mom calling…

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Friday Photo (not a farm flashback!): The entire time we farmed (25 years), Melissa hardly fished at all. Now that she’s retired, she catches some big ones! (BTW…She practices catch and release, so the fish came out, posed for photo, then went back in the water.)

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

More than 270 election workers died in the ten days after Indonesia’s April 2019 national elections. Health authorities blamed most of the deaths on fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours spent counting millions of ballots by hand in sweltering conditions. (BBC, 4.28.19)

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Friday Farm Flashback:
We farmed outside of Zumbrota, MN. I went to Zumbrota the other day to do some errands, and saw that the phone booth is still there…still working! Stepping inside was like stepping into a time capsule.

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Enough said. https://t.co/XW7t258In7

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Are you aware? To ensure voters get the right candidates on their ballots, election officials generate customized ballots called 'ballot styles.' (Seriously? Why not ballot versions? Styles makes me think of fashion shows. Bad word choice!) read more ... https://t.co/sPD7aM8YkO

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Low-income & minority neighborhoods have long waits at polling places. Cornell U, millions of cellphones: entirely-black neighborhoods waited 29% longer than entirely-white neighborhoods, were 74% more likely to spend more than 30 min at polls. Gloria Bilchik, Election Insiders

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Friday Farm Flashback:

I loved dyeing yarn and selling it online…I still have lots of white yarn, so if anyone wants to come help me dye it…you can choose your own colors!

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

The question should actually be, What the heck is ERIC? ERIC stands for the Electronic Registration Information Center. Here's a fiction about ERIC ... https://t.co/O8ywxaTMkW #elections #votingmatters

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Austria’s 2016 presidential election was postponed after adhesive seals on postal votes came unstuck. One political leader saw the problem as a metaphor for bigger issues in the country, saying “What we need most of all is for us to stick together.” (Guardian, 9.12.2016

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Are these five statements fact or fiction? What do you know about voting in Minnesota? Take the quiz. https://t.co/wtyNsgf8JU

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Every fall, I used to smash pumpkins for the sheep. Alert readers will recognize Black Girl (she’s in my photo on the back of Sheepish.) I was explaining to the eager ewe that she needed to move back so I could smash!

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

”Civics education matters for this simple reason: It is difficult to expect people to value or participate in what they do not know.”—-Anne Wicks

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Do you know what equipment is involved when you vote? Can you trust it? Can it be hacked? Can your vote be changed? https://t.co/vOvVEQ0rzO

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

Ever seen a lamb sling? When ewes had multiple lambs, Melissa would stash one in the sling while she ear-tagged the other one. Less chasing that way. 🙂

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

I worked a 15-hour day at the MN primary August 9. It was lots of fun. I was exhausted the next day. Voters were funny… “I’ll be back this afternoon to vote again!” Or “Here’s $20. I need a fishing license.” What wasn't funny, however ... read more ... https://t.co/TqMYoAsbDf

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

I love The Wizard of Oz! And I love the scene where Toto pulls back the green curtain to reveal the "wizard." https://t.co/YeggPH8Ge7

[Catherine Friend @CaFriendMN]

The wearing of many hats ... giving credit for a complicated job well done in counties throughout the country … https://t.co/26qJmESkvZ