Desperately seeking nice person(s)

I am going to keep this mercifully short.

I have recently come into possession of two dogs for which I need to find forever homes.

Here is what I know about them...

Brandy - beagle/shepherd? mix I'm guessing this mix because she is the size and shape of a beagle but has the coloring, rough coat and tail shape of a German Shepherd. Sweet beagle eyes and LONG ears, even for a beagle (but not long enough to be bassett)
Female, probably 2-4 years.
Doubt she's spayed, doubt she's up to date on shots.
Extrememly submissive but very loving. She's so happy to see you when you get home that she starts out whimpering and goes into full blown hound bays. Former owner swears he had her hunting but I don't really know how good of a hunter she is, if at all.
House training questionable - it's hard to tell because we have a research lab rescue dog that still struggles with house training and I think she sometimes leads the others astray.
Gets along great with children and other dogs, cats, livestock, as best I can tell. Did try to chase a chicken once but dropped the chase as soon as she was scolded. Hasn't tried it since.
Just took off on us yesterday afternoon and didn't come back until 6am this morning. On the bright side, she did find her way back.








Tessa - Lab/Pit bull?/Pointer or Spaniel? mix The reason I'm guessing these breeds: Blocky head like a Pitt but looks like a Lab profile. Very short, sleek coat like a Pitt. Legs are white with black freckles ala pointer or spaniel, plus she stood in a dead point at my hubby when he rounded the corner of the garage one day. Doesn't do that often though so it could have been a fluke.
Female, probably 5 years?
Doubt she's spayed, doubt she's up to date on shots.
House training questionable - see above.
She was definitely the leader of her little pack of three but has not tried to gain any kind of alpha position when we brought her into our home with our two dogs (one male, one female). Actually, settled in quite nicely with strange dogs, although my male is a marshmallow and my female could not be bothered with such nonsense. Mostly quite - will sometimes yap when we leave the room and she wants attention but lets up as soon as she is scolded.
Fine with children, other dogs and cats, again, as best I can tell. NOT GOOD WITH CHICKENS! Which is really why she has to go. I have free-range chickens and I would never be able to have her out of the kennel area unless she was on a leash. And, to be honest, I don't have time to walk dogs on leashes.
But she is a really, really good dog. My daughter has fallen in love with her and would take her but, since she's living on campus housing this semester, cannot. Ideally, if someone (without chickens) was willing to foster her for the school year, my daughter would be ecstatic and gather her up once she secured non-campus housing.








If you feel you are able to open your home and your heart to one (or both!) of these girls, leave a comment and we can work on getting in touch.

Please remember that this is a commitment for the life of the animal. They are currently in their third home and I would like their next stop to be where they get to live out the rest of their years. They will be part of your family and you will have to adjust your lifestyle accordingly. If you're not up to that challenge, perhaps a dog is not for you.

Why don't I just keep them, you ask? Try getting up at 2:30am to start feeding livestock on a day when you have to go to your (very physical) full-time job to work overtime, only to come home and have to either run fence, vet animals, work on the roof/bathroom/etc. and then feed all the livestock again. And then maybe if you have time, you can make and eat dinner. Otherwise you just skip it. Again. And that's not counting the grocery shopping, housework, bill paying, second job, etc.

So, do I need two more dogs that will be nothing more than pets? No, I don't. I wish I had the time to devote to them, but I don't, which makes it unfair to them. They need homes where they can have the attention they deserve.

As it is, I am trying to hold on to them for a little while longer but my energy and finances will only hold out for so long and I desperately need to cut back the extraneous. They will, unfortunately, end up at the local shelter if I can't re-home them soon. I don't mean to tug on the ol' heartstrings - it's just the way it is.

So if you are actually past the phase of "Boy, isn't that whole 'having a dog thing' a keeno idea?" and actually into the phase of "I am ready to adopt.", leave a comment and we can work on getting in touch. I would be willing to do what I can to transport for a bit - the dogs travel well.

Work, Work, Work

And more work.

That seems to be all I'm doing lately.

My primary job right now (as opposed to the real estate job, which has become secondary) is going off and on mandatory overtime, so I never really know what, if any, days I'll actually have off in a week, nor do I know how many hours I can expect to work on any given day. At least not until the day before because there is a 24 hour notice thingy.

And all of that is throwing a real monkey wrench in my life right now. On days that I am working overtime, and hubby is working too, I have to get up at 2am so I have enough time to feed all of the animals before starting work at 4 or 4:30am. The getting up early part is a real drag because the goats are all, "What the...? We're sleeping!!!" And then I have to proceed to drag them all out to their feeding stations because they just. Don't. Want. To. Go.

Oh, and God forbid it's raining.

Which it always seems to be doing.

Although, I shouldn't really complain because it has seemed to let up a bit at least when I need it to. They really don't like coming out in the rain to eat.

Perhaps someday when we have a big ol' barn in which to feed them, these days will go much more smoothly. Perhaps by the time we can afford the time and money to build a big ol' barn, we will also be well enough off to not have to go off to other jobs in the first place.

Ah, dreams.

So, yeah. Work.

And that's not even getting into all the additional animal-related stuff that goes on when I get home from work. Or the pressing need to put up A LOT more fence. Or the roof project from last year which still remains unfinished.

But, if it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm not.

Well...yes, I am. But it's not about the animals or the farm. It's more about not being able to really devote the time I need to to them. I think a lot of folks are still under the impression that this farm is a nice, little hobby for hubby and me.

I wish that were the case.

No, in fact we are busting our butts to try to get a bonafied business up and running. A buisiness with which we intend to replace our other jobs. And it takes a lot of works.

And people just don't get it. At all.

...

But enough of that.

I just wanted to pop in with a quickie update.

I took Fen to the vet today. All is well - it was just a check up. Ruby goes Thursday for her check-up. I had to take two different appointments because I would have had to wait otherwise.

And Jasper...

sigh...

Jasper is gone.

I can't really write about it because...well, I can't. But I just wanted to put it out there because it dawned on me the other day when a friend stopped by, that not many people know about it. Mainly because I never see or talk to anyone any more.

But, yeah. It happened over the summer and I'm still heartbroken about it. He was such a sweet, sweet boy - quite possibly the most loveable animal I've ever known - and life is just not the same without him around. If I knew the guy we bought him from was breeding the same two dogs again, I'd take a puppy in a heart beat, just in the hopes of getting another dog half as good as him.

And since it rains when it pours...

Our three and half legged cat, Fang, is also gone as well. She was just an amazing animal and a real trooper. She will be sorely missed as well.

...


And now I've lost my steam for writing. So enough for tonight. Hopefully I'll get to check in again soon and announce our farm's new website!

Sifting Through the Rubble of My Blog

For some reason or other I tried to dig up an old post I remembered writing a while back. Then on a curious whim, or perhaps morbid curiosity, I came to the most recent one and saw that there were some comments.

You guuuuuuuyyyyyyyssssss.....

I feel so bad leaving you all hanging like that. (All = 2)

I thought I had better check in to at least let you know I haven't checked out, at least not in the cosmic sense.

I'm fine. The goats are fine. Everything is fine down on the farm.

But busy.

Looooooordy is it busy.

I had mentioned that I was starting a new job. Well, fast forward to today and I am still working that job (a lot luckier than a lot people), in fact working overtime hours.

And since I had just managed to obtain my broker's license, after a great amount of time, effort and expense, I did not want to just put my license in escrow. However, since the goats need to eat, and my family needs to eat (yes, in that order), I have put the real estate career on the back burner so to speak in favor of a steady paycheck and mental wellness.

Ok, steady paycheck.

But, I am still working on some real estate deals so that takes another share out of The Bucket of Time.

And then there's the goats. And goats, and goats, and goats. I think we're up to 24 now. I'm not really sure.

So, another drian on the time bucket.

In the end, after all this stuff, along with the normal demands of day-to-day living, I have very little time and even less energy at the end of the day to sit down and write.

On the bright side, hubby and I are working on a web site for our farm and I am hoping to have a sort of farm journal tied to it. So I should be able to have some regular updates there.

And maybe I'll make more of an effort to get back here now and then. Because as much as I enjoyed and needed the hiatus, I actually miss keeping this thing going. It's one of the few contacts I have with people outside of the workplace.

I'll admit it, I'm an attention hound. I need at least one person (other than my dear hubby, that is) to pay attention to me every few weeks. I THRIVE on it! Why, when the UPS gal stops for a visit ... er... delivery, I'm just all, "Hello." and stuff!

So, as you can see, I lead a pretty socially destitute life. I think I'm actually the only person that looks forward to the Jehovah Witness folks visiting.

I'm sorry to leave you folks wondering and I'm sorry I haven't been to anyone's blog in a long time. I'll try to do better with that because I do miss all the good folks I used to read.