Oh My Gosh.

I can't believe I was able to figure out how to log on to this again.

Well.

Huh.

I might just have to blow the virtual cobwebs out of the ol' blog and see if I can do this again. We shall see.

Dum dum DUUUUMMMMMMM!

Sneak...sneak...sneak...

...

(peeking around the corner)

...

Hello?

Anybody in there?

Hey!!!

Hi! It's me again!!!

Yes, it really is me. In the...uh...erm...digital format?

Anyway, I just thought I'd check in on the ol' blog since I was going to edit the farm website only to find that I forgot and misplaced all the information I need to log on. So. One thing lead to another and here I am.

I see, in my absence, I have developed a huge Asian fan base. But since I can't make heads or tales of the comments they leave, I just went ahead and deleted them as spam.

So...

Oddly enough, or not if you are familiar at all with my blog, I don't really have any big news to share. I'm still working at my dead end job to still feed an ever-growing number of goats while still living in a house with minimal heat and an epic roofing project.

There. Now you're all caught up on my life.

Actually, we did get a new dog. A Pitt Beagle. He was just supposed to be a Beagle but I think the folks at the rescue in Ohio are either a little in the dark on the dog breed id's or a little shy with sharing it. At any rate, he's a big 'ol marshmallow personality wise. And he just looks like a very well developed beagle. If I think of it, I'll try to stick a photo up.

We're in the middle of kidding time with the goats and I think we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 babies right now. I don't know - I lost track. After the first couple arrive, the magic is gone and it becomes more like "GAH!!!! We were just getting ready to leave!!! Why is she having her babies now?!!!"

Farm livin' is the life for me.

So, there's a teaser.

It's time for bed.

Thanks for the Sellout, Mr. Specter

You, sir, are a bastard.

Hello and Happy New Year

Hey there, everyone who still reads this (d.b. - a special hello to you since I know you faithfully check in).

I hope all is well with everyone and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.

Ok, first an update on the dogs. I did manage to find a wonderful, loving home for Brandy. She was taken in by one of my longest, dearest friends and is currently being spoiled by her 5 year old daughter. From what I understand, they are mutually in love with each other.

And Tessa. Sigh. Sadlly, I could not find anyone willing to take Tessa. I honestly think the idea of her being part pit bull scared a lot of people off. Which is really unfortunate because she was an amazing dog and so willing to please. Since we are such saps when it comes to animals - particularly dogs - we coudln't bring ourselves to take her to the shelter. We were slowly incorporating her into life on the farm. She was learning not to chase the chickens and was actually becoming a good helper with the goats. She was so eager to help and only wanted affection in return. As it happened, she came out with us one evening when we were feeding and, I can only guess, took off after something. It was already dark so I can't even say for sure. She made her way down to the road and I'm sure you can fill in the rest. We were so sorry to lose her because she really wormed her way into our hearts and our lives. She now has a forever spot on our farm, under a statue of Saint Francis.

Hubby and I have since discussed getting yet another dog but we want to take some time and wait until we are ready.

The rest of the animals are all doing remarkably well. We actually have a goat on hold for a buyer and another potential one sold. Woot!

Some big news for our farm - we finally have our web page up and running! You can check it out at www.lpfarm.net There is also a tab on there for our farm journal. I basically set up a new blog that will focus on what is going on at Lone Pine Farm. Chances are I will spend more of my time on that blog but I will come back here from time to time - most likely to rant and rave when I need to or just to write about non-farmy things. However, since the farm consumes so much of my life right now, I imagine that won't be very often.

In other news, our daughter, Hannah, leaves on the 12th to begin her spring semester in Italy. I am so excited for her. We have also decided to send our son, Sebastian, over to visit her when he is on spring break. I just know it's going to be amazing for them. He is talking about renting a scooter while he is over there so I have to check into that. It's something that I didn't even really consider but what a good idea it is.

Let's see...what else. Oh. I have decided to temporarily escrow my real estate license. That was a hard decision. After all, I did spend a lot of time and money and really only recently earned my way to broker. However, the market being what it is, and the time strain of having a full time job, I decided it is for the best at this time. I'm not completely abandoning it but I can't devote to it the kind of time it requires. I have to admit, though, the idea of not getting calls from frantic clients while I am in the middle of my supper will be nice.

I think that about covers it on the Big News Front. Other than that, we had a splendid holiday, getting to see family and spend time with them. It's a bit sad that it's only that way around the holidays. Actually, I kind of made a resolution to get back into life a bit more. Even if we have to set up some kind of schedule to do it - say pick every third Thursday as our socail outlet day. We realized how fast time is slipping by and, even though there is always work to be done here, we need to take a break from it once in a while.

So we've got that going for us.

Our other resolution is to try to pick small projects that need to get done and accomplish something every week. Just one or two hour things, but something to always keep the momentum moving forward.

And with that, I will close so I can go work on my weekly project, winterizing the front door.

Don't forget to check out the farm site and tell me what you think. It is still under construction so some of the buttons just refer back to the home page. Hopefully we'll get the rest of the pages completed soon.

Take care, all!

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.