It is All About Perspectives...

 Today has been "one of those days"....but it all depends on how you look at it. 

It  actually started yesterday evening. I had been trying to get the new coop painted, needed to go get hay, had to get the new rescue bunny to the vets and picked up after his neuter in addition to all the normal, daily chores so I could then be showered, in a good mood and ready for a Date night with my farmer man and my son and daughter in love. 

There was more work than there was day! The harder I tried to get everything done, the more frustrated and irritable I became. My Farmer Man ended up going to town to pick the bun boy up when he should have been working on his business stuff.  Time just ran out for me to go get hay...which did not set well with me because that now meant I would have to go tomorrow and tomorrow already had a list way too long. 😡 So I became really grumpy. The guineas wouldn't go up for the night so I could go get ready for my date night and that just topped it all off. I was NOT in a good mood by the time I went to the house to get a shower...date night wasn't looking like it was going to be a good thing.

After a long shower and a lot of deep breaths and even some tears, I realized just how silly and ridiculous I had been. I was going to let all the frustrations of the day spill over into date night if I didn't adjust my attitude.

A prayer or two while I got ready and when my son and daughter in love arrived I remembered how blessed I am to have such a loving family. Date night was wonderful and all the "stuff" that I was so stressed over seemed so little in the light of sharing a meal with my son. My son who had just recently been hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer and had to have a blood transfusion. My son who was hospitalized for 3 days and I am not ashamed to admit, this mom was a little scared.  My son, the one who I shared the most special Mother/Son dance with at his wedding this past September...a moment I will forever treasure. THIS is what matters...not a list of things to be done. Spending time with those you love and remembering none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.

Perspective

This morning started off well enough, a nice trip to the feed store for hay for the animals and a stop by a doughnut shop for a treat and some coffee with my farmer man. It isn't often we both get time together let alone time to share a treat and just talk. 

So the delay in not getting hay yesterday, how I had planned, now turned into an impromptu Dunkin' date with my farmer man. THIS is what matters...not a list of things to be done, but moments, special moments with those you cherish and love.

Perspective 

We returned home, my farmer man unloaded the hay while started barn chores. Again, I had a list in my head of what all HAD to be done today.

The new chicken coop/pen really needs to be done today. We have to separate the breeds for a full month before we can start pulling eggs for hatching....we are a month behind schedule. 

The coop needs to set up in the backyard, kennel panels put up around it,  2 x 4 wire placed under the panels to prevent predators from digging under, a 2 x 4 wire top secured to keep predators from climbing over and a shade screen installed. All today.

We got the coop unassembled from inside the shop, hauled it up to the backyard and my farmer man started reassembling it. 

I was helping were I could and we received a phone call. Our nephew's wife called to tell us our oldest nephew, Gideon, had been in a dirt bike accident, he had been unconscious and they were on the way to the hospital....and it was going to take them an hour to get there.

There was nothing we could do except pray and wait. Hospitals are not allowing more than one person in ER with a patient so we go back to working on the coop. Somehow getting the coop done didn't seem like such a priority....but praying that our nephew would be ok was.

Perspective 

Then..... we heard the alpaca boys fighting. 🤦‍♀️ Sigh, stop what I am doing and go to the pasture to stop the fighting because our special boy, Krusher, has a seizure disorder and the stress often sends him into a seizure.

I get to the barn and find not only is Primo fighting with Krusher but also Patrick has ganged up on him. Krusher was down in the stall with Primo on his back and Patrick had his neck pinned down and was biting him!

I get the two boys off of him and Krusher stood up....but something was wrong. His right back leg was at a weird angle and he was not displaying the symptoms of having seizure.  I closed the stall and he laid back down. Ok, maybe this is just part of the seizure and we just haven't seen it manifest this way so I wait. I wait and let him rest before he tries to get up again...it was worse. He didn't seem to want to put weight on the leg. Crap, crap, crap! 

I called my Farmer Man and asked him to come to the barn.  He watched Krusher and immediately said call the vet.

We are blessed with AWESOME veterinarians and our large animal Vet, Dr. Tegan Gicabone, answered our after hours call.  She said she thought because of his neurological issues that his nerves may be misfiring and causing the muscle issues we were seeing in his leg and he could be injured as well. She suggested we give him Banamine, a pain medicine as well as a muscle relaxer and monitor him.

Of course, we did not have Banamine on hand. 🤦‍♀️ Dr. Tegan asked us to try and manipulate the leg and make sure we could flex and extend the leg with no issues and let her know.

We did the stretches and Krusher's leg seemed good. Called and let her know and she said they would get the meds together for us to pick up. 

I was grateful to know we could get him what he needed, but that meant a 40 min drive one way and 40 min drive back, BUT we had instant access to what we needed to help our boy. THAT is what mattered.

Perspective 

Before I left, we got an update on our nephew, broken collar bone, 3 broken ribs, more tests being done... 

Off I went to the vets office! The list would have to wait.

I picked up the meds and while otw home my Farmer Man calls...Krusher is up and walking normally. 😳 During the almost hour an a half since I had left his nerves had settled and the muscles relaxed amd he was mobile once again. Dr. Tegan had nailed it. Contacted her with an update and she suggested to give him a dose just to help him through it.

Sigh, ok so now we are behind on getting the coop done, but Krusher is ok and we are not looking at extensive vet bills, he is up and walking, now separated from both of the other intact boys, and we can relax a little. Lists can be remade, moved or changed...not so important now. Having an injured or sick animal or even the thought of losing one and knowing you have an awesome veterinarian team...much more important.

Perspective 

As of this evening, Krusher is doing well. He was up, walking normally and eating well. He is resting comfortably tonight. 

Our nephew is being kept overnight for observation due to a severe concussion in addition to the broken collar bone, 3 broken ribs and massive brusing. His new bride is staying with him, and My Farmer Man has gone up to check on them. Gideon is like one of his own. ❤

So, even though our list still remains, the coop isn't ready, nor the fence and enclosure completed what matters most is those I love and cherish are ok this evening.

Chicken hatching can wait.

The list can wait.

We have grateful hearts this evening that our loved ones are safe and being taken care of and our animals are too.

We have SO very much to be grateful for and that has reminded me just how easy it is to lose perspective. 

So yes, it has been a day....a day full of blessings. ❤

 

Grow Where You are Planted

I don't have to tell you that 2020 has already been one heck of a year.  We are all adjusting to new guidelines, new ways of doing everyday life and a lot of changes and change is never easy.

Here at the farm there have been a lot of changes as well. The biggest change for us came at end of March. My farmer man's job of 25 years came to a sudden, very unexpected end. At first we were in total shock and it felt like we had been punched in the gut. Over the course of several weeks, we slowly started to realize that if this had to happen it really couldn't have happened at a better time.  Because of Covid 19 there was additional assistance for those who had lost their jobs.  This was a light in the darkness for us while we tried to decide what was next.

We, first and foremost, wanted to do our best to keep everyone here at the farm and keep the farm itself by any means possible so we started brainstorming.  My farmer man would continue to build his resume, and start looking for jobs and putting his resume out there while I focused on the upcoming hatching season.

We were blessed that we had added a new breed of chicken to the farm, Lavender Orpingtons. This new breed, along with our new chicken breed addition for 2019, Jubilee Orpingtons and our ever popular Guineas 2020 was shaping up to be possibly our biggest hatching year yet.

 We moved through April and May still waiting for direction as to what my farmer man was supposed to do while hatching season was now in full swing and looking very promising.

 

My farmer man is a very gifted and talented carpenter.  He built our beautiful home, our awesome barn and all the enclosures that safely house all of our animals. He enjoys working with his hands and the thought of returning to an office job started to look more and more unappealing. Thanks to some dear friends, they reached out to us asking if Scott would help them with small building projects since he was currently unemployed.  These small projects were a God send!  These projects gave him something to focus on that was constructive and positive and during that time he began to wonder if this may be what direction he should be going.

 Hatching season was HUGE this year. By June we had two difference kinds of chicks available as well as guinea keets and most weeks we sold out before the next hatch. It was amazing to see God at work and I prayed that we would continue to have a good hatching season and we would be given direction about a job and income.

As I was taking the daily pasture clean up of alpaca and llama beans to the compost pile, I noticed a large vine growing in the pile that had been left to compost and rest.  I was thrilled to discover that we had not one, but several volunteer pumpkin vines growing the compost pile and they were already producing pumpkins! 

As I looked the this beautiful vine, healthy, thriving and blooming, I was reminded of the phrase, "Grow Where You are Planted".  This vine had grown out of a rotten pumpkin that we had tossed into the compost pile because it was no longer good for decoration or for a treat for our animals. This pumpkin took advantage of where it had been placed. It had been thrown away, into a pile of poo and spent hay and straw and the seeds of the this discarded fruit did what they were supposed to do. They grew.

I literally stood there and felt the words. This pumpkin took advantage of the changes that were forced upon it and it is now flourishing! It is producing fruit. It did what The Creator made it to do.

This really touched my heart. None of us like change. We like to be comfortable. We like to know how things are going to go and where we will land....but change is necessary for growth and sometimes we have to be forced into situations where change is necessary. That pumpkin had to break down and rot to allow the seeds to sprout. All the while providing the nutrients for those seeds to grow.

That pumpkin is the epitome of 2020. Things change, things rot and stink sometimes, but through this change there can be growth if we just choose to embrace it. It may not be the plan or the way we think things should go, but if  we remember that the good Lord has our best interest at heart and He sees the whole picture, not just our current circumstances, we can step out in faith.

I continued to watch the pumpkin patch grow and each day I went to the compost pile it was a reminder that I needed to grow where I have been planted.

June turned into July and July into August and we were starting to wind down for our hatching season.  It had been our busiest and biggest hatching season!  We are blessed to meet the most wonderful, caring people who come to purchase our chicks, keets, and ducklings.  Many folks shared their stories of job losses, sickness and financial problems, often because of Covid 19, and we shared our story as well, offering words of kindness, understanding and prayers. Several times we were blessed with offers of prayers for our situation too. I am so thankful for the kind, thoughtful people God sends our way!

During this time, my farmer man had been blessed with more offers for him to help friends and neighbors with small projects.  I kept praying there would be clarity as to the job situation as we moved month to month and the Lord did not disappoint.

My farmer man has decided that he will be starting his own handyman business!  He thoroughly enjoys working with his hands, he is very gifted and talented, he is so very conscious about doing quality work, and he enjoys helping people complete projects they do not have to do themselves or are unable to do. He takes pride in a job well done and I fully believe this is what he is supposed to be doing. Our 2020 pumpkin is about to produce fruit!

In the meantime, I am working with our Etsy store, continuing to provide quality products that we use right here on our farm.  I am processing the fiber from sheep, alpaca, llama and angora rabbits and hope to have beautiful, home grown, hand spun yarn available very soon as well as some new fiber products too.

The Lord laid it on my heart, quite sometime ago, that I need to write. Being the stubborn child that I can be, I have been putting it off....until today.  I am listening to My Father and allowing the fruit of my 2020 pumpkin to grow.

Our compost patch pumpkins have done amazingly well....

What changes have 2020 brought into your life? What pumpkins have been placed into your compost pile? What are you doing with the seeds of your pumpkins? Are you encouraging them to grow? Are your pumpkins producing fruit?

Change is inevitable. How we react to that change and what we do with the opportunities is totally us to us.

I encourage you to embrace the change, look for opportunities for growth, support each other and remember.....be kind....you never know what kind of "compost" others are dealing with.

The Perfect Storm

Stress + Feeling Overwhelmed + That One More Thing = The Perfect Storm

Definitions:     

Stress – “A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or

               very demanding circumstance.”

                         

Overwhelmed – “bury or drown beneath a huge mass, defeat completely, give too much of a thing to (someone); inundate.”

                        

 That One More Thing aka Fuel – “A material from which atomic energy can be liberated especially in a reactor.”

                         

 A Perfect Storm –“ An unusual combination of events or things that produce an unusually bad or powerful result.”

It wasn’t perfect, because Lord knows, I am not perfect, but it was the definition of my Perfect Storm.

I am not proud of it. I am ashamed, disappointed, saddened and very remorseful for my actions. It was not how I act normally. Not a loving response, not a patient response, not a Godly response, but total, atomic explosion with potential, catastrophic, devastating results.

I am sharing this to hopefully help others who are experiencing stress, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed or who also have had their share of Perfect Storms in hopes that somehow something good comes out of my experience. I believe there are a lot of us out there feeling this way and maybe if just one other person is helped by my sharing it is why I felt compelled to write this morning.

Stress, we all have it if we are still breathing and still on this earth. It is part of this crazy, wonderful life.  How we deal with it will make a difference how we live our lives.  I haven’t been doing really well in the area lately.

We have a farm. Just a small farm in the scale of mega farming these days, but still a farm. We still have the same concerns and stresses as a larger farm. We have animals to care for, land to take care of, finances to support the farm, expenses to run the farm and hopes that, somehow, we can maybe make this little farm something that will make some income or at least pay for itself. At this point, are a hobby farm. Is it why we started a farm? No, we started the farm because we both love animals, both love being outside, both love designing and working together.

We work off the farm. My farmer man works over 40 hours a week as Systems Engineer/IT Manager/Logistics Manager for a local company and he is the Fire Chief for our local volunteer fire department. Both of his jobs are high stress, putting out fires, figuratively as well as literally, and dealing with people daily, jobs. I have the Etsy store and am the Secretary/Treasurer for our local fire department. Both of my jobs are flexible and that makes it possible for me to work off the farm as well as take care of the farm.

We work on the farm. My farmer man aka “Manuel” is the manual labor….his joke not mine. He does all the really heavy stuff. The building designing and building, the fencing, you know, the infrastructure stuff of the farm. He helps with the monthly herd checks with the animals and any other time I need assistance. For the most part, I am the Farm Operations Manager. Big title, huh? It just means I take care of the day to day care of the farm and the farm animals. I have no employees to manage… maybe one day!  I just try to manage my time so I can take care of the animals, land/pasture, our garden and farm house. I make and sell items from our farm to help defray expenses.

Sounds perfect, huh?  Two people who love each other, working together toward a common goal, spending time together building a beautiful farm and beautiful life together. What could ever go wrong?

First, we are not perfect people. We are two imperfect people. Two selfish human beings who sometimes forget to put the other person first. We forget that we both have stress outside the farm. We both have ideas of how things should be done. We both have our own timelines of when and where we should do things. We both have our baggage from our past….past hurts and hang ups. We both have expectations.

This week, I let the stress of our crazy, wonderful life overwhelm me. The “One More Thing” was a comment made by my farmer man. It was not rude, it was not blaming, it was not anything, except a statement about something we needed to change about the daily farm routine. Let me explain….

My farmer man was helping me put the poultry up into their secure pens so we could leave to attend a fire department function. Something that is usually fairly easy for me to do by myself, but with all the rain lately and the flock not getting free range time daily, they are reluctant to go up before dark. I can’t blame them! They just want to roam around, eat bugs and lounge in the sun, but this day I needed them to go up so they would be safe and secure since we would not be back until after dark.

I was stressed. Stressed about the prepping for the function, stressed about getting it all done on time, stressed about getting all the farm chores done before we went so we wouldn’t have to come home at dark thirty and do chores, stressed about getting myself ready and presentable, stressed about many other things too….too stressed.

Then he made the comment, ok, I agree. Not a problem. In the meantime, five guineas decide they are not going up. Stupid birds. They can be so smart, so great at letting you know if there is an intruder or threat and then be so stupid that they fly into the backyard and spend two hours running up and down the fence, frantic because they cannot get back to their flock. Anyhow, five guineas, two of us and a time crunch….not a good thing. We continued working together, trying to get these frustrating birds herded into their pen….and he mentions the issue again….and I say, very rudely and sarcastically, "Yes, Dear". Not a proud moment. No excuse to speak to the man I love that way. He responded as I would have had he spoken to me that way.

It was the spark that ignited My Perfect Storm. I lost my temper. I lost my composure. I lost my grace and loving way I speak to the man I love. I lost me.

The hateful, hurtful words that came out of my mouth, directed to the most important man on this earth to me, I cannot repeat. Those types of words are not me. Not my heart, not my beliefs, not who I am. It hurts me so much that I said such hateful, hurtful words and I cannot take them back.

He did nothing wrong. He was just stating a fact. I allowed that to be an excuse to unload, explode, all the stress, hurt, anger and frustration I was feeling. It wasn’t his fault. It was mine. My fault for allowing the stress to build up, my fault for not asking for help, my fault for not accepting help when he offered it, my fault for not carefully and lovingly communicating my needs to him.

It was all my fault and I felt terrible. Terrible for the nasty, cutting, hurtful words I hurled at my husband as he stood there completely shocked, terrible that those kind of words would ever come out of my mouth, terrible that he would ever witness that kind of hate, meanness, and frustration from me, and terrible that, as a child of The One True King, I had allowed my issues become bigger than my God.

At that moment and every moment since then I have been sorry. Sorry I let, the stress of this crazy, wonderful life turn me away from my faith, my God and my core of who I am in Christ. The very things I usually turn to when I am stressed and feeling overwhelmed. I am sorry I ever spoke those words to the man who loves me more than anything in this world. I am so sorry.

I have asked for forgiveness from my heavenly Father. I have been a brat of a kid. I threw a temper tantrum because I thought my way was better. I thought I was in control. I thought I could handle it all.   I thought I had to do it all. Guess what? I do not know what is best, I do not have it all under control and I cannot handle it all…..none of us can….and we aren’t supposed to.

And you know what else, Our Heavenly Father forgives if we ask…and I know this in my heart, but my heart still hurts that I acted that way.  I am so ashamed. I was not acting like the child of The One True King. I do not deserve His forgiveness, but still He forgives.

It hurts, because when I asked my farmer man to forgive me, he said, “It is ok” and hugged me. He said we will get through this. WE.

It is not ok. It is not ok how I acted, it is not ok that I said such hateful words, it is not ok that you are willing to hug this terrible person who was so hateful to you just a short time before. It is not ok. I don’t deserve his forgiveness, but he freely gives it anyway.

I don’t EVER want the stress of this life to be an excuse for me to EVER act that way again….EVER.

I don’t know what stress you are under or what your circumstances are, but I felt lead to share this today.  We are not supposed to do this life alone. God wants us to come to Him with our stress and concerns BEFORE it becomes a huge issue. He wants us to talk with him daily about everything. The good, the bad and especially the ugly. He wants us to trust that He is in control and He has our best interest at heart.

I have not been talking (praying) with My Father on a regular basis. I have not been refueling my soul with worship (attending church or reading His word). I have not been reminding my heart of all I have to be grateful for (listing my blessings). I have not been speaking in love (sharing His love). I have not been doing what I know is right, what I know I need and it shows. That all stops today.

I know what, who, I need. The Father who knows our needs before we do. The Father who loves us more than anyone on this earth. I need to talk with Him daily. I need to refill my soul. I need to be thankful daily for the, oh so, many blessings I have been given. I need to share that love.

Today is a new day and the Lord gives us new mercies every day…even when we are the most unloving, hateful, ungrateful kid. Our Father still loves us and still wants us to come to Him. How awesome is that?

I am so blessed with a loving, patient husband. Sometimes we take those who love us most for granted…I think I have been. Not anymore. I realized just how blessed I am this week. I have a husband who still loves me…. hateful, sinful, hurtful, impatient, premenopausal, and emotional messy me. A husband who is willing to forgive, without hesitation, and is willing to “Do whatever we need to……We are in this together.” Besides God, my husband is the most important man in my life…..and I intend to make sure he knows that every day.

I pray that if you are struggling with any part of your own “Perfect Storm” that somehow my sharing this messy, ugly part of my life will encourage you. You are NOT alone. We all struggle with stress, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed. We have a Heavenly Father who wants to help us. Who wants us to know that we aren’t supposed to do this life alone. Reach out to Him. Reach out to a friend you can talk with. Reach out to a counselor, therapist or pastor and talk with them. There is help for each of us, but we have to be willing to take that, sometimes scary, step to get the help we need.

P.S. I asked my farmer man to read this before I posted. It is personal, honest and ugly, but it is me.  This is his beautiful response I found waiting on the computer when I returned from church.....

"Nicely written….I love you sexy, no matter what  <3" 

And THIS is why I feel so bad for my terrible attitude and actions. This is him, his heart, and how he loves and supports me. He's definitely a keeper. <3

Praise, Poop and Prayer....Say What???

I was recently doing the routine, morning barn chores when this title hit me and I literally stopped shoveling alpaca poo and laughed.  God often has a really funny sense of humor!

I have been feeling lead to start writing to the blog more regularly lately and crazy titles have been popping into my head at the weirdest times.  So following the promptings, I am hoping to start a weekly post. Lord, you know my heart, you know my crazy schedule, but I want to follow Your leading so HELP! lol

Anyhow, let me explain how this title came about.

Most mornings, after having spent some time with my farmer man with coffee and conversation as he prepares for his daily trek to the office for his "real" job, I get busy taking care of the menagerie of animals we now have on the farm.

First, I take care of the guinea pig, "Scooter" because he is inside and quite demanding about being served first. Then it is on to any animals we may have inside at that time.  This time of the year, we are hatching so it could mean checking the incubators or hatcher, turning eggs or making sure the newly hatched guinea keets or chicks have clean water, plenty of food and clean bedding.

Then it is time to head outside!

A stop by the call duck pen to chat with "Sam", "Bogey" and "Bacall" change out their pool if needed and make sure they have plenty of food.

The Jubilee chickens are next of the list.  We currently have three new chicks!  Again they are checked to make sure they have clean water and plenty of food too.

Time to head "down the hill" to the coops, barn and the pond.

First things first, I turn the lights on in the barn and stalls and turn on the radio.  I love listening to praise music while I work so our radio is set to 88.3 WAFJ, a local Christian radio station. I also believe that music is beneficial to the animals as well, so why not make it praise music!

Right now, we are still bottle feeding our rescued llama cria, "Lleia", so she is fed first, then I greet the sheep boys, "Paddy", "Olaf", "Luigi" and "Tater".  They are very vocal about expressing how hungry they are!  When "Lleia" is finished with her bottle, I get all the sheep and the alpaca's food together.  The "alpaca posse" meet me at the gate and I great each of the boys by name. There is "Patrick", "Primo", "Krusher" and "Socks".  They are fed and the noisy sheepy boys are next.  "Paddy" is fed in the alpaca stall because he is slow to eat and the other three boys are fed in the sheep stall.  Meantime, our wonderful livestock guardians, "Hoss" and "Mishka" are patiently waiting for a special treat of a dog bone and "Lleia" is offered her own pellets outside the stalls where she can nibble on the new food as she wishes.

While everyone is happily munching away, I wash out buckets, refill with water, refill hay holders, etc.  Once everyone is finished with the morning munchies, they are allow supervised time together.  You see, "Lleia" is a llama, a girl llama and my alpaca are boys....and two are intact so since "Lleia" is still young we can allow her time with the boys so she learns to behave like a camelid, BUT only supervised time together.  We don't want the boys hurting her or trying to breed with her.

So, now everyone is out and about, milling around, grazing.  This gives me time to feed the ducks and geese who are at the pond that morning and sip on some coffee before starting the morning clean up.

With alpaca, they use a community bathroom so you can easily scoop up their poo. You ask why would you want to scoop up their poo? Well, the more poo you remove from the stalls, walk ways and pastures the more parasites you remove that could cause your animals to become sick, so we scoop poo!

The funny this is, it is during this time, poop scooping time, that I often find myself singing along with the radio or praying as someone or something pops in my head. It is a quiet time for me.  It is a peaceful time for me. It is praise, poop and prayer time for me!

The Bible says "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17.

I fully believe that no matter what job you are doing...whether it be raising your children, climbing the corporate ladder, taking care of aging and elderly parents, flipping burgers or even scooping poo, we are to do it to the very best of our ability and we are to do it with thanksgiving.

Wait...thanksgiving for scooping poo?? Why yes!

You see, a little over three years ago, I had a major back surgery. I had a titanium disc and three screws placed in my spine due to an injury...a fall in the barn.  Three years ago I could not scoop poo.  Three years ago I could not take care of the animals or even myself. I could not even shower by myself! It took over a year before I was considered healed. Then I had to rebuild all the muscle I had lost from four months of not being about to do much more than lie on the couch in pain and then three months of no lifting, no bending and no twisting after the surgery. It was a long, hard, very humbling process that took over 18 months.

So now, I am SO grateful that I am healed. So grateful that I am able to tend to the animals, take care of myself, take care of the farm and take care of my farmer man....who took such good care of me and the animals and farm when I could not.  I have SO very much to be thankful for.

Since the surgery and my complete healing, we have added quite a few animals to the farm. In fact, in almost exactly one year, we went from no pasture animals, no pasture and no guardians to four sheep, one llama cria, two livestock guardians and four alpaca, barn stalls....and a lot of pasture fence....with more fence to go!

When I spend my mornings down at the barn, whether it be working on taking care of the animals or just spending time with them, I am reminded how important each of our jobs are and how blessed I am to be physically able to work with them and enjoy them.

I pray that you take a moment to really count your blessings. I mean it...count them! Make a list of the things you are grateful for.  We are all so very blessed, but often with all the "poo" of life, we lose our focus. We focus on the "poo" that happens to us and we focus on the "poo" that we cannot control. We focus on the "poo" and lose sight of the bigger picture.

You know the saying, "Into each life a little rain must fall" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?  Well, in the farm life it goes more like "Into each life a little poo must fall"! The difference is what you do with that poo.  You can wallow in it...ewww, you can step in it.....ewwww,  you can ignore it....if you want flies or you can remove it. 

And you know what, poo is a good thing!  Wait what? 

You see, if you take that poo and you compost it with some other stuff, it makes the most wonderful thing you can add to your garden!

So, as life hands you poo, and it will......don't wallow in it, don't step in it, don't ignore it, use it! Use it to make something wonderful and new. Learn from it and grow!


"When Life Hands You Poo, Make Compost!" I think I just found the saying for our next farm shirts!

I hope this encourages someone today. I pray that no matter what "poo" you are dealing with, you look beyond the poo and see the compost. <3

P.S. After all the pasture animals are tended to, then comes the chickens, guineas, turkey and finally the rabbits. Didn't want anyone thinking I forgot them!

Now off to tend to the animals!  Have a blessed day!

My Visit to the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair, A New Addition and A Little Grace...

I am so thrilled to have add the opportunity to attend the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF) in Fletcher, NC.  It was so fun and educational!

I had the opportunity to take some classes in spinning, needle felting and traditional wool preparation.  The spinning class was SO helpful!  I cannot wait to have time to sit at my wheel and work on improving my technique. The needle felting is so easy and you can complete a small project in just a few hours. I am looking forward to trying my hand at making some more artsy items with needle felting. The traditional wool preparation class exposed me to many different types of fleeces, hand carding, fiber washing, and more.  It will help this next Spring when we shear our own sheep!

I brought home an unexpected purchase!  Introducing Glory to God's Idaho Pine.

This little guy is a beautiful addition to our all boy's gang.  He is only 4 months old and already a beautiful, friendly little man.  We will be keeping him intact, as long as he remains a gentle boy!, so our friends at Dragonwool Acres can use him for breeding this next Spring. I can't wait to see how all the boys fleeces are in the Springtime!

Even with all the fun learning, the excitement of a new addition and a absolutely wonderful weekend away with two friends, I have to admit the highlight of the whole weekend was the awesome gift of Grace I was blessed to witness.

When I was walking around talking with other Jacob sheep owners, a little boy, probably eight or nine walked up with the cutest, little Jacob ewe lamb on a lead rope.  "You can pet my sheep" he says to me, so of course I had to bend down and pet this beautiful little lamb.  The little guy was just beaming from ear to ear.  He soon trotted off and was offering for the next person he saw to pet his sheep.

I began speaking with another Jacob Owner and we were talking about ram lambs I noticed a little girl taking selfies with the sheep.  It was adorable!  As she went around to the other side of the pens I noticed the little guy with the ewe lamb was talking with her.  I watched as he went into the pen and brought his little lamb out once again and says, "You can take a picture of my sheep!"  I grinned from ear to ear. This little guy was so very proud of this little lamb and so eager to share her with anyone and everyone who would listen.  I watched as they put the little lamb between them and started taking pictures.

I mentioned to the person I was speaking with how adorable that was and they said, "Yeah, he has been through a lot" and went on to explain.

You see this little round, freckled faced boy, think Opie Taylor, had just gotten out of foster care.  He was currently staying with his Aunt.  His father had been caught with heroin a year before....actually on that very day one year before.  The little guy had been home when this all went down and he had been taken into foster care.

He is being cared for and loved at his Aunt house who also happens to be a sheep owner.  He had stated to his Aunt he really wanted a sheep of his own and she had shared that with some of the others there.  The only problem was, there really weren't many ewe lambs available for sale and they just could not take a ram lamb home because of the full grown rams they already had on their farm.

That did not deter this little guy from having the best time at the fair.  He ran around offering to help with animals, help with their food, help with hay or straw or just help in any way he could.  He was having a great time.

One of the other sheep owners saw how he was so excited about the whole weekend and they had spoken with the Aunt and knew his story so they knew they had to do something for this smart, bright, helpful little fellow.

They told him he could show one of their ewe lambs!  He was SO excited.  He marched that little lamb right into the ring and did an awesome job.  They did so well he came out with a fourth place ribbon!  He walked up to the lamb's owner and said, "Here this is your ribbon!"  The owner said, "No honey, you showed that lamb, that is YOUR ribbon".  He was so excited!

Then, he got the biggest surprise ....the lamb owner said, "and that is your lamb."  His eyes lit up and he said "Really?" "Yes" was the reply from the lambs owners and his Aunt was standing there as he got the news...( the owner had asked before she just gave it to him)... so he turns to his Aunt and asks, "Can I keep her?" His Aunt nods her head.

This little guy had just been given a gift of a ewe lamb that the owner had just bought for herself.  Now he was walking around showing off HIS lamb to anyone who would listen.

Folks, this was such a beautiful example of grace.

I stood there and the lambs, now previous owner, and I are in tears as she tells me the story.  These amazing people saw a little boy who had been through so very much in this past year and did the one thing that they saw that would bring him joy.  They gave away a little ewe lamb to a little boy who just needed something to call his own and something for him to take care of and love.

My heart just overflowed with love and total appreciation for these awesome people who were so generous to a little boy that needed a little hope and love....they showed him grace.

It really made me think.  How many times could I have done something to show someone else a little grace? How many opportunities have I missed to show another person grace? How can I share the love of God and show grace to my fellow man?

We all have things in our past, we all go through things, and we all need a little grace.  We are all in this thing called life together and if we can do anything to lift up one another why wouldn't we?

I want to thank these awesome people for being such great, loving grace-filled people. We could all use a little more grace so let's share some grace with those around us today.

I know every time I think of that little boys face just beaming with pride when he asked, "Do you want to pet my sheep?" it will remind me that just a little grace may make all the difference for someone.....Will you share a little grace today?