Friday, December 31, 2010

Back to the Business of Blogging

I have not blogged like I had planned to do. It isn't like nothing has happened but I was having a hard time writing about it. To catch you up to date, for those who don't follow me on Facebook:

I arrived in country on June 26. Signed papers to sell the house in San Antonio on June 30.

Drove to Houston, TX mid July to pack my things and get the house ready to sell. Getting the house ready was much more extensive than I thought, so I hired a handyman, who did a great job. (House sold Nov 1) I lost money on the transaction but am thrilled I sold it!

SadieAugust brought my first animal to the farm. Sadie, an English Shepherd, joined me and we immediately took a road trip to Michigan to see my Son and his family for his birthday. She was a trooper but did cry on the way there. We had a good bonding time, though.

Angus SteersSeptember brought visitors, who suggested I acquire a couple of steers to eat down the pasture, before I got the smaller animals in the Spring. I was able to find a couple of organic Angus Steers in Illinois and have them delivered to me. They will remain grass fed cattle with no hormones or antibiotics.

In September, I also took a course on goat husbandry. I learned a lot. After the class, the instructor were discussing my plans for the farm. She suggested that, since I wanted chickens, if I got chicks in the Fall, they would be ready to lay eggs in the Spring, instead of having to wait til the following Fall. ChicksThat sounded like a great idea, so I ordered some day old chicks and kept them in my garage in an empty 100 gallon aquarium.

In October, I rescued a sweet dog, who showed up at my door one Saturday morning. She is a border collie, FrecklesAustralian shepherd, who has turned out to be a most wonderful companion and can move the cattle very gently. On October 15, the chicks were a week out of being able to go into the chicken coop, when a terrible accident occured. The heat lamp set the garage on fire, while I was celebrating my birthday in Bloomington with my daughter and her family. burnt down garageI was very fortunate to have a wonderful neighbor, who noticed the fire and called the fire department. He rescued my dog and saved my house until the three neighboring fire stations put the fire out. The loss was sad, because all of my Christmas decorations, collected over 39 years were destroyed but I was so thankful that my house was still intact.

In late October, I started to run out of water, periodically. It seems the well is only supplying about 1.5 gallons per minute. It evidently never did produce a lot but it was enough to wash dishes and do laundry. It stopped doing that. I called the people who dug the well and had them come out. After a period of time it was determined that I would need a holding tank. $6,000 later, I have the tank but my problems are not totally resolved. It seems I don't have enough pressure to run my dishwasher. But that is a problem for another day.

Thanksgiving dinner was held at my home with my daughter and her family, one of my sons and his family, my former husband, his wife, an exchange student from Italy and their Morky, Sargent. We had a great time with great food provided by all.

Christmas was spent in Green Bay, Wisconsin with parents, siblings, children, grandchildren and extended families. It was truly wonderful. For me, family is everything!

This year, I am turning over a new leaf and will begin blogging like I intended to, when I first started this. I look forward to gaining more followers, as I bring in the rest of my livestock.
This year is going to be a good year!