Pony Rides

One of my favorite Memories of youth and I hope these prevail just as nicely for these beautiful girls - my nieces Anna and Sasha.  Hurry back girls!!!  Starburst and all of us had so much fun with you both and of course your Mom and Dad - hurry back to the farm!

Animal Memories: Hebe

Lately I have experienced losses on the farm - just recently we lost my close dog but elderly BoBo.  The day after that our youngest goat - Hebe - was tragically killed from a tree fall.

This is the tree pictured here. And the deadly one is growing up between it.  Unknown to me - the lil goats must have been playing on this tree again (this photo was from a day I watched them playing on it, without a problem.  As you can see from the photo it is bent in such a way that they can walk on it.  Well Hebe got hung up in the smaller trees shown in the center - and broke her neck.  Gene has since cut the smaller ones.  I had just moved them to the upper pasture and there they stayed grazing happily. It was one of those freakish accidents that you can't predict and probably never prevent.

This is the young goat.  Hebe is the goddess of youth.  She was only 3 months old (May 19-Aug 22).  Her hair was jet black and wavy.

We do not slaughter animals so every loss becomes a sad one.  Sad too for her young Momma - Hygieia  "Undie" - pictured here with Hebe.

Animal Memories: BoBo 2003 to 2012

We had rescued BoBo from the Herkimer SPCA - Gene had saw the ad in the paper and pointed him out to me.  BoBo was my 3rd Treeing Walker Hound after Lucky and Buddy.  They are large hounds with a lifespan of 10-12 years...  He lived on our farm.  Free.  Enjoyed every bit of it.  Some animals you deeply connect with and BoBo was one of them for me.  Since I am naturally drawn toward animal care - most animals are special to me.  But today I cried, burying a dog that had been at my side every day, from house to barn to barn and back again.  BoBo even spent time with me in the fields, and up in the tents!  He was everywhere I was.

It's hard to remember the good ole days when your coming out of the days at the end - when you nurse and comfort them in death - but never enough - it seems you can never do enough for another living creature that loves life as much as you do.     He did not want to close his eyes and leave this world.

He gave us lots of joy, he was a big baby, always wanting to be with us in the house. The house seems empty without him.  He was very vocal if we left him in the kennels -  like no other dog - he had to be in the house.  He enjoyed running and playing with the other dogs, chasing the goats, and coming up to the cats and scaring them away from their food.  He was loveable because he was so playful in a dumb and goofy way.   We named him BoBo after a clown.  Many people warmed up to BoBo.  He will be greatly missed.  We love you BoBo!

Our Bucks

Our boys are gentlemen...they are beautiful and kind...they are strong and butt heads and live harmoniously with each other...all at the same time.  Just don't get in between them and grain - you'll have yourself a sore hand or worse.  Our bucks are Butler, Helios, Cupid, and Achilles.  Our wethers are Aether, Apollo, Mercury, & Meander.

Lots of people comment on how white and clean their hair is dispelling the myth that billie goats are smelly.  When they "rutt" - the term used for the mating season - boys will piss on themselves creating the distinctive odor as the piss dries and causes the off color to their face coat.  Fortunately, that is only in the fall and for now they keep themselves white and clean!  Our wethers, or neutered boys stay clean year round because they do not have the drive to mate.  How we wether our boys is through banding at about 5-7 weeks of age and the band cuts off the blood supply to the testicles causing it to fall off within weeks.  Honestly, this is not as painful as it sounds and the boys go about their living as if nothing has been done to them.  We are currently a no kill facility so all are boys stay on the farm forever!

Another older but goodie...

Reconnecting

Like most families, we have a long beautiful history - so reconnecting with family provides another moment to reconnect with that history and honor our ancestors in many ways.  I always feel our loved ones that are here and those that have passed before us are with us most especially on those days.  And the love that is present in our homes is partly because of this family connection.  It is wonderful to see the next generation enjoy the foundation that was built before them and see the promise of the future through them!

My Mother and Grandma are pictured here.

Our Matriarchs always provided us with good food and good wine and much love - they include our Grandmothers on all sides, our Mothers, our Aunts, and elder Cousins!

We are carrying on the tradition as our reunion featured a feast of  Neopolitan wood fired pizza, antipasto, tomato and cucumber salad, pasta salad, apple turnovers, cupcakes and cookies, eggs and bacon, roasted sausage and duck, barbecued hotdogs, hot peppers and potatoes, and fruit salad and abundant beverages bought by all.  As always, the women worked together to feed everyone and talked while we worked and the men tended the fire, moved furniture, and enjoyed men talk.  The kids helped quite a lot, following in the footsteps of their predecessors, our next generation will be pioneers in their own right ... They helped with pizza making, picking potatoes, and squeezed in a few tractor & pony rides!