Thursday, January 19, 2012


 “NEWS FROM DOWN ON THE FARM, NW OHIO,  SAD TO TELL YOU ALL, THAT OUR ANIMAL FILLED CHRISTMAS IS A THING OF THE PAST..THIS YEAR, THE ANIMALS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO PERFORM.  I AM HAPPY TO HAVE EXPERIENCED IT THE LAST FEW YEARS, AND KNOW THAT YOU ALL LOVED THE STORY TOO. ON TO THE NEW YEAR.. TODAY’S BLOG IS ALL ABOUT
 THE TRUE MEANING OF A CRAPPY DAY
    Winter on the farm usually means frozen toes, and frozen poop. It is never a problem to clean it up, because you can’t clean it up if it’s frozen to the ground. But, this winter has been horrible, nothing is frozen…we have had nothing but rain from August thru December. We have  flooded pastures, mud, and have no way to get hay down the big hill to the barn. Did I mention the mud? I am so sick of mud! It should be frozen in January. We should be sledding down the hill with alpaca cria pronging behind.(Cria are what we call baby alpacas, up to about six months when they become weenies,  weaning from their moms, and then yearling) Instead there is no snow yet this year and alpaca cria are all trying to get their feet out of the MUD! 
    Enough of my farm problems,  last weekend I took the 4 kids up north (Northern Michigan) for a break, 12 hours in the car, 18 hours of skiing, and about 15 hours of sleep.  We left Thursday after school, and about 2 hours into the drive, we hit a snow storm. There were cars sliding off the road everywhere, someone spun out right in front of us...but we survived all the sliding cars, and got there safely, a little later than anticipated, 7 hour, but safely.  The next three days were dawn to dusk skiing, cheesburgers and Subways. Happy and tired, we found the drive home much easier..only 5 hours.
   You may wonder how could we leave all of those animals?  Well, farmers are a generous lot. The farmer I buy my hay from was kind enough to stop over and feed the animals. He fed them lots more hay than I give them, but then he’s the one selling the hay! I am also lucky enough to have another  neighbor that watched the 8 puppies for me, as well as mama dog, our herding dog Teddy, and two or three barn cats who seem to have wormed their way in the house.   They are not easy to care for. They puppies are already 9 pounds each at just 4 weeks old. They are not only growing quickly and getting big, but also, yes, you guessed it lots of poop everywhere.  So if you think you are having a crappy day, then you should come visit me at the farm, and learn the true meaning of that phrase. I can give you a whole new meaning to a CRAPPY day!   Got to go, the cat box needs cleaned.