Last night, Alex and I spent the night in the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, MA. There were about 60 scouts and parents from our Pack that went on the trip. The kids had a great time and the exhibits were very interesting. According to Alex, the best part was trying on armor.
We have begun the task of moving the farm to Griswold. We are doing a PPM (Personally Procured Move – formerly DITY) which means we move it all ourselves and get 95% of what the government would have spent. It works out to be a good deal for us. Of course, there are limits to what can or can not count, but we maxed out the weight limit when moving to CT in 2006. We haven’t exactly downsized since then. In fact, last night I took the first load in my new 14′ dump bed trailer and it had 50% of our weight allotment. I should only need 1 or 2 more weight tickets to finish with the paperwork, even though we won’t actually be done moving.
I took today off to get a good start on the move. Unfortunately, when unloading some mulch we were saving for the new place (about 6 yards of mulch), I wasn’t paying attention. The back door to the dump bed was latched open and as I drove forward, a 14″ maple removed said door. It broke the welds for the top hinge, sheared the bottom hinge bolt and twisted the hinge, and did some other bending what should have been straight things. So, the new trailer is getting it’s first repairs. It should be ready and back on the road before midnight.
Until then, I am continuing to work on fence removal and loading fencing into one of the other 3 trailers we have. Isn’t moving fun!
We have a lot going on with moving, but this evening we carved out an hour for a family trail ride. It was the first trail ride since my accident in January. This one was much less eventful, which is a good thing.
Last week, I bought myself a new car: 2013 VW Jetta Wagon with the TDI engine. I will soon be commuting 20,000+ a year, and with trimming clients spread around, I expect to exceed 30,000 miles a year. While I love my truck and it still serves a purpose in our life, 14mpg just wasn’t cutting it.
So, 9 days later I added some diesel to the tank. First tank: 39.3 mpg.
I am extremely happy with the new ride. 11 years of driving a truck made me forget how comfortable driving can be.
Well I forgot to blog about it on Sunday, but Alex got first place at this year’s pinewood derby race in North Stonington. His car was low profile, blue, weight just right and very fast. According to Alex his car won every single race it entered. Good job Alex!!
Anna and I have been debating what to keep and what to sell as we prepare to move. The one thing we agree on is, we have too many goats. It was fun developing a larger herd, but we can’t stay caught up with the horses and goats with the herd size we have now. We are not ready to give up entirely (though the thought has crossed our minds a few times). We have decided to sell our Oberhaslis and keep the Lamanchas. You can see exactly which goats are being sold here.
Alex reminds me a lot of his Uncle Benji. While I always enjoyed readying, my brother Benji would stay up all night reading.
Yesterday evening Alex started reading a new book called Fablehaven. I made him put it down for bed and turn out lights around 9. Anna found him reading about 10:30 and repeated the routine.
This morning, we had to drag Alex out of bed after 9, which is late for our kids. Further discussion at breakfast revealed he had stayed up to continue reading until he finished the book. 526 pages in one night.
After nearly 3 months of searching for a place to buy and having 3 locations chosen, only to fall through, we gave up the search and began to look for a lease option. We had been continuously watching the rental market for another farm that might fit our needs. We talked with a couple of others who were considering selling or leasing, but timing just wasn’t working out. And then, today, I discovered a brand new posting of a farm for lease on Craigslist. I immediately called, and after an outside only tour with Anna and the kids, met with the owners this evening to see the interior. I signed the lease on the spot for a 3 year lease.
The farm is 4 acres in Griswold. The house is 2,900 sqft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath. The girls will likely share a bedroom, but there is plenty of space in the house. There is a full, unfinished basement and a 2 car garage. 8 stall barn. The entire 4 acres is usable, which is actually more space than we have been using on the 6 acres where we are now. While there is no arena, there are plenty of flat paddocks to put in an arena. The house is getting some updates, however, the appliances and floors will still be a little outdated. But that is fine for our family. We will have to do some fence repairs, but that’s better than having to clear land.
And the property directly borders Pachaug State Forest. Like, ride out the back on the state land and trails. And it is just about a mile from Mt Misery and only a few hundred yards from linking up with the equestrian trails. Oh yeah – how about hunting right out the back door (and the neighbors were already complaining about the number of deer eating the apples off trees).
We had already begun preps for the moving potential. Now it is a matter of choosing what sells, and what goes. The good news is, all the animals can go (although we may reduce our chicken flock).
The kids will be changing schools in the fall, but I think that will work out fine.
Over 11 weeks ago, we found out the owners of our farm (that we have been leasing for 2.5 years) would not extend our lease another 3 years like I hoped. Instead, they plan to sell it. We have been looking at properties ever since. Should we buy this one with some problems (the devil we know)? Should we buy that one which is cheaper but doesn’t have a barn? Should we buy the one that has a tiny house with lots of land? Should we give up on farming and board the horses? Should we lease something and not buy at all. Anna and I have been having these conversations every night for over 2 months. To say it adds some stress is an understatement.
Three times we made up our minds and decided the path to take. Three times we found out the path was a dead-end road. I was hoping by now to have a major announcement of what we were doing. Instead, tonight, we are getting a cup of tea and resuming the same discussions that have plagued us for 11+ weeks.
In the end, we know life goes on. And we know our family will get through this, regardless of the decision. However, based on the point of my career in the military and the age of the kids, this move seems to have more significant long-term impact that any before it. We have pondered for a long time. We are rapidly approaching deadlines to make a decision, even if not the best decision. We have a fixed window to execute the move, because a farm is a lot to move.
So for now, the suspense continues until we have a decision. For everyone who thinks they know which way we are leaning, you are wrong. Because we don’t know. And the options we were considering are not necessarily still valid.
Do you remember the movie City Slickers? Norman was the calf that Billy Crystal took home to NY after his adventure out West. In the movie, Norman was a Jersey calf, even though there were no Jerseys in the herd they were moving, but I digress.
Our Norman is a Holstein calf that we purchased from Valley View Farm. Last year, we bought half of a veal calf raised on goat milk from our friends at Cedars of Lebanon Farm. The meat was fabulous, and since we have a decent size herd of goats (milking 5, 2 more due this month), we decided to give it a try ourselves. So, Norman is being raised for meat, like many of the animals on our farm.
Additionally, we now have some new pages online. Check out our CSA Options and CSA FAQs. While we are not offering the veal as a CSA, we have consolidated all of our pricing and meat availability on our CSA Options page.