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 The house is getting some updates, however, the appliances and floors will still be a little outdated.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.
So, Anna and I haven’t really posted a whole lot of substance lately on our website. It is because we have been debating many things in our life and making some very difficult decisions about how we want to raise our kids. Do we want to operate a farm? Is it worth it financially and based on the time commitment? Many of these questions and more will be answered very soon. While I am not going to really tell you anything right now, we have some very significant changes coming up in the near future. Some things we are going to do more of. Some things we are going to do less of (but there always seems to be more added than taken away).
For our loyal customers, we have a few exciting announcements coming up in the near future about meat products and what we plan to do this year.
So, stay tuned!
This morning the very excited kids searched the yard for all the eggs left by the Easter Bunny. The it was time for quick chores and off to church.
After lunch, the whole family headed outside to work on Spring horse paddock cleaning. Amanda was pretty worn out and wanted to come in and watch some Baby Einstein. She is at the age of refusing to nap but still needs it. Today, she was tired enough to fall asleep sitting up during the show.
Alex has been learning to lunge his pony before riding and Vicki is working on balance riding bareback.
Anna and I are even going to have time to ride and hopefully clean the tack room before evening chores and dinner.
We should all sleep well tonight
Happy Easter!
This afternoon, the temps were about 54F. So, I put on my running SHORTS! and strapped Amanda into the jogging stroller. Alex hopped on his bike, and I got out the nicer leash for Mack to come along. And then, we ran (Alex biked) for just over a mile, turned around, and ran back. It was at about a 9:30 pace, which is pretty slow for me. My legs are already a little sore. Oh yeah, that is the FIRST time I have been running since my concussion in early January.
The past two weeks have been significant improvements for me. While yesterday, I did come home from work with a migraine bad enough I needed to take some meds and head to bed, that was the first time I had to nap in over a week. In fact, I have only taken meds for a headache about 2 times in the past 2 weeks.
While I know I am not back to 100% and I don’t intend to rush things, it is nice to finally feel like I am making progress. I am also happy to report that I no longer need the reading glasses prescribed by the optometrist.
Both Sawyer Farm’s Misty and Laughing Duck’s Faith kindled on Tuesday March 26. Misty had 7 kits, and Faith had 9 kits. Add that to Smokey’s litter of 6 and Stormy’s litter of 10 we already had and that’s a lot of baby bunnies…must be spring.
We already have 6 babies reserved out of these litters, so if you want one, let me know soon.