October Has Been My Favorite
I hope this year it stays the same
Ghosties and Goodies
Our first farm event is coming up. We changed the date to be closer to Halloween and have more time to get everything ready for a great event. Having our customers come out to the farm is something we've talked about for years. The farm dinners we do have always been at a neighboring farm, but we are trying to change that. This event is gonna help make that happen.
We'll start off with a homemade smores bar, some finger foods and warm apple cider. There will be a bonfire with marshmallow roasting sticks and room for all to sit around. We can share some of the ghost stories we all grew up with, personal experiences or from our own spooky imaginations.
Growing up we always went camping under a cliff, at the top of the mountain behind our house. No tent. We camped a lot. My mom & dad loved the mountain and they taught us there was no better way to spend the weekend. We'd always end the day with storytelling around the fire. My dad is a great storyteller, and his Jack Tales will forever be one of my favorite childhood memories. I want to share that tradition with our community.
If you would like to join us this link will take you to the shop on our website where you can buy tickets. There are only a few spots left.
Our space is limited for parking right now so don’t put off getting them if you plan to come.
Hatchet is doing much better. I know that can change at any moment but for now he seems content, his coat looks so much healthier, and rumen seems to be working again. He'll probably be moving in with the girls soon.
We’ve been doing some presentations about farming and beekeeping at the elementary schools in our county. We’re happy to see all the excited faces when they see our beehive. It makes me happy to find out that more of them know about bees and beekeeping than I anticipated. They ask so many questions and seem so interested in farming. It really did this farmer’s heart good
Even with all these things nothing feels right.
I'm currently sitting with my grief. Have you ever had a visitor you didn't necessarily appreciate? They come over unannounced, make themselves at home on your porch, put their feet up on the table and talk about uncomfortable subjects until you can hardly hear them because you're trying to will yourself into a comatose state. That's grief for me. I never asked it to come here. But here it is. Lisa and I both even contemplated different ways to run away. With her being from Canada our options are as far as we’d like to go.
I’m willing to bet Grief would pack her bags and jump in the back seat.
So, I'm reminded daily of our loss. Nothing has felt right since Merle’s passing. And if you're rolling your eyes at grieving this long for a donkey you're probably not a good fit for this newsletter. Our animals are more than just livestock. They are what makes this farm a farm, and our home a home. They are our family just as much as the two-legged types. Except they're actually with us every single day.
That's been the problem. Imagining this farm without him was never in the plans. We had a godmother lined up for him because we figured he'd outlive our ability to do this farming thing.
But every day I say good morning to Ellie and peek around the coop to look for him in his favorite spot. Everyday I'm careful to place the goats’ hay far enough away from the fence because he would stretch over just enough to steal it. I look for them when I come home from work and after a moment of worry from only seeing her do I realize he won't be there. I watch Ellie graze alone and remember him, annoying her and how well she tolerated his “little brother" antics. She rolls in their favorite dust bath spots, and I can see him rolling completely over. People around here say if a horse can go all the way over it's worth $100 for every complete roll. We would count, sometimes up to $300.
My heart is still broken.
So, I sit with my grief. Hoping one day it packs it's bags and moves down the road, at least for a little while. I know grief is a part of life. I'm just tired of it now. I'm pretty sure it's normal to be this tired. It's normal to be this tired, right?
I finally got back to the sewing machine. I intend to have a few fall and spooky things for our October market. Sewing usually relaxes me. Or at least occupies enough space in my brain that I can't worry about other things. Not enough this time as I've stopped to write about grief here.
Gandalf the White
Gandalf is our first livestock guardian dog. He's a Great Pyrenees and was a gift from my wife. Our goats live behind our house, which is at the base of two mountains. We have a coyote problem, so I had to lock them up every night. I still worried about the evenings or days we were at markets. We'd seen quite a few coyotes during daylight hours. So, I started talking about a guardian for them.
We went to pick him up before the first big snow that we had dealt with in our old farmhouse. He was the last puppy they had. Lisa was going to surprise me by buying him as a gift but backed out because we just can't condone breeding dogs. We've worked with rescues and fostered dogs for years. Then they decided to give him to us. We found out later that he had been stepped on by a horse and his tail was crooked like a question mark.
We knew the snow was coming so we rushed out to get him. The next day our farm was blanketed by a foot or more of snow. Needless to say, baby Gandalf was a house dog for a while.
We noticed his gait was weird and as he grew got even more weird. We took a trip to the vet and found out not only was his tail broken but his back leg had been as well. The growth bone was not growing. It didn’t slow him down and he has been a great protector for our goats. He escapes from the lot and chases away coyotes, deer…and occasionally gives the box turtles and rabbits a mouthful. He’s an October baby like me and even though it takes me hours to groom him, it’s like trying to brush an alligator, my mind is always at ease knowing he’s with our girls. He’ll be 9 October 27th.
October Events
Manchester Makers Market
We'll be set up at Manchester Makers Market Oct. 17th. Lisa's planning the menu now and we'll have lots of sweet treats like always. I should have some sewing projects done for it, including bowl covers that make great gifts for holiday dinners.
Bread Subscription
My wife has opened up the bread subscription again on our website. Delivery will be to Manchester only unless we get several Laurel Co customers
Of course, our s’mores and stories event
Big Creek Fire Dept. Haunted Trail
Our fire dept will be having the annual Haunted Trail at the horse ring. Another reason we chose the 25th for our event, so just as ours ends you can continue the spooky night by supporting them.
Trunk-or-Treat
And the annual Trunk-or-Treat Lisa and I host every year will be Halloween night as always. I'll have more info about it before the end of the month.
Thanks for supporting us and being understanding through all this difficult stuff. We have hopes that October will look brighter and weigh less heavy on our minds and our little farm will get the break it so badly needs.
What a delightful newsletter. Thanks for all you share here.
May your grief soften into warm memories of Merle as time goes by.