Double Up Farm

Yesterday, Daisy and Hunter came to live with us. If you have ever spent time around me, you know that in my world, animals and people have equal status (well, strictly speaking, the average animal soul rates way above the average person soul, so they may have a higher status if you are keeping score). So, I make no apologies for my callous and sometimes hostile attitude about people who treat animals like commodities. The family who raised Daisy and Hunter from puppies (fo

When Ansel came to live with us, he had been adopted once and returned. The family returned him because "he wasn't comfortable being in the house". Yeah, I can definitely see that.... #Dogs

Well yeah, that would be me, doing what I do best!!! Summertime on the farm is not for the lazy!! Just as I was congratulating myself on managing the garden, and the hens, and the sheep, and the house (and oh yeah, my paying job), the freaking elderberries started ripening. Now, I love elderberries, and they have been berry berry good to me - but I am just not ready for 2 months of daily picking, cleaning and juicing. Too bad for me. My biggest whine festival? In chasing d

A couple of my dogs are herding types, and I have often wondered if I could train them to herd my sheep (hint: no) Last weekend my friend Trish and I drove up to Maple Grove Farm to watch herding trials. I guess it sounds like a weird thing to do, but we had an amazing time. They were on hold waiting for a scribe, and Trish volunteered to help since she has scribed for horse shows. So we got to sit with the judges. So very, very interesting. They have another event in O

Today is our first Ansel-versary - that is, a year since we welcomed Ansel to our home. Ansel had been rescued from Animal Control as a puppy, but while the rest of his litter were adopted, he was not. And so he grew up in a shelter, spending the better part of 5 years in a pen. I saw his picture, among hundreds of others, and knew immediately I was his person. The rescue seemed hesitant - he was, after all, 5 years old, and had a few quirks. And he is not a traditionally

On a wintery day in 2010, we went outside to find three puppies curled up under a tree in our front yard. With a little research, we found out where they belonged (they had wandered more than half a mile to end up at our house. The owners came to get them, but by then, the Wolf had found his way into our family, and we kept him. He is a sensitive, smart soul, and we love him to the moon and back! #Dogs #Family

I have met the most wonderful people volunteering for our local dog rescue. Funny, caring, heart-warming people I am proud to have had the chance to meet. I am sorry to say it is being over-shadowed by the people who believe animals are disposable, and can be discarded like a tee shirt that doesn't fit any more. We try so hard to make sure people understand, we screen people, and get references, and talk to them for hours. And they make promises, they understand it is a

Although our dogs have free run of the property (thanks to a LOT of fencing), I have gotten into the habit of going for a walk with them in the evening before we turn in for the night. I can't call it taking them for a walk, because there are no leashes involved. Just me, the dogs, and the night - it is one of my favorite parts of the day. Last night it was cold, and while there were a couple of inches of snow on the ground, nothing was falling from the sky. The dogs are