Yikes! I was looking for a spot to share some of my mind's thoughts without clogging up Facebook or worrying about creating videos for other social media (yet). Then I was reminded of this format, which I revisited over ten years past my last post! A LOT has changed, as it usually does for us...I'll share in more detail later, but basically we moved from Camden, Ohio to New Port Richey, Florida to Homosassa, Florida, to Rome, New York. In a nutshell, we love the nature and weather of Florida, but don't love the politics, population growth, and lack of affordable housing for a family of teachers. It was all too much, so we moved to my wife, Shelby's, home state of New York. We love it here - there is still the natural beauty, water, and the joy of seasons which unfortunately goes hand in hand with some very wintery winters. Central New York is in a great location for us. We're a train ride away from New York City, closer to our kids in Ohio, and close enough to fa...

I love our Christmas and New Year's break because it gives us time to celebrate, time to relax, and time to take inventory of life - the past, the present, and the future, or at least hopes and direction on what we want our future to be. I feel like this past year was a deep breath to prepare for our future home...we had our share of projects, but there is so much to do to make our home what we want it to be. Things that did happen in 2014: We bought our pellet stove and had it installed! This old house is drafty and cold, but our stove keeps our parlor and living room the warmest, and gives us a toasty place to warm up in when winter is its coldest. This is now our primary heat source and, so far this year, our only heat source. We've had some animals give birth and some animals pass. We lost Steve our sheep and Josie our alpaca, and Ollie the fall prior. We sold some of our non-producing goats to a land owner for clearing brush, a life I'm sure they will enjoy. S...

We finally planted more, nearly most, of the garden today, just before the rain came through in a downpour! If you look at the photo below, the top left portion of our garden is occupied by tomato plants, the only survivors of our seedling planting event earlier this year. Today we planted seeds. Cucumber, summer squash, winter squash, northern beans, kidney beans, pole beans, peas, watermelon, pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage! The areas are marked by flags, and we plan to rope off the garden with twine before our helpful neighbor decides to till our garden again (thanks, but no thanks, sir). We still have room for a couple rows of something near the bottom portion of the garden, which will hopefully happen this week. Kind of a late start, but here's hoping the harvest  will be bountiful! Stay tuned...  We have a couple of garden additions this year! First, we built a strawberry bed (below) that contains ever bearing strawberries and June bearing strawberries. ...

Wow...so, I guess it's been awhile since my last blog...Of course, it has been a busy year at home and at work, and it seems like writing gets set on the back burner, well, usually. So let me take this chance to update everyone on this year so far!   First of all, our farm is growing and progressing - moving forward every day. Even though it may not be as big, as fast as we would like, it is still moving along quite nicely and keeping us busy every day. Our dairy goats, Mabel and Flora each had two goats each this spring. Mabel had two girls, Ethel and Blanche, and Flora had a girl, Fauna, and a boy, Herb. The angoras each had a baby: Frankie's baby girl, Sweet Pea, and Itty Bitty's baby boy, Coffee. So far, we are keeping all of our goats while we figure out whether the angora/oberhasli mix will produce good fiber and, well, while we figure out what we're willing to feed! We still have our sheep, Steve and Jester, and our alpacas, Josie and Blossom, all of whom ne...

Some people have asked about the process of milking and the reasons why we switched to goat milk. The why is easy. We want to know where our food comes from. It's easier (and cheaper) to raise a goat than a cow and you need far less space. Fresh milk, properly handled tasted just like whole cow milk and it's easier to digest. I was worried about the milk tasting too "goaty" - but it really isn't. Again, IF IT IS HANDLED PROPERLY! We did notice that if we didn't get the milk cooled quickly enough, or weren't using the milk as quickly as we should...it did take on a "goaty-like" flavor...so we take actions to counteract that. We put ice in the milk bucket, while we are milking. We clean the udders/teats both before and after milking. We strain the milk several times. We put the milk in the freezer, in an ice bucket for an hour to get it nice and cold before putting it in the fridge. I know that people have different processes - but this is what w...

My cousin and her family  were in town this weekend for our aunt's 75th birthday party (Happy Birthday, Aunt Rose Marie!), and we were lucky enough to have them, along with her brother/my cousin, visit us before they left the area. It is times like these that I think we get our perspective back for our life here...we have definitely had our ups and downs, but there's nothing like giving the tour to help remind ourselves of our accomplishes this year. In one year we've gone from apartment living to raising 2 alpacas, 2 dairy goats, 2 fiber goats, and 2 sheep. And a garden. And home ownership. There's so much to do that it will take years, but the look back on our achievements lets us see how far down the road we've traveled! One of the fun activities we can offer guests is the opportunity to milk Mabel, and, of course, the reward of drinking our goat's milk (usually the milking before, fresh and cold). My cousin's whole family (her, her husband, and their t...

Here is a look at most of our animals :) Mabel (front left) with Flora, our baby Alpine, behind her and Ollie beside her. One of our Angoras, Frankie, is behind Ollie and Jester, one of our CVM sheep, is behind Flora. The alpacas in the rear are Josie (left) and Blossom (right). IttyBitty (the other Angora) and Steve, our other CVM, are in their pens resting. Itty broke her leg and must stay in with her cast, and Steve is just not feeling well.

Snow AND Christmas decorations?! A first at our new house :) Shelby and I staying warm and looking cute (well, Shelby is, anyways). Ollie loving the snowy pasture! I love how the snow traces our trees and bushes.

2012 was definitely a busy year digging our heels into our country living and setting the foundation to build our future. We have a barn finished enough to house our (in order of appearance to the farm) two alpacas, two angora goats, two dairy goats, and two sheep. Along with our animals  comes the responsibility of animal care, and we've learned to trim hooves, vaccinate, inspect, clean, mate, and keep a clean and safe barn and pasture. Truly a humbling and ongoing process for this family who has no previous farming experience.  Besides the on board animals at Fresh Eggs Farm, we have comitted to growing our farm in 2013. We have placed an order for 16 chickens (plus one that Meyer's gifts us to raise and donate to those less fortunate) to arrive in the Spring, so we have the winter to convert our shed into a chicken coop. Also, we have joined the Butler County Beekeeper Association and have made a commitment to start two hives in 2013, out past the pasture. Our fruit trees...

Once upon a time, as all good stories must begin, there lived a young boy in a home in a village. This young boy was named Marxwell, and Marxwell had a good heart, a kind soul, but not very much gold. One of the benefits of not having very much gold is that this often spurs adventure and exploration to find out more about the world around one's self. Young Marxwell did just that – he set sail to travel lands that many are content in just hearing about. Across the ocean and throughout the old counties of Europe, Marxwell experienced different cultures and people. His experiences were rich, but the emptiness in his heart grew more apparent as he had no one to share these experiences with. . “But who could possibly want such a meager man for a journey in life?” he asked himself. Still, he set course for home to search for such a woman. Marxwell hit port and found a job, earning enough money to rent a home and feed himself. Outside of work, Marxwell looked and looked for that specia...

One of the reasons that we bought a house in rural Ohio was to finally start our farm. Our 1.3 acres is just big enough to house us, some animals, and our plant food, with room left over to play. So, here are some of the reasons that I love our farm: Fresh milk! The best product, in my eyes, that we have harvested from our farm is goat milk. I never thought I would drink it, but I like it, and we get half a gallon on a bad day (a gallon on a good day). Beyond milk, we've made cheese and plan to make soap and other products. Major score! Our farm animals are fun to watch and take care of. So entertaining and full of personality, our alpacas, sheep, dairy goats, and angora goats are our pets that give us company along with the fiber and milk for our home. Fiber. I haven't found the time or patience to knit or crochet yet, and I probably won't be a great spinner, but I do love the different textures and colors of our fiber animals. Alpaca fiber is so soft, as is angora, ...

In honor of my wife, Shelby, and her birthday, I would like to share just some of the things that I love about her: Shelby loves with all her heart and loves unconditionally. She is not judgmental but will neither accept judgement of her or her family and friends by others.  Living life fully, Shelby is always up for new adventures. We've been to college, lived at the beach, and started a farm. Life is exciting, and balance is key - we need to have the means to live, but it is essential that the whole family enjoy new experiences together! She has the intelligence and drive to make it happen, and she has, many times. Shelby's sense of family has kept ours strong from the beginning. I had two children when we married, and she managed to get custody of them for us, accepting them as her own. Since then, we've had three more of our own. Lots of love in this big family of ours! As dedicated as Shelby is to living life, she is dedicated to her job. I admire the effort t...

Christmas was wonderful, busy, and a perfect passage into the new year. Our kids were very giving and creative (as always), and they totally deserve the gifts that they received. We spent our Christmas Eve at home, together. Tiffany arrived in the evening and is staying for a few days, and we enjoyed David's (Kait's boyfriend) company from Christmas Eve through breakfast. On Christmas day, we visited Grandma's house, then Shelby's family, and, finally, my parent's home to wrap up the night. It was a happy and exhausting day! Now we rest and prepare for a new year. We have gone through so many changes this year and look forward to even more during 2012. One of the family gifts from us this year were two alpacas that we are scheduled to receive next month from Spruce Hill Farm. The kids are so excited, and we now have a defined start time to our livestock farm. We will put up temporary fencing until we can put up our barn in the spring, and then we will also add shee...