The elm tree comes down

Today Ryan is taking down the big elm tree between our shop and our lean-to. Our neighbor, Cornie, came over to help and the two of them are working away with chain saws. You can also see the back end of our "new" truck, a '94 F150. 

The latest thing to die in our house was the water heater. So this year to date (the first year we've been here), we're up to the following things to die:

The well

The main electrical on the pole

The truck (a '92 chevy)

The water heater

I'm sure I'm missing something, but the bottom line is: save up cash when you buy a house!! Other than that, we're mostly just working to get ready for winter here. The few remaining turkeys and other animals are moving into the lean-to until March or so (the lean-to is the building in the picture). Two of the male ducks really don't get along well in close quarters, so we're actually hoping to get rid of one of them. We're down to 4 ducks now, and we'll see if we end up with baby ducklings at some point or not. If so, I'll post pictures!

Maya and the Sheep

Did I mention that Maya is also a city girl? The first time we brought the sheep home, her instant response to them was to do what she does to everything she encounters: Roll over on her back and beg them to rub her belly. So now she's made friends with Lulo, one of our ewes, and greets her this way every time. She also tries to get Lulo to play with her like another dog, but has been so far unsuccessful. Ryan tells me that Lulo will sometimes butt heads with Maya, but I have yet to witness this phenomenon...

City kids in the country

Ok, so I've decided to join the modern world and start a blog. We'll see how long this lasts. But as a city kid (growing up in a college town of 50K, not much of a city but no rural area either) I have "bought the farm" and moved to 40 acres in the country. The problem is that my husband is a city kid (from that same "city") too. So I guess I feel the need at times to express the wonders of our world with others, and chronicle my life trying to be a country girl. 

My husband, Ryan, and I bought our farm on the day after Christmas in 2007. We moved out here in May of '08 and have been trying to get stuff running ever since. We raise primarily chickens and turkeys, and our website is www.wildrosepastures.com. In addition to that livestock, we have sheep, muscovy ducks, laying hens (and currently roosters too), a beagle named Maya and a cat named Fumbles. 

So I guess my goal here is to share things like the sheep getting out (they did this morning), finishing painting our sign (I did that this afternoon), and the ducks herding the farm cats around (they do that a lot). I hope I can update with some level of timeliness or as things happen and that this turns into something interesting and worth reading and writing.