I was asked for a few photos of some goats and birds and eggs from the farm, so I started looking back from the inception in 2011 when my trusty dogs, Josie, Mike and Sofi, arrived here. It was March 17th and the truck with the furniture was delayed for a week. I slept on an air mattress for that time, which lost air after a few hours. The house was empty, but it was home.
The nightmare of the rest of the move and the beginning is a subject for a long series of blogs. Suffice to say, the move was extremely challenging and I did what every good woman would - sit down and cry. But, over the years, perseverance paid off, and the farm began its transformation from the lovely grass lawn farm it was to the very busy working rare breeds permaculture farm it is becoming.
The photos of the first dogs really touched my heart. Mikey was a border collie rescue. She was to be put down for excessive barking. When I got to her, she was tied on a 10 foot chain to a chain link fence. It appeared as though that was her home most of the time. Off the chain, she was insanely crazy, jumping on everyone and everything and not listening at all. And she barked. Still, she was only 2 and I felt with my dog training experiences I could help her rehabilitate and get a new home for her. She was a lot of work, but in the end, the home she was sent to was Heaven for a dog. Heck, it would have been Heaven for anyone! She went to be the companion for an elderly millionairess, who hired a personal trainer for her, a dog walker, a butcher to prepare her meals and a spa therapist for special exercise. Oh my goodness! Sofi was actually my daughter's dog, however, she had lived with me pretty much all of her life too. I had her exclusively then. Josie, my old trusty border collie was the other dog. She was coming 14 at the time and did not have many years left, but how I loved her so.
Shortly after moving, I wanted a livestock guardian dog, but could only find a part Maremma, part something. Petey was so cute! But he was more interested in playing with the dogs across the highway and went missing one day, never to be seen again. Two beautiful rough collie, a tri colour female followed by a standard golden male, came to live at the farm. Oh, I loved those dogs. One day, one day...I will have rough collies again, but not here. They were both killed on that darn highway crossing over to the unspayed female there and their two other dogs. I rescued and rehomed a Maremma/Golden retriever named Ella too, during the early days on the farm.
After the first year here, Josie was put down, my Josie, and Robbie, my new border collie pup entered the scene, followed by Ofcharka a few months later. Oh, Harley, a real Maremma, was rescued inbetween that time. He was a big dog and the owner told me to be cautious around him. There was aboslutely no need for that, because he was a teddy bear, as it turned out. He was the best thing to come to the farm and kept all the predators away, but it was too much for one dog. That is why Ofcharka joined us. Then Jade and Jenna came from Saskatchewan. Poor things. They were beaten, kicked and starved, so I rescued them, but they have turned out to be great additions to the pack. Finally, the last two, Mike and Joe, Maremma/Great Pyrenees cross puppies joined the Fat Ewe Farm as livestock guardians. They were a bit more challenging to teach the ropes to, but then again, so was Ofcharka, who decided he should eat ducks when he was a teenager. I got them all straightened out and on the right path, guarding what was theirs and not eating what they were supposed to look after and all was well, and still is.
There have been so many animals that have come and gone in the short time here. It has been an absolute delight to be on this journey, not having grown up on a farm, nor really had any farming experience prior to this venture. I would not change a thing! And to know that some of you have been with me from the onset is so comforting too! Thank you dear readers!
So, the going through my photos has inspired me to create a picture book of the farm, a printed one in which I can tell a little story. I am going to write it for my grand daughter, dear Stella, but for all children everywhere, big and small. Are you one?
The nightmare of the rest of the move and the beginning is a subject for a long series of blogs. Suffice to say, the move was extremely challenging and I did what every good woman would - sit down and cry. But, over the years, perseverance paid off, and the farm began its transformation from the lovely grass lawn farm it was to the very busy working rare breeds permaculture farm it is becoming.
The photos of the first dogs really touched my heart. Mikey was a border collie rescue. She was to be put down for excessive barking. When I got to her, she was tied on a 10 foot chain to a chain link fence. It appeared as though that was her home most of the time. Off the chain, she was insanely crazy, jumping on everyone and everything and not listening at all. And she barked. Still, she was only 2 and I felt with my dog training experiences I could help her rehabilitate and get a new home for her. She was a lot of work, but in the end, the home she was sent to was Heaven for a dog. Heck, it would have been Heaven for anyone! She went to be the companion for an elderly millionairess, who hired a personal trainer for her, a dog walker, a butcher to prepare her meals and a spa therapist for special exercise. Oh my goodness! Sofi was actually my daughter's dog, however, she had lived with me pretty much all of her life too. I had her exclusively then. Josie, my old trusty border collie was the other dog. She was coming 14 at the time and did not have many years left, but how I loved her so.
Shortly after moving, I wanted a livestock guardian dog, but could only find a part Maremma, part something. Petey was so cute! But he was more interested in playing with the dogs across the highway and went missing one day, never to be seen again. Two beautiful rough collie, a tri colour female followed by a standard golden male, came to live at the farm. Oh, I loved those dogs. One day, one day...I will have rough collies again, but not here. They were both killed on that darn highway crossing over to the unspayed female there and their two other dogs. I rescued and rehomed a Maremma/Golden retriever named Ella too, during the early days on the farm.
After the first year here, Josie was put down, my Josie, and Robbie, my new border collie pup entered the scene, followed by Ofcharka a few months later. Oh, Harley, a real Maremma, was rescued inbetween that time. He was a big dog and the owner told me to be cautious around him. There was aboslutely no need for that, because he was a teddy bear, as it turned out. He was the best thing to come to the farm and kept all the predators away, but it was too much for one dog. That is why Ofcharka joined us. Then Jade and Jenna came from Saskatchewan. Poor things. They were beaten, kicked and starved, so I rescued them, but they have turned out to be great additions to the pack. Finally, the last two, Mike and Joe, Maremma/Great Pyrenees cross puppies joined the Fat Ewe Farm as livestock guardians. They were a bit more challenging to teach the ropes to, but then again, so was Ofcharka, who decided he should eat ducks when he was a teenager. I got them all straightened out and on the right path, guarding what was theirs and not eating what they were supposed to look after and all was well, and still is.
There have been so many animals that have come and gone in the short time here. It has been an absolute delight to be on this journey, not having grown up on a farm, nor really had any farming experience prior to this venture. I would not change a thing! And to know that some of you have been with me from the onset is so comforting too! Thank you dear readers!
So, the going through my photos has inspired me to create a picture book of the farm, a printed one in which I can tell a little story. I am going to write it for my grand daughter, dear Stella, but for all children everywhere, big and small. Are you one?
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