I just don't know how to part with the dogs when the time comes. Now who could not love this face? The camera just happened to catch Joe as he was shaking his massive head. Robbie and Jenna are sharing a bone in the hay.
Retirement came for me at the end of June in 2010. That fall, I bought a motorhome and a farm in Thornild county, Alberta, and drove out to live there for the winter, hoping to build a large hay bale garage around the motorhome, but I could not convince the farmers to stack the bales and do so. I ended up moving to Two Hills, installing two pens for the horses, sheep and cows enroute from Ontario, and then got evicted for having farm animals on the acreage. What a start to the new life!
I sold the cows and boarded the sheep and horses at a great expense, then went home until February, 2011 when the house in White Rock sold and I found the farm on which Moose Hills Inn and my little home are. On March 17th, 2012, I made the journey to this new land, not knowing anyone here and began to build my dream.
This March will mark three years here. The bed and breakfast was opened a year exactly after moving with that entire year of hard work and long hours to correct the deficiencies in both houses. Finally, the general work was done and it was time to look forward to a different lifestyle and hospitality business, as well as start the farm. The horses were eventually all sold, as I found them not really to my liking. I think one has to grow up around horses to love them. I enjoy the donkey I now have so much more. Animals have come and gone with many new little ones being born and sold too. Wonderful guests have graced the doors of the Inn and at the close of the second year of operation, the debts are paid and the year begins anew and fresh. This year brings great promises of good things, one in particular being the farm store, where the jewels of the farm and items from my personal life will be sold over the next 5 years. My plan was for ten years, after which time, I will have sold everything and given the rest away. Then I plan to sell the farm, but in four parcels, two smaller acreages and two larger ones. Hopefully, I will recapture the money spent on the farm and then some and that will be the intheritance for my lovely children.
What worries me is what to do with my dogs. I love my dogs with all my heart and they are serving me with their lives, protecting the livestock on the farm from all harm's way. But they will be old dogs then, and difficult to rehome because of their age. Harley is already around 7 years old. Livestock guardian dogs can have long productive lives, some going on until they are in their teens. How could I ever give them up? I may have to find another farm and hire a keeper to tend to the farm and take all the dogs with me, but I do want to travel then. Time will tell how it will all pass. The idea is to become a barber and travel working wherever I may go. Barbers are needed everywhere and conversation flows freely when there is a listening ear.
I am looking forward to this year, 2015, and I fell it will bring many new guests. I have a plan finally, for the fibre sales and that is to make kits of the unusual wools from the sheep I keep, wools that are difficult to come by. Each kit will have a couple of ounces of the various wools in their natural colours and that will afford the spinners a chance to sample the fleece for experience. Two Shetland ewes, bred, three Romney sheep (two ewes and a ram) and a sure llama are joining the farm soon. The random breeds with good fleece quality will form the basis for the wool sampler kits.
So, that is the plan, not set in stone, but part of the dream in my heart and I am shaping it as I learn and grow in experience and wisdom. Thank you for joining me on this journey. It is truly wonderful to have you along. May your own experiences be so blessed in 2015.
I sold the cows and boarded the sheep and horses at a great expense, then went home until February, 2011 when the house in White Rock sold and I found the farm on which Moose Hills Inn and my little home are. On March 17th, 2012, I made the journey to this new land, not knowing anyone here and began to build my dream.
This March will mark three years here. The bed and breakfast was opened a year exactly after moving with that entire year of hard work and long hours to correct the deficiencies in both houses. Finally, the general work was done and it was time to look forward to a different lifestyle and hospitality business, as well as start the farm. The horses were eventually all sold, as I found them not really to my liking. I think one has to grow up around horses to love them. I enjoy the donkey I now have so much more. Animals have come and gone with many new little ones being born and sold too. Wonderful guests have graced the doors of the Inn and at the close of the second year of operation, the debts are paid and the year begins anew and fresh. This year brings great promises of good things, one in particular being the farm store, where the jewels of the farm and items from my personal life will be sold over the next 5 years. My plan was for ten years, after which time, I will have sold everything and given the rest away. Then I plan to sell the farm, but in four parcels, two smaller acreages and two larger ones. Hopefully, I will recapture the money spent on the farm and then some and that will be the intheritance for my lovely children.
What worries me is what to do with my dogs. I love my dogs with all my heart and they are serving me with their lives, protecting the livestock on the farm from all harm's way. But they will be old dogs then, and difficult to rehome because of their age. Harley is already around 7 years old. Livestock guardian dogs can have long productive lives, some going on until they are in their teens. How could I ever give them up? I may have to find another farm and hire a keeper to tend to the farm and take all the dogs with me, but I do want to travel then. Time will tell how it will all pass. The idea is to become a barber and travel working wherever I may go. Barbers are needed everywhere and conversation flows freely when there is a listening ear.
I am looking forward to this year, 2015, and I fell it will bring many new guests. I have a plan finally, for the fibre sales and that is to make kits of the unusual wools from the sheep I keep, wools that are difficult to come by. Each kit will have a couple of ounces of the various wools in their natural colours and that will afford the spinners a chance to sample the fleece for experience. Two Shetland ewes, bred, three Romney sheep (two ewes and a ram) and a sure llama are joining the farm soon. The random breeds with good fleece quality will form the basis for the wool sampler kits.
So, that is the plan, not set in stone, but part of the dream in my heart and I am shaping it as I learn and grow in experience and wisdom. Thank you for joining me on this journey. It is truly wonderful to have you along. May your own experiences be so blessed in 2015.
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