farm life

Count ALL the Votes because All Votes Count

~ debsthoughts

Traits of Great Leaders (on the Farm)

All votes must be counted, regardless what the guy, pretending to be a leader, says. Count ALL the votes. Every. Single. One. I’m not watching the election results play out; instead, I’m appreciating all the beauty of farm life in my own backyard. I still believe goodness WILL prevail; but the fact that this election was not an immediate landslide election for Biden is mind-boggling. However, ALL votes must be counted. Nearly one hundred million early paper ballots received across the nation, will take time to count. A great leader understands the process.

Farm Life Joy Number One

Rika, Border Collie Extraordinaire

Rika has a ‘Border Collie’ personality. She is different – all her doggy friends say so. Her intelligence is mind boggling. She can move mountains with her quiet, intense stare. She’d make a great leader because she can count all the votes.

Farm Life Joy Number Two

New egg

I adore raising egg laying chickens. I love my hens almost as much as I love my horses (the horses didn’t make it into this farm life joys post. Weird that a couple of eggs did, right?). The egg on the right is a first egg from a young hen. Our first egg from the new flock. I usually refer to this as the $500 egg. Because lots of time and money goes into getting to this point. The hen who laid this is leading her flock by example.

Farm Life Joy Number Three

My Rusty boy, Rusty the Magnificent, Best Cat in the Whole Wide World – are some of his names. He found me in the woods. He trotted right up, meowing and purring. He was tiny, hungry, loaded with fleas and worms. But today he is healthy and king of his jungle – loving and ferocious. He is a great leader. Just ask the other cats.

Farm Life Joy Number Four

There are so many joys living on this farm, too many to list here. But I am extremely grateful for my family and friends who make me laugh on a regular basis. And, by the way, I’m fine. Everything is fine. Joy number four: Laughter.

Traits of a Great Leader

  • Ability to count all the votes
  • Lead by example
  • Seek a balance of love and ferociousness
  • Appreciate humor and remember to laugh

Indian Summer: a Christmas Letter

~ debsthoughts

The calendar tells me it is indeed December, even though my brain cannot comprehend how fast the year has gone. We are content with the warmish temperatures lately – highs in the 40s – in our corner of Michigan. It’s like an Indian summer around here, finally. By the way, I discovered Indian summer has two meanings:

  1. a period of unusually dry, warm weather occurring in late autumn.
  2. a period of happiness or success occurring late in life.

As I write this we are mere minutes away from waving good-bye to autumn and welcoming (with mostly open arms) the official start of winter. The second definition of Indian summer reminds me that periods of happiness and success are something to be cherished. The trick is what we do with those moments in between.

We are having a lot of fun living this farm adventure. I’ve taken to sharing pictures of our animals on social media because they’re funny creatures – all of them. There’s a lot we can learn from watching animal behavior, whether in nature or in our back yards. The way they interact with each other and with us can be comical and it can be frightening too.

That ‘pecking order’ thing – it’s real, and not just with chickens. Rusty, the cat, is in charge of the other cats. Dixie, (our Black Beauty) is the boss of Zima. Lily, the lamb, is mostly in charge of her three siblings. While Rika, the wonder dog, is the boss of all the animals except the young rooster (who is currently undergoing ‘training’ to become a gentlemen, or else). It’s fascinating how they figure out their place in the flock or herd and they never worry about tomorrow. Animals know how to live in the moment.

To the casual observer it may appear to be complete peace on earth over here, but we know better – there is conflict and chaos all around us. You probably know what I mean.

Caring for livestock brings us silly moments of happiness and occasional feelings of success. I’ll take it.  When all are fed and watered, we do feel successful. But a kink in the hose or an unexpected rooster attack can ruin the day if we let it. Which means we must grab hold of, and be thankful for, all those little Indian summer moments. Those moments in between though, we should really practice a little gratitude for them too. Without them we might take for granted the lovely Indian summer moments.

It’s nice when the grandkids visit because they all want to help with chores. Although Owen is 12 and more interested in driving the Kawasaki Mule than gathering eggs. Olivia is 9 and leaps, pirouettes, and splits her way from point A to point B. Morgan is also 9 and does back-bends, and flip-overs across the yard, while dribbling a basketball. Ella is 6 and is happy as can be to kick a soccer ball everywhere she goes. And Charlotte is 2 and . . . well, she tries ALL the above with gusto (except for the driving part, of course).

Come to think of it they don’t really help that much with chores on their visits, but those visits are definitely part of our Indian summer moments.

May all your moments be filled with love and joy and gratitude.

The Good Distraction

~ debsthoughts ~ 2 Comments

Distractions are sometimes a good thing unless those distractions are a ploy from the man in charge with a sole purpose of keeping the masses divided and angry.

Sometimes a furry distraction (like the orange tabby kitten who recently adopted us) is just a few feet away but we need a teeny reminder that these things bring us joy like no other. They love us and count on us for their well-being. Have you ever noticed how the act of caring for a pet or even a plant, can make us feel whole and satisfied? It’s better than sex, I tell you, and it lasts longer. Continue reading →