The Downside
Many people have expressed envy that we spend our lives in the country with animals. Most of the time we do feel blessed to be living where we are. And then we had this last weekend. I thought I’d share with you the downside of farm life in Minnesota.Saturday dawned cold, below zero. When Melissa went […]
A Marshmallow Jesus?
About ten years ago I worked at a distribution warehouse for a major importer of holiday decorations. (I only lasted 6 weeks, but that’s another story.) During a break I was flipping through the company’s catalog and came across something that made my jaw drop. Are you kidding me? This crazy item was one of the […]
Snip, snip!
Fact: We love our three barn cats, Emmett, Pumpkin, and Maisie. Fact: Two feral cats have been living with them, Brody for two years, Little Guy for less than a year. This hasn’t bothered us until now.Brody hasn’t been a problem, but now that Little Guy has matured, Emmett has begun showing up with bloody […]
The Difficulties of Writing About Nature….
If you blink, you miss it. Spring thaw hits my area hard on March 30, as if Mother Nature is just as tired of snow as we are and wants it all gone now. It’s a perfect day: sunny, 35 degrees. My wife and I are driving to Northfield, a familiar trip, but the landscape […]
Facebook Fans Help with Shearing!
Faced with a sudden shearing date, we scrambled to find help. All our usual suspects were busy, so I posted on Facebook–“Hey, anyone want to help with shearing?”And respond they did…and they came, despite the crappy weather. It was 32 degrees. Snow. Sleet. Rain. More snow. Wind. If I hadn’t already been at the farm, […]
Meet Lucy!
Many memorists think their own lives are fascinating. However, after writing 2 1/3 memoirs (The Compassionate Carnivore counts as 1/3, in my mind), I still think my life is not fascinating. So it’s hard to write about it….luckily, writing about dogs is easy.After a month without little Teddy, we adopted a new dog. Lucy was […]
Not All Dog Rescues Work Out
Over five months ago, we adopted Teddy, a Tibetan terrier mix. He was five years old, and cute as a button. We had no idea what his life had been like before his owners surrendered him to the animal shelter. After about six weeks, Teddy really started to relax. He began playing with toys, and […]
Fall down, go boom.
Ice can be treacherous. I know this. I wear cleats when I do chores and always have my cell phone with me…except when I don’t do either. 🙂Saturday I stepped on the icy-but-snow-covered driveway, and slipped. As I fell, I remember thinking “This is not going to end well!”Instant pain and my arm stopped working […]
Stories Lurk Everywhere, Even in the Police Report
We have a weekly newspaper that shares the news of six small communities. My favorite part of the paper is the police reports. These reports list the issues the police dealt with. The report entries are short but intriguing because you can see there’s a story there. However, the cops are all business and just […]
The Silly Case of the Melted Llama
Now that it’s too cold to use our above-ground water pipes, I must hike up to the barn every day to refill a huge water tank for the steers and sheep. As I do, I always pass Tucker on the way. As you can see, Tucker is very much alive. When I reach the barn, […]