Queen Mum
N.E.R.D.
I love my goats, but I did live at a place that had ONE black bellied hair sheep (Rambo). I loved that boy. If I had grass I would have both sheep and goats. However, I would have hair sheep. They are soooooooo beautiful!
Bridgemoof--Sheep & Wool festival
- Thread starter Bridgemoof
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #202
Bridgemoof
Overrun with beasties
Well, I FINALLY got my Etsy store up! 
It took me all day to take pictures, write descriptions and upload stuff. I have the felted ferrets on there, and 50% proceeds will go to my sis's ferret group. We will also be taking them to the ferret show. I also put up a couple felted pumpkins I made, and some yarn and other stuff. Now, God forbid somebody should BUY something! That means I'll have to find time to package it and take it to the post office. omg lol. Not enough hours in the day.
Ok, so here it is!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BridgetsFarmCart
It took me all day to take pictures, write descriptions and upload stuff. I have the felted ferrets on there, and 50% proceeds will go to my sis's ferret group. We will also be taking them to the ferret show. I also put up a couple felted pumpkins I made, and some yarn and other stuff. Now, God forbid somebody should BUY something! That means I'll have to find time to package it and take it to the post office. omg lol. Not enough hours in the day.Ok, so here it is!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BridgetsFarmCart
Straw Hat Kikos
The Kiko Cowboy
Very cool, Bridge!! Congrats and I hope you do well with it.
- Thread starter
- #204
Bridgemoof
Overrun with beasties
Thanks StrawHat! Now that I have the hang of listing items, I can put more stuff up. Hopefully more yarn and roving and fleeces. I washed a lot of wool over the past weekend! And my fancy drum carder is on order. I really want to make the dream of having a fiber business a reality, but time is a real factor....we'll see how it goes. 
I really want to make the dream of having a fiber business a reality, but time is a real factor....we'll see how it goes.
Straw Hat Kikos
The Kiko Cowboy
I think you're doing a great job. You do alot with it and now you have them up for sale too!! Keep it up!!
Queen Mum
N.E.R.D.
Wow, way cool!
CTChick
Exploring the pasture
Just spent almost an hour reading your entire journal ... wow. That's all I can say - wow. I thought I was busy! I have four kids (ages 8-19 all active in sports) a shop I have owned for the past 5 years (www.talismanct.com) plus my farmettee and I am a writer ... I've owned a total of four businesses, have great kids - but you know what's hard? Marriage. Relationships. MEN are difficult, at least in my experience (and this is my second marriage). Tim seems a lot like my husband, just angry all the time - so I'd like to ask what sort of person was your late husband, you mention him early on, that he died of cancer - was your marriage happy? Did you get along? Because I am very easy going person and being married to someone who is always yelling and angry ... not good. And of course, he never acted like this when we were dating but everything changed after we got married.
I apologize in advance if my question brings up sad memories for you - please ignore this if it does. I'm trying to understand (for myself) how kind gentle generous people (both women AND men, it works both ways) end up with selfish meanies.
Your journal is great, thank you for sharing!
Laura (aka CTChick)
I apologize in advance if my question brings up sad memories for you - please ignore this if it does. I'm trying to understand (for myself) how kind gentle generous people (both women AND men, it works both ways) end up with selfish meanies.
Your journal is great, thank you for sharing!
Laura (aka CTChick)
- Thread starter
- #208
Bridgemoof
Overrun with beasties
Laura, I am so pleased you have read my journal and that you are genuinely interested in hearing about my husband, I am happy to talk about him. Yes it brings tears to my eyes to talk about him, but it always makes me happy to share my fond memories of US. It took me 36 years to find the right person to marry. I had been in many long term relationships that went sour and never had the desire to marry any of my previous BFs. When I met Barrett, that VERY day, I knew he was the one for me. Yes, I believe in love at first sight. Yes I believe now in a soul mate. We had something very special that not many people have. Before I met Barrett, I was never able to express my feelings very well. If I was unhappy about something, I clammed up. With Barrett it was different. He was soo easy to talk to. So understanding, he would just listen, never got angry, and never judgmental. He never raised his voice. We never had a fight. Never had an argument. Everybody loved him and respected him but feared and revered him. He was the best. We were perfect for each other and everyone around us could see it.
I could psychoanalyze myself on here for why I was always attracted to the "bad guys." But truth is I really don't know. Barrett was kind of a bad guy when I met him. He had a very bad drinking problem, but I had faith in him and with my support, he overcame that. Maybe I was partly attracted to him because he had a problem and I could see past that to the person he really was, I felt I could help him. He had been through a bad marriage with a woman who was not supportive in the least (though I can't fault her really, they had two kids and he was a mess when i met him.) Barrett got ill from drinking a year after we met and just stopped one day because of it. He never drank again. One day I said, "Honey, when are we going to get married?" He replied "You pick a date and we'll get married." I said "tomorrow." So we did. We went to the courthouse the next day but they wouldn't let us get married for 24 hours after filing the paperwork, so we had to wait a couple of days, but we did. I didn't even tell anyone, we just did. Everybody was mad at me because I didn't tell them, lol.
I was sooo happy being married to him. We had the best life together. It was the happiest time of my life. Then only 8 years after we got married he was diagnosed with liver cancer. He died within two months. He died while I was holding him in my arms. It was the saddest thing ever. It was a rough time for me, I had lost my dad 6 months before, I loved my dad so much. And lost my dog. I loved my dog, too. I know grief all too well.
So a couple years later I met Tim, and as I said earlier in my journal I will NEVER marry him! He was nice and fun and exciting when I first met him, but about a year later he screamed at his daughter one day. I couldn't believe how he had flown off the handle. Now he does it daily, lol. If he would have asked me to marry him within that first year, i probably would have said yes. I loved being married and being a wife. But now I realize I loved being a wife to Barrett and that kind of happiness would never be found with Tim just because I was married to him. He's way too irresponsible, and I am way too responsible. I wouldn't let him drag me down. I can continue to live here and enjoy the benefits of the farm, but I will always watch out for my own interests.
Okay, that's enough about THAT! Thanks for writing Laura. I'll check out your store, too!
CTChick
Exploring the pasture
Thank you for that - your story honestly brought tears to my eyes. I love to hear about happy marriages, I have seen so vey few of them in my life (sadly). Can I ask one more question, then we'll keep it strictly barnyard? How old was your husband when he quit drinking, and how old when he died? My own husband sounds so much the same - had been drinking since he was 15 and very heavily up until a year ago (drugs too, I found out after we were married). We separated in 2011 (it was a bad year, restaining order and all that) and he was diagnosed with cysts on his liver and cirrhosis. He begged me to take him back so he could spend as much time as he had left being a good father and husband, hasn't had a drink in a year ... but I know he is ill. He works hard but gets tired easily and doesn't look right. And the doctors really can't do much, if they biopsy him to check the cirrhosis they can spread cancer - if he HAS cancer, they can't do anything because of the cirrhosis. He is forty, by the way, terrified of dying but won't go back to the doctors. After the way he has treated me and the kids, I just say nothing - I am very, very quiet.
For the record, I am a naturopath - don't drink, do drugs or even "legal" drugs. Had a work permit at 10, left home at 14, went to four different high schools in three time zones (CA, OK, and CT) graduated 12th in my class. Worked three jobs after high school, including modeling in NYC ... smart girl who married not one but two alcoholics. First was a "dumb drunk" second was a mean one. LOVE my children, who are so good ... but my choices in the men I married just stunk. Now I am waiting for ... I'm not sure what. I was happy single, and a happy single mom (between the two marriages). I owned a condo when I met husband #1; and a house when I met husband #2. I am nearly bankrupted now (something both husbands promised to do to me - make sure I had nothing, not because I did anything wrong, they both agreed I didn't ... but because I didn't want to stay married). Before my first divorce, I took care of my grandparents (who half raised me) had Hospice in my home - lost my grandparents AND my parents within a year's time. Even with the kids, I just felt so alone - and I got tired of being married but being a single mom. So I told my first husband I didn't want anything but primary physical custody of the kids, and got divorced.
One of my favorite things to do, my "therapy" is to pull a chair into the chicken coop and just watch the chickens. My goats make me laugh, but I love to watch the chickens - all shapes and sizes and ages, but they all GET ALONG. I just love that! My friends come over, call me Dr. Doolittle but they love my "Peaceable Kingdom" because they all - dogs, rabbits, goats, chickens - get along. And they listen, like the kids do - they go back into their pens when I ask, even my buck goat Luigi is a doll.
But because of the uncertainty of my husband's health, I have to watch what I invest in, in terms of animals etc. If or when he gets very sick, I need to be able to take care of it all - physically AND financially.
Thanks for listening, I had a feeling you would understand ...
Laura AKA "CTChick"
For the record, I am a naturopath - don't drink, do drugs or even "legal" drugs. Had a work permit at 10, left home at 14, went to four different high schools in three time zones (CA, OK, and CT) graduated 12th in my class. Worked three jobs after high school, including modeling in NYC ... smart girl who married not one but two alcoholics. First was a "dumb drunk" second was a mean one. LOVE my children, who are so good ... but my choices in the men I married just stunk. Now I am waiting for ... I'm not sure what. I was happy single, and a happy single mom (between the two marriages). I owned a condo when I met husband #1; and a house when I met husband #2. I am nearly bankrupted now (something both husbands promised to do to me - make sure I had nothing, not because I did anything wrong, they both agreed I didn't ... but because I didn't want to stay married). Before my first divorce, I took care of my grandparents (who half raised me) had Hospice in my home - lost my grandparents AND my parents within a year's time. Even with the kids, I just felt so alone - and I got tired of being married but being a single mom. So I told my first husband I didn't want anything but primary physical custody of the kids, and got divorced.
One of my favorite things to do, my "therapy" is to pull a chair into the chicken coop and just watch the chickens. My goats make me laugh, but I love to watch the chickens - all shapes and sizes and ages, but they all GET ALONG. I just love that! My friends come over, call me Dr. Doolittle but they love my "Peaceable Kingdom" because they all - dogs, rabbits, goats, chickens - get along. And they listen, like the kids do - they go back into their pens when I ask, even my buck goat Luigi is a doll.
But because of the uncertainty of my husband's health, I have to watch what I invest in, in terms of animals etc. If or when he gets very sick, I need to be able to take care of it all - physically AND financially.
Thanks for listening, I had a feeling you would understand ...
Laura AKA "CTChick"
- Thread starter
- #210
Bridgemoof
Overrun with beasties
Laura,
My heart goes out to you in a BIG way. I have so much to say to you, but I'm going to take most of the liver talk to a PM, that way we won't bore our regular readers!
Just one thing though, Barrett developed liver cancer 8 years after he quit drinking. He was 56. I was not aware that he had been diagnosed with cirrhosis 8 years before. People always say our liver can regenerate and heal itself. Not TRUE! If there is cirrhosis there is permanent scarring, and that tissue can never heal itself, and can lead to cancer.
I'll write more to you in a bit. I have to take Annie to school early this morning, so it may be after that.
Back to barnyard talk!
SHEEP
Dipsy my ram who was wobbly the other night is doing so much better it is a miracle. Whether or not it was meningeal worm is hard to say at this point. But we have been treating him for it, and after a couple heavy doses of Safeguard he is almost back to normal. We brought him and all the girls up yesterday and put them through the worming chute. While in there, Dipsy got to hump CowMalley, our biggest suffolk sheep. He had her right where he wanted her, and she is so big, the chute was an ideal vehicle to get her into a position that he could actually get on top of her. After we treated all of them, Tim made a nice little "hospital pen" for Dipsy, OMalley and Po to stay in for the next few days so we can continue to treat him easily.
PIG
I finally let the pig out to roam around again. He was so sad and pitiful locked in that stall all the time and I said screw it, I'm going to let him out. The sheep were down the hill away from the barn for the most part, so I figured they wouldn't freak out too quickly. Well, I let Taco out and he actually stayed pretty much away from the sheep. He was a very good boy. But pigs, like goats, can get through most fences. But he stayed pretty much in the back, then in the evening when I was feeding the chickens, he came back up to the gate and told me he was ready to go to bed back in his stall! What a good piggy! I will let him back out today so he can play again. Hopefully this will all work out and he can live here happily ever after.
POULTRY
The white pekin ducks are gone Some old guy stopped by our place the other day looking for a rooster for his hens. I told him "Have we got roosters for you!" We sold him one for $15, one that was just about ready to be put into rooster purgatory. whew. Lucky for that roo! We asked him he wanted our 2 remaining pekin ducks and he took those guys too. Speaking of duck, we ate another one that we had in the freezer the other night. It was just as awful as the first one. We brined it for 24 hours, and made sure to not overcook it, but it was still tough as could be. So now the only thing we have left is 4 Indian Runner ducks who aren't nearly as bad as the pekin when it comes to the water troughs. One of the ducks though is locked up, because the others were picking at it so bad it's neck was raw and he had nop feathers left. Tim put scarlet oil on his neck and it is healing. I don't know what's going ot become of that though.
ANNIE
I have to take Annie to school early this morning, she is doing miserable in school. She has 2 Fs, and she had another F up until a day or so ago. She finally turned in her late homework in that class and it brought her grade up to a B. It amazes me the chances they give these kids to succeed, yet she still blows it. They can turn in their homework late and still get a good grade. They can retake any test that they did poorly in. Annie took a math test and got an F on it. She finally retook it, and the teacher told us she did worse the second time.
The school has a great system in place now for keeping track of what's going on with her grades and assignments, yet she somehow continues to mess up even though it seems like we are keeping after her.
Anyways, I have to make her lunch now and then I'll write more later about RUTH.
My heart goes out to you in a BIG way. I have so much to say to you, but I'm going to take most of the liver talk to a PM, that way we won't bore our regular readers!
Just one thing though, Barrett developed liver cancer 8 years after he quit drinking. He was 56. I was not aware that he had been diagnosed with cirrhosis 8 years before. People always say our liver can regenerate and heal itself. Not TRUE! If there is cirrhosis there is permanent scarring, and that tissue can never heal itself, and can lead to cancer.
I'll write more to you in a bit. I have to take Annie to school early this morning, so it may be after that.
Back to barnyard talk!
SHEEP
Dipsy my ram who was wobbly the other night is doing so much better it is a miracle. Whether or not it was meningeal worm is hard to say at this point. But we have been treating him for it, and after a couple heavy doses of Safeguard he is almost back to normal. We brought him and all the girls up yesterday and put them through the worming chute. While in there, Dipsy got to hump CowMalley, our biggest suffolk sheep. He had her right where he wanted her, and she is so big, the chute was an ideal vehicle to get her into a position that he could actually get on top of her.
After we treated all of them, Tim made a nice little "hospital pen" for Dipsy, OMalley and Po to stay in for the next few days so we can continue to treat him easily.PIG
I finally let the pig out to roam around again. He was so sad and pitiful locked in that stall all the time and I said screw it, I'm going to let him out. The sheep were down the hill away from the barn for the most part, so I figured they wouldn't freak out too quickly. Well, I let Taco out and he actually stayed pretty much away from the sheep. He was a very good boy. But pigs, like goats, can get through most fences. But he stayed pretty much in the back, then in the evening when I was feeding the chickens, he came back up to the gate and told me he was ready to go to bed back in his stall! What a good piggy! I will let him back out today so he can play again. Hopefully this will all work out and he can live here happily ever after.
POULTRY
The white pekin ducks are gone
Some old guy stopped by our place the other day looking for a rooster for his hens. I told him "Have we got roosters for you!" We sold him one for $15, one that was just about ready to be put into rooster purgatory. whew. Lucky for that roo! We asked him he wanted our 2 remaining pekin ducks and he took those guys too. Speaking of duck, we ate another one that we had in the freezer the other night. It was just as awful as the first one. We brined it for 24 hours, and made sure to not overcook it, but it was still tough as could be. So now the only thing we have left is 4 Indian Runner ducks who aren't nearly as bad as the pekin when it comes to the water troughs. One of the ducks though is locked up, because the others were picking at it so bad it's neck was raw and he had nop feathers left. Tim put scarlet oil on his neck and it is healing. I don't know what's going ot become of that though.ANNIE
I have to take Annie to school early this morning, she is doing miserable in school. She has 2 Fs, and she had another F up until a day or so ago. She finally turned in her late homework in that class and it brought her grade up to a B. It amazes me the chances they give these kids to succeed, yet she still blows it. They can turn in their homework late and still get a good grade. They can retake any test that they did poorly in. Annie took a math test and got an F on it. She finally retook it, and the teacher told us she did worse the second time.
The school has a great system in place now for keeping track of what's going on with her grades and assignments, yet she somehow continues to mess up even though it seems like we are keeping after her.Anyways, I have to make her lunch now and then I'll write more later about RUTH.
