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 Christmas
2007...
It is
less than
a week before the official arrival of winter, and the weather is still
delightful. Working outside in a short sleeve shirt sure beats the
heck out of bundling up like Nanook
of the North! Unfortunately, our “Indian Summer” days are
about to vanish with a forecast of chilly days and freezing nights.
We have had a busy year.
Andrea took a new job with Marriott International’s Legal Department and has
relocated to the
Washington
D.C.
area.  She was bumped from
her original flight from
San
Francisco
the day before last Christmas, so we rescheduled our holiday for January 21st.
Both Andrea and Alex arrived to join our belated Christmas
celebration. We had even put up
a second tree for the occasion, and kept all the outside decorations up as
well. Andrea flew east with her
cat Max, who spent the next month with us until Andrea had completed her
relocation. A stranger cat
co-existing with seven pseudo-house dogs… an interesting time!
Andrea and Max are now settling into her new digs in
Hagerstown,
Maryland and her new job.
 Early in the spring, Ron
decided that, this year, we were really done with making hay, planning instead to buy feed
hay as required. We had already
cut back on the number of breeding ewes and we were just not up to making
our own hay. True enough, we
had made that same decision before, but this time Ron meant it.
He spent a few weeks reconditioning all of the haying equipment and
one Saturday April morning, he sold the whole kit and caboodle!
Bon Voyage! He knew that
if the equipment was still sitting around the place we would end up back in
the field, once again making hay!
We now have our equipment bay in the stock barn filled with 25 large round
bales. Now all we have to
do is feed it to the critters!
 The
first lambs of the year started arriving in early April… quite a busy time
but it is fun to watch those first halting, adventurous, steps.
These triplets seem to have worked out a dining plan, since mom only
has two teats! We ended up with
fifteen lambs, eight girls and seven guys.
Alex
and Andrea reprised their Christmas visit in April and Andrea got her
first real taste of farm life by bottle feeding one of the triplets! The Mician clan also arrived in April in time for Eva, Gina and Adam
to pitch in with feeding more of the newborn lambs.
  Adam also had an opportunity to practice
driving the Pathfinder, navigating about the farm, and Gina reprised
her role as the leader of the “wolf pack!”
The
dogs truly relish the attention she bestows them.
Vlad, chef du jour, cooked up several tasty
meals on his portable rotisserie.
Good stuff! We enjoyed
everyone’s visit and appreciated their efforts in making the trek this year.
In early May,
Elizabeth made it to the
Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival,
spending two leisurely days at the festival, no racing up and back
in the same day, thanks to Andrea’s hospitality.
Thanks Andrea!
Elizabeth’s brother, Allen, and his wife,
Nancy, also rendezvoused with her at the festival for brief mini-family reunion.
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 Alex
visited again in early July for the annual VMI Alumnae Cookout and 4th
of July fireworks: a relaxing evening.
Alex was able to connect with his
 honorary brother rat, Col. John Brodie. The two waltzed down
memory lane, recalling some of the Class of 92’s antics, home and
abroad!
Both pledged to make the 15th reunion in October (which
they both did). In the
meanwhile, John needed some repairs to a music stand Ron had made fifteen
years earlier as a ’92 Regimental Band Class gift for John.
He visited the farm with his three
young daughters to drop off the music stand for repair.
The girls enjoyed feeding the lambs and once again, the music stand
is now as good as new. Enjoy!
Elizabeth’s
nephew, 1Lt. Allen Avery, is serving with the 2nd Stryker Calvary
Regiment in
Iraq.
Our thoughts are for his safe return to his wife, Denise, and
the family.
Their daughter Sarah Elizabeth’s debut is scheduled for January 2008!
 Several
other old friends stopped by for visits throughout the year.
Bob and Theresa O’Neill spend some time with us on the way to and
returning from a
July MOPAR Car Meet
in
Carlisle,
PA.
Bob has restored his 1986 Dodge Daytona:
does he love that car or what!
We hadn’t seen them since well before we came here to the farm.
A pleasant surprise!
We
thoroughly enjoyed rehashing the good ole days before they headed back home
to
Tallahassee.
 Don and Betty MacDonald
also stopped by on their way to warmer climes in
Florida for the winter.
The four of us had a lovely dinner at Café Michel in
Lexington.
Thanks for the treat, Don!
Ron and Don were colleagues and have stayed in contact since both
retiring from their respective companies.
Thy have visited the farm on several occasions and, during one visit, they
brought along their granddaughter Emily, who insisted they all spend the
night in the farm bunkhouse for the experience of being “up close and
personal” with the critters.
We
understand that Emily wants to return for another visit to commune with the
critters, particularly Dora, here in ecstasy
by an ear rub!
Andrea and her friend, Chris Dowdell, came by for
a weekend visit later in July. Chris, a city lad, was visiting Andrea from
the San Francisco area. We treated them to a home cooked
venison dinner, a first for Chris!
We gave him a good measure of the farm life and rearing critters. He
was particularly
taken with the "wolf pack." Wil had demonstrated his swimming
virtuosity by drinking water while simultaneously stroking across
the catfish pond! This
past year, we again supported several
events and organizations in town, such as the Rockbridge Historical Society Open House,
the 4-H Farm Day and a visit to the seniors at
Kendal at
Lexington.
We enjoy the happy smiles that just a few minutes with a couple of
our curious lambs can evoke.
We’ve
missed some of our old friends this year but we’ve also seen some first
timers visiting the farm. Of course, we are
anxious to see all of you, but we know how hectic life can be… we hope you
are all well. We frequently
think about each one of you.
We
are hanging in here, having regular check-ups and both of us are in
relatively good health, although each of us are continuing to move a little
slower each year. The current drought has made life difficult for the
livestock and, consequently, for us, but things could be worse, we
suppose!
So far, so good!
Andrea sent this thought to Ron a while back…
“But what is happiness except the simple
harmony between a man and the life he leads?”
Albert Camus
“To a dad who keeps it
all in perspective and takes so much joy in the simple life,” thanks Andrea,
I’m trying! To all of you, we
add… have a great Holiday Season, a prosperous 2008 New Year and come see us some
time!
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