I am glad 2011 is over, it was a year filled with what seemed like more downs then ups, but we made the best of it.I wish I could go in to great detail, however, some of it is just too personal. So I'll just stick to life around the "Farm" and bring you up to speed. The children learned some very hard lessons this Summer about life and death. New life is always exciting, babies no matter what kind are always precious! We started the summer off with puppies, the boys always love puppies, but then we lost all but three. Being that I was home with the boys alone I had to get rid of the little bodies and comfort the boys alone. They took it pretty hard but nursing the three remaining puppies to health became their full time jobs.
That same week we got a horrible shock we we opened up the chicken coop one morning. We had forgotten to close the chicken door and something got in and killed several of our girls. I'll never forget the look on Andruw's face as he stared at there poor headless bodies. So again I found myself alone cleaning up bodies pets we loved. It was a hard year for the boys as they learned that farm life is tough, there's always work to be done, and they learned life on the farm is precious.
The boys learned allot of hard lessons about death over the year. Each one seemed harder then the lesson before, but it has taught us what a blessing good health is not only for us but for the animals we keep.
For me each death I encountered was heartbreaking , and I felt that I failed them somehow.However I take what I can learn from each one hoping to prevent future deaths, and I never give up trying to save a life.
The boys also had to give away one of their dogs who decided that she really liked killing chickens.She took out about 7-8 chickens and 8 guineas in about a week before getting caught in the act, but after seeing her kill a hen in front of them they understood she had to go. Sophie now lives on a cattle farm, and where there are no chickens.lol She is happy at her new home and in the end that's all that matters.
In some way I think the deaths they encountered on our farm helped them to understand the death of their Grandpa Curry. The boys and I were unable to go to NY for his funeral, but we talked about his life and why people and animals die. Our farm has grown and we have learned allot about the animals we keep, the boys are learning that not every animal we own is a "pet", and they are learning about the purpose each serves. They know that our chickens give us eggs, our new dairy goats will give us milk, and our cows will someday be turned in to meat. Now believe me their not real thrilled about having beef cows, they want each animal to be a pet not food, but they might change their minds if it meant they had to give up steak.
So for now our animals are all doing well, we are enjoying the mild winter, and we have seeds started for our garden. So we have plenty to keep us busy. Our troubles from 2011 are far from over but we are pushing forward determined not to let them hold us back. We hope that 2012 has lots of great things in store for our family and yours.
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