I'm in trouble....today is my daughter in laws birthday, far away in Scotland....and I didn't get a card to her in time. I'm sorry Christine, we are thinking about you.Things have been really crazy here on the ranch trying to balance chores and all Gregs doctor appointments and the Harvest Fest Farm Tour is on Saturday. Gregs mom arrived yesterday, bless her, 90 in November and she flew from Albuquerque, the oldest and best unpaid ranch hand and farm cook in the world ! Lamb Chop caused a stir yesterday,  we weren't around,  the carrot supply had dried up and little Lamb Chop took himself off to find a little excitement. Daisy May the calf was bawling at the gate and Lamb Chop the ugliest little lamb in the wast was nowhere to be seen Not the smartest little critter in the world, he took himself under the fence into the rams field. Lamb Chop still has all his "bits" if you know what I mean and a little ram that thinks he is a border collie with one and a half horns and not much savvy doesn't belong in a field with a bunch of testosterone loaded boys ! Searching for the little guy was getting a little bit frantic when I heard a sound I recognised....Lamb Chops distinctive  AAAaaaggaah...no other lamb looks like or sounds like Lamb Chop. There he was, butt into the corner of the field......yelling his head off and there was Rodney the boss ram and his cohorts in a semicircle round him..not threatening but I guess trying to work out just exactly WHAT had got into their pen !!! I've never seen a more relieved little lamb when we scooped him up...the rams looked pretty relieved that the alien in their midst was gone and Daisy May had her pal back. Peace restored to the ranch ! Time to go, its 7.30 already. Take care, M

The flags were checked and re checked, the stars and stripes were where they aught to be,  no upside down "Old Glory" would be flying over Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch today. Destiny was getting distraught, her breakfast was clearly in view in my wheelbarrow, the chickens were lined up expectantly along the fencline...whats going on ?, why the delay on the meals on wheels service ?( I multi function really well !!) I was concentrating....which way up the Union Jack, must make sure,...  wide white stripe to the top......Young Brian was coming to visit !!! There are times in life when you think about life and fate and why things happen as they do...I really do, sometimes I get time to think, not often but when I do, Greg quivers !! By some twist of fate, a friend of a friend and facebook we have been lucky enough to meet an amazing family. Sometimes personalities just blend and you know a lifetime friendship has been forged. Yesterday this family gave up their Saturday and came to help the increasingly gimpy ranchers. Helpers are always appreciated and always fall into one of two categories.....the "I REALLY want to help...but ooooh...poo"" type and the "I don't know what to do...but let me in there and it WILL get done".  Yesterdays helpers fell into the latter bracket of volunteer helpers. Dad Dave got in there helping Greg wrestle reluctant sheep to have a manicure, young honoury Brit Brian got in there helping chop wood worked on the saw mill and worked as official gate control in the manicure salon ( sheep pen). Mum Michelle and I headed for the garden. Man, I thought I was manic in a garden but that lady can weed, she hit those weeds like a tornado, there was weeds and soil flying and Michelle in the middle of it all with a water bottle and a smile. We had a GREAT afternoon. It was lovely to see them, never done horses...goats...sheep but they were in there, feeding grooming, it needs doing, lets go ! As evening fell, Dave  stood head in hands and said "you do this every day ?????", Michelle with a smile as big as her 5 foot frame said "can I come back next week ???" Yes guys, you can, and thank you all, it was fun. Oh well, time to go, its raining so that must mean its Sunday and market day. Got to go, take care, have a great day. M

Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly...actually, I probably should say "fairly smoothly" as I had just had to chastise Charm (beauty with attitude) who had recently decided that food service at the barn was not quite as speedy as he would expect (being as important as his ego tells him he is ) , Lamb Chop ( so ugly he is cute) and Daisy May ( just give me that bottle) had made an escape bid and were found where they definitely SHOULDNT be, in the barn kitchen and dear sweet Destiny had rolled overnight and turned from old grey mare to decidedly mud coloured. Maybe all hadn't been so smooth .....but it got worse, a lot worse ! As usual, Bandit led her motley band out into the pasture allocated to them, hotly and very enthusiastically pursued by Bran. Bran sat dutifully guarding the gate ( hoping   that one of the ladies would foolishly make a break for it and make his day ! ), Greg locked the gate, collected a despondent Bran and turned his back for the barn. Game on  !!!! musical fields, Greg just back in the barnyard turned ,  Bandit had broken through the fence and led the ladies into a resting field. Greg ( several expletives later)  and getting grumpier by the minute, took Bran and returned the ladies to their own pasture.......three times  !! ( and several more expletives !!). It was one of those " keep a low profile " mornings...but for Bran it was Nirvannah !!!!On a different note, this time next week we will be getting ready for Harvest Fest, we are excited as it is always such a fun day and we are looking forward to making more friends of the farm. Time to go, take care, M 

Its been a few days since I have sat down to share my day with you, I'm sorry, life has been pretty hectic ( I ask myself when was it ever not busy ???)  Yesterday was my birthday, I have decided that one day I need to grow up but I'm not going to rush it.....another birthday just gives me a chance to reflect on earlier birthdays and to think of the special people who have shared the years with me. Special loving thoughts go out to my dear Cowboy, thank you Greg for being in my life , thank you also to my boys and my family  and friends over in England and over here.... Sounds like I just won a grammy ...smile.I have been stung by a wasp, there I was, reverently taking down the flags, minding my own business, nowhere near a nest and I was zapped ! A wasp sting is more than a little inconvenient to me as I seem to have a bad reaction, yesterday sting was no different and my neck has swollen up like the hunchback of Notra Dame.It itches and burns...war has been declared on the little varmits !! Yesterday was hardly a leasurely day..Greg had an appointment to see the specialist for his back surgery. We had to be down at the barn before daylight....can't do barn before my second cup of tea !! Sitting in the doctors waiting room, all was quiet( except for Greg snoring)  when my phone rang, you know how it is,...all eyes accusingly turn to see the source of the disruption through the silence, I fumbled to find the offending noise which appeared to have buried  itself deep in my purse (handbag) never to be seen again. The ringtone almost seemed to get louder as everybody stared (except for Greg who was still asleep !) I opened it and instantaneous " Happy Birthday to you.." my 2 beautiful little Scottish grandaughters happily singing to me.....smiles on all the accusing faces, I had a reprieve. Thank you girls. Back to the barn and a lovely smiling little Guatamalan man ( they all seem to be little..wonder if that is the way they are or if its just the ones we meet?) wanted our roosters.We had a lot of roosters and consequently a lot of "roostering", rape and pillage was causing problems with reluctant hens hiding in the nest boxes 2 or three deep. Life was good for the roosters... roosters don't want to leave, Mr Guatamala doesn't seem concerned that lots of rain and lots of chickens add up to a lot of slippy smelly chicken poo. Greg (as usual confident ...me  as usual less than pessermistic  just KNEW it was all going to be NASTY !!!! I came up with a bright idea, more by Divine guidance than good thought process and the birds started to move in the right direction, all was going well, then it all went south for me, big time!! I went to climb the barricade, leg went up and I went down, right on my bottom,it got worse ...flat on my back ...in the chicken poo !! Not a good moment, I didn't feel good and I didn't SMELL good..even the chickens seemed to be shying away from me. I spent  the next hour wafting smelly eau de poo while we captured the offending roosters. Mr Guatamala continued to smile, he didn't seem to notice, I swear Greg kept the other side of the hen house Bran took one sniff and disowned me, it was a " do I need to change careers moment" but we managed to transplant 10 very unhappy birds into Mr Guatamals' Truck where 10 sets of accusing beady rooster  eyes glared at me. Peace now restored to the shack ! Oh dear, time to go, its nearly clocking on time down at the barn, Take care everyone. M

I knew it was going to happen, there was a distinct atmosphere in the barn...rebellion was brewing. Outside the rain was coming down in torrents, ( mental note...for Greg....MUST get those holes fixed in the barn gutters !) A river was growing from the Ranch gate swollen by the lake building on the ranch road, our ditch sytem was under pressure, the pond was threatening to breach its banks and still it came down,..heavier. Greg was on patrol with his shovel, the chicken shack threatened to sail off its foundation, all the chickens were hiding inside, roosters suspended roostering for the time being, the chickens double and triple deckered in the nest boxes and still the rain came down. Time to turn the sheep out into the pasture, the sheep huddled in the back of the  sheep shed, Bran was confused, nothing moved, Greg was poised at the gate, still nothing moved..." get them out Bran".....still nothing moved ( except Bran who got T boned for his trouble) Bran retreated, Greg tried again " Bran get them out"..Bran cocked his head,...yeah, right, you try it" was the look on his face ! Greg disappeared into the pen, lost in the middle of a hairy/wooly  confusion. Those sheep were not for moving! Eventually the girls decided that all negotiations were suspended, some of the ewes broke the strike line and reluctantly trooped out into the field. Greg and Bran returned to the barn victorious, soaked and muddy, the sheep remained mutinous bleating at the gate and the rain still came down. What a start to a day that just got wetter and wetter !   Farming is such fun ????? !!!! wonder what today will bring ? Take care, M

MJ (Fox 13) told us it was coming, that wet stuff that falls out of the sky, turns my hair frizzy and sends all the animals scurrying for cover. It's rain, we have a lot of it in England...we have it all the time, when the sun shines over there we all run out to take advantage of every second, burn to a crisp and call it good. Offices on a Monday morning are full of lobster coloured sun burnt peeling  dehydrated bodies and we can't wait till the next hot day...probably next year !! I vividly recall one day in the barn when we were sweltering in 99 degrees (plus) shovelling poo and I seriously considered a rain dance when all prayers to a higher authority failed to bring rain. I remember thinking " I'll be sorry in the Winter when I can't feel my fingers and toes, my nose shines likes a beacon and drips like a tap", I'll remember the bright shining sun in a brilliant blue sky and I'll remember next year NOT to complain !!! Yesterday the goats looked at us in complete disbelief when we opened their pen to let them out for the day, no happy bleating and frantic charge to the pasture...just a "you cannot be serious" look, Bran the Border Collie was confused, nothing was moving, nothing to chase...no fun ! All day they moaned to get back into their nice warm barn while we, dripping wet and muddy cleaned pens filled buckets and repaired fences...in the rain. Just saw an article on Farmville (a computer game I believe)  ...people vicariously living a farm life through their computer screen....bet they dont get wet...or have as much fun as us !!!! ps.....our chickens are on full throttle and we are getting more beautiful fresh tasty eggs than we can cope with...I will be at the market in Key Center on Sunday.  Got to go, I've been timed out again. Take care. M 

Friday 13th...oh no, sorry Monday 13th, now I'm not a superstitious person and stubbing the toe Quest stomped on and ground into the cement did not send me into a panic scurrying back to bed...It should have done !! We had a new bed delivered yesterday, hopefully it will help Gregs back condition..if it doesn't, we will have fun playing with the support controls. Before the new bed could be delivered and installed the bedroom  had to be cleared. End result TOTAL chaos in the bedroom. I'm not a chaos person and ostrich head on ( If I didn't go back in there it was all good, not !) Escape on, I headed for my tidy kitchen. Greg was on a different agenda and had found a leak under the sink so all my cupboard was out in glorious disorder. I tried hard not to show it, I tried to set my face, I tried not to let him know ...but I seem to recall something like " OMG ...thats it, I'm done !" Things only got worse, down at the barn, the chickens had upended their automatic waterer and Niagra Falls was flowing through the pen. Question to self...why do I give them fresh water when the muddy overflow seems so much more inviting ? Molly the moo had Delhi Belly, a cow with Delhi Belly is not pretty ! Greg trimmed her tail, as a soggy tail in the  face when milking is a real put off for breakfast ! Destiny our beautiful old grey mare had tried to satisfy an itch and had destroyed her rug. There she was looking so inocent in her pasture shelter," who me...what rug ?? Another priority !. To cap it all, our young horse boarder came down to the barn looking like death....what was wrong, she has a headache. Time to bolt to the restroom and bang my head on the wall. There goes that cuckoo clock again...time to motivate. Take care, thanks for being with us.  M

We knew it was nearly time...just where on the priority list,  TOP priority, REAL priority, just plain PRIORITY or sort of important. On Saturday evening we suddenly made it SUPER priority. Greg wished he didn't take me up the hill past the turkey brooder pen, I saw his face... "OH DEAR" (or words not very similar and much more colorful (colourful for us Brits in case you think I can't spell, smile). There they were, our precious Thanksgiving/ Christmas Turkeys perched like a line of expectant vultures, eyes glowing in the truck headlights on TOP of their pen fence ...not good, not good at all. One word about Thanksgiving or Christmas and they could have packed their wattles and left home. Clearly our project for Saturday was set (whether we liked it or not !) Greg, confident as ever (and me quite the opposite...as always) set out the game (not exactly the word I would use) plan and off we went to gather up and rehome your holiday dinner. Turkeys are not the brightest birds God ever created, they most certainly aren't the most attractive but they are beautiful in an ugly sort of way and getting up close and personal to a big tom turkey is a bit (a lot) intimidating. Turkey poo isn't too good either and there is a lot of poo generated by those eating machines. Bran was beside himself...a turkey chase,...hopefully not!. We did good, trying to avoid bottoms up sliding on do do we managed to get nearly 60 indignant birds into the trailer and once in, we had to catch them again to get them into their new pen. STUPID !! So there they are, strutting and posing in their new "pad" hopefully protected from the varmits and we are feeling like we had a real good work out....feels like another trip to Dave the chiropractor !!! Time to go, take care, M

There is some real satisfaction about raising your own food and knowing that it is home raised, home grown happy and healthy........sounds almost sureal, then I remember ploughing through frozen acres under trees hung with icicles, hunting down a big black angus cow that has just calved and doesn't want to be found, I remember a doe eyed ewe on a frosty February morning struggling to lamb and the struggles of a new born kid on a freezing March morning. Farming isn't always pretty, sometimes on a frozen Winter morning when the wind was blowing, all the water troughs were iced up, the gates were frozen shut and the branches on the trees were creaking under the weight of the  sparkling snow...I remembered with relish a nice warm office ....but not for long.  Sometimes when the rain is coming down in torrents, the pond is threatening to break its banks, we are ploughing through mud and I'm cold wet and look like something the cat brought in ....I remember a time when I was never dirty...but not for long when I look around at the beauty after a rainstorm, see the rainbow or the sunrise and sunset, it is all worth it. At this time, when we are at a crossroads with the farm, I have spent some time thinking, spent time with the goats, each clamouring for a moments attention and with the sheep searching for peanuts and all so trusting. We are going to miss them but its time to look ahead and get Greg well again, its tough for all the people who know him to see him struggling, it's especially tough for me because I know how badly he is hurting and how hard he is trying to keep going.  Thank you all who have contacted us to ask how he is and offer help, look forward to seeing you at the Open Day on October 2nd. it will be a great day, Greg sees the specialist on October 5th so we will have a better idea of where we are going then. I will keep you up to date. Right now, life continues as normal, it's daybreak, the cattle are stirring in the field, the roosters are crowing and everyone wants their breakfasts. Time to clock on...sometimes I feel sorry for myself....BUT NOT VERY OFTEN !!!!   Time to go, I'm tearing up. Love you all. M

Two carrots, an onion and a  a pan of boiling water is all I need, last night Puffball REALLY pushed her luck ! There I was, quietly collecting eggs, Rocky my Rhode Island Red rooster clucking contentedly around my ankles, the rest of his hareem  happily pecking and picking at the chicken scratch that I had so kindly thrown for them then there was Puffball !!! Clearly Puffball hadn't heeded my earlier muttered threats, Puffball didn't recognize that a happy healthy henhouse relies on a happy healthy Mom (mum for us Brits, I still have a problem saying Mom !! ) not a mom minus 2 fingers and a neurotic mess everytime she crosses the threshold of the chicken colony. Puffball decided to take her battle to me .... before I had time to steel my nerves,  pull down the sleeves, put the gloves on....get ready for her. It wouldn't be so bad if she laid...but she is protecting an empty nest ! Puffball appeared from the depths of her nest box, wings spread, feathers puffed and growling like an angry rottweiller. I knew I was in trouble. Can chickens get rabies ? schitsofrenia ? ..good job they don't have teeth ! Suddenly she attacked, Puffball launched at me, cute little wicker basket with the blue gingham  flew, eggs now scrambled the other chickens disappeared, Rocky the rooster took one look and ran ( chicken !!!) I was on the defensive but I'm a Brit ( ok, "so what" I hear you say)and I wasn't about to run...though I thought about it !! Feathers flying I pounced on Puffball the manic chicken and her fate was sealed. Soup. I will miss you Puffball  but not a lot. Got to go, cuckoo clock is cuckooing. Take care, M