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Living Our Dream

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Back from my hiatus and ready to go! You would think that during Covid I would have had lots of time to blog but not so much; had lots going on and the best part of it was finally buying our dream house or I should say dream farm. As the accidental farmgirl one would think that I lived on a farm but nope, we had a small lot with our goats and the minis lived at rented barn a few minutes from our house. I had to go to the barn twice a day, everyday to take care of them. It was rough board which means you rent the barn, that’s it. It is much cheaper that way and I enjoy doing the work and being with the babies. (Yup, I refer to all our animals that way.) I have always wanted a farm and had pretty much given up on it, but having to go take care of the minis everyday was beginning to get draining and I really wanted us all to …

Mini Donkey Care: Learn as I Go

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When I decided to adopt our farm animals I had only owned dogs, cats, rabbits, a bird…how hard could goats and minis be to take care of? I had volunteered for close to two years at the sanctuary taking care of them, I can do this! And I can and do, but boy  have I learned a lot. I am very fortunate to have a very understanding and extremely sweet veterinarian. The goats have been relatively easy, only a few issues, but Dominic has proven to be my high maintenance guy. He is very cautious as donkeys are; but he tends to be even more so as he was attacked by a bear. The first time I was that crazy first time donkey owner I discovered a huge swelling on his stomach, when I called the vet on a Friday evening at 5  o’clock they told me she was out of the country…double panic mode! They gave me the number for the on call vet at another practice, I called first thing Saturday morning and to …

My Conflicting Passions: Animals and Cooking

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In my twenties I was a vegetarian until I moved back in with my Mom and started dating my now husband. My Mom was a meat and potatoes kind of cook, John (my now husband) was and is a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I slowly made the transformation and forgot all about why I stopped eating meat. Fast forward about 14 years and when my husband and I decided to volunteer at a farm sanctuary, we both left there saying we would no longer eat meat and we didn’t. He went from loving a black and blue filet mignon to eating vegetables and lots of carbs (if you don’t know what black and blue means…basically raw). I stopped eating meat and most dairy products as well.     So here goes…I love to cook. I consider myself a foodie. My husband and I love to entertain and often have dinner parties. I love animals. After volunteering for over 2 years I ended adopting a total of 10 animals from the sanctuary: 3 rabbits, …

Hoof Care 101

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A very important part of horse and donkey care is their hooves. I knew this when I got them, but didn’t realize how difficult it can be with a mini-horse that’s not tame and a mini-donkey that doesn’t like vets since he was treated for his bear attack. Our vet recommended that she be there when the farrier came so she could sedate them. Easier said than done. Using some quite barbaric looking tools to get them to hold still while they were given the sedation shots was awful. Dominic, as strong as he is and as stubborn as he is, was quite the challenge but we got it done. I dreaded it after the first time and rightly so, the second time was no better. Thankfully our vet told us about a product that is gel that you put under their tongue to sedate them that she has used with great success. So I thought I’d give it try to for the third trimming. I was a bit nervous without her being there, but …