So,

  I just happened to be up this morning when the WEDDING was on (ok, I was teasing Ron about watching the wedding and he said 'oh yeah' turned the t.v. on at 5:30a then promptly went to work).  How could you not watch?  She was beautiful, he was handsome.  It was a culmination of their hopes and a beginning to their dreams.  It reminded me of our wedding.

  A wedding is a celebration,but it is not an ending.  It is a beginning to a new life.  Two people coming together to build a new promise.  It made me think back to our wedding.  We were married on our farm with our friends and family present.  Our clothes were a bit more casual (I was in a sun dress, he was in shorts), our crowd a bit smaller (we had about 60 people to their 2 billion, 1 million of which were present), and our party a bit shorter (all of the farmers were done by 11p).  But the memories were just as precious.  Our horses were also looking on and, apparently, as the preacher said 'you may kiss the bride', the horses turned and ran together with their tails in the air.  They too felt the excitement of a new beginning.

I wish Kate and William all the best in the world.  I hope that they are able to find the fulfillment that we have been able to find.  And I hope they are able to feel the true joy of a partnership between matched but different souls.   Congratulations.

I was sitting outside by the basement door last night cleaning some bee equipment.  It was sprinkling outside but it was warm and tolerable and what I was doing was messy so sitting outside seemed like the thing to do.  And then, I heard the doves.  I love the sound of doves.  Besides the fact that it is pretty, it reminds me of summers in Texas when we would camp out at the lake.  We went to Lake Somerville every summer and would spend a week out there usually with people that my parents worked or were friends with.  It was a great time.  We would go skiing and fishing and would just have fun.  But there were always doves.  I love the doves.

On a different note, I was able to put 4 packages of bees in yesterday.  I didn't get stung until I was done and took off my protective gear to put on my coat.  There was a bee in my coat sleeve and she stung me when I put it on.  Oh well.  Tomorrow night I'll make sure the queens are released and they have plenty of food.  Happy farming everyone!

So,

  It's been one week since the fire and we are all coping.  Keeping busy helps though my farm chores are being neglected.  All of the cows (except the herd bull) have been sold.  All of the horses have been kicked out.  The chicks are all outside as well.  I need to start my seeds for my garden.  I need to get the 3 mares bred.  I have 4 packages of bees coming in the next few weeks.   And I need to get three horses sold.  But right now, my energies are focused on making sure all of my friends, those I've known for years and those that I am just coming to know because of the tragedy, are ok.   I am not an empathetic person.  Don't tell me you're sick.  I don't care.  Don't tell me you are tired, or your broke or your kids drive you crazy...usually these are choices you have made in your life to cause these issues.  However, when it comes to animal deaths or family deaths I am phenomenally empathetic, sometimes to the point where I am crippled by grief for others.  So to prevent this inertia, I have to help.  Which means that I have to neglect my life for a bit to make sure those I care for are taken care of.  My animals can wait, my husband can feed himself, and as long as I can get the kid home at a halfway decent time, then he'll survive as well.  

  I hope all of your springs are productive.  All the chores will get done eventually.  And time heals all wounds.  Next spring will be much happier with foals and new calves on the ground.  And I owe a ton of friends beers next April 5th.  

I was able to spend some alone time with Edgar today.  Everyone had left the barn to take some of the older horses to a pasture so they wouldn't have to worry about finding additional stalls.  Apparently the mares hopped off of the trailer and never looked back.  They were happy to be in some grass.  I had arrived while everyone was gone and I sat in Edgar's stall and I cried.  He was confused, all he wanted was his supper but he stood next to me offering his condolences.  Just like most men, he didn't know how to handle a crying woman but he managed just fine.  Tomorrow, Deb's plan is to give all of the remaining horses some quality one on one time.  She's going to assign everyone a group of horses and they are responsible for brushing, grooming and just generally loving them.  

We are also planning a tribute to the horses that we've lost.  With all of the work that's been going on, we haven't been able to properly grieve.  So that's going to happen Saturday night.  We will all cry, we'll eat, we'll reminisce and then Sunday we'll start work again.  All friends, including those we haven't met are invited.  To all who have emailed and called, your support is appreciated and I will be getting back with you as soon as I can.  It is times like these that you know who your true friends are and who your future true friends might be. 

Today I witnessed an event that every horse owner dreads.  My friend's barn went up in flames, trapping 24 horses.  They were able to get a few out of the back of the barn, luckily one of those few was my horse BKR Poetry N Moshahn (Edgar).  He was handling with his usual aplomb.  He just kept asking when breakfast was coming.  Unfortunately, many of his barn mates never made it out of their stalls.   A light heating a young calf was to blame.  It's unknown whether the light was knocked down by the calf or if their was a short in the wire was the cause.  It doesn't matter b/c the results were the same.  About 24 horses, one of which was BKR Justificashahn Bey (Edgar's full brother) lost their lives today. Two are currently hospitalized with burns.  We are sad.  We are hurting.  But we are farmers and we will survive.  We will help our friends recover by doing what needs to be done but, most importantly, being a shoulder that they can lean on when their strength is gone.  So make sure that you hug your horse today but most importantly make sure that your loved ones know how you feel about them so that you have no regrets.  We have established a fund at US Bank (Oasis Farms Fund) to help pay for the care of those horses that are hospitalized as well as helping to provide feed for those that are left behind.  

Well, We're back and I survived.  As we were walking around NYC and DC I was thinking that I could survive here.  There are places where I can buy food, there is entertainment, there are jobs.  But I would like to believe that life is more than survival and it should feed your soul as well as take care of your basic needs.  I could survive in a big city.  And I might even enjoy it for a while.  But I would soon start to think that I want a place to call my own, I want to be able to provide more than money to my family.  I want to be able to provide food, shelter, water from resources that I raise and own.  I don't want to HAVE to depend on someone else to provide the necessities.  So, I choose to live in the country and raise my own animals.  It's not because I don't have culture or don't know which fork to use with fish.  I enjoy a good play, music lifts my spirits, though I can't say that early 20th century art does much for me.  

We sold 2 heifers (sale is pending until I receive payment) the Saturday before we left and a bull and heifer the Saturday after we returned.  We are down to just our herd sire left to sell.  I'm looking to add new genetics to my herd by buying a new bull and adding a few heifers.  It has a been a lovely early spring.  Happy farming everyone.