We are finally settled in... mostly. Beyond the piles of boxes yet taped shut, and the disarray of farm equipment littering the property, and the confused animals trying to figure out their new home, we are HERE.
Wow, what an adventure! The last several months have been a experience never to forget. Moving is always a hassle, but moving a large family is that much more... moving a long distance (2100 miles) is even more, moving an operating business is yet more, and on top of that.. moving a few hundred animals of various species? WOW. I will say at this point.. this was accomplished only by the grace of God. It was a miracle that we even held on to our sanity through it all!
But we are here.. and life is starting to come together again. Very soon we will have products for sale again (lamb sausage, honey and honeycomb, and even our famous pork bangers).
It has not all been good. Honestly, we faced a deep tragedy. One animal in particular suffered more than anyone. In fact he is no longer with us. Our beloved llama, one of our very first farm animals... that has been with us through the years of trial and error learning. He was just not up to the long journey and became weak during the transport. When he arrived, he could no longer stand. We tried our best to nurse him back to health, but in the end he was too old and frail to make it. A very sad ending indeed.
But, the tears come and go, then life goes on.
We also suffered a loss of most of our bee hives. They handled the transport just fine as far as packing and bumps. However, the night we spent in Albuquerque... that was a problem. The temperature dipped down that night into single digit area. Four of the hives could not handle the cold, and the bees literally froze in place. Most likely there was just too much open area in those particular hives and the bees could not quickly adjust to keep the temp up. Very sad indeed. But the ones that made it, are busy making their new home in the woods behind the farm.
We are finally able to set up some semi permanent pens for the animals, some Texas weather worthy shelters, and a routine of care instead of constant emergencies. The farm is becoming stable again. Soon we can start milking the goats and offering our special extra creamy goat milk to the community!
The stories of our journey are many, and I will attempt to relay them here as time permits. The intention was to blog as we went, but sometimes in life we find that life moves faster than the documentation of life. That's what we discovered! As things calm... we have STORIES for you!
Stay tuned...
