EKjourney Backup

We made Saturday a road trip outing!  We drove up to Rainier, just on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, West of Astoria about an hour's drive.  We met up with some lovely farm owners; a man and his daughter and granddaughter living on an 18 acre farm.  Like us, they kind of jumped into this farm venture raising sheep, chickens, pigs, and meat rabbits.  They had lived there about 4 years learning as they go, growing and raising things organically as much as they can, using herbs and natural remedies, shearing and spinning wool, gardening, etc..  It was a pleasure to visit with them and the children loved playing in the fields (except when Sawyer got nudged by a hog snout and a sharp tooth that left a nice deep bruise in his leg).   We were mostly there to find out more about Jacob sheep.  It is an ancient breed originating in Syria about 3,000 years or so ago and is thought to be the same breed of sheep that is mentioned in the accounts of Jacob (a...

We are still hoping to sell our house and feel like we are in a holding pattern.  There isn't much we can do until we officially own our new property and until we sell our house.  We dropped the price by 10,000 dollars.  I hated to do it and really thought our house was worth the price we were asking (especially because there are comparable houses selling for the same price and more per square foot).  I guess the specialty items - all glass windows, big kitchen, skylights, chicken house, sheds, mature landscaping and location just isn't worth it to most buyers.   After we went on our Valentine's hike, this girl really wanted to go hiking.  She loaded up her backpack, put on her sweatshirt and boots, and was ready to head up to the Falls.  She thought the rain wouldn't bother her as long as she could come home, change in to warm clothes, watch a movie, and drink hot chocolate.  I suggested that she take a little hike outside instead while I made br...

Meet Ghita (Italian or Greek for Pearl), the newest member of the Kelly family and the first official farm purchase (technically, even before the farm)!  She is a purebred Maremma sheepdog "Maremmano-Abruzzese".  This is an old Italian breed of dog similar to the Great Pyrenees (French breed) bred specifically for protecting livestock from predators, particularly wolves.  Her responsibilities will be flock and herd (cat, and Vienna) protection, keeping the Kelly farm free of coyotes (mountain lions are a possibility too).  We looked into a lot of options, including fencing possibilities and guard llamas but in the end decided on a sheepdog.  It just so happened that someone Phil works with had a litter of puppies and were willing to keep her until we moved out to the property.   She is already out with the older sheepdogs working the various fields and herds so she should be experienced by the time we get her.  We will start out with a small flock of d...

Phil and the children worked very hard to prepare a special Valentine's Day for me.  I got beautiful flowers and Phil got up early and went to the grocery store so he and the children could make a special breakfast.  He took the children up to Portland with him to Brighton's speech appointment so I could get a felt painting done.  And he arranged for my parents to come over so we could have an evening out.  I don't remember if he asked me what I wanted to do or if just volunteered what I really wanted.  I wanted to go hiking!  I wanted to get out of the house and move move move after being cooped up with the winter blahs.  I wanted to stretch my legs, take pictures, and walk and talk with my husband without any distraction.   Since having children, I think we have only gone hiking twice without the children so I was very disappointed when we couldn't leave by 3:30.  In order to hike in the daylight, we had to be on the trail by 4:00.  I ...