Hi, hope everyone had a safe New Years Eve. Being the party animal I am...I was in bed by 9pm, Jimmy soon followed. ( I think he is getting sick..rare for him) But life on the farm, we usually follow the early to bed early to rise theme. Jimmy was up and out the door to work at MedSTAR 2 today in Hastings. I soon followed and set out to feed all three barns. It is super windy here today and expected to only get worse throughout the day. So after all Horses, cows, dogs, cats, duck,& goose get their breakfast I headed out on the polaris to check fence to make sure no trees had blown on it. While walking from the cow barn to the house I passed our Lilac trees, they actually have buds on them. This weather has been so screwy, I hope they somehow make it through the winter without getting bit. I love all the Lilac trees and bushes we have. From the moment they start blooming I fill the house and tack rooms in the barns. they smell so good. We also have many apple trees ( free horse & cow treats) Peach trees, Cherry, Chestnut & plum trees along with raspberry and blueberrybushes. Jimmies grandmothers family ( Sarah Ford, hence the name Ford Acres) were the original owners. I know they put many a long day and hours into this farm and all crops. And we are still reeping the benefits. We too have put so much time and money into trying to make and keep this farm in good condition. We recently planted ofer 300 trees in certain pasture sections. They are great for shade and wind break for the animals plus good erosion control banking the stream that runs through the pasture. We have done tons of new fencing and added 4 watering troughs that can be accessed by every pasture/paddock area. The water comes from artisions springs/wells and flows better than we could ever hope for.  So after everyone had time to eat their breakfast I set out to turn them all out. Once that was done I started cleaning the Takota barn. Got that done and headed to the house to get some breakfast of my own. I'll soon be heading back out into this windy day to clean the Trail barn and get everything set up to bring everyone in for their evening feed. It can be a long exhausting day but it's a good exhaustion! You can see the results immedialty of all your hard work. It is defiantly what keeps me in balance sometimes. Dealing with life and death situations at work can wear ya down. But seeing my animals happy and healthy & trusting just seems to flip a switch in me letting me know that all is right in the world. Well I've rambled enough today. Hope everyone has a happy, healthy & prosperous 2008. Be positive, your life is what you make it!

Tracy