Moving 101, Royal Recycled Style (packing and storage tips)

 Well, as you can all imagine we are on the countdown to the big Homestead move.  It officially started on April 6, 2012; when we have just 2 months left at The Royal Ranch.  But, leave it to The Jeute's to get the scheduling all messed up.  My daughter went and broke her arm; and like we do everything, she did it BIG!

So, on the day we were to start our countdown and I was to be packing I was instead in the ER having this fixed on my beloved Baby Girl; who also just happens to be my "right hand girl", pun intended.  (Although thank God it was her Left hand as you can see on the X-ray!!!)

Anywho, the main reason I wanted to post today is that I have some brilliant packing ideas to share with you guys.  And you don't have to be moving to use packing ideas; anyone that stores stuff (which is pretty much every single person I know) could use these tips!

The first may seem quite obvious to some, but on a big move one must really think it through; grouping like things!  Take for instance my china cabinet, that is one of the places that I have started and will use for example here today.  Now, we are moving to a MUCH smaller place so a lot of my stuff is going into storage; but I would like to consider it a couple of different kinds of storage.  One that is a bit more accessible and one that may be gone for a few years.

So I started out by emptying the china cabinet and grouping all my like items:

This may look like a huge mess, but actually it is organized chaos.  I am gathering things from around the house and deciding if they are going in storage 1) Needs to be accessible within a few months time (please, oh please God!) or storage container 2) May be gone for years, so I best have my poop in a group!  And don't forget the donate pile; always keep another box handy so that you can just toss items into it and then take it to a drop off location near you as you pack.  Even up here in the mountains we have places that will take all sorts of items, just do a bit of research; someone would love your gently used stuff; if it is more than gently used it might be time to recycle/trash it.  I am also making a sell pile which is turning into a sell house, our rental house will be a yard sale for the last couple of weeks we are here...  More on that later!

As you can see in the front of the picture, I have Grandma's china.  That will go in storage area 1 of course in case I ever get to host Christmas or Thanksgiving again.  Which I love to do, so I will be doing it for at least my family by next year, so the china needs to be accessible.  Anyway, these are the kinds of things that will help you decide what is important to YOU.

Grab a good sturdy box, make sure and tape the bottom a couple of times for heavy items like china and books and grab a marker.  Try and do some of the labeling before the box gets so full that you have a hard time maneuvering it around, trust me on this one, you will appreciate this tip after a few full boxes.  And don't get lazy when it comes to labeling; remember by the time you are done with this thing you are going to have A LOT of boxes that are all going to look similar.  Label all four sides and each flap that will be the top; that way you will be assured that no matter what side is showing when it is set in your storage area; the one that is out will show it's contents.

For fragile items now is when we can finally bring in our recycled materials; if you haven't already used a recycled box.  I used egg cartons in the bottom of the box, because of course everybody and their Mother has brought me egg cartons and now I can use them up!  The point is, take something that you have a lot of, that will be good for packing material, like old socks or underwear or the husbands old OP's, yes, I know they are out there because I have a drawer of them myself, LOL!; and use them/it for something more useful than just a space taker.

As you can see in the picture, I then wrapped my large platters in used paper bags and chicken dinner bags.  I did the same with the gravy boat, sugar and creamer containers as well as they could then be labeled since I rarely use them and won't need to unwrap each piece sifting through them looking for the ones I want when I am running late next Christmas; not that that ever happens to me.  I did the same with the million tea cups that came with this beautiful white and silver set of china.  What is up with that?  Anyway, I individually wrapped them in newspaper and then put them in two plastic grocery bags (finally a use for these horrific things!!) and tied them up and labeled them too.

Once it was all labeled and secured another layer of egg cartons and it was ready for tape.  This box was at the way top end of the heavy range for what I would want to do to any mover let alone two movers with bad backs as we will never ask for help with moving our personal belongings....Now as for moving the rest of the farm we just may be looking for a few good volunteers.

Anyone?  Is that crickets I hear????

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Rebels!  I got the most amazing Easter present ever!!!  My second hatch started a bit early on Thursday, with Royal Ranch's first chick; we were so excited, especially since the chicks were pre-sold.  The poults started coming the next day, but too slowly for the sake of the chick.  She/he was getting DARN hungry and wanted OUT of that incubator.

So last night we very quickly opened up the incubator (you are not supposed to open the incubator mid-hatch due to dropping the humidity level), and grabbed out the one chick and five, YES FIVE, poults!!!  I was concerned about the other "babies" picking on them, so we put them in a box in the brooder.  If you all remember, we have four chicks and poults that were hatched/purchased in late February; so I was not sure how they would all get along.

I know it is hard to see, and that is because the poults that are just babies themselves already have the instincts to take care of the itty bitty babies!!  The new ones are safely tucked under the wings of the others.  Mother Nature truly amazes me!  Happy Easter and God Bless.

Well, call me "blushing"!

Dear Rebels,
I am an ASS.  I did not read that entire article before I linked to it, and if I had I would have known it was bogus.  There are a couple of ways to tell if your pieces are any good or not and the first is to do your research; secondly is to go with your gut and see if the article makes sense and is not too over the top.  This one was.  As I got closer to the bottom and the Author got more and more angry, I knew I was in trouble.

I have no excuses, but I will explain what happened.  It is Spring Break around here, but for only half of my children; we have a case of unexpected Chicken Pox (and yes we were vaccinated) and things are nutty; I saw that article come across my email and it REALLY scared me, more on that in a minute.  I started reading it, I swear I did....and messing with the "link to" buttons, and lo and behold there was one for Blogger.  So I thought, what the hell????  Something distracted me, and that was that.

So, let's tackle this thing shall we?  First and foremost, my apologies if I offended anyone (which I did).  Period.  Secondly, I truly am sorry for linking to bullshit; no other way to say it.  I really try to pride myself on being an honest and up front writer with you all and that just really put a chip in my "armor" so to speak so let's just forget it happened, "K"?  I could have just pulled that piece, but it still would have been cached, and it would not have been a reminder to myself of my mistake.  As you see I did make a correction on that page.

Okay, so I tried to think through why I fell for this and it is because I truly feel that this is not far in the making.  Through CREDIBLE research I have been reading all about raids on homes, yes homes of FAMILIES, that are being raided with guns abalazin' all at tax payers expense because of milk, eggs or cheese.  This to me seems really quite incredible when our country is in such a time of crisis; like a foreclosure epidemic, a couple of possible overseas situations, starving residents, dirty oceans, my list could go on and on...  Food that people are literally begging for does not top my list of things to prosecute people for.

I mean it really has nothing at all to do with what I do here on my own Ranch.  Even if I did not sell my own products of this nature I would think this is total "you know what".  I talked to a friend of mine, and this comes first hand.  He had another friend that had a customer for three years.  That customer talked him into harvesting some chickens for them; they begged him to do it, even after he explained the law, etc.  Well, he went ahead and processed the chickens for the customers; because he had had a relationship with them for so long...BIG MISTAKE.  He is still going through court battles.

See, it was all a sting operation.  The whole three years!  For that whole time these folks had been in the area befriending the locals, buying eggs and then just waiting to ask them to process their chickens and then BAM! they'd bust them for being neighborly!  Which, yes, technically is against the law, but I mean really, I kinda wonder how many murders went unsolved during that three year time-frame???

And as far as health concerns go, well you are never going to win that argument with me.  The whole reason we are having outbreaks of bacteria these days is because of commercial farming, not because of organic farming.  IN MY OPINION, what has happened with CFO farming is that they have robbed the ground of all the nutrients so they have to spray it all back on, therefore using all sorts of chemicals, pesticides, etc. and that is what then causes the outbreaks.  Overcrowding of animals is also a HUGE, I can NOT say it enough, HUGE problem of bacteria in CFO farms!!!  A person can follow the CDC (Center for Disease Control) paths for themselves of any outbreak of any food at ANYTIME by going to the CDC website.

Now, as you will notice I did not take the time to link to anything with this first piece as I am a bit link shy right now.  I have been looking at the great Cantaloupe breakout to see if I can use it as an example, but again the CDC didn't show it's findings very quickly and I really wanted to get my apology out there!  But, from what I can gather, they were NOT organic farmers.

So, the bottom line is I screwed up and I'm sorry.  And you will continue to see more of my REBEL side, just a bit more toned down! :)

Checking In!!!

Dear Rebels,
Hello, from your long lost Author, Judy Jeute, :)!!  I am so sorry this going to be a quick little post to let you all know that we, The Jeute/Prentiss clan are "Keepin On, Keepin On" so to speak.  Actually, we are doing quite well.  My poults are growing like weeds; and as you can see by the photo, they have some company.

 (Aren't they adorable?  The brown one looking at the camera is a poult and the black and yellow ones are chicks!!  Too sweet for words, really.)

I have learned that what is an instinct behavior in chicks, oh you know silly little things like eating and drinking properly, are learned behaviors in poults.  So one day when I was at my local Big R store (man do I love that place) to get the babies some vitamins to help perk them up, I heard some peeping and thought the sound had followed me from home in my head or something and lo and behold they had their own brooder full of chicks so I took a couple home to teach my turk babies how to eat and drink and within five minutes of me putting those chicks in there my poults were all standing around the waterer!!!  It was amazing. 

So, although my hatch rate has totally sucked, and I lost my favorite poult; we have figured out exactly what we are doing wrong so far.  And that is all a person can do, right?  Learn from their mistakes and go forward from there.  And that is exactly what I intend to do.  So we have more eggs going in the incubator today since we know what went wrong; poor air flow.  That just means more excitement in another month!  And even more exciting some of these will be sold for profit, what's that, actual money????  But I believe this is where the saying might apply.  Don't count your chickens before their hatched.  LOL!!!

Okay, so yesterday I think I might have had one of the craziest days.  I started it out with negotiating our new property single-handedly.  Thank goodness Tom is working overtime again, and we really need to get this property business taken care of.  As soon as the snow melts...we need to be moving our livestock up there.  Period.  We have fencing to do, barns to build, water to acquire, electricity to figure out, did I mention we will be off grid???  Oh yea, and a minor little thing like shelter for four?!?!?!

Oh wait, got a bit side tracked with my panic attack, JK! No, I talked with our friend who owns our dream property and yesterday I made sure... it is The Double J!!!!  I do believe that he, Tom and I will be sitting down this afternoon to finalize everything.  Whew.

And then....The High Timber Times arrived.  No kidding.  Yes, I knew they were coming, but I don't think it all really hit me til the guy with the monstrous cameras got out of his car and told me and Bella to act normal while doing our daily chores.  She joked that she wanted to go inside and hop on the couch-ha!  Anywho, the reason they were here is that they are doing a story on the Mountain Resource Center; and as I mentioned in The American Tragedy, I went to MRC for help with my electric bills.

I really have no idea how this story will turn out and to be honest, we were really nervous about doing it.  Could they make us out like the poor kids on the block???  This is a local paper, all of our family and friends are going to see it... they are ALL going to know now that we are in FORECLOSURE and that we have had all of these issues.  But you know what else they are going to know?  They are going to SEE me and Bella.  And I hope they hear the pride that we have in our ranch and our area.  But mostly in ourselves and our family.

Yeah, we have been put through the wringer, and yes, we have made some mistakes.  But we are being responsible for them now and moving right along.  Yesterday when I was being the pied piper and the turkeys were following me across the road as Bella gently herded them and the photographer snapped away I couldn't have been more proud.  I don't care about our mistakes or my pain or whatever, it was the smile on that girls face.... I could see the pride in her heart.

I also learned yesterday that Judy means praiseworthy.  And for some reason that really came at a nice time; when I'm negotiating deals and being a public figure and a proud mom.  So maybe this post was not as short as I intended, as I am behind in my schoolwork, but I needed to let my dear Rebels know....We are here, we are good, and we are doing what needs to be done.

JJ~

PS "Our" edition of The High Timber Times should come out Wednesday March 14, 2012 barring a local news emergency.

Crocodile Tears, from a Llama

Marcel

20 years old

dressed to impress for a wedding at The Royal Roost

That is the only description for what I saw and cried in the last two days.  My Marcel slipped away peacefully in his sleep last night.  Yesterday when I went up to do the morning chores I knew he was dyeing.  He was down; just quietly eyeing me from the corner of the barn.


I just chatted with him while I did the turkeys and fed Hunter, the llama that I thought would die sooner than Marcel as he has been ill....but he never got up to greet me.  And when I went over and saw the single Crocodile Tear escape from his eye....

Many of you may know that Marcel is my lead llama, but what you may not know is that Marcel is also my very favorite llama ever.  He has saved me in the forest (from a cow, but he thought it was a real danger LOL) and been on every single pack trip that my business ever took!

So it killed me when I had to leave his side for a bit to celebrate my husband's birthday, but he made it until we came home and we all got to say goodbye to him.  My daughter saw him cry too; it was only when we talked about saying goodbye.  This was an amazing animal, with amazing instincts and emotions.  He will be missed dearly here at The Royal Ranch.

Thank you for your Leadership Marcel; you were the kindest Leader I have ever known.

Love Forever,
Mama J~

Is it really over? Time for a new start. Period.

Okay, so I have been putting this post off for unknown reasons.  And this morning I think I figured it out....I was not quite ready to let go of Christmas Break (and yes, I still insist on calling it that at my Ranches!!!).  But it is time to GET REAL.  It was such a wonderful time with my family...

Of course my sons were home from college, oh what a joy!  With their smiles and messes and tons of friends and laundry we all had so much fun.  But what I miss the most I think is my chats with my oldest redhead; he is an early riser like me and we have such wonderful talks in the wee hours of the morning.  We talk about everything under the sun (or the moon as it sometimes seems) and often debate the problems of the world...

It was so very hard to let them go again, but to know that they are on their way to such great things makes it easier and to have seen their amazing growth in such a short time frame was a real eye opener.  So yes, the tears flowed; some from sadness but many out of sheer joy to see my boys fly away on wings of their very own.

It is my family here at home that helps keep me sane; the wonderful, tolerant creatures that they are.  With their jokes and helping hands and never ending support for all of my hair brained ideas we get by.  And at the end of the day we know we are a team; a well oiled machine that keeps this ranch running and is preparing to build a whole new adventure together....

Which leads me to my new start for 2012; come on, we have all felt it.  It is not some crazy end of the Mayan calendar or doomsday catastrophe.  But it is a time for change and new beginnings.  Time to open up to new ideas and become better neighbors and friends; more loving people all around.

And I have decided that where that starts for me is right here at home.  It is time to concentrate on me and my family.  What?  Didn't she just say to become a better neighbor, friend and loving person all around?  Yes, I sure did, and I have this odd feeling that I have gotten a bit off track.

I don't know where, if it was my back injury or just busy raising a family all the while fighting to keep it together financially in a crappy economy, but I have lost my way a bit.  And when I say "my way" I mean my goals in general; and I had to take a look at those goals and re-evaluate.

And what exactly are those goals?  Well, that is a good question, but I do know that I am headed for self-sustainability.  Period.  I am sick of depending on anyone.  A boss for money a store for food a power company for lights....You name it, I'm done.  Don't get me wrong, I am SO appreciative of all of those things for getting us where we are now, but it is time for us, The Jeute clan to move on.

Yes, those are totally lofty goals and they are going to take some time.  But do you know what happened as soon as I realized that this is what was really bothering me lately?  The loss of me and "my way"?  Such a release and a wave of what I would call good fortune!

It started with me praying.  Praying for nothing; because that is all I really knew what to pray for.  "Dear God, I'm not very good at this and I'm not even sure what to pray for besides all of the usual things like the health and happiness of all of my (and your) children....but other than that I leave it up to YOU!"

And you know what else really struck me?  Talking to my friend Lynley on the phone the other day she said to me "a person has gotta get out and do something, even if it is something wrong, at least you are doing something!" and she is absolutely right.  I think fear stops too many of us from doing things that we really would love to try but are afraid we might do wrong.  Well, who the hell cares?  It is much better to try something and know that you did it wrong and learn from your mistakes than to sit around wondering if you shoulda, coulda, woulda.

So I'm praying, and letting go of the things I need to let go (you know things that take your time and are not healthy or productive toward your goal) and trying new things.  And it has led me to two new Animal Consulting cases, one huge farm rescue (which I love due to the challenge and the joy of placing animals in a new loving, forever home!).....But most importantly it led me to doing something I didn't think I could do:

Build an incubator from scratch out of ALL recycled materials (the Judy way, of course)!!!  Complete with 14, yes 14 turkey eggs from my spectacular Chocolate turkey hen who started laying eggs, well, two weeks ago.  A turkey lays one egg per day so I had only 13 days to get this project together with a little help from who else but my wonderful family.  It took a while to test it and get it just so, but her is the finished product:

And my girl really surprised me on the last morning because I had added the 13 eggs and then I went up on the 14th day and there she was just getting up off the nest after incubating an egg for me overnight.  So that egg should be just about on the same schedule as the others as it takes 12-24 hours for the eggs to warm up to temperature and them to get fertilized.  I gently grabbed it and ran down to the house like I was carrying the Olympic flame or something!

 And this picture of my beautiful Chocolate Hen proves that dreams really do come true.  If you all recall, I asked Santa for a camera for Christmas.  Well I got one!!!

My Crazy Turkeys

I know I have mentioned my Yahoo! groups before, but my very favorite is my Rare Heritage Turkey group.  To be fair, I don't follow that many, but these folks don't have (or at least adhere to) too many rules, and they aren't stuffy and they really seem to have a great sense of humor,er, senses of humors?!?

Anyway, recently one of the gals, who really adds a lot of "color" to the group posted asking for stories about turkeys.  On a different post, I had responded to her, accidentally misspelling her name which has started a name battle ever since.  So, I felt bad that not many people were responding to her pleas for stories and in my oh so smart alecky way I responded to her.

It appears she has forwarded my silly story to a friend and that friend would like to post the story on his site; so I figured I had better share my story with my very own readers first!  So here my letter to my e-friend is in it's entirety:

Okay DoRENE,
I have a story for you. I have a chocolate hen who is a bit, well....schedule oriented (spoiled). The other day my parents were up for dinner and were absolutely fascinated with the turkeys, who of course had surrounded their car upon their arrival with chortles of delight. That was until the turkeys realized that this company was going to interrupt their own dinner.

Mom and Dad had been just full of questions; the typical ones like how much do they eat, etc. But the very last one before we headed in as the turkeys followed us up the stairs and hopped up onto the railing of the second story porch was "turkeys don't fly do they?". They were quite concerned for their safety up that high (this of course is their favorite roosting spot as it looks over the whole valley, the road, the driveway, you get the point).

So we headed inside and started our pizzas and got busy with our visiting. The turkeys did not like the fact at all that we ignored their preening and pruning and gobbling and chirping on the front porch so they trooped down the stairs in a line. And I'm thinking to myself, "finally!!!"; as I figured they were headed back up to their pen to start their dinner without me like they sometimes do.

I'm standing in the middle of the living room telling a big story, flapping my arms about when suddenly there is a VERY LARGE THUD against the picture window (right behind where my Dad is sitting on the couch)!!! And there trying to balance on the 1/2 inch lip of the window is my beautiful chocolate hen calmly looking at me. When she realized there was no room for her she just gracefully swooped down to sit on the snowmobile with her Bourbon Red boyfriend (turkeys know no prejudice) to the utter amazement of my parents. It looked as if the two of them were threatening to ride off into the sunset (literally with the sun setting behind them) if I did not hurry up and feed them! And she had just nicely knocked on the window to make sure I knew that they were going...

Needless to say, they trumped my story so my Dad and I happily got our chore gear on and headed out to lead the pack up the hill for dinner. What the heck had I been thinking to feed company first?

JJ~

Santa, do you hear me, now even OTHER websites are requesting photos of my amazing animals???

Royal Ranch Royalty

Not knowing exactly how much longer I will be representing The Royal Ranch has made me a bit melancholy, I guess you would say.  There is a good chance that this could be my last post in this series as the official owner of The Royal Ranch; therefore I really wanted to make it one that counts and one that really gets the point across of what I am trying to do with my livestock and my homesteads, yes I say that in the plural.

As I have NOT made a secret of, we are adding to our homesteads with The Double J; and of course I will continue with my heritage breeds.  I hope to even expand my heritage poultry business, raise pork for my family and anyone else who is interested and of course by now you Rebels know I am adding Yak to the mix.  But what I have been secretive about is what we are going to do with The Royal Ranch, and for another week or so, that is still going to be kept close to home (until I have cleared everything with all parties of course).

For now our plans are to continue to live in it, probably as caretakers, while we build our new dream home on the Double J.  I am spending my days learning everything I can...for now unofficially, but that may change.  I may go back to school officially if I think a GC (General Contractor) and Mother, and Rancher, and Volunteer and other hat wearer can also be student....  But right now I am a student on a quest for knowledge of all things heritage breed.

Meaning any breed of livestock that this country (and many others for that matter) was founded on to put it quite simply.  I am taking my homesteads back to their roots.  With their animals and with their supplies and with their needs.  I have told you I am going off-grid, and I'm not kidding, so I'm learning a lot about that too.  So I go to bed at night with my head swimming with ultra-capacitors and old-fashioned pigs; all wrapped up in one image.  How in the world am I going to make all of this work????

Well, I am going to make it work with websites like American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and Earthineer.  Those are today's Royal Ranch Royalty's; I bet you were wondering how I was going to get around to that weren't you?  Well, Rebels, it is very important for me to get my facts straight, and in one or two convenient, intelligent stops.  And I have found that in these two sites.  I can look up information about animals and capacitors and make new friends all at the same time.  So if you are living a sort of mixed up crazy weird life like me right now...check 'em out; more than useful!

Happy Turkey Day, a bit early

My Beautiful BBB Turkeys;

now THIS is how a turkey is supposed to look!

(If I do say so myself, lol!)

Amongst the recalls and rumors, here it is almost Thanksgiving and I don't have too much nice to say about the turkey industry, I'm very sorry.  I know that the poultry industry really started out with good concepts, but it truly has gotten out of hand.  Antibiotics were once used to treat infection; not prevent it.  Hormones are a dangerous thing no matter how you look at it.  If they are medically called for as is sometimes the case in the aid of recovery for human beings and they should be scrutinized very carefully.  But who in their right mind wants to eat that stuff???  Not me.

The more I read, the more it convinces me that I am doing the right thing by raising our own food (or even hunting) , trying to buy local whenever I can and to really notice where my food comes from if I do have to buy it from the grocery store.  There are a lot of ways to go local folks; even at 9,000 feet in elevation.  You don't necessarily have to grow the stuff yourself.

You can buy direct from the farmers, at a drastically reduced price.  You can go online and buy from someone like Door to Door Organics; which obviously brings the stuff right to your door.  Or there are a couple of great websites dedicated to the eating local movement.  Eat Local Challenge is "a group weblog focusing on the importance of locally and sustainably grown food".  But the best one to get the whole family involved in is Eat Local.  It has a great animated feel to it that the kids will love and a down to earth way of explaining why it is so important to buy locally.

So come on Rebels and GSO readers, let's send those government cronies a message and tell them we chose to eat locally and sustainably.  Let them hear your message through your purchases, tell your friends to do the same, that is where we hit them the hardest...in the wallet; quiet and peacefully.

Have a great day!
JJ~

The Great Windstorm of 11-13-11...

We went to bed the night before last to the power flickering and the wind howling.  But as I lay there in bed listening to my basement bedroom window being sandblasted by wind from a direction that the winds never blow from; I knew we were in for some damage.  I just wasn't aware of how much.

Between here (The Royal Ranch) and The Roost, our "nest in the woods" as we like to call it; are some very thick, very old forests, and even regular wind storms can wreak havoc on power lines, etc.  We learned our lesson early on upon buying the ranch and the Roost; if the power goes out, chances are there is a tree down on the lines somewhere on Camp Creek road and we can find it and let IREA (our power coop) know where the problem is a bit faster to get it fixed a bit faster.

So when we awoke in the night without power it was not a big surprise, nor was it a big surprise to still not have power in the morning.  The surprises started coming when we saw the AMOUNT of damage.  Between here and our cabin, which means our soon to be home, The Double J, there were at least 20 downed trees!  Many of them in the roadway to Camp Creek, along the power line, some on neighbors properties; like a roof and a classic Blazer.

The guys had a great day on Sunday "working" to clear trees and drink beer together.  Our wonderful neighbors Dan and Steve pitched in of course and they all three went up to Sean and Rocky's (yes that is a girl's name and she is soooo cool!) because they are the one's that had the tree on the roof and that dang cool Blazer (Dad, it is the yellow of the Jeep that I tried to talk you into giving me-ha!); of course the tree went right down the middle of the hood and roof of the beautifully lifted classic!

We must say, that we are very proud of our power coop, IREA.  Although they are not to hip on alternative power or rebates of any kind like that; when it comes to an emergency or downed lines those guys are all over it!  They had Camp Creek back up and cleaned up in just a few hours; and we are talking some big trees with some major power outages.  And each time we passed them they were always pleasant and had a smile on their faces.  We even got a robo-call saying they were sorry for any inconvenience; last time I checked IREA had no control over the wind, but it sure was kind of them to call.

I was curious about all of the trees that were damaged.  They ranged in size from about 6 inches in diameter to well over a foot.  The large ones of course were old/rotten on the inside and will make great firewood and if they aren't on private property we will make good use of them.  Many of the smaller ones Tom noted had either been damaged many years ago by lightning or something else, possibly beetles, but he didn't see many signs of those, thankfully. 

One of the most amazing things about this storm is that these trees didn't just break off and fall to the ground like they normally do.  Many of them we found multiple feet away.  The wind had broken them off and then carried them 10-15 feet in some cases, simply unreal!!!  We have walked through a lot of forests around here and not seen evidence of that kind of storm, I think this really was a once in a lifetime windstorm....at least I am hoping it was.

Meet (or is it meat?) The Meatrix....

Go ahead, I dare you to check out this funny video about modern day meat production....no blood or gore and it really gets the point across!

Welcome Double J!

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the newest member of the family...The Double J Ranch!  You can find us at dbljdotorg (soon) and dbljdotorg.blogspot.com (NOW!).

Join us Rebels, Tell the FDA to regulate GMO foods!

Good Morning Rebels!  Happy hump day; hope you are having a wonderful week; but even more importantly I hope you will join me in signing this all important petition.  It is high time we know exactly what we are eating; and that people who are not yet even aware of how deeply GMO foods are embedded into our everyday diets, become aware and knowledgeable about what they are putting into the mouths of their beloved families!

Life's funny little bumpy roads.....

":) Being a leader, especially a leader of conscience, isn't always easy."

Yes, read that Rebels and let that sink in for just a minute.  I had to.  Dear friend and Rebel, Daisy sent that to me when I thanked her for her support about my letter to Ms. McGee a few days ago.  And it was funny because I got it on a day I had also taken on another llama big wig, the day I had to have another MRI on my back.


The day had been a hellish day anyway. I must say that sometimes it is easier to just count on yourself than to have partial support.  Tom had told me he'd take me to the appointment, which is great, but then he had to go back to work....and it was almost worse than if I'd just counted on my own strength the whole time, you know what I mean????  I had had to go and pick up my daughter sick from school and that threw a wrench into the morning....


But the big tests these days seem to be coming from my so called peers.  And what I have realized is that they don't know I am their peer; and that is where things went all wrong.  I'll give you a bit of background on the story, although it really isn't all that important to my point, but over a decade ago when I first got into llamas I mistakenly bought 2 llamas.  At that time I didn't know that there were rescue llamas that needed homes.  Llamas were on the downhill slide of the fad I guess....


One of those purchased llamas is the only one that has ever given us much trouble.  He is the only llama that I have ever had to spend vet dollars on other than maintenance because I have tried to figure out what the hell is wrong with him.  He has knocked each of my family members down, he has bitten me and all of these things are absolutely NOT normal llama behavior.


In the decade since owning this llama I have learned A LOT!!!  I have also rescued more than twenty llamas; many of them I (little old me at 120 lbs soaking wet as my husband would say) have trained to pack from being not even halter broke.  I have no formal training in llama handling besides what my wonderful mentor Bobra Goldsmith taught me before she died; which was a lot.

She taught me to simply expect good behavior from my animals; and that is a theory The Royal Ranch has always had.  When I train a llama to pack it is simply an agreement between the llama and myself....I'm going to trust you and you're going to trust me.  By the time I put the pack on them I have been building a working, trusting, loving relationship with the animal for as long as I can.  I don't stand for bad behavior and I never will; that is just the way it is.

Speaking of hunting camps..

  Take for instance our first hunt camp ever.  We had been getting advice from everyone that animals are afraid of the smell of blood and that our llamas were going to freak out unless they had been trained to be around meat, etc.  We had even been told to stuff their nostril with some sort of Mentholatum so that they wouldn't smell anything; to me this sounded like abuse. 

So Tom and I headed up the mountain with our very untrained pack train of llamas to pick up a huge bull elk for a friend.  We figured since it was a good friend of ours at least if the llamas freaked, no biggy.  We got to the camp and we did what we usually do; we packed up that elk and we put it on the llamas....that was that.  They were a bit jumpy at first but when they saw that we just expected them to behave like any old job, and we weren't going to take any crap from them, it was the end of their nervousness.  They knew they could trust us.  One of them even had to wear the antlers and the cape (which is the hyde) of the elk down the mountain!  It was sort of weird to look forward (I of course am always in the caboose position with Tom in lead) and see a llama with antlers-ha!!!


But back to my point, I am no llama schmutz.  I know what the hell I am doing when it comes to these animals.  I am the Co-Colorado Coordinator (it's an awful big state) for the Southwest Llama Rescue, and not by mistake, I was voted in.  If there is an aggressive male within a four state radius of me, chances are he is going to end up at my place for evaluation and rehab if he is capable.


So it really surprised me when I called the breeder of that fat, lazy llama and had to get into a battle of wits with him over the behavior of said llama and what to do about it.  Now that my spine is not quite what is used to be, I'm not really sure I'm comfortable, or really need a spoiled, over de-sensitized llama in my yard when I have spent the last decade of my life to saving llamas that really need homes.  As I mentioned this man, like Ms. McGee is in the llama world...you know, people that give a crap what other llama owners think of them.


He acted as if I was still some newbie, the same nobody that had walked into his yard 12 years ago looking at llamas for the first time and offered to come assess the llama for me.  Well, no thanks.  I've been assessing him and paying for him and having to watch out for my family's and visitor's safety from him for ten years now.  I gave him a very clear assessment of the situation, and simply asked if they were in a position to take him back now that my back is in such bad shape and he poses a real danger to me with his pushy behavior.

Well, needless to say, the llama will be staying where he is at.  The llama breeder got told exactly what I thought of his assessment.  And I kept thinking "Really?  Two people in one week?  My name is going to be $*@! in the llama world"  But I don't give a rat's patooty because that guy had it coming. (Well, I sort of did, I actually threw a baby fit when I got off the phone with him he had made me so mad, but it was just a natural reaction-ha!!!!)

And then I got that sweet quote from Daisy worth repeating again, "Being a leader, especially a leader of conscience, isn't always easy."; and it made me smile.  Thursday, I got a call from a gal on my rescue group who asked if I had a few minutes; I gotta tell you after the week I'd had with llama folks I thought I was really in for it now.  Actually she was calling to answer a question I had posted about; but more importantly she was calling to ask me if she could gift me a sweater that she had cherished for years because it had llamas on it.

She wanted me to have it because I have added such "vitality and personality" to the group.  All I thought I did was respond to the emails and try to help out a few llamas when I could-who knew?  It truly was a wonderful phone conversation; one of those where you really just enjoy getting to know the person at the other end of the line.  This amazing lady owned llamas from 1978 to 2008, and here I thought I was all that-ha!  But the point was, I know it sounds silly, but I felt like the chosen one, you know?

Then last night I answer the phone to the cutest little southern voice you can imagine and she is just thanking me up and down.  And it took me a second to figure out what the heck I had done.  Oh yeah, email again, I had sent a positive, reinforcing email to a newbie llama owner.  Amazing how far positive reinforcement goes, eh?  Whether it is with ourselves, our kids, our dogs, our llamas, whatever; I think in this post alone I have given you several examples!

These new folks have been SO kind to adopt some llamas from Nebraska; the issue is that they live in Texas.  Which as you all know is having a drought and heat problem.  The Colorado folks took in the Nebraska llamas temporarily until we could get them down south.  Well, somehow these folks got to thinking that our talking about expenses to get those llamas down there meant they were a burden (we should have switched to a more private Yahoo board in hind sight to avoid hurt feelings maybe!) and I tried to clear that up, right quick.  Anyone sticking their neck out to rescue one (and they are taking in 11!) of my wondrous creatures is no burden to me, that is for DAMN sure!

So my week had turned from on the attack to on the receiving end of so many blessings. I do believe strongly in everything I told those people I had to tell off, but I also truly believe even stronger what I told those people in loving manners.  Originally when I first started this post a day or so ago, it was called "Being kicked while you're down...", and then these crazy events just kept happening and I could no longer call it that, could I?

Dear Ms. McGee,

You called here screaming at me last night due to an email I sent you.  You were wondering (again and again) "just who the hell I am" to write you such an email, and how dare I suggest you give away your livelihood.  Well, my dear, My name is Judy Jeute.  And it is called a tax donation.

See, readers, I had emailed Ms. McGee that she should be ashamed of herself for attempting to make money on those of us who have stuck our necks out to save the hundreds of  starving llamas from the Montana Sanctuary in the middle of winter.  She is offering half price llama handling clinics to those kind folks who rescued llamas; and I told her "Half price?  Gah!!!"

When I picked up the phone she almost immediately was on the attack and so I got the uncomfortable chuckle like humans tend to get, and that really pissed her off!!!  But what I really realized is that what she was the maddest about is that how dare some unknown llama nobody suggest that Queen McGee get off her ass and actually do something to help not only the almost thousand llamas that came off that sanctuary but almost hundreds of HUMANS that helped them!

So, no Ms. McGee, I will not apologize for my "Nasty-gram", which really wasn't all that nasty, if it gets you to thinking about folks other than yourself.  The IRS will thank you kindly.  And I would imagine it would do wonders for your business as well, those friends would tell their friends, etc.  Much better press than this!

Kind regards, er, not so kind regards,
Judy Jeute
Manager/Co-owner
Royal Ranch

The Recycled Garden/Small Victories

 Pepper

Well, this might  be one of the most confusing posts I have ever written-ha!!!  It is sort of a two part series I guess, but I didn't do it intentionally, you see.  What happened is in early July I started a garden, a completely recylced garden; and one that I am darn proud of.  But I don't have a camera right now....so I kept putting off this post.  And for another, bigger reason; my garden is not NEAR the producer that I had hoped that it would be.  But anyway, read on; these next few paragraphs have been sitting in my drafts folder since July 5th (I do believe):

The story of the Recycled Garden really began almost twenty years ago when Tom and I broke our backs soon after being married in a rather large garden in a very muddy rental that the slugs ate every bit of.  I think we literally got three leaves of lettuce, but after seeing how many slugs had been on the damn things we weren't touching it!

Fast forward about 17 or 18 years and we try again on a much smaller scale and life and health and everything else gets in the way and not much came of the last garden we tried.  But this year is going to be different, dangit!!!  I have really thought and planned and planned and thought....

So, really it started out with a nice patch of land that we had tilled up.  Then Tom and the neighbor got a little crazy cleaning the llama pens with the tractor one day and dumped literally three feet of composting material on top of my prepared garden.  Now, that may sound nice, but this is stuff that may take a few years to break down properly...and again it is three feet deep!

But then my sister donated me these two lovely rhubarb plants that love composted material!  Well, let's get to work on that pile of sh**!  I spent the day Saturday raking it and leveling it all back out and it really turned out very nice.  But the best part is the stuff I used to make my little "raised" bed; old bricks and concrete core samples (these are perfectly round concrete, I have always liked them and waited and waited for a use for them; they are heavy as all get out!).  The bricks are kind of cool because many of them are not just plain bricks; one has a criss cross pattern in it, etc.  Very artistic.

I broke the main garden down into quadrants.  I had planted a rhubarb "crown" (we broke the original plants down into five plants) in each corner to prevent deer from coming into the garden.  Carrots, corn, lettuce and spinach each got planted into one quadrant yesterday.  Yes, it is a bit late to start some of these things, but on my organic, non-GMO seed packets it said to wait until soil temps are at 60*, which would be about now for my altitude; so between travel plans and that fact I figure I am not too far off.

At the head of my cute little garden I placed "The Gate to Nowhere" as my daughter calls it.  It's just a cool old heavy metal gate with neat decorative metal that I can let my beans grow up.  On either side of that is the head and foot board of an old baby crib that I got from a local church when I worked the food pantry;I'll have a second type of bean on those, Royal's of course.  It's funny, they just don't make stuff as cool or as decorative as they  used to it seems.

And then today I was walking around my little homestead; putting the llamas on various stake lines to finish mowing the fall foliage with the turkeys, dogs and cats all close on my heels when I realized we had a very successful harvest for our first year at 9,000 feet in elevation.  I made a salad one night from my very own lettuce and it was delicious.  My daughter comes home everyday from school and pulls a 4inch carrot out of the ground and then takes one to share with her favorite llama, Pepper.  We have two neighbors who are so happy about their turkeys they are already looking forward to next years adventures in turkeydom!

So, with or without pictures, this was a harvest that was worth sharing and a victory for The Royal Ranch and it's Rebel friends.  We didn't get much, but we did get some, and we got enough to share... And we will also use our knowledge and move on.  Oh, and MOST importantly, I proved my son wrong who said I wouldn't be able to grow ANTYHING!!!  HA!

A musical clue:

Llamas and sheep and turkeys, oh my!!!

Photo courtesy of Kevin, our renter.

It seems that my last few posts have continually been of me sort of apologizing for not being here for one reason or another...I realize that is because my life has really been in an upheaval of sorts lately.  My sons moved on to college, my youngest started middle school, and I found out that my back "issue" is a permanent disability all at once; which led me to start making huge changes here at the ranch.

Well, this last week has really been a whopper if I do say so myself.  It started last Saturday when we place three llamas; and I must say that those boys really moved up in the world!  They now reside on 160 acres in a spectacular valley about an hour drive away; so I will be able to visit them often.  The transfer of the boys went flawlessly thanks to my fellow llama wrangler and partner in life and all things crazy, my hubby.

The very next day we headed off to the sister in law's house; as she works at a livestock auction.  I was going to take Paco, my ram, whom I was so positive would go as a fantastic breeding animal.  We loaded him and Esther, my ewe up (just for company for Paco) and headed out for eastern Colorado.  Monday was the big livestock auction, and when I say big, you must take that with a grain of salt because this really is a small town auction, but that is what I wanted for Paco and us since this was our first experience ever.

When we backed the trailer in there was commotion about our beautiful sheep and so I put Esther in the auction too; with a minimum.  They both sold at a premium price for what sheep are going for these days; I got what I purchased them for two years ago!  So, anyway, Annie (SIL), didn't have any help that day, so Tom and I pitched in and helped "load out".  Meaning that we got to load out all of the animals that were purchased at auction that day.  Some of them just a day old.  It was quite a learning experience for Tom, Isabella, Nathan and myself; but it was really cool because I was able to tell some of the new owners "hey, this one has a cough" or "this goat needs to be milked right away" or whatever.  I am hoping that maybe some of the new owners got instructions that they might not have gotten otherwise.

Esther had been one of the first to go.  I was sad to see her go, and I am pretty sure that she went to a great home.  And I say pretty sure because as the day wore on and I got more tired I saw some pretty crazy stuff.  Like a guy stuffing 16 goats and a giant pig in a trailer on top of a load of lumber that he had purchased; but we got them in!!!  All day I waited and wondered when Paco's new owner would come....and then a semi pulled up to the loading dock and my stomach sank.  That's right Rebels; my beautiful ram was headed to PA to a packing plant.

And that is also why they don't let crazy chicks like me carry guns; because when I went to say goodbye to him I literally thought that if I had had a gun I might just shoot him dead right there to avoid him having to travel half way across the country to get the old hammer head.  But I am a big girl, and I had made a big girl decision and I had to abide by it...  Think what you want of me but that is truly the way I felt.

Tom didn't think I looked to good after that little shock and working so hard all day so he took us all to Carl's Jr. after the auction; and that is when he calmly reminded me that he needed to take Tia with him the next day; she was to have knee surgery.  A dear friend was paying for her surgery and was going to care for her during her rehab so we were supposed to lose her for at least a couple of months; while she recuperated (I didn't think I was capable with my back).  I lost it!  I started choking on my all time favorite guacamole burger and was literally making a scene.  I had forgotten that the days were so close together and just didn't want to talk about one more loss at the time.

So Tuesday dawns and I have to say goodbye to Tia.  I get through that and take my son to the orthodontist and finally get his braces on.  Now this is a really big deal.  This kid has been waiting 18 years for these braces; he has a cleft pallet that has never been properly fixed and the clock was really ticking on this thing; if we didn't start now, there was no fixing it at all.  Big emotions there (this is my adopted son).  And then he's gone...back to college.  Another goodbye.

I'm not ashamed to say, Tuesday when I was driving home, I have never been so tired in my life.  I had said goodbye to my kids multiple times by now.  My back was killing me from working the auction the day before, I couldn't get the fact that my spectacular ram was on that semi headed east towards a hammer that I don't even believe in and now I was contributing too out of my head.... And my beloved Tia was gone for months!  At least, maybe more.  I got the kids off the bus and went to bed.

Well, it's amazing what a nap will accomplish; because when I woke up there was a message.  There had been a mix-up and Tia had to come home for a night....which led us to find out she really didn't need any lifting....she could still walk on three legs just like she did before the surgery!  And  do you know the most amazing thing Rebels????  My dear friend (actually Tia's breeder) still paid for her surgery!  And sent us all sorts of meds for the dear patient, like stuff for her arthritis which she is sure to get, and pain meds that oh thank the Lord that she has had because this has been one very painful surgery for the girl.

Tia and I have had a very busy week, what with all the pain and biting at her knee; we didn't even realize it was getting so close to Saturday....Turkey Day!  You know, I wasn't sure how to feel about Turkey Day, I was dreading it and looking forward to it all at once.  You Rebels know how much I loved those turkeys.  They were my pride and joy; they followed me all over the ranch, even to get the mail and when I laughed they gobbled.  But due to human intervention, if we had not harvested these turkeys, they would have gone down on their legs (their breasts are too large, the legs can't support them), or they would have died of a heart attack.

Photo courtesy of Teri, our friend/neighbor/customer!

Of course I had done a ton of research and was all ready for the big turkey harvesting and we turned it into a big party.  Check out some of the pictures on the facebook page if you want, still don't have a camera, thinking about putting on a donation button for that!  The pics were taken by a friend/neighbor/customer.  We were blessed that morning by our first visit by a big bull moose so I knew things were going to go well that day.  (I may do a post on turkey harvesting for my own records and for those that are agriculture readers, so  those that aren't beware!)

I can't believe all the changes we have made around here.  Three llamas, two sheep, two turkeys...  And we are not done yet.  But I think that is enough for right now.  My heart and head are still reeling from the loss of all the critters and kids.  And I would like to say another thing, I always say that things happen for a reason and I firmly believe that.  Like one of my turkeys getting killed by a neighbors dog and us not having one of that type to harvest for our family this year; well maybe our family is meant to have a heritage turkey (meaning not human intervened) for our first bird; who knows?  And we were invited over for the turkey dinner at our friend's house...there sure is plenty to go around!  Things always turn out the way they are supposed to...now wait to hear what I have up my sleeve!  Please, stay tuned in!!!  I have a music clue cued up for tomorrow as to what The Royal Ranch may be up to next....

Royal Ranch Royalty: Shades of Change

 Shade

Well it is time to sit down in front of my computer and try to heal my broken heart with words.  See, I have been telling you Rebels about changes here at The Royal Ranch and they have all really started to hit me these last few weeks; thus my absence from this blog.  

We lost our beloved cat Shade a few weeks back and I knew it would be very symbolic of the times ahead.  Shade was our nurse and one of my best friends here at the ranch.  If any one was not feeling well, Shade was the first to let me know by laying by that animal or person and meowing insistently!  It was uncanny his ability to know that a spirit was not well before they actually showed symptoms outwardly.  I guess it was from his time living at the vet clinic for so many years; Shade had been a blood donor cat before he came to live at the Royal Ranch.

Which is how he became a character in my childrens book, Llucky Llama.  His name in the book is no other than Cuddly Cat of course.  Cuddly Cat is buried right next to Dedicated Dog; my first Great Pyrenees that was one of the greatest dogs I have ever owned in my entire life.  As a matter of fact, that spot has not been used since Marilyn (Dedicated Dog) passed.  Tom tried to bury another dog there one time and about got his head bit off by me-ha!  Sometimes there are just animals that are extraordinarily special in our lives and Shade and Marilyn were those type of animals.

As I said, I knew the winds of change were blowing; I just didn't know how hard.  That week I had gotten the news about my back.  I had gone back in because my back just isn't making progress.  It will be a year in October since my surgery and I have tried everything except chiropractic care.  And I do mean everything.  Walking, Pilates, stretching, yoga, acupuncture, etc., although it is all very good stuff it does not completely take away my pain.  I saw multiple docs in one week, one of them a specialist on the field who then sent me to another ultra-specialist who all agree; this is a lifelong issue.

The good news is is that the last specialist I saw did give me a shot in the spine that sent me into a horrific tizzy for about a week; and boy was it a painful tizzy, but I am better now.  So Rebels, please keep your fingers crossed that I can get these shots every three months for a little bit of pain relief!!!!  The timing was perfect because my back was feeling better just in time for me to deal with my next big change....

Which is losing my sons.  And to be perfectly honest, I suck at letting go.  I know that they are going to college and that they are doing the best thing for them, and that this is what is supposed to happen, but it still really hurts my heart.  I miss them sooo much it physically hurts sometimes.  And I know I'm not the only one out there; maybe I am the only willing to admit it, I don't know.

We took them to Gunnison, Co; the home of Western State College on Friday.  They will share a dorm room and will start classes on Monday.  Thomas already got a job and Austin has an interview today; so their lives are just going wonderfully!  My heart bursts with pride each and every time I get a text or a call or an email from one of them.  I really can't believe that my 2 sons are at college; to be honest I wasn't sure it could really happen.

These are two boys that come from homes that are not made of money.  As a matter of fact they are the first of both their families to ever have gone to college.  Thankfully, due to Austins legal circumstances (our adopting him) his schooling is entirely paid for with grants and loans (mostly grants-yeah!); but it really came down to the wire with our Bubby.  We have been selling things (anyone need a plow truck? ha!) and creative budgeting like no one's business.  I even swapped for some of his text books (review of book swapping sites to come in the following days, there are definite differences!).

Speaking of Austin's other home, that has been a constant source of stress this week also.  Since we have been a part of his life I have been very careful to include his other family and try to make one big happy family so that the boy does not feel as if he has to choose between the two.  I know that he loves his dad and his sisters and needs to keep contact with them; it is very important.  But this last week has just about killed me.  His Dad has let him down one too many times in my book.  As have the step mom and the sisters and the rest of them....I just couldn't take the hurt expression on my sons face any longer.  On the way up to Gunnison, I kept asking Tom what I could do to make up for the terrible week he had had, and all he kept saying is "Hon, you've got to let it go, you are already doing the best you can.  Just be who you are.  He knows how much WE love him."

I was telling my sister that I was so upset that Thursday, the last day I had with the boys had been such a stressful day because we had been running to Austins last dental appointments and needed to get their toiletries, etc.  And that at first I was wishing we had spent it differently, but when I looked back on it, I had been able to sneak in the fact that I had asked the dentist about cleft pallets and they are not related to fetal alcohol or drug abuse; a fact which Austin had grown up thinking and blaming his Mother for.  And when his Dad told him he wasn't coming home to say goodbye to his own son before he left for college; well I was there to buffer the blow and explain to Austin that it was because he just couldn't handle saying goodbye.

So, sometimes even a harried, stressful day can turn into one that is very meaningful to those we love.  That night when we got home, hours later than we had planned, our neighbors were waiting for us.  They were here gathered to say goodbye to our beloved boys.  They are the ones who truly love and respect these kids.  It's not always blood that makes a family.  We had my daughter's best friend and her Mom and sister.  The boys' best friend who is one year younger (poor kid getting left behind) and his family, who have truly become our dearest friends; and our beloved neighbors Dan and Judy over.  It was so perfect.

In the midst of all of this; I have been eluding to changes here at The Royal Ranch.  They have been a long time in the making I suppose, but it sort of came as a shock to me.  The biggest being that I have realized that I am probably not going to be doing pack jobs anymore.  There are times when my back is bad that I can't even make it up the stairs so it is a bit concerning to make a reservation for a pack trip up a mountain that is six miles one way.

Which really means that I have way too many llamas than I need.  And on top of it, I am losing my Great Pyr, Tia.  She has a cruciate tear that needs surgery that we cannot afford nor take care of after the surgery.  I am very blessed that the person who gave her to me is willing to take her back and pay for the surgery that I have arranged through a dear friend of mine and then care for her during her recovery stage....We will take it one day at a time after that.  The problem with caring for a dog that weighs more than I do, is that she will need to be physically moved, etc after her surgery.

So, I am slowly but surely placing my llamas, Tia will leave around the 13th of September, Paco my ram is going to Auction where he should pull a pretty good price and will not get eaten because Rams are yucky to eat and so I can finally feel comfortable taking an animal to auction and seeing how it all works.  I may replace the ram; the main reason he is going is because I would like to breed his daughter this year.  But the whole ghist of the ranch is changing a bit...

As a matter of fact, I had decided that I was going to do poultry.  That was until the neighbors dog killed one of my prize turkeys last week.  Yes, in the middle of my crazy week; I was in filling out paperwork with the boys which is how it happened because normally when the turks are out I have my eye on them at all times.  But this day, we were busy doing last minute stuff for the college, and I heard a ruckus and went out to find the dog eating my turkey.

Although they have offered to compensate me financially, it was very hard for me to determine a price on the first turkey.  First of all, the turkey was not harvested properly so I was unable to save the feathers which on these types of turkeys is a good portion of their value.  We, of course, were unable to save the meat after a dog had been eating it.  But what really bothered me the most was the waste of the whole thing.  I think you as Rebels know that I do not waste anything.

Let alone the amount of hard work and time and love that we all had put into these turkeys.  We knew that the turkeys were going to die; as a matter of fact we all were quite proud of the fact that these three were going to be the first animals that we actually planned on raising from the get go and eating.  Now we will not even be tasting our own hard work as the remaining two have already been sold to friends who have driven in our driveway, taken one look at those beautiful turkeys and asked if they were for sale.

So, my future business plans are as follows:  I am going to continue my writing; I think I may even finally have time to take that second childrens book out of my head and put it onto paper!  The ranch will continue to size down a bit, literally.  The llamas will find the right homes as they come along, and I will slowly grow my poultry/feather business as I feel it is safe.  The loss of my sons I guess I will get used to(?!?), but the loss of Shade....well, that was an indicator of times a changin' I'm afraid.

I would really love to hear from you Rebels.  Have you dealt with losing your children to college and if so what helped?  What about other losses and changes in your lives.....???

'Nuf Said!

Dear Rebels,

I recently went into my local feed store because I was entirely out of my regular organic/Non-GMO/no-soy feed for my poultry.  I have to tell you I was so totally caught off guard by the owners total lack of knowledge and even defense on the subject of Genetically Engineered feed that I even had myself wondering if this was a lost battle.  That was until I got back in the truck with my kids and my fifteen year old son said "Mom, I could tell you were getting really mad; and I understand your point.  I just don't think I can explain it".

That is when I realized that I am so passionate about this movement and how it has affected the growth of our children (really, did girls used to have boobs and bums that size?) that I have a hard time coming up with the proper words.  So, although I promised my regular readers a different post for next time, I read some wonderful news online today that really brings my point home; and PLEASE take the time to read the entire article; you don't want to miss paragraphs like this:

Many NaturalNews readers will recall the numerous incidents involving lawsuits filed by Monsanto against non-GMO farms whose crops were inadvertently contaminated by GM material. In many of these cases, the defendants ended up becoming bankrupted by Monsanto, even though Monsanto's patented materials were the trespassers at fault.

And:

But it appears that the tables are now turning. Instead of Monsanto winning against organic farmers, organic farmers can now achieve victory against Monsanto. In other words, farmers being infringed upon by the drifting of GM material into their fields now have a legal leg to stand on in the pursuit of justice against Monsanto and the other biotechnology giants whose "frankencrops" are responsible for causing widespread contamination of the American food supply.

Just like the title, "Nuf Said!