Our doggies rule the roost! Caymus is our 4th Bernese Mountain dog and was born in April 2018. All our Berners have had wine-related names: Riedel, Opus, Shafer and now Caymus.
Harper is a “Puddin’ Foot” Jack Russell Terrier and was born in 2010. She was rescued and had a career as a professional tracking dog. When Shafer went missing in October 2015, Harper and her friends helped find him. She retired and we adopted her. I wrote a children’s book about the ordeal and you can find it on Amazon, complete with doggie signatures! https://a.co/d/hw26MIA
Willow is a Great Pyrenees and was born circa 2018. She is a rescue and lives outdoors with the goats to protect them from coyotes and other predators.
We have always had 2 barn cats whose “official” names were Antony and Cleopatra. But that’s too hard to say so we’ve just called them boy cat and girl cat (with the occasional wandering stray called “extra cat”. Our current boy cat (given name Frankie) was re-homed with us in 2023 from an elderly lady moving to assisted living. They live in the potting shed loft when they aren’t out mousing.
Raising chickens was always something I wanted to try. I started with a small, pre-fab coup and quickly discovered the downsides – difficult to harvest eggs, difficult to clean, no place for the chickens to wander. We expanded to a larger, walk-in coop, which solved several issues. We let them free-range until my husband witnessed a hawk carry one off. Then we built a fully enclosed large chicken yard. We also added an automatic door, which freed us from being tied to the chickens roosting schedule. As most of you know, everyone eats chicken. Our experience with that includes the aforementioned hawk, foxes, raccoons and weasels. Our dogs have even had “incidents”. Nevertheless, we have persisted. I get plenty of eggs for our household and often have more than enough to share with my sister, who is a fabulous baker. JC the rooster is named for our farm helper, and the hens are named for my first girlfriends when we moved to Homecoming.
My husband has wanted goats (as pets) every since he saw some at our local farmers market. I resisted until Christmas of 2022 when I surprised him with 2 goats, and shed and had part of the pasture fenced. Our
Honeybees fascinate me! Before I started I took a beginners class from NABA (Nashville Area Beekeepers Association) and found a mentor – both invaluable! My mentor shared that beekeeping helps you stay attuned to nature and the seasons. She was so right! I only maintain 2 hives. It’s hard to keep them alive. Between weather, hive beetles, wax moths, Varoa mites, swarms and starvation and the cryptic colony collapse disorder its a challenge but well worth it. I’ve been able to harvest honey a few times and it is so rewarding.
