So Many New Projects!

Have you seen?  I've been a very, very busy girl lately, with several big projects to help promote the farm.

First, I finally finished doing a total redesign of the farm's web site.  Not only does it have a whole new look, it also has more than twice as much information about (and pretty pictures of) the farm.  The address is still the same:  http://inglesideicelandics.com/.

The redesign took me forever, and I'm very pleased with the results.  I think it gives a much fuller picture of who we are, what we're doing, and where we hope to go from here.

Second, I've launched a project with Kickstarter.com to raise funds to get the equipment and supplies necessary to start making all of my luscious sheep's milk soap right here on the farm instead of hiring an outside crafter to make it for me.  I'm pretty excited about this, especially since the soaps have become our most popular product.  I just shipped my first order of soaps to Japan, where the charming buyer pronounced them "very splendid."  Isn't that sweet?

I've also been working on increasing our fan base on the farm's Facebook page.  I'm so honored that more than 900 people count themselves among our fans already!  I have so much fun interacting with the people there and sharing bits of daily life from the farm .

To celebrate all these projects, and express my appreciation for all the fans and customers who help make it all possible, I've decided to do not one, not two, but THREE big giveaways.

To keep the entries for the giveaways separate, I'm going to give details of them in three separate blog posts, coming right up:

Free Icelandic Fleece Giveaway
Free Handspun Wool Scarf Giveaway
Free Sheep's Milk Soap Giveaway

Ingleside Farm Felted Soap Giveaway!

Today is my birthday, and I want to give YOU a present!

Starting today, I am accepting entries for our big Felted Soap Giveaway. On March 15, I'll choose one winner at random. The winner will receive his or her choice of the following prizes:

(1) Deluxe Felted Sheep's Milk Soap Collection: Five bars of our fabulous felted sheep's milk soap, one in each of our five natural colors. Click the link above for details.


or (2) Deluxe Soap Felting Kit: Everything you need to felt your own soap. You get five bars of our fabulous sheep's milk soap, five 1-oz. bags of pure Icelandic sheep's wool, and a set of instructions. All you need to provide is a bowl of hot water and a few minutes of your time. Click the link above for details.


There are multiple ways to enter:

1. Become our fan on Facebook (If you're already a fan, that still counts).

2. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter, with a link to this page.

3. Write a relevant post about this giveaway to an appropriate online forum or group (Please don't spam your forums with inappropriate posts!)

4. Write about this giveaway on your blog, with a link to this page (you may use any of the photos above, if you like).

5. Post a link to this giveaway on your web site (you may use any of the photos above, if you like).

By doing more than one of the above activities, you can earn multiple entries, but only one entry per URL, please.

You must send an email to keepingthefarm@aol.com with details of your entries. Put "Felted Soap Giveaway" in your subject line.

Don't forget to include your name and an accurate email address, so I can let you know if you win!

Catching up

Okay, when it gets to the point where friends and family are actually PHONING me to ask what's wrong, because I haven't posted to my blog in several days, I guess it's time to catch up.

I was going to wait and write full-fledged accounts of everything that's been going on, but at this point, I think I'll just do a summary that will bring us back up to the present.

Here's what's been going on here in the past week:

1. Ken and I fenced a brand new pasture, using Premier's PermaNet fencing. The sheep have only been out there for 1 day so far, in grass so tall they have to wade through it like a jungle, so I have no comments so far on how durable the fence will be or how well it will keep in a determined sheep. But so far I give it an A+ for ease of setup and visibility.

2. One of my best lambs abruptly got a severe case of pneumonia, for no known reason, and---with a fever of over 107---seemed on the brink of death until I rushed to the vet to get a prescription for the antibiotic Naxcel, which I had heard was very good against pneumonia. It certainly was! Five days later, the lamb is back to perfect health and is out in the pasture with the rest of the flock.

3. We had a lovely Saturday off the farm, and visited with several friends that we had not seen in years.

4. I suffered a brief but unpleasant bout of E coli food poisoning. It put me out of commission for a couple of days, but I'm fine now.

5. I finished making my choices about which sheep and lambs to sell and which to keep. Then I updated my sheep website with new lamb photos and a complete sales list.

6. I had a near-disastrous training session with my Art Deco filly, Grace. Don't ask! Suffice to say, despite Grace's best efforts to the contrary, no permanent injuries were incurred by either horse or human.

Web Work

I've been neglecting the blog for the past few days because I've been very busy doing web site design work.

First, I'm doing a very extensive site for lovely Bloomin Acres Farm in Arkansas. It has many pages and is taking a lot of planning and organizing to get it all set up. It's not done yet, but when it is, I'll post a link.

Second, I just updated my sheep website in preparation for spring lambing time. I'm getting lots of inquiries for lamb sales already, and some folks came this past weekend to look at the flock and buy my ENTIRE selection of bargain, salvage, and sale fleeces. Now all I have left for sale are 12 premium fleeces. And I haven't even advertised, that's how well these fleeces sell!

And third, I just redesigned my sister's farm site and gave it its first update in several years. Horses, ponies, Maine Coon cats, chickens, goats, gorgeous mountain scenery... Lots of pretty photos on this one. Everyone should check it out!

I still have my horse website to update too, and horse for sale ads to update. I'm getting a little tired of staring at the computer all day every day---I can't wait for lambing season!

Not much else has been going on, on the farm. We had another big windstorm this weekend, and it completely shattered our sturdiest sheep shelter that Ken built. Fortunately no sheep were hurt when the wreckage flipped over and crashed to the other side of the paddock! But this is all the more reason why we need to build real, solid sheep shelters before next winter. I'm getting tired of all these ugly tarp shelters that can't handle our extreme wind!

Against the Wind

Senter's new house withstood the rain all night and---even more important---the tremendous onslaught of gusty wind all day today. It's getting to be the time of year when I don't appreciate living up here on the hill. The wind rips and rattles and crashes everything.

Our wind chimes, so soothing all summer, batter themselves to shreds. Anything we leave on the porch---lawn chairs, cat carriers, charcoal grills, you name it---get lifted, tossed, and sometimes tumbled to the other side of the yard. And unfortunately, the largest (and least sturdy) of the sheep shelters we built disassembled itself.

I knew it was going to happen, watching the way the wind was lifting it. I told Ken we needed to reinforce it before it tore itself to pieces. But by the time he finished Senter's shelter, it was getting dark and he was tired. And during the night the wind came.

So now, tomorrow we have to make a new shelter with a somewhat more permanent design, to withstand the wind.

I worked until midnight last night getting my horse website updated, and finally managed to post it online this morning. Today I've begun updating my online horse for sale ads, which ends up being ridiculously time consuming for how simple a task it is.

There's always something more to be done. It just seems weird that being a farmer ends up meaning I spend 90% of my time trying to market my items or livestock, and only 10% of my time actually working with them. And considering how much time I spend on marketing, you'd think I'd have a few more sales to show for it.

Just a (Mostly) Bad Day

We sheared some more sheep today. Overall, it went okay, but just lots of little things went wrong that turned it into a bad day.

Several of the sheep struggled and rolled themselves into the hay and leaves as we were catching them to be sheared... putting lots of leafy junk into the gorgeous prime fleeces, which we then had to brush and pick out before we could shear, or else the fleeces would have been contaminated.

Ken knocked over the container of vitamin drench that I was giving to each of the sheep after they were sheared, and it all spilled onto the ground and was wasted.

I badly sprained a muscle in my calf, so now walking is slow and painful.

A sheep Ken was leading got away from him and crashed into me from behind, causing me to cut myself on the gate I was opening at the moment.

The check from one of the people who is buying a horse from me has not arrived---more than a week late---and we were counting on that money to pay our mortgage payment, because we used our mortgage payment money to buy hay.

I'm getting really discouraged about the whole horse situation. I wish they could just be gone, so Ken wouldn't have to worry so much about money. I can't even update my website yet, to help sell them, because Ken is still copying files from my dead computer onto his computer.

On the bright side, while he was doing that, he discovered something that might indicate that he can fix my computer after all. We're copying the files over anyhow, because I don't dare to trust that my computer will be fixed until I see it working consistently for several days in a row!

One cool thing about today: my sister Donna, who is an award-winning nature artist, has crafted a gorgeous one-of-a-kind walking stick for me to sell to help my farm. How much do you think I should charge for it? Can you think of a better place to sell this kind of thing than EBay?

One-of-a-kind, hand-carved, hand-painted cherry wood walking stick. The sorrel and white pony has real horsehair mane and forelock, a rawhide war bridle, and decorative face painting. Four bells on colored thread finish his costume. The staff is oiled with a natural oil.

On a Roll?

I'm almost afraid to say too much, for fear of jinxing myself, but I'm beginning to have a little bit of hope that our luck may be changing.

After reading this blog, a fellow Icelandic sheep breeder---from whom I bought several sheep last year, including Paris, the gorgeous sheep in this photo---offered me the job of redesigning her web site for her.

I'm really pleased about getting the opportunity to bring in some more money doing something I enjoy doing, especially for such nice people. Designing websites for farms and other small businesses is something I have long thought of doing, but this will be my first paying job at it.

I have a lot of years of professional writing and editing experience, plus I get lots of compliments on my own websites, InglesideSportHorses.com, InglesideIcelandics.com, and KeepingTheFarm.com, so I think that I'll be able to do some good work. I know a lot of small farms don't have the time or inclination to want to build their own sites, so this is something I can help with.

On top of that, I got to meet a very nice couple today who came to look at our horses for sale. They stayed for a couple of hours. The young woman was very experienced and competent, so I would have no worries about what kind of care and handling a horse would get if I sold it to her.

She visited all the horses, and especially looked at Bonnie, Boo, and Penny. She said she liked all of them but price was a factor. I told her we're open to offers, so she and her husband are going to discuss it and get back to me.

It seemed pretty certain that she would make an offer on one or more of the horses. Whether it will be an offer we can accept remains to be seen---we can certainly be flexible to some degree, but we're not GIVING the horses away after I've invested this much into them---but I have hopes that we can work out some kind of deal.

The fun part of the visit was letting her take our stallion Senter out into the round pen to try out his gaits. He's such a pretty boy, and a gorgeous mover. It's always fun to play with him.

Next time I need to think ahead and take some video of him moving, to share on the blog.

After things quiet down around here (if that ever happens!) this fall, I need to continue with his saddle breaking too. Guess that will be video for the blog as well.

Our Website is Up At Last!

I've been working on our KeepingTheFarm.com web site, off and on, for a few weeks now. Today, I finally got it online!

It's not "finished" exactly---is any web site ever finished?---but I did add quite a bit of content, including photos, slideshows, and historical accounts about the farm in previous generations.

I'll be adding lots more as I get the chance. Meanwhile, stop in and look around!

Written in the Stars?

At the risk of sounding flaky, I'm going to confess: I decided to start this blog (and my Keeping The Farm website) because of a horoscope.

I wouldn't say that I "believe" in astrology, exactly. I just think it can sometimes be an interesting trigger for introspection. Specifically, I faithfully read Rob Brezny's Free Will Astrology every week because regardless of how the planets may or may not be aligned, I'm always inspired by his offbeat and uplifting view of life, the universe, and everything.

Seriously--if you're feeling depressed and overwhelmed by the rigors of modern life, give his website a read. I guarantee you'll feel better afterwards!

Anyway, back to my confession.

A little over a week ago, I was on the phone with my sister Donna and--as usual--we were discussing the challenges and rewards of farm life (Donna raises Maine Coon Cats and Welsh Cob Sport Ponies on her farm in northern Maine). Finances are hard for both of us right now, so we have a lot to commiserate about.

We got to talking about finding ways to generate more income. Eventually, we got around to wondering if we couldn't just put up a wish list or a request for donations on our websites. After all, there have to be some well-meaning people out there who dream about living on a farm who might be happy to give us a little help, right?

But then our deeply ingrained Yankee pride kicked in. No, we decided. That would be too "beggy" and kind of tacky. We'd muddle through some other way.

A couple days later, I got that week's horoscope from Rob Brezny in my email. For my sign, Aquarius, it said:

Consider writing an entertaining advertisement about yourself in order to attract the resources you'd like to play with. Or think about buying the domain name "showerblessingson[putyournamehere].com," then setting up a website where the world can send you business offers, marriage proposals, free gifts, and invitations to travel. The point is, Aquarius, that the upcoming weeks will be a perfect time to get very aggressive and highly specific about asking for what you need. Rev up the fun-loving parts of your imagination.

Now, most syndicated horoscopes are so generalized, the advice seems like it could apply to anyone. But Rob Brezny is different. Every now and then, he hits something so right on target with what is going on in my life that it's downright spooky.

For example, back in May 2004, Rob wrote this horoscope for Gemini, which is my husband's sign:

I lead a group called the Prayer Warriors. We petition God on behalf of people who need help in summoning divine intervention. Here's the prayer we'll be saying for your tribe in the coming months. Dear God: We beseech You to give a big, beautiful home to all Geminis who want one. If they aren't allowed to have that for karmic reasons, please grant them a comfortable apartment with no obnoxious roommates. If You can't manage that, bless them with a trailer that's free of mildew. If that's impossible, bestow on them a tent that doesn't leak and a cheap place to pitch it. If that's too much to ask, let them have their own tree house in a forest that's not too dark and scary. And if all that's out of the question, please at least help them feel at home in the world wherever they are.

We had been renting for years, waiting for "the right time" to buy. But a couple of days after reading that horoscope, we went house shopping. The first house we looked at was Ingleside. It was everything I had been dreaming of for our future home, and it was in our price range. We made an offer, and moved in by August. Thank you, Rob Brezny!

So, when this more recent horoscope specifically addressed the exact idea I'd already been contemplating, I decided to go for it. I started designing KeepingTheFarm.com.

A week passed as I honed my ideas for the website and also spent a lot of time working on other money-making ventures as well as doing the routine daily chores around the farm.

All week, I'd been turning a couple of questions over in my mind:

#1. Should I start a blog of my Keeping the Farm adventures, in addition to the website? and

#2. In light of our current financial crunch, should I try to sell off the majority of my horses (regardless of how much I might LOVE any particular horse and want to keep her), and keep only the few most valuable ones for future breeding?

Again, when this week's horoscope came in, Rob had answers for me:

It's the Season of Burning, Churning Yearning. Here are three of the most important things I've ever told you about how to get what you need. (1) If you don't precisely articulate your conscious desires, your unconscious patterns will come true instead. (2) If you want your conscious desires to trump your unconscious patterns, speak or write your conscious desires every day. (3) It's better to have three huge, soaring, potent desires than 25 puny, scrabbling, half-assed desires.

Write about my conscious desires every day? I'd say that's a "Yes" vote for doing a blog, wouldn't you?

And, metaphorically speaking, saying that having three huge soaring desires is better than 25 puny ones certainly could be interpreted as advice to keep only a few of my most valuable horses and sell the rest (even though they are anything but puny!).

Do I believe that all these things really are written in the stars? No. But when I'm facing a dilemma, I welcome good advice from a wise friend. And even though I've never met Rob Brezny, I think that his positive outlook on life qualifies him as just that.

No Hay, No Money... No Hope?

This was the worst it has ever been. In our dimly lit, dusty hay storage building, Ken counted the few remaining bales again and asked me, "Are we taking them all?"

A sick knot of worry clutched my stomach. Twenty-three bales of hay to feed 15 horses and a flock of nearly 50 sheep. It would last two days, at best. Where were we going to get the money to buy more?

Many of the horses are for sale--our first foal crop, now nearing weaning age, is spectacular, everybody says so--but so far we've had no serious buyers.
The sheep have sold well. A good portion of my lamb sales list is already spoken for, but the flock is still fairly small. Even at the relatively high prices commanded by our purebred Icelandic lambs, the flock can't generate enough income to pay for the 4,000 bales of hay we'll need to see us through the coming year if none of the horses sell.
Where have we gone wrong? Three years ago, when we bought this pre-Civil War fixer-upper farm and started planning this venture, I knew farming was hard. But I'm no stranger to either poverty or hard work. They didn't scare me. I was so excited to finally be living my dream of owning a farm, I was bursting with optimism. We'd do great. We'd make it work, no matter what.

Now it's like the farm is a leaky ship. We're bailing as fast as we can, but the debts keep pouring in faster and faster. Two years of widespread drought have made hay prices skyrocket, which in turn has driven horse sales into a deep slump.

Last spring, when we tried to save money by purchasing some less expensive hay, four mares colicked and we ran up over $10,000 in vet bills saving their lives.

Of the three mares that we purchased pregnant, thinking that the sales of their foals could generate some income until we got our own breeding program underway, one turned out not to be pregnant, and another miscarried a set of twins. So instead of the expected 3 foals our first year, we only got one--plus another hefty vet bill for the mare who miscarried.

After we'd spent all of our immediate renovation budget fencing the pastures and making desperately needed repairs to the house's kitchen and bathroom, our furnace developed a crack and upon further inspection, the house's whole prehistoric heating system ended up having to be replaced.

As did all those enormous windows, which, according to the realtor were original to the house. It sounded good at the time--so historic and quaint--until winter came and we discovered we were paying $800 a month to heat all the great outdoors (but not the living room), because those huge windows were so rotten and leaky.

Our 14-year-old Nissan Sentra--which Ken had owned since before he met me--died, and we had to buy a replacement vehicle: a used Subaru Outback with enough room in back to haul a week's supply of horse grain or four live sheep.

Ken has a great job, but his income all goes to paying our mortgages, utilities, and other bills, and to put food on the table. It's my responsibility to make this farm pay--or at least break even. I knew it was going to be hard, but until that moment, standing there in the rapidly emptying hay building, I hadn't been afraid that I would fail.

"Are we going to take them all?" Ken asked again.

I hoisted one of the few remaining bales and stacked it with the others in the back of the pickup truck. "We have to," I said. "The animals have to eat."

~~~~~

This farm, this life, is still my dream-come-true. I'll make it work somehow, even if it means resorting to measures I never dreamed I'd have to take.

Going public with my problems in a blog is very hard for me, because I'm a fairly private person. I don't talk a lot, and I don't normally assume that people want to hear about my troubles.

But I've decided to use this time of financial struggle as an opportunity for personal growth. I've decided to open up to the possibility of unknown opportunities and unexpected bounty from the universe. I think that to be worthy of such bounty requires an act of courage and a willingness to change. So this blog is mine.

To learn more about our sheep and horses, please visit our farm websites: InglesideIcelandics.com and InglesideSportHorses.com.

I've also started a new website, KeepingTheFarm.com, just to document our adventures as we try to keep this farm afloat. I'll be adding lots more content as time goes on. There'll be photos, video clips, maybe even some entertaining audience-participation stuff eventually. When new lambs are born or a young horse is saddled for the first time, it'll be almost like you're here on the farm with us.

If our story inspires, entertains, or touches you at all, please share it with your friends. We can use all the well-wishers we can get!

Thanks for listening!

--Nancy