Friends

As 2010 draws to a close I take stock and give thanks for all the love and luck that has come my way this past year. I am healthy and able to take care of my animals. My kids are doing well in their respective professions. Mia is going to marry a great guy she's crazy about and vice versa. It's a match made in heaven. They still like me at my school, where it's okay to be quirky and different. Matt's non-profit energy group is thriving and doing more weatherization trainings than ever. He is traveling to conferences in San Francisco and New Orleans this spring to teach and learn. I have supportive friends who amaze me with their generosity and willingness to give up their time to help me get by. There are not a whole lot of people who do what I do with sheep, or even understand what I do or why I do it, but Kim and Libby do. When Libby and her sons drove up with that giant horse trailer full of hay, bringing me my new ram she kept for the last six months for me, I was overwhelmed. Pete was all over the barn, taking apart motors to try to fix my elevator. Niko and Mia caught sheep for Libby to ultrasound so I knew what to expect. When the elevator couldn't be fixed, Libby and her sons carried all that alfafa up an icy slope to stack it for me. The truck and trailer became hopelessly stuck and one phone call to Stan brought him across the valley in the dark with his tractor to pull them out. Kim and her entire family are coming to farm sit in February so I can go to Mia's wedding...not an easy task with lambs dropping and storms coming through. The list goes on and on. I am one lucky ducky.