The adventure continues. Of course, the reason I got rats in the first place was to train my dogs for the canine sport of barn hunt. As...

I had figured out a few things even before my parents moved to the farm. I had figured out the concept of free food. I had grasped the...

I have held down my homestead -- living alone and without vision -- for almost eighteen years now. And I don't think it's an exaggeration...

Tonight's chore time began like any other, except for one critical detail. Tonight there was a chance of thunderstorms. We've had very...

This summer truly has dragged. When I glance reluctantly back at it, the time blurs into one, long, monotonous busyness. Milking twice a...

It was the morning of the Fourth of July, and Kola couldn't get up. I had carried the dogs' breakfast dishes into the laundry room where...

Back in January, I had a big birthday. I'm not going to tell you exactly how big, but it was a birthday big enough to make a person pause...

Rats just don't live very long. For some folks, that may not be much of a problem. But for unique and slightly crazy people like me, it...

So kidding season is over for this year. As usual per every year, this one was also full of ups and downs, weariness and worry, surprise...

Something was wrong. I stood there in the middle of her pen, one elbow propped on the fence, anxiously plucking at the towel I had slung...

My life didn't exactly flash before my eyes, but it did come close. I had been both anticipating and dreading this moment for weeks. If...

Today was one of the first, dazzling days of spring. Cascades of sunshine, the wind roaring in from the south, and temperatures flirting...

I listen for them every year. Every first week of March. Nights still chilly, but days getting warmer. And they're usually warm enough....

It took a while, but the dogs and I have finally gotten our Christmas present. It was a very big-box item, and it's homemade, thanks to...

This is the time of year when I begin checking udders. To the uninitiated, it may seem a little racy. But if you're a dairy-goat farmer,...

Endurance. Perseverance. Survival. It has been just as much of a psychological battle as a physical one over the past week and a half....

I never thought I'd live to see the day. I never thought Kola would, either. Thirteen. For a giant breed, the equivalent of a hundred and...

I have suspected for a long time that Drifter really isn't the world's greatest livestock guardian dog. And tonight, when I found a...

There is some weather in which I just won't walk. Some adverse conditions are obvious. Lightning and extreme heat, for example, are...

Both of us were seriously overdue for a haircut. Scotch got his this past Monday. Much like the last visit to the groomer, (all of six,...