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Moose Manor Farms

They're Married!

1/18/2011

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My younger brother Michael married his long time (8 years) companion Stacie this past Saturday.  I flew out to California to be with the rest of my family for the event.
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It was an absolutely gorgeous warm & sunny day. Perfect for a lovely outdoor ceremony.
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Our immediate family was all in attendance and looking pretty spiffy.
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Mom, Me, Big Mike, Bob, Michele, Britney


There was also an interesting traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony. Michael and Stacie served tea to certain members of their families and received well wishes and gifts
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Beginning the Tea Ceremony


Then there were more family photos
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Me, baby-bro Bob, Mom
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Aunt & Uncle Kathy & Blaine
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Brother Bob with his wife, Michele, and daughter Britney


Then the newlyweds made their entrance to the reception and a scrumptiously delicious dinner was served!
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Then we danced the night away! 

What a wonderful and beautifully orchestrated event.  Big, giant best wishes go out to my brother Michael and his new wife Stacie!

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From mercy to mourning...

9/14/2010

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Mercy
Kiss me mother kiss your darlin'
Lay my head upon your breast
Throw your loving arms around me
I am weary let me rest

Everyone I know, including me, imagines living a long, rich life and not one of us ever wants to get to that eventual point, when you're old and your body is failing you, when quality of life diminishes beyond negotiation.  Who wants to become too confused to recognize cherished family members or get to the point that you’re unable to take care of life’s most basic necessities on your own?  I don’t want that for me or for those I love.

Last week I helped my most loyal companion to die with dignity.
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Cooper 2010
Recently, my American Mastiff, Cooper, was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of lymphoma.   In fact, it was moving so swiftly that by the time she started to look like she wasn’t feeling very well the cancer had already taken over.  Literally, one day she was playing and wrestling with Flynn in the yard and the next she looked really tired.  A few days after that I noticed some odd lumps in her neck and when we went to the doctor to have them checked he told me she had a month to live at most.

Needless to say, I was crushed.

I know that right now I have some family and close friends who are angry that I didn’t call them when I got this diagnosis.  To be perfectly honest, I was selfish and wanted to spend uninterrupted time with her without focusing on her illness. I put her on a high calorie diet in an attempt to keep her from losing weight so rapidly but, otherwise, I tried to keep our normal routine.  

At the risk of sounding unappreciative, I just couldn't take the well meaning phone calls or cards and letters while I was desperately clinging to simply concentrating on her remaining time.  I wanted to just sit with her quietly and keep her as comfortable as I could.  She was aging significantly and losing weight every day so it was clear to anyone who looked at her that she was ill.  I just told those folks that she was getting old and wasn’t feeling well.

Cooper 2007
I grieved for her eventual loss every single day.  When I wasn't with her I would spontaneously break out in sobs at any given moment.  I felt like she was already gone and I would really have to struggle to bring myself back and remember that I still had time with her.  Each time I would renew myself to putting on a happy face so that when I saw her next, Cooper could too.

She seemed truly happy and wagged her tail often.  She didn’t appear to be in any pain but she was clearly very tired so she slept a lot.  A few times I tried to feed her a special diet without also giving the unnecessary calories to Flynn but Cooper refused to eat it unless I put it into a communal bowl where she could share it with her sister.  Maybe it was Flynn's excitement at the "treat" that made her happy. But eventually, she gave up on eating altogether. 

Cooper 2007
I believe it’s important to face death with dignity and grace. Can a body in great pain, suffering, or weakened mentally demonstrate personal poise and self-respect? Probably not.  I didn’t want Cooper to get to the point that she was in pain, could no longer go out into the yard herself, or to become too confused to know where she was.

After the second day that she wouldn’t eat, she was growing weaker so I called this really wonderful mobile veterinarian that a friend of mine uses for house calls.  Dr. Flake and I talked about the options and discussed how I would know it was time.  Refusing food was certainly my first sign.

That evening when I got home from work I saw that Cooper was now blind.  It was a terrible shock to me since I didn’t know that this was common with lymphoma.  She still wanted to go outside on her own so I walked beside her to keep her from running into things.  On top of the blindness I noticed some anxiety and confusion in her.  I told myself that was to be expected under the circumstances.  But I knew it was time, so I scheduled an appointment for Dr. Flake to come the next afternoon.

In the morning Cooper was a bit more energetic and she was much more lucid but as the day wore on she was increasingly frustrated by her blindness and also very weak, wobbly and tired.  I spent the day with her out in the yard, most of that time was spent in her very most favorite sunny spot on the back deck.  That was where I told the doctor that Cooper would be the most comfortable.

Cooper & Flynn 2008
At 4:30 pm on Friday, September 10th Cooper rested her head in my lap, I stroked her soft lambskin ears and she quietly slipped away. 

She lived with dignity and grace and I wanted her to take as much of that with her as possible… she did.

Memory is the one mercy that grief offers us… Flynn and I will miss our most amazing, loving and loyal companion. 

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

November 17, 2004 – September 10, 2010

Have pity on me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my spirit and my body with grief. Psalm 31:9

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I'm Moonlighting as tour-guide

8/28/2010

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Mom & Me on the Mall
This week my mom and her friend came out from California to visit for a couple of days so, of course, we three played tourist for a bit.  The only time I really get out to see the sites is when I have guests in town... otherwise it's just the daily grind and then home again.   It's always fun to get out there and revisit the interesting stuff we have in DC.  I mean, I see the Capitol Building every day on my way into work.... but it still never gets old.  And the memorials are great - the Korean War Memorial is my favorite followed by the FDR Memorial. 

Korean War Memorial
Korean War Memorial

I don’t know if it’s because I’m a patriot or if it’s the newness of living in our nations capitol, but I never tire of seeing the monuments. It brings our country’s birth into perspective for me every time.  Seeing that small seed of our independence  planted by bold, intrepid, and strong willed people building a new life in a new place; watching the historical timeline to see it germinate; and follow our

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FDR Memorial

founding fathers trial and error while they tend its frail leaves with their own brand of hard hewn and hard headed individuality until it grew into the strong and vigorous grove it is today.  It's amazing to me every time to see how we got from there to here.

And the monuments always pull at the heartstrings.  It’s important to remember that they aren’t dedicated to the celebration of war but as a remembrance to those who gave their lives so that we could remain free… or so that other nations could live free in a republic (for which it stands, one nation, under God, with Liberty and Justice for all). 

We saw all the monuments on the Mall but there wasn’t time to take them to Arlington – which isn’t something you breeze through.  We visited a sampling of the 9 Smithsonian’s that DC has on offer, and had a wonderful dinner at the house with my closest friends.  It was a lot of activity to pack into only 2 days but I had a great time.

Bread Line
                                                              Breadline at the FDR Memorial

Mom got to spend some time with the granddogs and Savannah Kitty who she hadn’t seen in a long time.  And she  was finally able to meet the chickens, ducks and geese and see my little operation.  Buffy the Orphington had just hatched out her second brood of the season so I had 10 brand new little baby Silkies, Ameraucana’s, and Naked Neck Turkins to fascinate over.

The ducks were skittish because something scared them pretty good the first day she was here.  I still don’t know for sure what’s terrorizing the birds but the ducks and geese stayed in their duckyard or very close to it for those few days.

Today I was out there catching up on chores all day and after I chased them out into the barnyard for exercise, sunshine and fresh pasture they decided that it was safe as long as I was out there walking around so there were a lot of happy little chortles as they found the tastier bugs.  I reckon we’re back on track and I’m glad to see everyone acting like they should.
Pretty Girl Muscovy 8/28
Pretty Girl mostly recovered

The Muscovy have spent the last 3 weeks in “sickbay” after a really horrible hawk attack in early August.  All 5 were terribly maimed and I wasn’t sure 3 of them would even make it through the night.  I did lose Freckles on the second day but everyone else miraculously pulled through and all their wounds have healed up so well!

When I found them after the attack, I got them all cleaned up and then I applied new dressing on their wounds  twice a day and got them on vitamins and probiotics (Rooster Booster is awesome!).  They all stayed in a little corner of the barn sleeping most of the time for the first few days.  Then when they weren’t hanging out in the barn, they were confined to a relatively small yard covered with bird netting and salted with straw to keep them all clean.  Pretty Girl took the longest to come out of the barn and to heal but her wounds were the worst, except for Freckles.  Eventually, I gave them a pool to swim and get themselves cleaned-up in with a good dose of vinegar to keep the bacteria in check.  I was really amazed at how quickly and thoroughly they recovered… you can hardley see any scaring, it's totally amazing.

Today I took down their portable fence and let them free into the barnyard… they were so happy to roam and hunt for bugs and I was happy to see them enjoying that again.  I’ll miss Freckles though.  She was so friendly and would come running up to me when I came out in the barnyard. 

This week I’ll expand the primary duckyard, effectively tripling the space to about 250’ x 250’, then put a bird netting roof over the top of it.  I’ll move the Muscovy into the regular duckbarn with the rest of the flock (since they’ve been sleeping in MY barn for the last 15 weeks) and everyone will stay in the duckyard when I’m not home and only come out to range on the rest of the property when I get home from work and on the weekend.  I’ve lost 20 ducks in the last 15 weeks so it’s far too dangerous for them to be out from under cover when I’m not there.



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    Dana

    About Farmrgirl

    Small town Calif. farm-girl leaves the ranch behind for many years of adventure at sea, travels the world, then moves to Washington DC in 2007 where she finds the perfect homestead to settle down: acres of secluded Southern Maryland woods where she goes granola by raising her quality of life, Mastiffs, ducks, chickens, and tomatoes {& one Bengal kitty}... sustainably.


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