Glow in the Dark...Sheep?

Nothing terrible exciting to update you all on.  Spring is here and it feels wonderful.  I makes me want to get a dog and wander through the woods together.  I'm thinking of this possibility at the end of summer, when I'm out of my summer housing and in my more permanent residence.  I suppose I don't have to have a dog to wander through the woods, but it makes it more exciting.  And the house I'm in this summer is beautiful, I just wish I didn't have to pack up and move again in four months...

A phone call from my old friend at Thanksgiving Farm reminded me this morning that I made the greatest decision - leaving Thanksgiving Farm.  Unfortunately things there are pretty much a load of crap.  I can't believe the things he has gone through since I left.  It's a beautiful place, but horrendous people in leadership positions.  
 
I found this article and thought I'd love sheep a whole lot more if they did this.  Read on!  It's interesting!

Glow in the Dark Sheep 

Day 1

Day 1...again. I'm at The Ranch, located in my home state Vermont. Day 1 wasn't to exciting. I'm working in the other departments and next week I'll be on the Farm Crew. I'm just excited to get to the point where I'm not new, I know my job, and I have friends. All that takes time, but I just am feeling a little impatient.

I am a little worried that I'm not terribly excited about what I'm doing. Don't get me wrong! I still love farming! But I miss dairy cows. The Ranch has about 20 beef cows, 6 pigs that they buy weaned, some chickens (not even enough to supply 100% of the eggs) and 6 sheep. I just came from a place where we had 206 animals! That was a little too many. This number will be good, but I want more involvement of residents with animals. That's why I believe so much in dairy as a therapeutic program for people. But, good things take time, and after I've been here for a year I can start (hopefully) increasing the program. Of course that cost money, so it'll have to make sense. But what about bees!? What about more chickens so we can eat our own eggs? I think I said this all before so I won't repeat myself. I understand that first priority is the residents. But there could be more to add to their experience!

But, I'm not going to lie: I'm missing The Farm right now. There is so much potential there that in my opinion, is not being tapped into. I'm also not going to lie and wish that I was there. And I'm not going to lie again and say that there are still problems there that I cannot get back into - A LOT needs to change before i could ever work there again. And if I'm meant to be there, it'll happen.

In the meantime, I'm going to make The Ranch home. It'll be home eventually. And I'm going to take the time to put into things I never got to do or avoided:

1) mechanics! HUGE.
2) learn more about budgeting (in a more supportive environment)
3) bees!
4) understand more about sheep
5) invest more energy into haying/plants

I'm here. I'm invested.

The Feeling of Familiariity

I'm up in Vermont today, starting the cleaning of the house that my friend Flint (she's from Flint, MI) and I will hopefully be moving into.  It's a HUGE house - 4 bedroom house built in 1882.  Thankfully we'll have it leased through the end of August.  I really don't want to move again, but I definitely do not want to pay the winter heating bill on that thing.  It'll give us time to find something a little more economical.  The word on the street is that one of the neighbors would like to move in there from their 2 bedroom plus loft apartment.  Fingers crossed they want too - they are a family of 5 after all- and we'll do a little flip.  They already seem a little outgrown, and I can't wait to be in a place I can call home for a good, long time.  I'm tired of moving.

While driving to go pick up my mom, I was listening to the radio when the voice of a DJ came on the country station I use to listen too all the time while milking cows in college.  The feeling that came over me was of familiarity - warm, comforting, relaxing.  Even watching the local news tonight, I loved the feeling.  I haven't really been away from Vermont for that long - 5 years.  I'm happy to be back.  How long I'll stay I do not know - I know I have to stay at this job for at least 2 years to make up for my 8 month stint in NY.  It was hard enough trying to explain that fiasco, I can't imagine trying to explain two jobs of short periods.

In the mean time, I'm trying to get my brain wrapped around working again.  I'm nervous about the job - part of me is not really excited, but part of me is.  As my friend told me last night it's understandable.  After all I went through with Thanksgiving Farm, being so excited about it and having so much hope, it came to a bitter end.  The other part of me though, is thinking of ways to make the program at The Ranch bigger and better - bees! dairy cows! breeding pigs! more chickens!  But I know that The Ranch wants me to go slow.  Which is probably for the best, especially if another part of me is not feeling terribly excited.

Oh, Texas was lovely.  I love my nephews so very much.  Hopefully I'll be able to see them again by the end of the year! 

Howdy Y'all

I'm visiting my bro and his family in Texas. The boys, Gideon (4) an Elisha (1) are lovely. I had to baby sit them today. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous. But both boys were very well behaved and cute as buttons. It's just another reminder though that I'm not ready to have kids any time soon. Or really ever.

Hopefully on Tuesday I'll be spending the day in Austin. Then I'll be taking off back to New England, and then hopefully moving up to a place in Vermont. I'm getting a little anxious - I just want to be settled somewhere before I start my new job on the 25th. I feel like that may not happen though...

Well that's all my adventures for now. Not terribly exciting I know. But I'm enjoying my time still.

Vacation

I'll be honest - I have not done much at all since I've been on vacation.  I'm totally approving my 3 week break, it's lovely.  So I shouldn't be super hard on myself right?  

The weather has finally been gorgeous for the past couple of days, and I've been taking advantage of that by getting some really hard workouts in.  I'm not playing rugby currently - no health insurance, and I don't want to pay for the ever expensive COBRA when my health insurance will kick in May 1st.  One of the captains on my team is pretty angry at me, but everyone else is really supportive and understanding.  I know Nevada, and know that really she's just disappointed that I'm not out on the pitch with her.  She just can't express it super well.  So the next best thing I can do is to get back into rugby shape so when that first game comes May 4th and I'm playing my old team the Burlygirls, I'm back to my old rugby self.  I'm a little happy about not playing right away, I'm not going to lie.  I'm nowhere near fit to play rugby.

I've been enjoying spending time at my old farm, but I am ready to move one.  I love seeing my dear friends, but I'm ready to get to VT to start my new chapter.  Tomorrow I leave for Texas which will be super exciting, I haven't seen my brother or his family since 2011.  I'm not sure if I'll stay at The Farm when I get back from TX or not.  But right now it's the only consistent spot where my kitty and I can stay together and I hate leaving him.  Though he's pretty happy right now.  I think he likes being around lots of people again.

Making Bacon That's Healthier for You

Found this article and had to share!! Though I always get a little conflicted - it's definitely not natural, but at the same time it could boost your standard agriculture.  Hhhmmm...

Making Bacon That's Healthier for You 

If you think scientists never do anything useful, consider this: A team of researchers may have found a way to make bacon that's good for your heart. This stunning achievement comes from a mixture of molecular genetics, cloning, and good old American know-how.

The key to this delicious prospect? A modified gene that changes some of the omega-6 fatty acids — which pigs normally create — into omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega 3 is the healthy fat you get in oily fish and flax seed. It's generally thought that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids helps prevent heart disease. 

The first animals to get this gene were mice. Like all mammals, mice make mostly omega-6 fatty acids. But Jing Kang, a scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, found that mice who got this gene converted significant amounts of their omega-6 fatty acids into healthy omega 3s.

When University of Pittsburgh scientist Yifan Dai learned about Kang's work, he immediately sought to make it work in bigger animals. The idea of rewriting the rules of a healthy diet appealed to him. "I realized we wouldn't need to only eat fish any more," he says. If the gene worked, "we can eat livestock, pork or maybe beef."

Dai decided to start with pigs, and put the modified gene into pig cells in his lab at Pittsburgh. But to get the gene into real live porkers, he turned to Randall Prather of the pig cloning center at the University of Missouri. Prather also liked the idea of a healthy breakfast: "I would like to get up in the morning and have some omega-3 bacon that was good for me," he says.

Prather's team took Dai's pig cells containing the modified gene and used traditional cloning techniques to transform these cells into embryos that would grow into healthy baby pigs. They took normal pig eggs, removed their DNA and replaced it with a Pittsburgh pig cell.

As soon as the eggs started dividing like normal fertilized eggs, the team put them back into pig mothers. Three months, three weeks and three days after transferring these embryos — the normal time for pig gestation — five litters of cloned piglets were born. 

As Dai and Prather had hoped, these modified piglets had much more omega -3 fatty acids than normal pigs. And one particular piglet, Piglet 4, had particularly high levels. Unfortunately, he also had a heart condition, which meant he wouldn't live long enough to breed.

Prather decided to clone Piglet 4, and last November, a litter of Piglet 4 clones was born. These five piglets will form the basis of a breeding herd of pigs that make high levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

Unfortunately, this does not mean that heart-healthy bacon will be on supermarket shelves any time soon. Bob Wall of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Research Service cautions that it's too early to say if these animals will grow into adult pigs that have the right kinds of fat, in the right kinds of places.

And the Food and Drug Administration will want to take a good, long look at these pigs to be sure they're safe to eat. It will also take at a few years to breed enough of these pigs to bring them to the market.

Update!

It's been a while since I've been around!  Things are busy, as you can assume.

My last week of work at Thanksgiving Farm was busy and eventful.  Trying to help set things straight for my departure and packing, I was pretty swamped.  My last day of work was wonderful, with multiple going away gatherings for me.  I was surprised, to be honest!  I haven't made a lot of friends down there, and it felt nice to be appreciated and to know that some people did care about me.  

I got all packed up on Saturday afternoon with help from a dear friend, and heading back to The Farm and have been there since.  It's great to be back at The Farm, a perfect place to just get my barrings again.  I was offered and accepted the position at The Ranch, and will be starting April 25th.  I'm really happy with my decision - it's the sort of environment I need to work in for a while.  I'm also close to my parents, some old friends I grew up with, only 2 hours from Albany, MA, and Burlington.  Perfect.  And the flexibility to go and see all those places!  Woo woo!

I am also very relieved that I don't have to work for three weeks!  I'm taking much needed Angie time.  I'm going to Texas next week to see my brother and his family.  Being at The Farm, like I said, is a wonderful "respite" and it's great to be around supportive people again. 

That's about it!  I'm sleeping a lot - I didn't realize how exhausted I apparently am.  Playing rugby - sssoooo wonderful to be out on the field again.  The first game is this weekend though...not sure if I'm ready for that quite yet!  I'm feeling more confident and comfortable than ever, a lovely feeling.

"A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at her."  ~David Brinkley