When Your Bucket List Becomes Unmanageable

There aren't enough hours in a day to do everything on your list, maybe it's time for a break

We hiked down the hill to look at a tiny lot for sale. The land was beautiful, even though I stood in a field of grass that I’m highly allergic to, with the fronds up to my chest. I needed the break given our travel schedule and the shift from Miami to Istanbul. Landing at the farm was a well-needed break before our planned road trip north.

Sometimes you just need to rest and soak in the quiet.

My actual blood pressure is excellent, given the exercise regimen my husband insists on after my surgery. Yet my heart rate is too high, especially when any amount of rise is included in our walk or hike. It spikes, and within seconds, I can’t breathe. My physician told me to stop worrying about the numbers and start living my life. But how am I to do this when the slightest increase in elevation is a problem?

Walking in Miami and Istanbul is fairly easy, and I can walk miles without there being a problem. However, with a lot of the summer spent at our farm, and given that we live on the side of a mountain, it is time for a second opinion.

My favorite walk is along our back driveway through the forest.

The horse meadow below was fenced, and the two very spoiled rescue race horses have a place to run. Happy horses, happy parents. The first round of hay has been cut and covered for them to eat later when they need.

The highlight of this month has been the puppies. A local shepherd had a female Kangal guard dog about to give birth. If you aren’t familiar with Kangals, they are big herding dogs that the shepherds here use to take care of their flocks. The dogs protect the flock whether the shepherd is there or not. In the mornings, the dogs take the flock up the mountain, and at sunset, they bring them home again.

They are great at herding any large group of animals, but especially sheep and goats. These are fierce dogs and aren’t really used here for family pets (it happens, but I wouldn’t recommend it).

The vet friend of my husband wanted to move the shepherd’s female to our farm so she would be safe, given there is no barn or other shelter for her first litter out in the grazing area. The dog had no name, so we dubbed her “Mama Dog,” and within three days, she had captured all our hearts. The little guy below was named Javier by my son. He was the pick of the litter until he got sick. Now my son is feeding him special food to get him back on track, and the vet is watching closely.

The vet’s plan has gone well. Too well, in fact. The puppies are twice the normal size of typical puppies for this breed, and we are happy that with her first litter, all have survived, and except for Javier, are all very healthy. However, the food cost has doubled. They eat like horses.

Once the pups began eating dry food, Mama Dog got bored and jumped the fence. She immediately went up the hill to our neighbor’s land and stayed with the goat herd. At sunset, she would come back. The vet decided it was time for her to go home, even though the puppies needed to stay for a while longer. He estimated 45 days for this to happen, and MD was ready to go home at day 41. Good vet.

This little girl below will stay with us permanently. One of the other boys will also stay, but the rest have already been spoken for by other farmers in the area, and of course, the shepherd wants Javier. 

The two puppies we keep will live with our Akbash, Murphy, below. His breed is also supposed to be a great dog for farm protection, but I’ve loved him too much. He is a farm couch potato who eats chickens for fun. It’s been a real effort by everyone working and living on the farm to get Murph into a pattern where the chickens are safe, and he can do his job. He’s supposed to herd them, not eat them, but he never got the memo.

Other highlights? A swarm of young bees was trained how to fly by their parent bees. They swarmed, and my husband and our beekeeper friend made them a new hive so they wouldn’t roam and leave the farm. It was very interesting watching the bees leave their hive, swarm, and then decide to rest on the bush nearby.

The orchard is growing, as is the vineyard. We will have serious fruit this year. I’m supposed to learn how to make wine this year. Wish me luck. I’ll keep you posted on how that works out.

Can you imagine 8 of these guys below? They look so small now, but I remember how fast Murph grew, so within months, these guys will be 50 pounds or more.

They follow our farm manager around like she is the Pied Piper. Down the hill to the barn, then back up to Chickenville, where they all sleep together under the largest chicken coop. There are paw prints everywhere.

They are a fun bunch. I will be sad to see them go, but it’s been a very good experience. Here’s Dave and his girlfriend below.