Major Change

A lot has changed on the Grand Mad Farm since the last post.  The Grand Mad Farmer was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, discovered quite by accident during a routine ultrasound of my abdomen in the Spring of 2010.  After several consultations and tests, I had 2/3 of my pancreas and all of my spleen removed in April of this year, while staying with my Mom in Phoenix.  While the surgery was successful, I had a lot of set-backs during recovery, including another minor heart attack, and missed most of the summer here in Texas. I am scheduled to start chemotherapy next week, and while I am not looking forward to the treatment, it is my understanding it should not have any major side effects. So I will deal with it as it comes. It is good to be back home.

One of the hardest things I did before leaving for surgery was to sell all the sheep. I was worried about their well-being if I wasn't around every day, and as it turned out it was the right decision. I was gone for 3 months, and during this time not a drop of rain on the Grand Mad Farm.  What little grass is left is brown and crunchy, and I would have had to be feeding the sheep bagged food, which would have been too heavy for me to lift under my current circumstances. I thought of them often during my time away as I had not realized how much I thought of them all.

Jack, Janet and Worthless Buddy have adapted to just being farm dogs rather than livestock guardians, and hang around the Grand Mad trailer house most of the time.  The chicken loss from predators was high, but there are 4 hearty chicken souls still alive and have taken to living under the trailer.  The 4 greyhound girls are back home with me after a summer in foster care.  We lost Joe in May due to heart failure at 15, but they sent me his ashes to spread out on the farm when it cools off a little this Fall. So here we are, 53 acres of land and all us survivors are all collected in one tiny spot.

Three wild turkeys have taken up residence down by the kennel barn and I will try to get a picture of them.

I don't know what the next chapter is for the Grand Mad Farm.  I am taking stock of the situation and will try to lead us in the right direction.