It Finally Feels Like Fall!

Can I get an "Amen!"?



For those of you not living in PA, up until about 48 hours ago, we were experiencing near-rainforest conditions - humid, rainy and 80 degrees - for seemingly weeks on end.

Then, literally, overnight, we dropped to normal fall temperatures and much drier.

Common late-afternoon view here in autumn!

On that note, I thought I would share some fall photos....and, of course, a few cute photos of the growing kids!

As most of you already know, my time at the private salon in Oley, PA was very short-lived.

The young owner, inexperienced in life and in personnel management, was unclear in her expectations.  During our interview, she shared that the position was commission-based and made it sound like I was not expected to just "hang out" at the salon for hours on end when I had no appointments.  I thought I had made it clear to her at that time that I only wanted to work part-time, about 20 hours per week.


What she ACTUALLY wanted was someone to be at the salon from open to close Tuesdays thru Thursdays and Saturdays, regardless of when or how many appointments were booked for me "just in case" someone called for a last minute appointment.  BUT...there would be no hourly rate to compensate me for my time "hanging out".  Ummm...

Additionally, after that first week she had decided that my personality was "too outspoken" and "too strong" for her and, apparently, the Oley community.  I have to chuckle at that...I wonder what they'd say about my husband!

Oh well!  I have since had time to reflect.  Now, I strongly believe that this all worked out for the best.

It gave me a chance to reevaluate my goals, dreams and purpose in this life.  I was becoming too focused on things counter-productive to my mental, spiritual and physical health.  Too self-centered and money-driven.  Less dependent on the things that really matter - my faith in Christ, my family.

(These last two weeks of unemployment have been quite refreshing!)

To make a long story short, I am going back to Holiday Hair in Exeter, PART-time and only occasionally on a Sunday.

So what if its a corporate-owned salon, if that's what works for me at this time in my life.  I really cared about and enjoyed both the young ladies I worked alongside and my clients there! My manager at Holiday understands my need for more family time and time to help my husband with the data entry and billing for Westbrook Enterprise, his growing business.

When I was about to sign up for cosmetology school, Don asked me if I had prayed about this decision.  I responded, "Yes.  But what if God doesn't intend for me to make much money at this?  What if He intends for me to simply use the skills and knowledge I gain to bless and encourage others?  Not necessarily to consistently earn money for us?"


Don was good with that.  He encouraged me to keep moving forward!

I still desire to find an outlet...a "not-for-profit", volunteer-type outlet for my cosmetology skills.  I am quite sure there's something out there, a way to bless others in need. So, when we get home from our upcoming trip, I am going to work on that, as well.




Speaking of which....just days to go until we board that west-bound airplane!

I can hardly contain my excitement. 

My next blog post will be all west coast photos.

And, maybe, I'll have to start a Youtube channel or something to share our GoPro videos! (This coming from the technologically-impaired girl, lol!)

Then, we can revisit all of our home improvement projects right here - Yay! 

Guess what?

I have a home to dress up for the holidays this year!  

And, all of our Christmas decorations are out of storage - Woohoo!

(It's the simple things in life... 😁)





(Hard to believe how much has happened since last autumn, right?)

The twins are in the foreground, Ridire is behind them!

The Goat Saga Continues...

Those of you who see my Facebook posts regularly may already know this:  Edna did, in fact, have twins!

However, for reasons unknown, she rejected the second one born.  When Googling "rejected goat kid", I found MANY articles on how to care for the little one, and I quickly realized that this phenomenon is more common than one might think.  Unfortunately, no one seems to truly understand why this happens with goats more than any other livestock.

Therefore, we were faced with the task of keeping this cutie pie alive, as the alternative, unthinkable to all of us, just wasn't gonna happen.

So, we had a goat living in our house for three days...

Once Don and Grace felt confident that all bodily systems functioned properly...and, yes, that got pretty messy, so Thank God for our "easy-to-clean" faux hardwood flooring...Grace re-introduced her to her goat family... outside!

Definitely, a bit confusing for dear little Ellie, our only female thus far.  She seemed to think she was a dog....in fact, even today, a week later, she gets excited when she sees her dog family running around the field next to the goat pasture.  The other goats, besides Edna who keeps her distance, have accepted Ellie and she is beginning to romp around with the other young 'uns.  Grace will have to continue bottle-feeding her for a couple of months, though.

Tilly, with her stout boy, Ridire.

Papa Vincini

We also learned this week, that Vincini, our buck, did NOT breed Satine on her last heat cycle of the breeding season as we thought.
(That's September through March.) 

How do we know?  Well, she came into heat this week and Papa Vincini caught it this time around for sure...Oye! 

Vincini and Satine

That means Satine will give birth during the coldest time of the year, which presents some different challenges for us.  You know our motto though:  Adapt and Overcome!

Tilly is a terrific mama, watching over all the little ones!

In other news:

Isaac, aka. "Classified Tech", has begun his training regimen.  He's doing splendidly for a beginner, and Don and Rosie feel confident that he'll be ready to race come springtime.


Here's hoping for a somewhat mild winter!  Cooperative weather will be very helpful, since we train him on the road; a 3.5-mile loop that encircles our property and includes some good hill work for stamina.

And, finally, the puppies are growing too quickly!  (Excuse the Soresto collars - they haven't quite grown into the adult size, yet, but the puppy size is too small.)

Watch for an update in a couple of weeks...One never really knows what craziness will occur 'round here!

(Aaand, in 4 weeks our plane will be landing in California - woohoo!  Expect awesome photos right here upon our return!)

With Autumn Comes Change...

Both in nature and here at Dealan-De Farm.  When last I wrote, we were still awaiting the arrival of newborn kids...

...Nearly 2 weeks later, the first finally arrived!  Guess Grace's calculations were a bit off!  Well, this IS our first time with goats, afterall...And, our dairy cow experience was quite a long time ago.  We just got too excited, too soon!

Tilly gave birth to "Ridire" (means "dark knight" in Gaelic) during one of our many torrential downpours last week. Isn't he adorable?!

Next one due is Edna, aka Eddie.  As a veteran mama, she will likely have twins...this weekend, hopefully!  And, finally, Satine, sometime in early-October.





Isaac, "Classified Tech", is now "official", according to the US Trotting Association. 

He's been DNA-tested and freeze-branded. 

Yesterday, he got his very first set of shoes, and today, he took to the road for a 3-mile jog!  Time to earn his keep around here!  Hoping to start racing him this spring of 2019.













I am on the cusp of a change myself right now - in just one week, my time at Holiday Hair in Exeter will come to a close and I will open a new chapter in my career at Oley Valley Hair Salon in Oley, PA...less than a 10-minute drive from home!  I will miss the young ladies at Holiday, whom I have enjoyed getting to know, but this is a change I have been hoping for these last couple months.  It is time to reclaim my Sundays for church and family.  It is time for me to have a more consistent schedule that I can control to a greater degree than I ever could at Holiday, a corporation-owned salon. As my list of regular clients grows, I will certainly earn a better income than I ever could at a corporation salon, too, though this is more about my time than my earnings.  I will be working by appointment, no longer relying on "walk-ins" to keep me busy. No longer wasting hours hoping someone comes in for a color or perm... AND...I will be expanding my repertoire, giving facials and basic manicures as well as hair services at my new salon in Oley - woohoo!  Ya'll know how I like to keep things interesting, right!


And, finally, last weekend Don, Will and Nate participated in the 4th annual Penn's Wall Highland Games in Quarryville, PA!  Rosie acted as score keeper and Grace and I shared the role of photographer.  As always, we had a blast at this local Scottish Festival.  Of course, I have some photos to share with all of you:

What a great time! This festival gets better each year with more competitions, more musicians, new demos and great food.  I encourage all of you to come out next year.  It is always the 2nd Saturday in September.






So, I'm still swimming four times a week, and loving it.  Swimming came quite naturally to me as a kid, and I was asked to swim competitively a few times, but when forced to choose between swim team and dance, both huge time commitments,  I always chose dance.  No matter now, though.  The strokes were deeply embedded in my muscle-memory.  Swimming laps just feels so good!

Acupuncture has helped me tremendously.  I am almost back to my normal energy level, and my joint pain has been minimal this last week, Praise the Lord!  I'm sure my dietary changes have had something to do with it, too - minimal dairy, gluten and sugar.  (Sugar is the hardest for me!)  More fish, more veggies, brown rice and quinoa.

Just five weeks from tomorrow, Don and I head to California.  I am so excited for everything we will see and do there!  Eight adventure-filled days!

Next Post will surely be chock-full of adorable kids - goat kids, that is!

"It Takes The Time It Takes."

A "Farmer Don" (aka. my husband) quote which I have heard him repeat many times during his years farming - concerning hay-making, crop-raising, and livestock giving birth.  In fact, that's where we're at right now....

Tilly on Sunday.

The goats today.  No babies, yet.

Grace's goats, Tilly and Edna, look as if they might burst at any moment!  By the book and according to Grace's calculations, Tilly was due on Sunday.  While she has definitely been showing signs of imminent labor since Sunday afternoon, no kid, or kids as the case may be, as of this blog post. 


As I recall from our few years of dairy farming, "first-timers" tend to take longer...like twice as long!...as veteran mamas.  And, this is Tilly's first kidding. 


Edna, on the other hand, has done this before.  While she is, technically, due nearly two weeks after Tilly, she seems to be showing signs of early labor today!  Hmmm....things could get pretty exciting on the homestead by this weekend!

Switching gears completely now....

I am realizing how important it is for me to MOVE...  Move my body often and consistently and moderately.  Move big, move small and always stretch.  I am slowly grasping the concept of  what "well hydrated" actually means for me, too.  (My eyeballs were floating the first three day, lol!)

As I mentioned in my last post, I haven't been feeling so great...not my usual perky self.  While I don't think my physician assistant was wrong in her diagnosis of the TMJ, she did nothing to further assess the cause of my rather-sudden pain and tightness during my visit.  Given that I have been very fatigued with joint pain and stiffness that has moved down into my shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands, I will probably be heading back for a more thorough checkup very soon.

In the meantime, my two massages helped tremendously with my jaw and neck and upper back.  And, I began working with an acupuncturist last week.  Timothy's great - gave me lots of good "healthy living" advice, and introduced me slowly to the tiny needles used for treatment.  What an odd sensation!

One of his suggestions included "get moving".  I need to move the "congestion" out of my joints and tendons.  He suggested swimming or aqua-fitness for now, since bearing weight exhausts me lately, tempting me to lie on the couch every moment I am not at the salon or grocery shopping, and that only makes my joints ache even more. 

Perfect.  I love to swim laps!  Love the graceful, steady rhythm of it; love how you can leave the world behind when you are underwater. 

So, I found a gym with a pool.  Turns out its less than half a mile from the salon and only a ten-minute drive from our home!  Went four times in the last week already.  As soon as I feel up to it, I hope to add a yoga class and a ballet barre class, both weekly, that are offered at the same gym!






I have to admit, Timothy asked me a couple of questions that caused me some distress..."Have you considered seeing a rheumatologist?"  And, "Is there any history of RA, rheumatoid arthritis, in your family?"

Immediately, memories of my grandmother, crippled by RA during the latter years of her life, flooded my mind.  I watched, over her last 15 or so years, as this autoimmune disorder took my spunky, opinionated grandmom and turn her into someone quite dependent and rather difficult to be around.

I did my research.  Today, there are better treatments available for RA, if that even is, in fact, what I am looking at here.  I am struggling to make that next doctor's appointment... a big part of me doesn't want to deal with that possibility and how it could affect my life.

Many of you already heard our other news:  Don and I have a special trip coming up!

Years ago, when I was pregnant with Rosemary and we were trying to keep up with our toddler twins and Grace, I wondered what we may be missing out on by starting our family only a year into our marriage.  There were places I wanted to see and things I wanted to do....

...Don's response?

"We'll only be in our early forties when the kids are mostly grown up.  And, we'll probably have more money by then, too, so we'll still have plenty of opportunity for that sort of thing."

We talked about going away for our 20th anniversary, but that just couldn't work.  Too many other things going on in our lives that year.  So, I thought, "Well, maybe for our 25th?"

Don, being the impatient, somewhat impulsive man that he is, decided one day that THIS should be the year we take our first big trip together.  He surprised me by booking a trip to Sonoma Valley, California!  He did his research first and discovered that October is the best time of year to visit, as the weather in northern Cali will suit both of us - not too warm for him, not too cold for me.

Knowing what I enjoy, he planned a winery tour, zip-lining through the redwoods, and kayaking down the Russian River, as well as a drive along the coast in a convertible and a couple of nights in a hotel overlooking the ocean!  I am super excited!  I need to get a GoPro for some awesome footage of our adventure.  Hopefully, this will be the first of many!

Enjoy a couple of photos from our cousin, Sarah's wedding last weekend.  A fun, outdoorsy wedding that perfectly suited the personality of this pair!

It's back to school time, and Rosie begins her on-line classes next Monday.  Best wishes to all of you beginning a new school year, whether it be at home or elsewhere, public, private or homeschool!  And, I promise to post again when these kids are born!

I debated whether or not to write a post this week...I've been feeling pretty...BLAH, lately. 

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and she diagnosed me with TMJ.  Here, I just thought I had an ear infection or sinus infection of some sort.  Or even some kind of virus because I'd been having pain all down my neck and even my arms.  The fatigue has been very challenging.

But, she says its TMJ and prescribed anti-inflammatory pills...which I promptly stopped taking after experiencing some nasty nausea...and told me to "rest my jaws".  Ummm, I talk...ALOT...in my profession. 

Plus, I love to eat; especially crunchy things!

To complicate matters, she also added a hormone pill to further address the PMDD... and my body is taking some time to adjust - Oye!!




So, I made an appointment at the Spine and Wellness Center.  My first therapeutic massage helped quite a bit.  Going for another next week, then probably a couple of session of acupuncture.  I'm hopeful that this treatment will work well for me, along with getting back into regular yoga practice. 

And let's not forget the dietary adjustments!  Yes, I am working on eating healthier - way less sugar, less caffeine, no dairy, no gluten.  Lots of water.  I have developed a taste for fish in recent months, too.  Salmon, mahi-mahi, opah....

Next week, I have the opportunity to take a mini-retreat.  A couple days by myself down at the bay.  I can rest my jaw, rest my body, rest my mind.  Peace.  Quiet.

Then, I gotta hunker down and get prepped - I am teaching two writing classes at our homeschool co-op this year!  When I agreed to do two classes, I was thinking I would only get about 6-7 students per class, like I had last year for my literature class.  However, at this point I have.....TWELVE...students in EACH class!

That's 12 middle schoolers in one, 12 high schoolers in the other.  Better bring my A-game!

Grace is doing superbly in her current higher education program!  She has straight A's on her weekly exam and her attendance is perfect.  She loves it.  She is now able to take clients at her school, and I got to be her first.  A delightful 60-minute facial.  The public can make appointments for services, too, so she also had a few additional clients this week.  She's very good! 

Contact us if you are interested in an appointment.  She must do at least 30 facials before her graduation!





The puppies are doing well.  Growing like weeds, of course.  Tig and Penny have accepted them into their "pack" after only a few days of grouchiness.


On the homefront, Grace is moving into her bedroom this weekend, for certain, and Rosie will be just a couple weeks later, by the end of August for sure. 

Woohoo! 

Then, I can transform the 2nd downstairs bedroom into my respite space.  For decompressing, and, apparently, grading many essays this school year!

Much to our surprise (not really!), when William informed his employers that he would be leaving to move back to PA in just a few more weeks, they decided to "let him go" immediately.  Oye!

So, Will moved down here this weekend.  No worries.  Don really needs another guy for his business, and he'd rather have his sons working with him than anyone else, so Will doesn't even need to job hunt.  He is already moved in with his brother, as well!

That's really all for now, Folks.  Hopefully, my next post will include the kids...baby goats, that is!  Just about two weeks until that fun happens!











Closing with one more adorable puppy pic:

Catch up with ya'll after my downtime at the bay!