Fiona

Oh we have been busy. Even though it is rather chilly today and we had freezing rain for a little while this morning, I think it is safe to say that it is spring in Minnesota. Although it is not uncommon for us to get a random snow storm the beginning of May. Hopefully not this year.

We've cleared out the garden. We (my husband) have shoveled the many (previously frozen) piles of alpaca poo and moved them to compost pile. The wood pile that was covered with foot upon foot of snow is now exposed in all it's dirty, messy, and unsightly glory. We worked on splitting the last of it yesterday. There is still a bit more to go but a few more hours of concentrated work and it should be done. The sandbox and swing set are cleared of water and snow and winter debris, so the kids are happy. But there are still SO MANY projects that need to be tended to before the end of the month. *more about that later*

To add to the craziness here, we've decided to welcome a dog to our farm. She is a turkish anatolian guard/shepard dog. Later on in the summer time we will be adding chickens, goats, and a prego alpaca to the farm and we knew we needed to look into a guardian dog to ease our minds and put the animals at ease as well. We knew that we wanted an anatolian. Last year we met the most fantastic guard dog - Grizz. He was strong, friendly yet cautious, playful, kind to his herd, and HUGE. We instantly fell in love. BUT, these types of dogs don't come cheap and we knew if an anatolian was what we wanted then it might be a few years before we'd get one. Well....circumstances shifted and we were put in contact with a breeder who had kept her pick of her last litter, trained her, and was planning on keeping her for breeding but then decided that perhaps this one needed a home. Prices dropped and we decided to jump. SO....the week after Easter we are welcoming FIONA to the farm:

She is currently 10 mos old and about 100lbs. We should expect her to grow to about 120-130lbs. She's a big girl, though not as big as the males. She grew up on a farm guarding dwarf goats, sheep, and chickens. The breeder also has small grandchildren who are around on a regular basis so she is well acquainted with little people. Which was a big big big concern for us. Needless to say we are getting a fantastic deal on an already trained and well socialized dog. YAY!!!!

We are so excited!