Intro of sorts

We live on a farm in northern Kentucky, although it's important to note that we're not FROM northern Kentucky. When people ask me where I'm from, I ask how long they have to listen.

I was born and raised in Cleveland, OH. Went to college in Syracuse, NY. Then to Manteo, NC for a year. Then back up to Syracuse. Then to NYC for a couple of months, living with a buddy in his loft (very cool.) Then Englewood, NJ (just over the bridge from NYC) for five years. Then to Nashua, NH for four years. Then to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for six years (to be with my husband.) Then to Janesville, WI for two years. Then Duluth, MN for five years. And we've been here in KY for going on five years now. So we don't really fit the local profile all that well. But we have a small farm here (45 acres is small, according to our neighbors) and we like it a lot.

We've got an interesting assortment of critters. Four horses, two dairy goat wethers, two big dogs, six cats (three in and three barn), three geese, six guineas, and about 100 or so chickens (I haven't counted the chicks in the brooder lately.) DH works a straight job, he has to, no way anyone can really make money doing the family farm thing any more. Factory farming has taken away any sort of profit that can be made, so most folks like us are really just hobby farmers. If we make enough money to pay for even some of the expenses, we feel like it's a triumph.

But we love being able to raise our own food (or, at least some of it.) We like knowing what goes into the meat we eat, or doesn't, as the case may be. We like knowing the animals we raise have happy lives until they die, and that they are fed good quality food and get to run around on grass and feel the sun on their little faces. No factory farmed chicken can compete with that!

We also show our chickens (see our website, www.pathfindersfarm.com for pics of our birds) and have fun doing it. Our kids do 4-H, ride their horses, and generally enjoy being here (although DD#1 will shake the dust of this place off her shoes and spend the rest of her life in a city if she has her way about it.) Living on a hobby farm is good. It keeps the family together, the kids happy, and DH gets to play cowboy to his heart's content. Gotta love it.