Winds of Change

Changes occur in our lives almost everyday. This November, my husband, who is the main source of income for our family, lost his job. Since that date, we have both been looking for work. While the sheep provide some income, my flock is not large enough to fully support us. In order to grow my flock larger, we will have to have more acreage. We had thoughts of moving before he lost his job. Now, we are going to move. We do not know where he will be working. We do not know where we will be living. But we are preparing for the sale of our home and a move. The date to start working towards the sell of our home is the day after Christmas.

It is not easy to move. When we purchased this place twelve years ago, there was a house, a barn/shed and nothing else. I have put in time and sweat, and on occasion blood into building pens, shelters, storage sheds and making fences for smaller pastures, as well as fences that will keep sheep in. There is my garden spot and flower beds, as well as a small orchard my grandson and I planted.

I know every inch of each acre. Some places hold special memories such as a beloved mare I purchased as a yearling, then had to sell five years later, only to get her back when my husband and I married. She died at age twenty and is buried under an oak tree in the pasture. When we first moved here I raised horses not sheep. My last broodmare is buried next to the other mare. The faithful companion my daughter and I had when it was just she and I is buried on this place. There are memories of foals being born and playing, now lambs frolic in the paddocks.

I have taken a house and created a home. I did repairs and remodels to improve and update what we started with. As I decorated my home for Christmas, I was a little sad as this would be the last Christmas I decorated this home. I have made decorations to add festive color from floor to ceiling. Tomorrow, I start to pack the decorations, wondering where I will use them next.

I will also begin the process of going through each draw, cabinet and closet in each room, getting rid of what we do not use, keeping what we will need daily until we move, and packing the rest. Some of the items will be donated, others will be sold and some will be discarded. Last year I had started going through the bedrooms and tidying up, getting rid of what we do not use and reorganizing what we use. But now I will start putting things in boxes, and getting rooms ready to sell the home. We will finish the remodeling of the master bedroom and bath that I started a year ago. Other rooms will only need fresh paint and floor polish.

I have not started going through the storage sheds or barn, sorting out tools we do not need or horse tack we will not use again. There is a lot of work to get ready to move.

The time of finding a new place to live, looking at houses and places to see if it is the right fit for us. I am not as young as I once was, and tasks like building a shelter or fence take longer than before. We will need to find a place where I will not have to do so much work as I did here.

Then when we are ready to move, there will be the work of moving, household, farm equipment, livestock equipment and the livestock themselves. The amount of work involved in packing and loading trucks and trailers, makes preparing to move so important. I need to lighten our load before we have to move.

Change is exciting, and a little frightening and sometimes sad. We all have to go through change as we go forward in life. Some changes are planned or based on a decision we make. Other changes are thrown upon us, such as being dismissed from a job, or getting another job in a different location, or homes being built on pastures and hay fields. Change is always around us and happening to us.

Granny