We made it!

It's 12 hours since my last post and we have arrived in NY safe and sound. Everyone seems to have traveled well other than a couple of coughs that I will be keeping an eye on. More tomorrow.

Moving Day Update- On the Ferry

Well I'm on the ferry with Patrick and Erin. The sheep, goats and dogs are still in the standby line waiting to get on a boat. Hopefully they will make it on the next one but we are going on ahead to make sure the fencing is set up and water troughs filled when they arrive.

All things considered the loading went pretty smoothly. We got the girls into their small waiting pen in the morning and consolidated all the farm stuff at Felix Neck. Then did the same with the boys at Tisbury Meadows. 

The funniest thing was moving the babies. Patrick held five of them at a time in the golf cart while I drove.

When the trailer arrived at Tisbury Meadows we were ready to go. We got all the rams and bucks into the trailer pretty easily- we only had to chase two. Felix Neck went even better. 

The WiFi on the ferry is being difficult so I can't upload may pics. More when we get home tonight, I promise.

Moving Day Morning

Today is the day. We are heading over to the two farms now to get all the animals into smaller pens in anticipation of getting them into the trailer. We also have to roll up all the fences, gather all the feed troughs and water buckets and drag the shelters to the edges of the pastures.

The truck and trailer won't arrive on-Island until nearly 1 p.m. (they are coming up from NY) and we should be good to go when they get here. In my experience, getting the animals on the trailer will either go amazingly smoothly or be a complete nightmare. The last few times we've moved them were easy-peasy, so I almost feel like we're due for a hard time.

I'll post again (with pictures)  from the ferry when we're on the way. Wish me luck!

Coming Next Week- Utter Chaos!

Okay, so you have probably never moved 65 sheep and goats from an Island off the coast to Massachusetts to New York's Hudson Valley before, so I'm going to tell you how I'm doing it, which may be totally wrong. There is no manual for these situations, people! We are writing the manual as we go.

First I had to send Patrick down to NY in my truck to pick up the small trailer. He left yesterday and will be back on Sunday with it.

On Tuesday, an equine transport company will be arriving on Island with the BIG TRAILER. It's a monster- 47 feet long with at least two separate compartments. We will be loading the bucks, rams and wethers first over at Tisbury Meadow in to compartment A of the big trailer. The bucklings (baby boy goats) will then be loaded into the "goat tote" in the bed of my truck.

Next we will caravan over to Felix Neck and load the nanny goats and ewes into compartment B of the big trailer and the doelings into the small trailer behind my truck.

Then we will drive down to NY (five hours including the ferry ride) and drop everyone off in the appropriate pen. [I have decided to put Lincoln, our breeding ram, and Buck Fifty, our breeding buck, in with the ladies as soon as we arrive in New York to get our breeding season started.] We will be dividing the flock up a little differently in NY (more on this latter).

So once the big trailer is empty they leave. But the fun is not over, my friends. On Wednesday morning, Erin and I will get up and drive the small trailer up to Lee, MA to pick up our 10 new cormo ewes. (!) Then we'll bring them back down and put the seven adults in with Lincoln and take a long nap.

But not too long. Because on Friday we are driving up to Boston for my talk thingy (calling it a speech is still too scary) and to visit with all of you fine people who can make it. (Oh, and I'm hoping to drop in on Jessica and Adele at America's Test Kitchen sometime on Friday afternoon while we're there.) There will be a meet up after the talk thingy (I think at the Bertucci's nearby because, well, it's nearby) and then E and I will sleep over at shareholder Jenny's house (Hi Jenny! Looking forward to those crepes.) and head to Falmouth to pick up a big u-haul truck. 

Then we'll take that truck over on the ferry and pack up all of the sheep stuff that wouldn't fit on the first run (including the golf cart and the goat hutches) and head back to New York, one of us driving the big truck and the other in the car.

Ta Da! You wouldn't believe how long it took me to map all of that out. It would all be a piece of cake if it wasn't for the infernal ferry! They're so particular about their "reservations" and "schedules."

I will be needing a serious vacation when all of this is over and I'm taking one. I'll be going to Texas for an entire week of Mexican food, manicures and margarita! Oh, and Thanksgiving too.