Out With the New, In With the Old

What?  Isn’t that a bit backwards Phyllis?  Why, yes.  Yes, it is.  But, that’s OK.

I’m not one to always go with the flow.  Sometimes, I feel the need to swim upstream…take the UP escalator when I want to go DOWN, etc.   It doesn’t get me far but it gives me something to do.  A lot like housekeeping.  It needs to be done but puts all the important things on hold until the house cleaning is finished.  Not that housekeeping is ever “finished.”  I guess the word (or words) I should have used there rather than “finished” is something more like, “acceptably deferred.”  Meaning, I’ve done enough to satisfy myself that the house is picked up and cleaned to match with my more recent lowered standards of living (does that make ANY sense at all??) that I can now defer to something of more value to me.

Anyway, I’ve decide to knock out another project today that I’ve wanted to get done and just haven’t moved it to the top of the priority list until now.  We got another 5-6 inches of snow last night so it’s a good day to stay inside and admire it from the warmth of the house and get some desk, paper and computer work done.

The blog that I had started on Shutterfly that I mentioned in a recent post.  I’m in the process today of moving all the posts from there over here to my WordPress blog.  This way, I only have one blog and not three.  The other one has already been moved over.  If you’re interested in reading the posts from the Shutterfly blog, you can find them on the dates listed below once I’ve moved them.  If they’re not there yet, try again in a couple of hours.  I’m working my way through them now, starting with the oldest and ending with the most recent.

Here are the dates to look for (if you’re interested.)  I’ve tagged each post with the word “Shutterfly” if you’d like to search for them by using tags OR you can search the archives OR you can go to the Categories section of this blog over there on the right side of your screen.

• July 3, 2009
• July 4, 2009
• July 25, 2009
• August 17, 2009
• August 21, 2009
• September 4, 2009
• October 11, 2009
• October 18, 2009
• April 25, 2010
• June 9, 2010
• July 5, 2010
• July 11, 2010
• July 22, 2010
• July 23, 2010
• July 27, 2010
• July 28, 2010
• September 6, 2010
• October 15, 2010
• December 14, 2010
• December 26, 2010
• December 27, 2010

I hope to be back tomorrow with some exciting news!   Until then…

Really. Alpacas for Christmas!

Funny how things turn out.

The email blast that I mentioned in my last entry went out as scheduled the first week of December & we got no response whatsoever from it.  BUT, we did get a couple of calls right about that same time (coincidentally) from two gentlemen, one was interested in the suri girls (Lady Di & Cheyenne), & the other was interested in the farm!  The guy interested in the alpacas wanted to buy a couple more alpacas for his wife for Christmas & she had her eye on these two for some time.  Turns out, I had communication with her back in June stemming from an earlier email blast, regarding some of our farm equipment and she asked about the girls back then but it was so rainy and muddy this spring that we couldn’t arrange a good time for them to come and look.  We sold the trailer in the meantime to someone else and Lady Di was in Colorado for a breeding until this summer so we decided to put it off.  Sure enough, he came and looked at them, and ultimately purchased them-cash-in full, no financing, so I’m waiting for the check to clear now so we can pay off Justin’s car.  w00t!!

The other guy was actually interested in the farm!  He was bored one day and was just browsing the Alpaca Nation website and saw that we were liquidating.  He had accepted a job here in Kansas City and was tired of living in an apartment with his wife only visiting on occasion from their farm in Colorado.  Anyway…he was a bit concerned about the lack of storage space here (my only complaint also) but thought otherwise the farm was perfect for them.  He said he also would need to build another barn which he was fine with.  this would also allow for storage, so it was still a possibility.  He looked at the house two weeks before Christmas and was planning to go home for the holiday and would get back with us after the first of the year.  He said if we were on a basement, he would write us a check right now.  Ugh.  If only.  I know things will work out as they should so again, we try to stay positive and keep moving forward with our plans.  We only have 3 more major bills to pay off besides the house…Justin’s car is next, my truck and then the tractor.  The tractor was purchased on an interest free loan so it’ll be last to pay off.

We are now down to 3 female adult alpacas and one almost 6 month old cria.  SO close!

Alpacas for Christmas!

A Country Christmas

Wow, it’s been two months since we’ve had any activity on the alpacas or any of the farm equipment.  Another email blast will go out today to nearly 4000 AOBA (Alpaca Owners & Breeders Association) members.  The couple that I spoke of in my last entry did in fact, buy the stock trailer, Summer and Taylor with her cria, Cooper.  They got one hell of a deal too.  It makes me sick to my stomach to see these alpacas sell at such a low price.  BUT, we are now down to 5 adult females and Heather’s cria “Cowboy.”  Soon, I’ll list him separately from her since he’s old enough to be weaned and sold.  I’ll wait to see what kind of response we get from this email blast though.  This one is focused on giving an alpaca as a Christmas gift to mama & letting Uncle Sam help pay for it (Section 179 deduction).

We’ve told Amy, a Real Estate Agent and our next door neighbor, that we want to list the house for sale in early March, no matter what’s happening with the alpacas.  Our thoughts are that if the house sells, the possibility exists that the new owners will want the alpacas or at least a couple of them.  Any that aren’t sold by then, we’ll have to board them somewhere until they’re sold.  It’s not what we want to do but we’re hoping they’re gone by then.  We’re taking one day at a time and knowing that timing is everything and everything will happen when it’s supposed to, for whatever reason.

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Florida visiting Jon’s folks and several other family members.  We flew in on Wednesday afternoon and went to Frances & Judy’s home, and spent the night there in order to surprise Dad & Tiny Thanksgiving day.  Ginger & Geordie (niece & nephew) were there from New Hampshire.  What a treat it was for us to get re-acquainted with them!  We had a blast together.  Thursday morning, we all got up and went to a place called Mulligans to have coffee on the beach.  We were right there…on the beach.  On Thanksgiving.  I couldn’t quite comprehend it.  The weather was incredible and we had a fantastic time.  Morning coffee turned to Bloody Mary’s and we got home around noon to start whipping up a festive Thanksgiving dinner.  Gale & George were bunking up at Dad & Tiny’s place & since we were already settled in at Fran & Judy’s, we stayed there for the rest of our time in Florida.  While we were visiting and dinner was being prepared, Tiny had one of her “spells” where she became very dizzy.  This episode lasted for several minutes.  We still don’t know why this is happening other than what Frances & Judy said, and that was that her blood pressure plummets for some reason but then goes back to normal.  All in all, it was a fantastic time away from the cold in Missouri and enough sunshine and warm weather to feed our desire further to get moving with the sale of the house and animals.

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Remaining hopeful that this email blast is successful in bringing us buyers for the rest of our herd.

Until next time…

Another Step Ahead

Our quest to pack up and go is still moving in the right direction.  Sometimes it seems like things are at a stand still but then other times, when I’m in the right frame of mind, I see progress around every corner.

The boat show last weekend in Annapolis, Maryland was incredible!  Not only were we able to meet up with my niece, Jaycie and her family for the afternoon on Thursday but on Friday, we were able to take a quick sail on two different Catamarans after a brief lecture in the morning and quickly eliminated one of them from our list of boats to look at as a possible home someday.  It was way too small to even consider living on day after day.  It was fun though.  The rest of the time, 2 more days were spent walking around the docks climbing in and out of various boats of various sizes, shapes, brands and price ranges.  We looked at everything there was to look at.  Even the ones we could only dream of affording.  By the time we left, we had one particular boat at the top of our list, the Leopard 39, a brand new model this year and a beautiful Cat.  By the time we’re ready to make a purchase though, this will be an old model and something even better will take it’s place so this is where we’ll start.  As an added bonus, we were able to meet, in person, the infamous Bob Bitchin.  An author in many of the sailing magazines we’ve subscribed to and a sailor as well.  He and his wife did just what we are wanting to do…sell everything and live aboard a sailboat.  It was a treat to get the chance to meet him.

Jon & Bob Bitchin

I’d really like to go to a strictly “Multihull” boat show now, or even just a Catamaran show.  I’m sure the opportunity will present itself in due time.  Until then, we press forward in Missouri.

On a more serious note, we got a call the other day from Jon’s dad.  Tiny is back in the hospital.  This time, she got dizzy, passed out and fell straight backwards, hitting her head.  He couldn’t get her to her feet so-called for an ambulance.  Come to find out, she had been in the hospital last week for 4 days for the same thing, the dizziness.  We had no idea.  The most frustrating thing for me though is not that they didn’t call and tell us then, but #1, the fact that they are going through all of this, basically on their own and #2, when we ask dad questions about what the doctors are doing with her, tests etc. and what they might be finding out, he doesn’t know or remember what they’re telling him.  He will always say that they can’t find anything wrong or the cause.  Then, they’ll let her go home for the same thing to happen days later.  Now, why would they let her go home if they don’t know what the problem is?  Is he just not telling us everything or do they really not know?  In addition to all of this, dad is having some problems with one of his eyes swelling up and full of fluid so he’s dealing with that as well.  He told Jon on the phone the other day that it took him an hour to get home from the hospital when they live only about 15 minutes away.  I’m sure he got lost again.

This process of selling the animals and the farm can not happen fast enough for me.  I want so badly to be down there now and be able to help them out.  They need someone, and advocate of sorts to sort out all the medical mess for them and get it relayed to the rest of the family as well.  Just another set of ears, eyes & hands would be a huge help.

Since I wrote last, we have had another couple come to see the alpacas we are selling and after some phone calls and emails back and forth, they want to buy our trailer and two of the girls.  Taylor & Summer.  Taylor has a male cria (baby) Cooper, that will go with her.  The last email I got from them started out with the words, “SOLD!”  We didn’t have enough time to get signed contracts or a deposit from them before they left for 10 days to Italy, so, we’re waiting for them to return next week to finalize everything.  I’m reluctant to say we’ve sold the girls & trailer until I have a signed contract and/or deposit but I’m inclined to do so.

Until next time…

Slow But Sure

It’s Labor Day weekend and I’m extremely antsy about moving forward with our move.  The weeds are taking over the place and it looks like crap around here.  The weeds are too big for the weed eater to take down and too close to the fences to mow so I’m really not sure how to go about cleaning them up other than one by one by hand with the machete & that would be nearly impossible.

We’re seeing progress with sales of animals slowly but surely.  I finally got word this week from the guy that is buying Lil for his daughter that he is also going to be taking Mickey.  That leaves Waco left to sell before all the horses are gone.  They plan to pick up Lil & Mickey this coming weekend.  One of the Vet Tech’s at our Vet’s office has some interest in Waco…she said her aunt has been looking for a nice horse for 2 years to replace one she lost & hasn’t been able to find one that she feels comfortable with.  I’ll contact her this week and see if she wants to come and look at him.  It’s going to be a sad day when Waco leaves, that’s for sure.

Alpaca sales are happening slow but sure as well.  I have sold Sterling since I wrote last.  He will be going to his new home to mid-Missouri this coming weekend.  That little guy will surely be missed, but I’m comfortable with the sale and know he’s going to a great home.  Three animals leaving the farm this weekend…I guess that’s pretty darn good.

We have an email blast going out to the entire AOBA (Alpaca Owners & Breeders Association) membership this coming week & of course we’re hoping to be inundated with calls, emails & sales.  We’ll see how that goes.  We’ve reduced our prices pretty drastically so we’re hoping for a good response.  Wouldn’t it be nice to clear the place out with one last email blast?!

 

Our First Boat Show

As of yesterday, we are officially registered to attend our very first (and huge) sail boat show!  We have flights, hotel, and a car booked for October 7-10, 2010 and I don’t think I could be any more excited.  We’re taking a “Take the Wheel” workshop all day on Friday, the 8th which includes half the day in a classroom type setting and the second half of the day on the water, on a catamaran!  We’ll be learning very basic stuff of course but this will give us an idea of what size boat we think we can handle and what size we might need to be comfortable and whatever else they’ll teach us that day.  We’ll also spend the weekend using what we learned in the workshop to scout around the different boat builders, dealers, etc at the show and maybe narrow down our choices to a particular brand or two and a size.  Once we get moved to Florida, we’ll take a more detailed and in-depth course for sailing catamarans and living on board, from the ASA (American Sailing Association).  Anyway, the boat show should be a lot of fun and educational as well.  We’re planning to meet my niece, Jaycie and her family Thursday afternoon and spend the rest of the day with them.  They live less than two hours away from Annapolis so it’s going to work out great to get a chance to hook up with them while we’re there for the boat show.  We haven’t seen them in 7 or 8 years!  I can’t wait!  What a great long weekend!