We’ve been really quiet here at Thistle Dew for the last several months.  It’s not because we had better thing to do, or simply just forgot about the page.  In fact, we’ve just gone through a huge life change.  I’ll start at the beginning for those of you just joining our journey.

In the summer of 2015, we decided we wanted to grow our farm.  We hunted for property and it took us until April of 2016 to find exactly what we were looking for.  We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears prepping the 17 acre horse pasture for what would soon become Thistle Dew Farm.

Fencing needed to be fixed.  Fencing needed to be put up and pastures created.  A 72 foot x 72 foot covered run for our peacocks was built so that they had the room needed to grow, etc.  Grass mowed, gardens planted, ponds cleaned, creeks deepened, etc.  You know…everything that comes with building your farm the way YOU want it.

In March of 2017, we moved into our dream home.  A home we designed ourselves and a home we even did a lot of work on ourselves.  It was our forever home.  We made it so that when we were old and gray, we could live comfortably on the first floor with no issue.  It was perfect.

 

We had started our livestock with chickens, turkeys, guineas, peacocks, goats, and our two livestock guardian dogs, Bandit and Frosty.  We did attempt ducks temporarily, but Frosty wasn’t quite a fan and often times would chase them around.  We had to quickly send them to new homes.  We were loving this new life we had built for the most part, but we were also missing something.

Family.

Yeah, our family came to visit quite a bit.  And we loved having them, but when it was time to leave, the girls would break down in tears for hours after company left.  It was heartbreaking.  After a few months passed, Matt mentioned the dreaded idea of “moving back to NY”.  It was sort of a crazy idea.  Jobs weren’t all that great up here and often times hard to find.  He applied to a few here and there, offers were made but they just weren’t a good fit.

Now, Matt is a hard worker.  He’s good at what he does, but was starting to get ‘bored’ in his roles in Finance.  He felt like he was supposed to do something more with his degree and all of a sudden of job for a non-profit Drug and Alcohol Rehab facility back home came up.

WE WERE HEADED HOME

This job was minutes from where he grew up and only an hour from where I grew up.  The chance to be back near our family had come up and while we were somewhat hesitant, New York won.  We made the decision to move back home to be close to family.  Our kids are going to get to GROW UP around their grandparents!

Matt and I both had the chance to grow up with our grandparents close by and both agreed that this was what we wanted.  Now…..it doesn’t mean that it was all sunshine and roses that we were moving back to NY.  I met some really great people in Virginia.  The weather was wonderful-especially in the Winter.  The people were kind and our neighbors were some of the most helpful and caring people I’ve ever met.  They were truly always willing to help.  But, I had just built my forever home AND I had all these fur and feather babies!

We knew that we wouldn’t be able to bring the chickens and the peacocks or the goats because of the stress of them moving.  Bandit and Frosty were coming with us.  That was, until we couldn’t find anything with land.  Bandit and Frosty aren’t your typical household dogs.  They REFUSED to come inside-EVER.  They lived outside and that is what they loved.  95 degree weather or -10 degree weather.  Outside with their animals was where they wanted to be.  So when we couldn’t find anything with enough land in the area we were looking, we had to make one of the hardest decisions ever.  Bandit and Frosty would have to go to a new farm in order to continue to live and be happy in life.

We found a wonderful 40 acre farm sanctuary that was in dire need of some livestock dogs.  They were having some serious predator issues and needed protection.  Hope and Serenity Sanctuary is now their new home.  They have so many animals to protect and take care of and I know Renee and her team will keep him safe.  They’re a great non-profit business and if you’re in the Manassas area, please check them out!  They do all kinds of things involving kids with special needs.  They keep me up to date on how Bandit, Frosty, Tippy, and Dot are doing.  Everyone is happy!

Back to this crazy idea!

So.  We put our house on the market and go through the processes.  Matt and our oldest moved up to NY in March while myself and the younger two stayed in VA.  It was honestly the HARDEST thing I think we’ve ever done.  For 3 months, we lived in 2 different places.  The kids and I came up and would stay and visit for the weekend, but the long drive was taxing.  The last trip we had, I decided that I needed to find a place for our dog Ramsey to stay so that we could come up and stay longer than just a few days.  Raymond and Destiney of Sargent’s Farm near Front Royal VA have a farm and offer a variety of meats, eggs, and other things, offered to take Ramsey to their farm for an extended period of time and we were so grateful to know that he would be safe there.  They are not only fully fenced, but also familiar with Great Pyrenees as they have their own. Check them out at the Front Royal Farmers Market on Saturdays on Main Street!

For those of you who don’t know Ramsey, he’s a puppy from Frosty and bandit’s September 2017 litter.  He’s a 9 month old 85lb puppy….who is indoor/outdoor.  He’s basically a miniature pony that we have inside the house at all times.  But guess what……I LOVE HIM!  I was devastated when I found out we wouldn’t be bringing Bandit and Frosty with us to NY and a month after they went to their new home, Ramsey’s owners reached out to us and we brought him back to Thistle Dew.  He’s a big ole goofball, but he’s part of Bandit and Frosty and I’m so grateful to have a part of them still with me.

Moving on….this brings us to our move.  Matt and I went down to Virginia and with the help of his Dad, his brother, and a couple of our friends, we were able to pack up the entire farm in like…36 hours.  I don’t know how we did it, but we did it.  We grabbed Ramsey from Sargent’s Farm (they had been taking care of him for us for a month while I was up here) and we headed back to NY first thing in the morning.  Within 48 hours we had moved out and into our new home.  Now, our new home only sits on about 4.5 acres so we won’t be as “crazy” as before, but we plan to continue to keep Thistle Dew Farm going, just at a different location.  Some clean-up has to be done and some dead trees need to be removed, but we’ve got about 3 acres with a pond that we plan to transform into our little hobby farm.  We will also be planting a garden and probably some fruit trees and berry bushes.  Hopefully, we can get them in this year!

Please feel free to continue following us on this newest journey we have created for ourselves.  I’m sure I’ll have some good stories come winter time.  Matt and I need to re-teach ourselves how to survive in the Tundra on Central NY and our poor kids won’t know what hit them when they have to walk through 2 feet of snow to get on the bus.

 

“And suddenly you know…it’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.”

                                                                                                                                -Author Unknown