Riley is our resident greeter. She is great with kids. She does have a magnificent bark that intimidates some people, but the tail keeps wagging. She is “iffy” with other dogs. She desperately wants to be friends with other dogs, but if the other dog becomes defensive or barks, it is not pretty. She is a wonderful dog and we are fortunate her rescue turned out so well for both dog and humans. But it is best if visiting dogs are introduced with me present. She does respond to strong vocal commands, so if she jumps on your car to meet an inside dog, strongly yell at her “No”, “Down”, etc and she obeys (but when you turn your back it may need repeating).
Beth is the “farmer”. She is in charge of the vegetables, flowers, chickens, ordering, marketing, accounting, and managing what gets done when. Beth announced when she was six years old that she would be a farmer. It took a long time, but she got here. Before farming full-time she worked in a university soils lab, in administering grant programs for farmers for the State of Nebraska, and in program planning for farmers through Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Giving Baco a belly rub.
Tony swore he didn’t want any farm or livestock, but then started tying fishing flies and wanted fancy chickens. That sort of opened the flood gates. He does the butchering (learned it growing up in Colombia, South America), sets up fencing and moves livestock, does the morning livestock chores in the winter so Beth can actually sleep in, and builds things for the farm. He was a trim carpenter for many years and is great with wood, electrical, and plumbing. Unfortunately, he hates engines, and we have lots of engines that need maintenance.