The power of the people

I am so blessed to have so many people who care about me, and want to be apart of my farm dream.
I've had several visitors to my farm in the last month, and I love seeing the joy on their face, when they see what I am fortunate to see every day.
My nephew Tyler (Bubba) who is about 20 months old, came out with his Daddy, James to see the "new" barn and the goats. He didn't know what to think at first... he had just been to the game farm the previous day, and was getting pretty good with his animal names. At first, he called the goats "sheep". And when we told him "goat", he called them "sheepdoats". So freaking cute... So he pet the sheepdoats, and followed them around outside for a little bit. When we walked around the barn to see the chickens, he saw my John Deere riding lawn mower and called it a "tractor". Smart boy. He sat up in the seat for a few minutes with his hands on the wheel, and said "Drive tractor." I asked him if he wanted to go get eggs with me, and he nodded his head, so I helped him down. We went into the barn, and he let me pick up when we went in the coop. After I showed him how, Bubba grabbed the eggs out of the nesting boxes and put them in the carton. And then Wynnona decided to jump up on my arm, like a parrot, and scared him. So he cried and I let James collect the rest of the eggs. When they left I tried to get a kiss goodbye from Tyler...and I won't lie, I had to bribe him with a ride on the tractor next time he comes...but I got my kiss. :)
Another day, my friend Mike (the barn straightener) came back to visit with his daughter AB and wife Cheryl. I showed them all of the remodeling I'd had done to the barn, and all of the antiques I had just hung in it from my favorite antique store. They too fell in love with my new kids. AB, who is almost 6 had tons of intellectual questions about the goats. What they liked to eat, where they slept, etc. She then let me know that she set up a "food test" for them. She placed a piece of straw, a blade of grass, and a piece of wheat just outside of their pen. She asked me to let her know what they ate first. They also brought me two tomato plants...so I can say I have a garden this year! ;)
My good friend Karen and her husband Tim road their Harleys out one day to see the babies, and now that the goats are here, my neighbors Bruce and Chris are frequent visitors.
This past weekend was a pretty incredible one for me. I had a "fence post" party, and about ten guys from my crew at work, came out and helped me put in 50 fence posts for the future goat pen and garden. My neighbor Bruce dug out about half of the holes with his 1951 tractor, (until it broke down.) And then my guys dug the rest of the holes by hand. I learned quite a bit! We set corner 4x6 posts, and ran string between them so we'd have a straight fence line. Then the strapping young bucks started digging. They dug over about 30 holes about 2 feet deep, put in 53 posts and used 57 bags of concrete in 8 hours. I had Famous Dave's bring us lunch, and provided the beer and drinks. It was truly amazing for so many people to come out and give me a hand with my dream. Every day it is starting to look more and more like I picture it in my head, and it is such an overwhelming rush. Thank you again to Bruce, Larry, Mike, Keyan, Arnie, Chris, Hodge, Ian, and Teddy for lending a hand. There is no way I could have done it without you...
We are already talking about the "Fence stretching" party...this one we'll light up the fire pit to celebrate.