Yikes!! A.K.A "Changes"

Hello all!

Wow--yes, I am a horrible blogger! I promise I haven't jumped ship--but there are any number of changes happening that are making it a little more difficult to keep up with the blog than I had hoped.

I'm not sure how much background I've given you about my current situation, but in a nutshell, my "day job" has consisted with freelance pet-care, which is usually a do-able situation in New York City. I go to people's homes and give medicines, insulin and other important therapy to people's animals. I specialize in bird care and reptile care. I also train and walk dogs. It's rather a luxury, for sure--I can think of worse things to do as a job.

However, as with all things in this economy--the trickle down effect eventually reached me smack in the middle of last week. Two heavy duty clients were laid off of their jobs, and didnt need/couldn't afford me. Suddenly, a modest but comfortable job became a sudden rush to find new clients, and then a new job.

Almost simultaneously, several friends had requested that I help them with a rooftop gardening job. Since they knew I knew how to grow vegetable and herb plants, they wanted me to show them how to grow and care for plants. When we completed it last weekend, I was surprised when several of them mentioned I should do this for a living.

"What, in the Middle of the city?" Yes, was there response, many people were trying to grow their own food on rooftops and such.....hmm, so there's something to look into....

Thirdly, it has been a never-ending adventure trying to get bees on our property. The weather of the big bee apiary in Georgia that was supposed to supply us flooded way back in March--so we didn't get any the first round over, so now we are hoping NEXT week will finally have bees.

Fourthly, my little art blog and art swap are sort of taking off, so I've had to tend to that....

Fifthly (is that even a word?), I am having trouble figuring what to do with my little online farm magazine. For the almost two years its been up, I cannot make money, much as we try to solicit sponsorship, etc. It is really a difficult thing to maintain for free, seeing as that energy could be used elsewhere, so I am trying to revamp its format somehow, or I'll have to stop doing it altogether.

And most importantly--while I try to put a funny and witty (well, I think it's funny and witty!) spin on farming techniques in the city, there is some part of me that wanted to start this whole thing as a way to continue this simple, old way of life...farming, that is. More and more, I am horrified by the news of how small family farms are being treated, and how large corporations are getting away with EVERYTHING lately.
I think the final straw for me came when another blog friend Barb of the Big Red Barn talked about the issues of CAFO's coming into the neighborhood of their newly purchased farm dream.

Several lovely pieces, written by author Jon Katz on his blog (he wrote the Bedlam Dog series) sums up beautifully, and heartbreakingly, the plight of what is going on. I sometimes wonder what has happened to us--why government does what it does and why we are letting them get away with it....

Anway, here are a few essays from Mr. fKatz:
http://blog.bedlamfarm.com/index.cfm?&startRow=31

http://blog.bedlamfarm.com/index.cfm?&startRow=27

http://blog.bedlamfarm.com/index.cfm?&startRow=19

Since I'm not really good at sitting around and doing nothing--I am trying to figure how to parlay the whole situation regarding myself, and all of these changes, into something positive...

So we will see...haha, I may have to start ANOTHER blog just for the farm plight issues, but this one will be about my own personal adventures.....hmmmm....