My husband, amazes me on so many levels. He is the smartest man I know. His father was a very smart guy and a thinker, but he wasn’t at all handy with tools. The story goes that he only owned a hammer and a screw driver and never used them.

My husband, Dean is a thinker too. I remember when our son was about 7 or 8 and Dean took him to work for the day. Hal watched intently as his dad work at his desk. Then he asked him this question in disbelief ” So they pay you just to think?”  Of course Dean responded “yes they pay me to think” . We all got a good laugh out of that one.

Somehow along the way though, Dean taught himself how to be handy; and this was all before the internet age! My theory is he inherited his mom’s genes. She grew up on a remote dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains that was pretty much sufficient.  Dean also had lots of friends who grew up on farms and I’m sure he was always there to lend them a hand. Dean likes to say to me, ” tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen” and he does, better than the plans I had in mind. Because he is a thinker and a doer!  I can’t think of anything he can’t do.  Feeling blessed to have him as my husband. Love that man!

We are often asked if we have goats. The answer is yes we do, three. Although we haven’t milked our own goats for some time.

Many years ago, I gave a friend (who had a dairy farm) two goats. She fell in love with goats and eventually had her own herd and we were buying goat milk from her instead of milking our own. It is an arrangement that has worked out well for both of us.  So why do we still have goats?  They are our pets. If you think you would like to keep goats there are a few things you should know.

Goats are very social animals and should always be kept with at least one other goat friend.  Contrary to their reputation they are really very picky eaters. Although they do like to eat anything you have planted, like raspberries, blueberries and roses!  They don’t eat tin cans or anything like that. My goats won’t eat their treats if the pony (Caddy) has touched it. They won’t eat all the hay I feed them either, they pick out what they like and leave the rest for Caddy to clean up. They are funny creatures and I love to watch them playing out in the field. They are pretty adept at standing on their hind legs to reach leaves on trees and playing with each other and butting heads.

Goats are also very good escape artists so good fences are a must. They are terribly curious creatures and are prone to getting into trouble because of it. They will bond to their caretakers and will want you to come visit them, hopefully with treats, every time you go outside. I hear them calling to me every time I go out and if they see me heading in without coming to see them they complain very loudly to let me know. Our goat Allie is my favorite. When we are grooming Caddy she will come and get in the way so I will groom her too. She always makes me smile.

Fighting Colds with Tea Tree oil

Do you celebrate Valentines Day? What do you do when you do, but your spouse not so much?  It’s always been a conundrum for me. My parent’s had always liked to celebrate special days, birthdays, holidays and yes Valentine’s day. I remember when I was very young they went away on a ski weekend in the Poconos for Valentine’s day, we stayed home with our Aunt Ella and had special treats. My dad always got my mom flowers on special days. One time the florist misheard my dad and sent my mom flowers with a card that said “love, John”,  instead of “love, Don”.  My dad thought it was pretty funny and after that all the flowers came with a note, “love, John”.  I think my dad was a real romantic.

My husband Dean, on the other hand not so much. My first inkling came a few months after we were married. Our first Christmas my sweet husband gave me, a pillow. He had hinted I needed a new pillow and I had told him no mine was fine. Even his mom was mad at him. Next was my birthday,  no gift, no card, no special dinner with a cake like my family always had done. He might have said happy birthday, I don’t remember, but I know we did have a discussion and his explanation was his family didn’t do much to celebrate birthdays. And Valentines day, forget it, the day didn’t exist to Dean.

When two people get married they bring many expectations from their upbringing to the union. More than once I have wished Dean was a little more romantic. But in a day and age when most marriages don’t last our commitment grows stronger.  We have learned over the years to work and focus on the positive. Dean has always been there working hard and providing for me and our family. He believed it was important for me to stay home with our children and I was blessed to be able to be a full time mom. And eventually he supported me in homeschooling our children. Dean is a planner and he always tried to make what ever we needed happen, and he usually succeeded. In time I was able to dial back my expectations for holidays and Dean, to my surprise, has tried to remember those special occasions that mean so much to me. Today we are headed towards celebrating 37 years of marriage.

Like most marriages, there have been times when it was hard to continue working on our marriage. But working through our struggles together and working to understand each other have made us even closer. The rewards for staying the course have been multiplied over and over again through the years. There is a comfort that comes with being with someone who knows you so well and growing older together. There is special blessing in watching your kids grow up and now grandchildren too. He has always been there for our kids when they need him. Over the years Dean has softened and even become a little more romantic. Dean loves our family and he knows how blessed we are to have them close and in our lives. I love watching him interact with our grandchildren. I am so grateful for him. Happy Valentines Day Dean!