I'm sitting on my phone facing him and he asked of I was causing a stir taking pictures from behind.
I told him I wasn't but I would!
He said to build his fan base...and commented "he doesn't just do trees he does dishes too".
Sorry all, after the previous reaction we are having fun with it!
Well the trailer I purchased after my September 2012 house fire and have used as storage has officially moved from VA to PA.
This is a big deal.
I moved just about all my earthly belonging out of Loudoun County and into my new real deal PA life. I'm not going back to VA (Ayrshire Farm affairs being the exception).
Hello partial closure to the ever present trauma of VA. House fire, Eddie's death, Ayrshire etc. The constant reminders are no longer physical...which is a welcomed relief as the mental and emotional wounds are still fresh and are enough to deal with.
The trailer was also hauled by Johnathon. This sounds like a nonissue but on the contrary. I've trusted all 2 people to haul it and Eddie wasn't even one of them! One of them trailers it 3 miles and the other was my go to brother of a friend who I knew could do it (albeit with an I'd rather be doing something else attitude).
Between the knowledge needed to trailer, having a truck that is large enough to pull it, and the patience to deal with issue as they arise it's only been moved within a 5 mile radius since I bought it and initially trailers it to VA.
Johnathon to the rescue. He offered to get it and nonchalantly suggested the following day. He had worked a full week, did a tree job on Saturday, and was willing to dedicate his Sunday to helping me? Hard to grasp. Saturday night we got the mobile air compressor...yep, he meant business. My heart raced thinking of him experiencing my VA world, if just for a few hours. Virginia wasn't unkind to me but it was one challenge after another. I get nauseous at the word Virginia.
We would drive past were Eddie died, past the house where I had the fire, be on the same road 3 miles away from Ayrshire Farm, he would meet my parents...oh my.
Sunday morning came and he didn't change his mind.
We left PA, quickly drove through MD, picked up a few of my things that were in WV, and ventured into VA. It was uneventful.
On the way home, just south of Thurmont MD mid story about loading and trailering a cow he was interrupted by a BOOM!
Blown trailer tire.
HE TOOK IT ALL IN STRIDE with a smile on his face. "What can you do?" he commented as he maneuvered the truck and trailer off the road. We shifted my things to get the spare out and the spindly jack in with it...and the tool that didn't even fit my lug nuts...
To the rescue he came...bigger jack and correct sized tool. I held the flashlight and picked up acorns that spilled out when I opened the side door to get the spare. A cop showed up giddy that there was a race or show car inside (because of the decals)....he asked what he were hauling and was disappointed when I pointed the flashlight at the ground and showed him hundreds of acorns. The load got a bit tossed the first mile on serious pot holes on a back county gravel road.
We were on the road in 30 minutes. The 3 other tires were a bit worrisome as the trailer had been sitting for quite awhile and they weren't in the best shape. We made sure the best tire on each side was full of air and took out a smidge in the not so hot tires and took it slow and steady.
Passing where my aunt and uncle live we thought about dropping it off and getting new tires before going the last 45 minutes....nah, I have faith it will hold he said...you're testing your luck I responded.
Just a few miles from where I live boom, another flat tire. Exhausted he took me home to let out the dogs and nap while he drove to his parents to get tires he had that would fit...but not before running to Wal-Mart to get a lock on the trailer to prevent someone else from trailering it out of the parking lot at the local mall.
He man handled the tires onto the trailer rims and got the trailer to his house.
I slept with a smile.
Not one complaint made.
My father is an irritable man. I expect everyone to get annoyed or be angry or impatient if things don't go smoothly. I avoid situations where they might not go smoothly on my account (like moving a trailer). Eddie always said "you're a blessing not a burden".
Johnathon treats me like a blessing...and I'm absolutely blessed to be around such kindness.
No offence VA but you're known for your beautiful places not beautiful people...PA on the other hand? I'm running into kind individuals left and right.
They say money changes people. I was living in the wealthiest county in the US and that "change" was apparent.
A comment was left that questioned my ability to work if I did not use a chainsaw.
Lets count the ways
1. Using a log splitter to split log after log after log
2. Throwing split logs into dump bed truck
3. Stacking dumped logs
4. Handing off logs to be stacked
5. Weed eating
6. Cutting vines off the trees (so important!)
7. Cleaning and maintaining equipment
8. Pruning
9. Burning brush
10. Selecting logs to cut
11. Chaining logs to tractor to be pulled to a more accessible location for cutting, splitting, and transporting
12. Centralizing brush for burning
Etc
When I help Johnathon with tree work add using the commercial chipper and manning the rope used to slowly lower limbs and parts of the trunk as not to damage power lines, structures, etc.
If you are nervous about using equipment or the equipment available is too heavy, large, or for whatever reason unsafe for you to use NEVER feel pressured into running or using it.
This photo is of a portion of the wood that had been split, transported, and stacked This week.
Notice the outdoor furnace. When you solely heat with wood...no matter what time of the year having it at the ready is your number 1 priority.
" Mom's need a break, too. Getting her fill of relaxing:) big baby"
Sheetz is nursing and cleaning the pups though she clearly doesn't prefer their company.
The puppy trio are growing like weeds.
I love how he says moms need a break too.
He's so sweet.
" Finally. ...sleep. not very much, but more than before. She stayed in with pups all night. Of course I had to put a mattress down by her box and sleep there, but moving in the right direction."
This just popped up on my Facebook feed. Needing help in unpredictable situations is the norm not the exception and no deserves to be given a hard time who is trying to help.
.........
6 hrs ·
The news is truly devastating...
One of our biggest fears have been realized.
As a rescue organization, we understand just how dire this most recent situation is. My hands shake as I type this post and my eyes are full with tears as I deliver the news to you all.
Angels Among Us Pet Rescue (AAUPR) rescued Kelsea and her puppies about a week ago. We showed you this very video. Kelsea had been sitting in the shelter with her newborns for a month before we ever learned about them. If you listen to the video, you can even hear the plea as the shelter employee comments, "The shelter is not a good place for puppies. They'll get sick." AAUPR knows all too well that animal control is a dangerous place for young puppies as there are many potentially fatal viruses that run rampant in shelters. We raced to rescue Kelsea and her pups, hoping...praying that we had reached them in time.
We were too late...
Not one...not two...but all EIGHT puppies have broken with Parvo and are currently receiving treatment in a 24-hour emergency hospital. They are in isolation and are receiving round-the-clock monitoring of vitals and IV fluids as well as cocktail of medications. They are so young and so frail.
The emergency bill for these EIGHT puppies will be THOUSANDS!! Unfortunately, this is why many rescues (not all) are forced to put Parvo puppies down or provide them with substandard care which greatly reduces the chance of survival. Angels Among Us Pet Rescue does NOT put down Parvo puppies. Instead, we are committed to providing them with top-notch, quality care. We don't cut corners that might put the lives of our youngest angels at risk. We use an emergency vet hospital instead of a regular vet clinic which is why we have a Parvo survival rate of 95%! Of course that level of care comes with a price tag. Our vets are fabulous and they do work with us on pricing by offering us a rescue discount.
With that said, they are not free, nor would we ask them to be. They have overhead costs and since we specialize in sick, injured abuses, and/or neglected pets, our volume is simply far too high for them to donate services to every critical case we take in.
There is no question that we have been dealt a crushing blow. Eight, sick puppies receiving critical care in a 24-hour emergency vet hospital is enough to cripple any rescue organization. This is where we come to you with an urgent need for funding to cover these medical expenses.www.angelsrescue.org/donate
Please help us save the lives of these precious babies by making a small contribution to their medical needs. Please know that EVERY donation truly makes a difference!! Every dollar adds up!
TO DONATE to help this litter of eight:
www.angelsrescue.org/donate and be sure to note "Kelsea's Pups" on the purpose line. Thank you so much for your support.
We also urge you to please SHARE this post for help and exposure!
ANGELS AMONG US PET RESCUE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity dedicated to saving dogs and cats from high-kill shelters. Visit www.angelsrescue.org to learn more about of mission to Rescue ONE Until There Are NONE.
"A long night sleeping on the floor with my pups. They're nursing, but sheetz still isn't mommy yet. She wanted to sleep w me, so I had to sacrifice my bed for the floor and give her my blanket. A very restless night checking on crying pups and then taking her out to pee and letting her eat food. But overall, her n pups are doing well. I'm sure she'll do better as the day progresses and she heals some more."
Sheetz still hasn't quite taken to her puppies but is allowing them closer and is resting comfortably.
The ER Vet ended up not charging for the pain meds or antibiotics. She realizes what a unique situation this was and her heart for animals really shined through.
My friends sister paid the other portion of the bill...and is keeping one of the puppies.
Thanks for your well wishes and KC for your donation. It will go towards supplemental feeding supplies. Such a group effort and looking at Sheetz and the puppies it is so well worth it!
I'm at the emergency vet and need $900 for an emergency c section to save the mom, remove the puppy blocking the birth canal, and hopefully save the last puppy.
This is a serious need.
I'm holding the 2 male surviving puppies that desperately need their mom.
I was denied Care Credit and need your help.
PayPal is meredithamonson@gmail.com
Please help.
Today I laughed for several minutes. From the depths of my being laughter that I let consume my entire body.
I felt 10lbs lighter and more beautiful.
I hadn't laughed like that since Eddie.
On this property I work with 2 guys. Alex who is just 19 and made the comment that I'm almost twice his age...which is true. He's working during his summer break from college.
Then there's Hank. Oh Hank. Also a younger guy...24 I believe. He is the ring leader of laughter and makes each day more fun than the last. We are cut from the same cloth and fantasy banter about creating a commune and living off the land in the woods where we work. We end up in stitches picturing him cutting wood in a deer skin loin cloth.
I think I'm still on a laughter high.
Moved most of my things into my new place today. Calling Camp Hill PA home for now. Close enough to meet, file, prosecute (had to throw that in there), and continue to interact and advocate for the Ayrshire Farm pigs....but far enough to get a breath of fresh air.
Really excited about my new place. I work in solitude on a private property near Ski Round Top doing logging and landscaping. My muscles are already coming back. I'm living in more urban area which will create a good balance. A rural property would have been too isolating...and too tempting to add infrastructure and get chickens etc.
I need to save every penny and the dog's and I enjoy people watching. The place property has a empty lot adjacent owned by the same man so there plenty of green.
Its coming together
...and falling apart.
I need a $50 laptop repair. The part comes in tomorrow. Can't even tell you the panic of a black screen and a continuous series of 4 beeps. Eeek
That's small beans compared to the $1300 estimate for a new catalytic converter. Check engine light has been on since before my house fire in 2012 and I can no longer ignore the problem. The part is only $300ish but I don't have friends or connections around here. This corolla has been good to me. I can't complain.
How's everyone doing?
You hear about me all the time. What's going on in your worlds?
http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2015/07/going-places.html?m=1
Most people have horses because they want their equine to have its very own sitcom.
I am one of the few, a dying breed you could say, that owns a horse for pleasure riding.
Or...guess what I'm jousting this weekend.
Tuesday rolls around...games on horseback are for the poodles and weekend warriors.
Jenna...one of the few the proud the pleasure riders.
...like the other 99% of the equine owning population.
If you even have $5 to spare this young man is doing great work and it will be mighty appreciated.
$5 will go a long way to.help these dogs.
http://www.youcaring.com/rescued-dog-with-myasis-and-mona-a-mother-of-puppies-384043#.VZYYPa5bnpQ.facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ayrshirefarmabuse
Check.out my most recent post.
The fb page is public and anyone can view.
How's that for starting the story?
I'll c/p it chronologically at some point but for now short comments are how I'm piecing it together.
I came across this gem when Jenna Woginrich of Cold Antler Farm advertised her first Wool CSA.
Her response when I said I'd be interested after seeing how her first year of the CSA played out? Priceless.
Now she can say she's been killing sheep for 8 years...I mean raising.
For those of you who don't know because of "mean" comments like that Jenna started "banning" various commenters and reviewing comments before they were published.
Were all first year CSA wool shares been delivered in full?
Hi I'm Meredith Amonson and I worked at Ayrshire Farm from 9/5/2013 - 6/16/2014. Ayrshire Farm tried to buy my silence. I was offered money in exchange for signing an agreement not to speak of my experiences at Ayrshire Farm to media, the public, and even my family. This included the dissemination of pictures and videos of the condition of the pigs at Ayrshire Farm.
Obviously I did not sign.
The Truth does not have a price for it can not be bought.
I was terminated due to the "budget" though it was truly for advocating for the pigs welfare. Large Livestock Manager Crystal Ritenour refuses to prevent illness through proper animal husbandry then refuses to treat illness. No vet ever examined a pig during my 9 months living and working at Ayrshire Farm.
Complaints of staff physically abusing pigs were acknowledged but dismissed. I was terminated the day I went to upper management about Crystal Ritenour continued denial of necessary treatment to pigs (which later died of neglect).
Rather than fix the problem Ayrshire Farm tried to pay me off to hide the problem. To legally bind myself to silence forbidden to discuss the abuse and neglect at Ayrshire Farm.
The pigs at Ayrshire Farm are tortured by physical abuse, internal and external parasites, death due to exposure in extreme heat and cold, insufficient food (amount and access), no veterinary care, and so many other atrocities.
Ayrshire Farm controls people with money. They terminate you as an employee for advocating for the care of the animals, they offer you money to keep their dirty secrets of animal abuse and neglect out of the public eye, they threaten "unpleasant lengthy and expensive legal battles" for speaking of what goes on behind the scenes that the public is never exposed to.
My heart is invested in humanely raising pigs and the welfare of all animals. I will not turn my back on these pigs.
I was the worst thing that happened to Ayrshire Farm, Sandy Lerner, and Crystal Ritenour and the best thing that happened to Ayrshire Farm's pigs.
This community deserves to know what goes on at Ayrshire Farm. Many people can not speak publically to what they have seen. While I appear like a lone voice, my experience at Ayrshire Farm is not unique. For as long as Sandy Owners has had livestock at Ayrshire Farm there has been severe neglect and abuse. From the veal program that no longer exists to the broiler poultry that also no longer exists to the severe parasite issues with the cattle to these issues with the pigs.
This is an unpleasant issue for everyone but one that must be addressed head on.
Attached are pictures taken roughly a year ago and just before Humane Farm Animal Care (Certified Humane certifier) conducted an unannounced inspection of Ayrshire Farm resulting in a notice of 30 days to correct major and minor nonconformances to their Certified Humane standards. Numerous pigs that Large Livestock Manager Crystal Ritenour neglected to provide treatment to had to be euthanized and even more pigs required urgent medical attention and treatment. Risking the loss of their Certified Humane label is the only reason the pigs received medical care. Left to their own devices, Crystal Ritenour and staff willfully neglect these animals with a reckless disregard to their welfare. Internal and external parasites (pig lice, mange, coccidia, round worms, etc) are the main medical issues with the pigs at Ayshire Farm. Just 2 years ago Sandy Lerner recognized Crystal Ritenours failings as Large Livestock Manager when she realized how many of her cattle were losing the battle to internal parasites, an issue which should have been addressed immediately by staff.
"My cattle certainly did not look like they had been any where near a Humane Farm Animal Care inspector. In fact, there were days, standing out looking at my cattle, that I was tempted to report myself. "
"It was clear, after the death of a yearling White Park steer due to the complications of a severe trichostrongylus infestation (a $3,000 retail loss), that my cattle weren’t going to wait for me and the out-field watering systems, the high-tensile fencing, over-seeding, etc. So, we got out our fecal sample test-kits and collected samples to send in to the state laboratory. Of 117 animals (approximately one-fourth of our herd) tested for internal parasites (trichostrongylus, nematodiris, trichuris, and/or coccidia were identified in the samples): nine (7%) had heavy infestations (those with moderate or severe worm loads invariably were infested with multiple species of parasite); 28 (24%) had either combination infestations or moderate or heavy single-species infestations, 53 (45%) had light infestations, and only 27 (23%) were clear. The bottom line? Three-fourths of my cattle were battling worms, and 41%, nearly half, of those were clearly losing the battle."
My experience working with the pigs at Ayshire Farm mirrors exactly the experience Sandy Lerner herself had with the cattle 2 years prior. The only difference? Action. The issue with the cattle was addressed. Why Crystal Ritenour remained in a position to oversee the health of any animal is beyond me. Issues with the pigs remained and Crystal Ritenour actively refuses to prevent these parasite issues to the best of her ability through proper animal husbandry than denies care to the pigs that exhibit symptoms of treatable problems.
There is no excuse for the condition of the pigs in the pictures below. This is horrific and it needs to stop. It is sad Sandy Lerner can essentially admit Crystal Ritenours failings with the cattle but defend her actions with the pigs by blaming everyone but who is responsible.
Please let Ayrshire Farm know the animals under their care deserve veterinary treatment and that Crystal Ritneour should not be in a position to continue to deny necessary care to any animal at Ayrshire Farm. She should not be able to interact with the cats, cattle, horses, or pigs. Crystal Ritenour is dangerous and untrustworthy and her neglect has resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths.
For more information
https://www.facebook.com/ayrshirefarmabuse
The criminal animal cruelty trial of Ayrshire Farm owner Sandy Lerner has not yet been set.
-
Please email, post, or share this information. Sending to an animal rights organization and or Loudoun County would be great. Please forward my story in hopes of ending the abuse at Ayrshire Farm.
(Post boarding)
10 lbs - $8.59
20 lbs - $13.89
40 lbs - $21.29
*For over 40lbs you combine weights
