There is so much going on in our lives that I remember once in awhile to pause and sum up a bit.

Today, we are off to Westhampton, Mass. to talk about “Saving Simon” and other things. On May 2, we are going to Iowa for four days to talk in Des Moines, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. That should be exciting, and it should also close off the “Saving Simon” book tour launched last Fall when I realized my publisher had orphaned my book because I was leaving to write for another publishing house.

I called it the Orphans Book Tour, and it has been a rich and rewarding experience, traveling around the Northeast to talk about my work and ideas about animals in bookstores and libraries. My next book, “Talking To Animals,” should be out next year if I can stop listening to horses and elephants and finish it.

Other news: We are taking it slow in the search for a new dog. Our breeder Linda Reece is still waiting for her dogs to come into heat, we are waiting with her, she is worth it. We are also sniffing around rescue sites and other places, we might have room for a third dog. We are in no rush, there is enough going on around here with scrambling madly for another animal, and we want to do it thoughtfully and right.

Maria is eager to bring her pony Chloe, to the farm. This will happen sometime in May, when she has taken a few more riding lessons and the grass has come up a bit. We are serious about rotational grazing this year, we currently have three different areas of the farm fenced off to give the grass a chance to come up strong and not be mushed into the ground.

Maria loved our blind pony Rocky so much, she is very happy about getting a horse here again. The horses seem to have entered our lives, and our friendship with Paul and Pamela at Blue Star Equiculture have only deepened this connection.

Tomorrow, off to Brandon, Vt. to drop off the newly shorn wool and pick up last fall’s wool. Maria will be selling the yarn on her website beginning Sunday night or Monday. We hear it is beautiful stuff.

As many of you know, we had a challenging winter, we lost Simon, Frieda and Lenore. All the animals are fat and healthy, a life with animals is never simple or predictable. We are also interested in a female baby goat that has never been bottle fed. There is no quicker way to make a sheep or goat an awful pest than bottle-feeding, they never leave people alone again. We’re not sure about the goat, but if the right one popped up, we would consider it.

I am still trying to understand what has happened with the first Bedlam Farm. The asking price has been reduced to $249,000 from it’s original price of $475,000 four years ago.  We never imagined this, neither did our realtor. And I don’t understand it. This has caused us some severe financial issues, we are working to figure out what to do about it.

Red had the stitches taken out of his eyelid on Friday,  the wound is healing well.

So I think that’s it. My play, “Last Day At Mapleview Farm” is going to be expanded into a full play sometime this summer, if I can find the time to write it. That would be nice.

I am getting an enormous response to the Joshua Rockwood trial, I will continue to write about it and follow it. Somehow, I think his case may be a turning point in our struggle to keep animals in our world and to help farmers solve their problems, rather than be persecuted for having them. I think that’s the news for now.