[Ag-eq] Salutations/Introduction

[Jewel]

G'day Zach!  I thought that I would crash right in with a little antipodean *expression:  "g'day 
shorthand for giday/good day, and I must not forget the most important * muyte/mate!
now who is this antipodean person I hear you ask?
my name is Jewel Blanch, a Kiwi * New Zealander, female/74 years old/single, and very glad to be so.
My property:  all of 1.1 hectares, jokingly called, at first and now for real,  the BlanchRanch is 
to be found in East gore, yes!  there it is on Google maps, and is a little touch of rural in the 
midst of an urban area, though a very quiet one.
I have had a herd of 10/15 dairy goats, but now, for the moment anyway, have only 2, Minstrel, a 
crossbred NZ Alpin/Toggenburg/Saanen whether and his twin sister Heidi.  Minstrel throws to the 
Alpine genes and is black while Heidi is the light, rich brown of Pan, her Toggenburg sire.  Both 
Alpine and Tog have identical Swiss dairy goat white markings:  that is:  a white stripe on the 
muzzle, white ears, white dorsal stripe, white tail and white knee-high stockings.
As well as the 2 goats, I have a handful of Romney/hampshire/south dorset  ewes and lambs.
My house mates are Guideon, a cross German Shepherd/Labrador, officially my guide dog, but as I am 
not as nimble and spry as I was of yore, he is,now just a very helpful dog finding and fetching my 
walking stick when I have put it down and then can't find it, showing me where I have dug the fork 
into  the ground or where the rotary hoe is and other sundry tasks.
I also have a cat 2K who provides entertainment for Guideon when he has nothing better to do, but 
she is very tollerant of him and plays along with his rambumptious games and appears to be quite 
happy doing  so.
You said that you grew up on a 110 cow dairy unit and that you have been blind since the age of 4. 
One would think that you must be ancient as it is a long time since anyone has been able to make a 
living from the milk produced by 110 cows, but I don't think that you are as ancient as the 110 cows 
would indicate you to be.

Zach!  You have joined ag-eq at a  time when there has been little activity for a while, but then, 
it will burst into phrenetic activity, so, you could say, it has its highs and its lows, its rush 
hour and sleeping periods.

       Jewel

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Zach Mason" <zmason.northwindsfarm at gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2014 2:37 PM
To: <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [Ag-eq] Salutations/Introduction

I have been blind since age four, grew up on a 110 cow family dairy farm,
have a bachelors in animal science from Cornell University, and am pursuing
a career in animal biology research. In my childhood I showed dairy and beef
cattle at county, state and regional competitions in New Hampshire and New
England. After graduating from Cornell, I assumed the title Assistant
Shepherd and Young Stock Manager at my family's farm for a year. This year I
completed a fellowship this summer at Purdue University working in a swine
nutrition lab.



I look forward to meeting NFB's AG-EQ division at the 2014 convention.
Please also, I invite any members to this division with experience or
interest in livestock agriculture to contact me directly, point me towards
livestock-related posts, or reply to this posting.



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