The Cast of Zephyr Hill Farm

The Cast, in Alphabetical Order

Angel - Tennessee Walking Horse mare registered as Coppertop's Delight, 11 years old, Brandy's dam.

Brandy - Tennessee Walking Horse mare registered as Chance's Delightful Gold, 4 years old, Angel's filly.

Cameron - husband of Katie, working on a Ph. D. in theological anthropology which he began in Aberdeen, Scotland and is finishing in Houston, Texas.

Charis - Born Dec. 28, 2008, daughter of Jim and Monique, our first grand-child.  Frequent visitor at Zephyr Hill Farm.

Chicken girls - (left to right) Pepita, Gypsy, Victoria and Esmerelda.  They lay (respectively) pink, green, blue and brown eggs!  Pepita is my best layer; Gypsy is my favorite; Victoria is the meanest; and Esmerelda lays the fewest eggs.  Thanks to "the girls," I haven't bought eggs since October 2009 except for one dozen at Thanksgiving!  Pepita died suddenly in the summer of 2010.

The second batch of Chicken Girls is:  Grace and Mercy (Naked Necks who received grace and mercy and were spared being butchered), along with Ameraucanas Pepitwo, Robin, Kiwi, Sparrow, Wren (who wasn't a girl, after all), Lark, and Chickadee.

As of January 2012 our surviving chickens were: Gypsy, Esmerelda, Grace, Mercy, Robin and Kiwi, but Mercy died during the summer.  In October 2012 the five hens were joined by newcomers Temple Grayhen, Amelia Egghart, Whoopie Goldbird and Oprah Wingfree and the peaceful Light Brahma rooster Ghandi.

David Kol - born Jan. 16, 2011, son of Jim and Monique.  He is our second grand child and first grandson, also a frequent visitor.

Didi - aka Grandpa.  Shown here with his favorite past-time!  Age, old enough to be an AARP member!

Ebony - New Hope Ebony Belle, our newest cow.  She came to replace her grandmother Sara as our A2 cow and future milker.  Ebony has quickly established herself as "head cow."  She has her grandma Sara's photogenic gift, as well as her A2 genes, but she got a much nicer personality from her sire, Belle Fourche Rousseau.  She is AI'd to Woodmagic Hedgehog III for a spring 2014 calf.

Eden - born April 10, 2013, second daughter of Jim and Monique.  She is our third grandchild and the third member of the "Pony Club."

Herb - husband of Susan; father of Jim, Katie, Jenny and Kara; grandfather of Charis; belongs to Hero; resides at Zephyr Hill Farm and is a full-time counseling student.

Hero -  adopted from the animal shelter by Kara and given to Herb because he's a man's dog!  Thinks he's the boss of Zephyr Hill Farm.  Two years old; part lab? part Akita? part kangaroo!

Jean-Marc - husband of Jenny, on-line journalist who has every man's dream job of writing about video games! 

Jenny - our third child; wife of Jean-Marc, now a Captain in the Air Force JAG, stationed in Ohio.

Jet - registered as Karashome Jet Stream, my Shetland Sheepdog born on D-day 2013.  If Zephyr was a gentle breeze, Jet is appropriately named after the speedy jet stream!  He is my new little companion and friend.

Jim - our first child, husband of Monique, father of Charis, Keller-Williams real estate agent and small group leader at church.

Julie Blue - who goes by "Julie," sweet-natured tovero pony who joined our family in March, 2012, to be every grandchild's dream pony.

Kara - our fourth child, a talented artist, resides in the Art District of Chattanooga.

Katie - our second child, wife of Cameron, moving up the ladder in HR at BP in Houston, Texas.

Macree - Siobhan's first heifer.  "Macree" means "my heart," and her registered name will be ZH Siobhan's Macree.  Her sire is FF Lil' Christmas Cash.  I think Herb is now in love with the second bovine of his life!

Mimi - aka Grandma.  Shown here with her favorite past-time!  Age, old enough to be an AARP member (but after Didi!)

Misty - aka Zephyr Hill Mistral, our Great Pyrenees puppy who joined our family in July 2011 after a fox wiped out half of our flock.

Monique - wife of Jim, mother of Charis, stay-at-home mom who works with the Keller-Williams team part-time and serves on the board of a local charity.

Muscovy Drakes - four of them.  This is Alger Hiss, as Herb calls the boss, teaching Misty to respect him and his colleagues.  Their job is to eat barnyard flies, which they do very well.

Rascal - barn cat, sister of Sterling, 1 and 1/2 years, busy mouser.

Romeo - Kara's old riding partner, AQHA Just Romeo, who recently returned to us after nine years in West Texas.

Royal - our first herd sire, who arrived in January 2014 all the way from Emerald Park Dexters in WA.  His full name is Mrald Crown Royal, a play on his baby nickname of "Mr. Licker."  Royal is a real sweetheart with a lovely temperament.  He is halter-broken and is a veteran of three shows.  He will begin working in the summer of 2014 with two cows and a heifer to breed.  His mother has fantastic milking characteristics which we trust he will pass on to his daughters.

Sara - our first Irish Dexter cow, registered as S&H Hilltop Sara, gave us our second Zephyr Hill calf in the summer of 2013, AI'd posthumously to Serenity Oak Farm Taco.  Sara was sold back to Hope Refuge Farm in August 2013 along with her lovely heifer, ZH Taco's Tundra.

Siobhan - our very first Dexter calf, she is Sara's better-natured, better-built calf out of Hillview Red Wing.  Herb is in love with a bovine for the first time in his life!  Siobhan had her first calf, Macree, by FF Lil' Christmas Cash in June 2013 and her second by him in May 2014, a red chondro-positive bull calf, Wellie.

Sir Loin - our Dexter steer, purchased at 5 months in October 2013.  We joke that T-Bone's ghost warned Sir Loin that he tried to keep away from us, but we still butchered him, so Sir Loin better try a different tack.  The joke is that Sir Loin's method is "I'm too cute to eat"--and it's working real well!  Kara has already offered to buy his hay for life if we'll keep him!

Sterling - barn cat, brother of Rascal, 1 and 1/2 years, stay-at-home guy.

Susan - wife of Herb; mother of Jim, Katie, Jenny and Kara; grandmother of Charis; belongs to Zephyr; resides at Zephyr Hill Farm; author of this blog.

Tiggy - NewHope Mrs. Tiggywinkle, our first calf out of Ebony.  Tiggy's sire is Woodmagic Hedgehog III, and she's already sold.

Wellie - ZH Duke of Wellington, Siobhan's second calf--red, polled, chondro-positive bull calf by FF Lil' Christmas Cash.  Wellie is so laid back and sweet-tempered, we hope to find him a good home.













Over the Rainbow Bridge
These are our dear animals (well, that's stretching it for Carmen and Wren!) who are waiting for us on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.  (Also in alphabetical order)

Boudin  - our Dexter steer, purchased in October 2013 at 20 months of age.  ("Boudin" is French blood sausage.)  He made a trip to the butcher on July 1, 2014 at 28 months of age after enjoying all the spring grass.  The butcher recorded him as a "calf!"

Carmen - alas, he made himself obnoxious and had to go back where he came from--we hope, for his sake!

Jemima Puddleduck - fox-daring female Muscovy who ventured outside the barnyard to escape her five amorous fellow Muscovies.  She left us on Nov. 27, 2011 due to bites inflicted by a predator--and I sacrificed my left knee trying to save her.  We miss her sitting on our barnyard fence.

Peekaboo - ferret, 4 and 1/2 years old, bundle of fun!  He left us in June 2011 after a lively, courageous year-long battle against an adrenal tumor.  We miss his happy war dance and little face peeking out from places.

Pepita - (at left) left us July 11, 2010 after a brief illness.  She was my best layer and a truly nice chicken.  We will miss her pale pink eggs, but we will miss her more.

She was joined in the summer of 2011 by Victoria (right), Pepi-two, Sparrow, Lark, and Chickadee as well as four female ducks when a fox invaded our peaceful kingdom and in 2012 by Mercy, the Naked-Neck who was spared to become a layer along with Grace.

Ping - Pekin duckling "donated" to us in 2011 by someone who couldn't keep it and who heard we had ducks.  She was the mascot of all the Home Pasture animals until she died in September 2013.  We will miss her quacky greeting every time we walked by.







Precious - my first, darling ferret, crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Feb. 1, 2010.  Words cannot express what Precious meant to me.  I will forever miss her precious spirit and joie de vivre!

Rambo and Obaama, left and right, with Ping.  Rambo and Obaama were our first grass-fed lamb--and probably our only sheep, as we discovered we prefer our lambs already frozen.

Shemar - the hot rooster with the Criminal Mind who ended up in a hot pot of coq au vin early in 2013.

Spamela Anderson and Hammy Faye Bakker, our 2012 Berkshire crosses.  Spamela ("Spammy" for short) was ours and Hammy Faye ("Hammy" for short) belonged to friends, but we're raised them together so they wouldn't be lonely.  We reluctantly sent them to the butcher in November 2012.

T-Bone - Dexter steer who joined our family in the summer of 2011.  In November of 2012 he earned the dubious honor of becoming our first grass-fed Dexter beef--and he won E for Excellent.

Tiger - venerable French kitty, he crossed the Rainbow Bridge in July 2009.  He was a faithful member of our family for 17 years, and he was a gentleman of a cat!

Wren - splendid Ameraucana rooster who abused his privileged position and ended up as coq au vin.

Zephyr - June 12, 2008 - June 17, 2013
"First Dog" of Zephyr Hill Farm; my Shetland Sheepdog registered as Windsong of Zephyr Hill.  Zephyr was the heart of this farm, beloved by all who met her.  She was one in a million, and she leaves a hole that can never be filled.  

"4" and "8" - delightful Berkshire-cross pigs, our first ever, who amused and delighted us with their floppy ears, happy snorts and friendly personalities.  They left us on Nov. 7, 2011 to become our first grass-fed pork, but their spirits remain in our hearts.