Kudos to Carol who was a very busy farmerette this week.

On Monday she turned 65 - a milestone she nearly missed after a close call two weeks ago when she fell through the ice and into the creek while trying to rescue the puppies. A harrowing solo battle against thick ice, waist-deep water and steep banks ensued, followed by a frigid trudge back to the house with a heavy heart, having seen one puppy drowned and the other lost under the ice. A scale-model Jack London epic, this episode.

Carol rescued herself in time to make her movie date with her daughter. (The movie? Atonement. Yes, nothing calms the nerves after a near-tragedy like more tragedy. If only we'd chosen Into the Wild - we could have had tragedy AND irony.) On her return, a miraculous discovery: Daisy the puppy was shivering on her doorstep and waiting to be let in.

So Carol lived to see 65 and Daisy her oral stage, and both agreed to stay out of the creek until spring.

This week Carol also attended an all-day food safety seminar as well as visits to her attorney and the local ag offices where she learned some very good things to advance the farm plan.