Better late than never.

As soon as I decided to move overseas, I knew I wanted to take up blogging again.  For several years I wrote an online journal about my part-time career as a sheep farmer and enjoyed the opportunity to be creative and share my everyday life with whoever happened upon my writing.  I created this new blog in January, with plans to post daily about my plans, details and photos from the move itself, and of course, all my new experiences.  So much for good intentions.  Preparing for the move was more overwhelming than I imagined and the trip to Ireland was exhausting.  My health suffered tremendously.  After I arrived, my computer blew up the first time I plugged it in and though I didn't lose anything on my hard drive, my photos ended up duplicating and triplicating themselves and are now randomly stored on my iPhone, iPad, and in hundreds of folders on my new hard drive.  This was not going to be easy.  I have been keeping up with my posting on Instagram, under the username FilbertSheep, and vowed I would get the blog up and running sooner rather than later.  Now, four months into the new year, the blog is just now becoming functional.  The talented John Lennon said in song, "Life is what happens when you are making other plans."  In my case, my life happened while I was planning to blog about it.  So, better four months late than never, here are my thoughts on everything from how to or not to become an expat, my experiences in my new life in a different land, and details of my never ending search for more sheep.  I hope you will come along for the ride!

Riley and me.  The adventure has just begun.

What's in a name?

Filbert is my pen name, chosen about 4 years ago when I began writing an online journal about my life as a part-time sheep and poultry farmer. At the time, it seemed safer to use a name other than my own.  In case, say, the boss at my "real job" wanted to know what I was up to, googled me & found my blog.  Reading about my dropping my cell phone in the mud outside the chicken coop when I was actually supposed to be seeing a customer didn't seem good for job security.

Filbert

I have a special fondness for the name "Filbert." Filbert was one of my favorite sheep in the flock of woolies I cared for over the past several years. Filbert, or Bert for short, was a beautiful silver Romney sheep, kept as company and a calming influence for the flock's breeding ram Buckeye. Filbert could be a worrier one minute and prancing joyfully like a deer through the pasture the next. He was the sheep that required the most patience to handle. Filbert was the sheep version of me.

Coated Bert

Bert just before shearing

Filbert is also the name most often used in Oregon for the hazelnut. The filbert is actually a particular species of the hazelnut, thinner and more elongated than the other rounder species. Oregon is known for its filberts, producing 99% of the hazelnuts in the United States, the 3rd largest country of producers after Turkey and Italy. When I refer to the filbert or to filbert trees, I am often mistaken for a native Oregonian, as natives of the state are more apt to recognise the name. Another fascinating fact about why I like "Filbert" is the name is thought to have originated because hazelnuts mature on or around St. Philibert's Day, August 20th, which just so happens to be my birthday.

A filbert about 1 month before harvest

"Our" filbert orchard

As my life descended into mild to medium chaos over the past 2 years, I often joked with friends about entering NUTSEC, my own mental health version of the Federal Witness Protection Program or WITSEC.  To keep me safe and difficult to locate, it made perfect sense for my NUTSEC name to be Filbert.