Hello, this is Cory Burcham, author of this blog. Who am I and why did I start a blog? I will try to answer this for you in a few short paragraphs but to learn more about me, my family, my job, and my farm you’ll need to follow this blog and start this journey with me as I attempt to lay it all out for you.
I should start by saying I am writing this first blog post at 11:15pm on a Saturday night while rocking my 8 month old daughter. She is the newest addition to our family, and also teething… hence the rocking after my wife has laid her down for bed once already. She is now asleep again, but I expect her to be in bed with us later tonight, or early this morning. Yes we let our kids sleep in our bed, we’ve learned with each of our 3 kids that sleep is at a premium in this household and you do what you gotta do to get it.
Our other 2 children are 5 and 7 years old, both boys. They are currently sleeping in a camper at the Lawrence County Fair with their Nana and Pappy. I’ll write more about the Fair another time, it deserves its own blog post, even though I’m not particularly fond of it.
We live in Southern Ohio, a short drive to the Ohio river, where the 3 states of Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia meet. Our home is in a very rural area, meaning we live in the woods, down a hollow. Or as most call it around here, a holler.
Yeah, There are some drawbacks to living out in the “sticks”, like no cell service, or cable tv, or internet. The roads are small, winding, and often full of potholes… and it takes at least 15 minutes to drive to town, another 10 to the nearest Walmart. For most people these drawbacks would be too much to overcome, I call it the price we pay to live in paradise.
Our home is surrounded by nature and wildlife. Almost every house on our road has enough privacy for you to walk out your back door naked without you worrying about the neighbors, or take a leak off your back porch. I won’t deny one or both of those on a regular basis… what I’m saying is, we love our privacy around here.
Our television and internet come from a satellite dish, not the best option, especially during a rain or snow storm, but it’s the only option we currently have out here. I won’t say I’m not envious of those living closer to town with all the technological advantages. But most of those people don’t have the view I have right outside my back door.
Shady Hollow Farm
Our small farm consists of a 100 plus year old red wood barn beside a small creek. The creek runs down the middle of our hollow, separating our 40 acre farm almost right down the middle. On each side of the creek we have about 20 acres of field that my father in law ant I cut, tedder, rake, and bale 2 or 3 times each summer to feed our animals.
Shady Hollow Farm currently houses 6 fainting goats. Our herd started from my father in law’s larger herd about 3 years ago when we took in a few baby goats needing bottle-fed. Each year we breed our nannies with his billies, we’re in our 2nd generation so far.
Along with goats we now have 3 miniature donkeys. We were overjoyed this morning when we welcome our newest donkey, born just last night. Our boys named him Cross Heehaw Burcham. We let our kids name all the animals, it’s way more fun that way.
We round out our farm animals with an assortment of barn cats. The number is always changing due to our highly fertile momma cats… we definitely need to get them fixed. I believe we are to around 8 right now. If you want a good barn cat let me know!
I have also grown a garden the last three years. It’s not huge by any standards but it has provided us plenty of produce so far. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about growing vegetables since I’ve started gardening. I’d love to share my tips, tricks, and failures with you all.
Hunting
As I mentioned above, our home and farm is surrounded by the woods. Our property is bordered on 3 sides to government owned wooded land. This has afforded my family nearly unlimited opportunity for hunting deer, squirrel, and turkey for 4 generations so far, starting with my great-grandparents. Living on the family farm and extending the farming and hunting legacy makes me extremely proud. I hope that my children stay close and continue the tradition with their own family in the future.
CRNA
I work in the healthcare profession as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) or Nurse Anesthesiologist. I am currently in my 6th year as a CRNA. It is my job to put patients to sleep for surgery, keep them asleep, and, most importantly, make sure they wake up after surgery. I usually tell my patients the waking up part of my job is where I make the money…
I love my job and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Some days at work are very long and stressful, but not always. But I couldn’t ask for a more rewarding career.
My Goals with this Blog
I hope to split the blog into 3 parts. Each part will be focused on the main headings that I just outlined: CRNA Career, Shady Hollow Farm, and Hunting.
I plan to delve deep into each of these 3 parts, hopefully it will be very informative and educational, maybe even entertaining. As I learn more about these topics I will share my experiences with my readers.
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CoryB CRNA 