Don and I drove about an hour and a half south to Philomath, OR to visit my cousin, Staci. It was the first time we had a chance to see her house and meet her horses, doggies and barn cats. Her place is amazing!! It's a 3-acre piece of land nestled in a small valley with hills on either side. They are only minutes away from the town of Corvallis, pop. 50,000, that serves mainly as a college town to Oregon State University. She and her husband Burt have been renovating the main house for 3 or 4 years now and living in an apartment that's attached to the super big workshop in back. This place is huge! It's broken up into a living quarters and then two more enormous workshops that house everything from power tools to a tractor to furniture that will go into the main house at the front of the lot when it's complete.

Out back of that are the stables, a great, red barn, a chicken coop, greenhouse, several apple trees, her sweet dogs underfoot, her two horses, Rocket and Carter, grazing in the pasture and their newest addition, Orrey, a minature horse that they rescued a couple of weeks ago from a horder that made the news up here. He's so small he can walk right underneath the other horses! And he already is starting to run the show. :)

On our way to have lunch, Staci took us by the Oregon Alpaca Farm--that boasts the largest aplaca herd in the state. They were pretty cute, especially the one that Don got a picture of, who looked like he was on his way to the muppet tryouts.

It was wonderful getting a chance to see my beloved cousin and peek into her everyday life. And what a life it is! She and Burt are completely in love and living their dream. Can't ask for much more than that!