The shortlist of 34 photos in consideration for our 2025 calendar just became 12. As always it was hard for me to choose from his shortlisted photos. Each photo elicits memories for  me and the memories can impact my choices. So this year I got help from a few family and friends who voted for their 12 favorites. There was unanimity on several photos, including 2 that I had not chosen for my final 12, One of the Cotton Patch Geese and sunset and one I took of our cow Rosie in the forest, looking at the camera with a mouthful of privet.

With the help I got, it was easier narrowing the selection down to a manageable number this year. Choosing 12 photos that meshed together for the calendar was not quite so easy. I had my heart set on several from the shortlist that just didn't fit the flow of images on the calendar. I ended up choosing 3 new photos that were not on my shortlist that fit the general look and feel of the calendar better. The first was of our Pineywoods steer Little Dave at sunset for May, the second of our Pineywoods Bull Uno in the forest while the sun rises through the trees for November and the third of our Pineywoods Cow Rosie lying in the pasture with clover on her nose for December. Although they were not my favorites individually, these three were much better choices for the overall calendar. See the final selections below and purchase your calendar on Printify.*

Thanks to Marcus, Sue, my mom and my friend Carl for their help selecting the photos.

*Note that we have no control over the estimated shipping price on Printify. You will get a more accurate price after entering your address. Customers in the United States paid on average $10.59 for shipping for the 2024 calendar. The cost per calendar for shipping decreases dramatically when ordering multiple copies.

The journey to naming Ozark Akerz got one step closer in late 2006 with a mugshot and fingerprints at the Welwyn Garden City Constabulary. I was applying for a green card to the United States. Part of the requirement was checking for criminal records in every country I had lived in since the age of 16. This included 3 countries, Canada, Denmark and my residence at the time, United Kingdom.

My mugshot and fingerprints were sent to the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), MI5 and MI6 (yes, James Bond’s MI6) and Interpol. Once they had been submitted, there was nothing to do but sit back and wait for criminal records to arrive in the mail, which took 9.5 months, the same as a Pineywoods Cattle gestation period. The US Embassy in London contacted me and said I had been cleared for the next stage: more paperwork and a medical exam followed an interview with Embassy staff.

The day of interview at the US Embassy, my wife Sue and I were nervous. Let me explain why.

This year marks our 10th Anniversary at Ozark Akerz Regenerative Farm. Before Sue and I moved here, we spent 2 months fixing leaks, mending all manner of things and cleaning the farmhouse to make it livable. It had been abandoned for over 10 years. Little did we know what we had gotten ourselves into!

The following are excerpts from emails we sent to Sue’s mom, Lou, during the first couple months on the farm. It has been amazing to relive the beginning of our journey in detail, much of what we had forgotten. We both remembered the day we moved in as Feb 1, in fact it was Jan 27. All the joys and challenges came back to life when reading the emails. Lou suffered from dementia and would forget what we told her over the phone. Daily emails were a good way to stay close to her even though she was 2100 miles away. She kept the printed emails and photos we sent her in a binder. She would re-read the emails over time. She eventually filled 3 binders with our emails.