Two pieces of news that lifted a weight
When Justin and Lauren sat down for their October 27 update, the most important news came before the packages. After a difficult few weeks, they wanted the Farmily to understand both their relief and why life on camera had become harder.
Lauren also shared relief after a breast-cancer scare. She tells that personal story, including her follow-up plans, in It All Started With a Little Hope.
Justin also shared a significant but partial development in his court case: he said the felony charges had been dismissed while two misdemeanor charges remained. At the time of the broadcast, the court process was continuing. They described a weight lifting from their shoulders, while making clear that they were not ready to discuss the case in full. Listen to their update.
Justin describes partial legal relief, with two misdemeanor charges still remaining at the broadcast.
Justin shares partial legal relief
Tuesday, October 27 · 12:08–15:22 · 194 seconds
Why the regular 7:11 mornings have been quieter
The question many viewers had been asking was whether 7:11 Animal Heaven would return. Justin and Lauren did not have a date to give. Justin described how difficult it had become to switch on the camera, particularly around the animals, and appear cheerful when that did not reflect how he felt. Lauren explained that they wanted their longtime community to hear that honestly.
They were also working out how to rebuild their livelihood. Later in the conversation, Justin said he wanted to choose life as an online creator deliberately, with a return to 7:11 mornings and occasional Goat Raiders when he felt ready. That was a hope for the future, rather than a restart announcement. Hear their explanation and Justin’s later thoughts about returning.
Justin and Lauren explain the quieter mornings; they do not announce a fixed restart date.
Why the regular 7:11 broadcasts have been quieter
Tuesday, October 27 · 15:22–17:37 · 135 seconds
Hope’s birthday and a new chapter for the business
Hope turns four on November 10, and Lauren announced an SFF Hope Box for her birthday with four brand-new products: two made by Lauren and two made by followers. The contents were still a surprise during the stream. This birthday merchandise box is separate from the Lemongrass breast-cancer-awareness box discussed earlier that evening. Hear the birthday announcement.
Lauren announces Hope’s fourth-birthday SFF box with four new products, separate from the Lemongrass awareness box.
Hope’s fourth birthday and the SFF Hope Box
Tuesday, October 27 · 47:18–48:38 · 80 seconds
Behind that launch is a broader change in how Justin and Lauren are working. Justin has joined the merchandise side, and they described new shirt-order reports, creator sales reports and tools intended to make production easier. They celebrated What If Acres’ first merchandise release and talked about building the creator shops alongside free Monday newsletters, so viewers can keep up without watching every long livestream. That is work toward a new source of income; their larger expansion plans remained ambitions. Listen to the merchandise and newsletter discussion.
The change carried more weight than a new line of shirts. Lauren had left a 19-year career teaching kindergarten, and Justin had left home-renovation work. They described trying to work out how to make a living after the loss of their previous business. Against that background, the creator shops and merchandise tools were part of a livelihood they were trying to rebuild. Justin framed becoming an online creator again as a deliberate choice he wanted to make when he felt ready. Hear why the work matters.
The farm itself is changing with that working life. Asked on Saturday what the goats were bred for, Justin explained that the former petting-zoo business model was no longer what they were doing. He put the herd at 68 goats, down from a former count of about 239. The aim, he said, was a number they could manage with the food, veterinary care, electricity and hours of work the animals require. That puts the merchandise plans beside another continuing job: reshaping the herd around the farm they can sustain. Hear Justin explain the smaller herd.
A practical gift for Rosie and family milestones
Among the packages was a gift with a serious purpose. Justin said Rosie’s vision was getting worse and that she was struggling, although she was still moving around. Bells for her companions were discussed as a way for her to hear where they were. The stream did not show a later outcome from using them. Hear Rosie’s update and the gift’s purpose.
By Thursday, the bells were part of a larger question: how to keep Rosie comfortable and able to find what she needed. Justin said he had moved her into a stall so her feed, hay and water were together. He checked whether she could locate the water bucket and left a small stack of hay where he could monitor it. Friday brought a concern alongside her appetite for grain: he said she had not touched the hay left the previous day.
He also wanted her to have time with her companions. On Friday he opened the stall and later checked that she had reached the pasture with the other sheep, setting out a plan for days outside and nights inside. That routine was still taking shape on Saturday. Justin realized he had not brought her back in overnight, found her unsure which way to go, and said he did not want to pressure her while trying to offer food. Later that morning, he reported her out in the pasture again. He described future decisions in terms of her quality of life, while continuing to adjust how she spent each day. Follow Rosie’s care update.
Justin explains Rosie’s worsening vision and the intended purpose of the gift of bells.
A gift with a purpose for Rosie
Tuesday, October 27 · 1:13:19–1:14:31 · 72 seconds
There were family milestones, too. Hannah had finished her field-hockey season and was beginning to ride Daisy beyond the horse pasture. Aiden was enjoying his new quarry job and operating heavy equipment. A possible horse channel was only an idea at that point. Catch Hannah’s riding update and the news about Aiden.
A flat tire turns into a fall walk
Justin’s Wednesday morning took an unexpected turn when a flat Jeep tire left him walking home. The spare was not on the back: he explained that he had removed it because its damaged mount rattled. With coffee in hand and the live audience along for company, he covered a familiar road at an unfamiliar pace.
The slower trip brought chickens, trees and autumn leaves into view—details he said he missed while driving. Then Jeff arrived to give him a lift. Finding the spare and bringing a jack were still next on Justin’s list, but the walk home had acquired both a little autumn sightseeing and a welcome rescue.
Watch Jeff arrive, then follow Justin’s own link to “I found my spare”.
In Thursday’s livestream, Justin filled in what happened after the walk. He had found the spare, and a mechanic who had initially explained that he no longer did tire work offered to swap it. Lauren later took Justin back to collect the Jeep. It got the immediate problem sorted, but the spare raised another one. Justin said it had been sitting outside for years and had cracks in it. His next plan was to replace all five tires, including the spare, and repair the mount on the back of the Jeep. Hear the tire follow-up.
Jeff arrives after the flat tire turns Justin’s morning into a walk home.
Jeff comes to the rescue
Wednesday · 16:37–17:14 · 37 seconds
Fall colors, with work still to do
Autumn also frames the portraits of Dutchess, the farm’s former buggy-pulling horse. Against the red and orange leaves, she provides a quieter companion to the roadside story: another reason to look closely at a familiar place.
The week’s rounds included a look at materials with another life ahead of them. Justin showed smaller wood rounds planned for coffee tables, followed by the wide live-edge slabs brought back from the sawmill. The interest was in their possibilities—the shapes and scale of the wood before those future pieces take form. See the rounds and slabs.
Those future tables come with a long wait. Justin expected the new wood to need about two years to dry. His immediate job was to coat the surfaces of the smaller rounds as he had the larger ones, because he was concerned they would lose moisture too quickly and split. He pointed out a crack already starting in one piece. Bringing the wood home was the beginning of that work, with preparation and patience still ahead. Hear the drying and preparation plans.
Justin shows the wood rounds and live-edge slabs planned for future projects.
A fresh stack of live-edge possibilities
Friday · 15:27–15:58 · 31 seconds
A winter plan for the horse pasture
The horse-pasture project had the next season in mind. On Wednesday, Justin explained that a new dry lot would let the horses come off the grass so the pasture could be seeded and given time to re-establish before spring. His next steps were landscape fabric, stone, compaction and more permanent fencing, with the aim of shedding rainwater instead of letting it soak in. The stone and ground work were still ahead.
The utility work was further along. Justin said the trench had settled and power was running underground, with lighting and an outdoor outlet intended for a water heater in cold weather. By Saturday, he reported the network switch installed at the horse barn; mounting the outdoor access point remained another job to finish. See the pasture and utility plans.
Costumes, snacks and a couch that would not fit
Halloween brought costumes, homemade themed snacks and a decorated summer kitchen to the farm. Justin’s movie-night photographs add the people and playful details to the gathering: a group portrait by the outdoor fireplace, costume close-ups and a mummy-style snack ready for its own moment in front of the camera.
A couch purchased for Mary’s cat cabin supplied the evening’s practical joke on everyone: nobody had measured, and it would not fit. It did make a perfect movie-night seat. Where it will live next is still an open question.
Movie night in pictures
Hannah and friends add their own Halloween portrait in ghost costumes and sunglasses, holding takeaway cups beneath autumn foliage. Their photographs offer a separate seasonal scene alongside the farm gathering.
Shania is keeping everyone guessing
Justin’s latest impression is that Shania is not pregnant, and that the milk may be left over from when she was nursing Patsy. Her pregnancy status remains unconfirmed. For now, this is a farm update to follow rather than a baby announcement.
One last package mystery
Later in the same stream, a package prompted guesses about glass globes and a bat house before Lauren remembered that she had ordered bathroom lights. After the evening’s bigger updates, there was still room for a little everyday confusion.