meadowwoods

lamb races have begun

2011-05-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have achieved lamb races. It's a time when I pass the window and laugh. There is nothing as cute as a bunch of day's old lambs kicking up their heels. Yesterday I let Donna and her two boys out in the morning. In about an hour, I found Donna and the lambs hiding in the barn. The little cry-baby had totally forgotten who his mother was, and was running round and round baaing. I didn't have much hope for that outcome. I locked the three-some into a jug for the next 6 hours. Then let them out again. Minutes later they were off!
The two new lambs led the race from one end of the pasture to the barn and then up on the three foot round hay bale. Kicking as only new lambs can, all four hoofs in the air....my bottle baby turned and twisted in the air jumping from the hay bale with the others. Oh My!!!!
They will break a leg for sure. I had to roll the bale outside in the rain to allow a full fence panel against the remaining bales. I have lost many new borns in-between hay bales. They stumble forward, but can't turn or back out. I have two lambs waiting in a pen for their turn outside today. Then on to last group....maybe thay can all get outside.
I believe lambing at Meadowwoods started and ended with the rains. Last count, 7 rams.....five ewes.....all live!
Hurray.....last year we had twins.....the year before, perhaps 4....I guess it takes a half dozen lambs to make a good lamb race. Looking forward to them....but maybe I should move that hay bale?
I heard some nutty globalists were offended by chants of USA USA....so....
USA USA USA.....
I'm happy to add my voice......USA...USA...USA !!!!!

It's May Already?

2011-05-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Good grief, where did April go?
Anyway, I am here to report, that, although I don't breed any more....No one told me I couldn't have rams. Rams don't know they aren't supposed to breed my girls. When fences wash out they believe they are helping me by taking care of my girls. Maeve....my wonderful, borrowed, 15 year old ewe...our-ran my year-old horny ram. Good for Maeve!
We have been lambing in the rains.....lots of rains.....for over a week now. Yes, it is flooding, but thank God we didn't blow away. Pray for all those families that did.
While I am here....in the present. Congratulations to our wonderful Navy Seals, and all our military, and those who helped.
USA USA USA
Now, for the other good news....the lambs today are all still alive.
Wow....that's almost a record for me.
For my friend in Alaska.....Have a musket yuglet flecket ram.....drinks from a bottle. A week old.
Write. On the third computer for the month.
We have now on the ground....when they can get out of the barn....9 lambs. My husband informed me, we could double my flock with three more lambs....ARGH!!!!!
Boys are leading in the count, 5 to 4.....go ewes!
I know of one more ewe to go......not sure about anyone else. Hope that's it?
I did have one problem birth. Donna, one of my first ewes, now 11, carried twins in floppy saddle bags. She broke the first bag in the evening....and spent the next three hours walking around and pushing....I went to be at 1. Checked her several times. Old ewes know how to lamb. I figured she had a lamb in the wrong position. Got up and fed and watered her with lots of energy food.
Then I checked to see if she was open enough for birth. Yup....cut my nails and washed. Now to check what is the problem, Donna was now on the floor in the "closet" she had chosen for birthing. She didn't appreciate my help. I found a foot.....no nose....what felt like a tail....and over on the side...teeth.
I came in and read the chapter on birth positions. I thought I had a butt with legs forward, and a head with one leg forward. I pushed the leg back in....decided I needed more room and tried to drag one big old ewe onto a hay bale outside the closet. I checked again....lots of pushing....I grabbed what I thought was a butt with a tail and tried to wriggle it back and forth while pulling.
Nothing.
I walked out to the front yard and enlisted my hubby for this holding job. Went back and found what appeared to be a big nose starting to come. After the nose stuck, I followed the re-appearing leg back to a shoulder. Now I pulled the one leg and wiggled the horns out. A little late Donna?
Go figure, the wet body wiggled. I cleaned the nose and mouth and rubbed the chest. Then handed the big boy to Donna, who was still stuck on half the hay bale. While she was licking, the second bag appeared, I broke the water when I saw the tongue. This boy came out and cried.
Over the years I have lost a lot of lambs to brain injury....Oxygen deprivation during birth. One of the reasons I try to be present. After a few hours sucking and crying the lamb started to be quiet. I still don't know how he will be, but this morning he was still alive. Usually they aren't.
I'm really happy Donna had at least one live lamb. Maybe she will have two. The last time she lambed, she lost one of her twins to the big cat.
I am thinking, after the lambs came out, that the second lamb head was right up in the birth canal. And the first lamb's head was turned to the side and slightly back. Yes, the second one has teeth. My 9 year old, Velvet, had one of each this morning. Took an hour. They both appear to be up and eating.
that's 9.....I don't breed anymore.
That's all the news from the flooded valleys of Missouri.
Mary...the bopeep

oh where oh where

2011-03-26T05:38:00.000-07:00

OK, not enough room for a long title. Anyway, spring has left. Ask my ewes. They say it was mid-80's and then I sheared them. Now they are wet and frozen. It's all my fault. Some are also very fat.....like Buttons. Yes, she is still fat.....a false alarm. She hung around while I was shearing until it was her turn.....then she fought me for the entire experience. "Like, what is this rope on my nose? I am head sheep....you can't tie me to a fence!!!!" "I'll break your leg....I'll jump over the fence....I'll get even." And she was so fat that I couldn't hold her against the fence. I'm down to two ewes and two rams.....I'm not excited about the ram part. My little guy has lethal horns. That is, they are life a corkscrew on both sides....for really big wine bottles! It will take two to hold him and shear him...and this weekend he is wet.
I was at the Arkansas houses for a few days. I planned to water the onions, but yesterday I woke to find pools of water and waves of sleet sitting on top of my newly planted annuals. So I left....I was not going to look out the windows all day and watch the flowers get frozen. The furnace turned on! I'm sure in a week or two the big flower store will get some flowers from somewhere south....where flowers come from.

ohhhh blank..........oh well

2011-03-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, they have done it again.....I have bags. Worse than that, I have an 11 year old off by herself for the second day. My hubby says it's OK, he has done this before. I'm not sure. Two years ago I had to learn how to tube. Go figure....ME!!
Last year I was present for the birth of twins. That went fine. They lived and grew. One, a ram is still here. he may be part of the problem. Of course they got out. They are shetlands. Shetlands always get out. I have learned the ewes never forget either. I hope they remember how to birth as well!
My one ray of hope is the memory of that day I caught the yearling ram. He was out of breath. My 14 year old ewe had been leading him a merry chase through the pasture. She remembered, and she wanted nothing to do with it. "Forget it Junior, she said....my lambing days are long behind me. Now, all I want is an animal cookie in the afternoon."
I wonder if an old shepherd is as good as a new shepherd. What I lack in enthusiasm, I have in experience. I used to expect....and raise....over 80 lambs each spring. Now, I know all the problems that could appear....and I watch with a wary eye, to catch the first signs that lamb is ready.
What else do I have to do? Well, I have half a yard still not raked....and the back of another yard stacked in wet leaves. I started putting stepping stones in the front yard. I have 7.....there are about 15 waiting . There is dirt around them....no grass yet. I want to plant corn....today! I may need to water the onions. The glads aren't in yet. I have branches to be burned. I have two kitchens with dirty dishes, and a third that needs to be torn out.
Do I need to spend the next three weeks watching lambs? Maybe. Will my other work wait? I suppose so. Hey, hubby.....what are you doing today? Can I go away for a few hours....or days?
If there are any shepherds out there. I hope your lambs are all healthy and beauthiful.

What's new ?

2010-05-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

Glad you asked.
Good thing I can write, because I am still speechless.
About a month ago, I took our adopted cat Midnight to the vets. She spent the winter living in the two story Victorian, and in February, she broke a window and went outside. We found her the next day with her little cat friends. She told me it was an emergency.
I've heard the same excuse from my ewes!
I wanted the vet to make sure Midnight looked healthy and ready to have kittens naturally. An odd request, but the last time we adopted a stray pregnant cat she had a C-section.
About three days later, I found a skinny Midnight, a wet chaise lounge, but no kittens. Oh, I know cats like to hide their kittens. This was the second pregnancy for Midnight, since we met....and I just thought she was exhibiting feral cat behavior. Bad cat....not the motherly type. I looked and looked. I looked under furniture. In open closets. Under the covers on the beds. No little rat-type kittens. I was sad. Midnight still got fed and cared for regularly. It wasn't her fault. But true caregiver style...I blamed myself. I should have been there. Poor kittens!
It has been about a month, and today we both arrived at the big house to finish cutting the lawn. I came in the front door. My husband was sitting at the dining room table on the phone. Midnight had already been fed her special envelope of wet cat food. There she was under the table by my husband's feet. Next to Midnight was a tiny black kitten with it's tail straight up in the air.
Again, Speechless....I pointed under the table. As I stood there, with my mouth babbling nothing, My husband thought. "It must be a snake, or a big spider" Then he looked down and saw the kitten. "How did you get in here?" My mind had made a connection between black Midnight cat and tiny black kitten. But my husband, sure there were no kittens from Midnight, thought there must be a door open for the small cat to get into our house.
I crawled under the table, and lifted the skirt on the dining chairs. One after another little kittens peered back at me. Three kittens....no....four kittens! Where did she hide them? I had turned over the furniture. Crawled under the beds. Looked behind doors. Midnight kept those kittens hidden until they had their eyes open, and were crawling around . I am still speechless. I do owe Midnight some praises. I should have not thought the worst of her. She has a lovely temperment. She loves to crawl up on the bed at night to cuddle.
I take it all back....she IS a good mother cat. I should have had her fixed before February. But I didn't know she would break-glass-in-case-of-emergency. I'm really glad she finally let me meet her kittens.
One is black, one black brown and white tortie, one grey beige and white tortie, and one little black and white. I'll have to spend more time getting them socialized now...before they are totally grown. Good thing I'm a cat person.
Wow...What a surprise!

oh help !

2010-05-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? It is almost June....That's the middle of the year. It must be time to buy Christmas gifts!
We almost had a dry summer here. But the last month has dropped rains on us. Lots. Not bad floods, but the place is lush....humid....warm...green .....and tall.
Tall as in everything is taller than the cats...than the sheep....than one of the dogs, and I don't want to walk anywhere besided the cut grass and the road. It's hard to walk the road this year with the dogs. We have some new folks who like to use 4 wheelers. And they want to let their dogs race behind them. That is a real irritation to our two dogs, who think they own this part of the world. You try holding a great pyr on a leash while a dog runs by five feet away. Lucky I didn't get killed.
The other reason I don't like walking in long grass is I can't see the ground crawlies. I don't mean earthworms. I mean copperheads. They love this time of year. Last year we saw our first rattlesnake.....I really really don't want to step on one of those.
On the subject of old houses.....long pause......deep breath.....shake of the head. They are too much work. Houses in town...even nice little towns have a drawback to living in the middle of the woods. Yes, in the middle of the night....especially if we are spending a night alone out here....it is way too far out in the woods. There is something to be said for neighbors. Unfortunately, my neighbors, were wonderful neighbors to me. But not very nice to each other. One of those co-dependant relationships....with a vengence. After having to call for uniformed help, I have made a command decision and made an offer on that house too. Yes....I am totally crazy. But that seemed like the only solution that gave me control. I'll let you know if I get to close on that house.
The other problem with living in town is we have to cut the grass....a lot of grass. Well, actually, most of the yard is weeds and vines. Someone should plant some grass seed. Oops, that would be me. I have enjoyed the flowers that have bloomed so far, but I haven't had time to work on a lawn. Right now, I am not living there at all, because the water hasn't been turned on again. Some one of these months I'll have time to do that.
Sorry about your computer trouble, we had that happen too. And, if I haven't written to you lately, it's because all my email addresses went out with a lightening strike to the mother-board. whatever that is.
Later!

long time no write

2010-05-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

If you are reading this post....you shouldn't be. This is too long a time to think I would ever go back to writing.
Yes, we had a wedding. and the next time we all got together as a family, we went to another wedding. Then we all wound up at a Halloween party. This is the type of thing that happens when you have family within driving distance. Now, if I were a younger girl....which I am not....having a few drinks and trying to break a balloon tied to someone else's leg....would have sounded like a good idea. Trust me....a person my age should sit down and watch....before they wind up on the floor.
This idea of having family within driving distance, sounds good until I try driving for 12 hours to get to be with mine. I did that again within the year. It was great. A long drive, followed by more driving, followed by a trip to visit my sister....followed by my brother's house and back for 12 hours driving to get home. I get the idea that old folks might want to move closer to family when they decide not to drive much.
I guess I haven't grown up much.
On the subject of sheep....I still have some. We lost some fencing to another flood last fall, and did have twins this spring. No one seemed to mind they didn't own the twins. So I guess my vet was right when he asked me if the sheep REALLY wanted to be bred every year. Maybe not. I kept the older ones, and the ones that had some problems having lambs....Like no bag. That's a good clue they shouldn't be bred. There were deer walking over my down fence to graze in the pasture today. They could have gotten caught by the high water....or maybe the fences should really be stood up again. Some day. At least no one has been eaten lately.
Since no one is reading this. I have to ask. What IS it with these social web pages?????
Who lives to pretend they are gathering pretend crops? Why do they want someone else to play along and send them a nail or some other dumb object?
Does anyone have a life anymore?
Is this a form of recreation I just don't understand?
Doesn't anyone talk to people in the house, across the fence, on the phone, anymore?
I tried to play along....really!
I have yet to figure out why.
Maybe it's the fact we have dial up. Things take longer. If I want to send an old rusty nail to some lovely person who thinks I would enjoy doing that , it take many many minutes to get the computer to down-load and send such a really neat object.
Now being an experienced fix-up person. I really wouldn't expect an old rusty nail to hold any stick of wood in a place I intended to put it. Let alone build something with it. The people who write these programs must laugh themselves to sleep thinking of semi-sane semi-adult people actually agreeing to spend their limited life-moments sending rusty nails and other nonsence to each other.
I can think of plenty of dumb things that don't include rusty nails and old bricks. I can watch the fish in the pond. Smell the roses, walk the dogs. Drive 12 hours. Or i can write dumb thing on my blog....and hope no one read it.
I guess everyone has their own form of recreation.
peeps

long time.....

2009-07-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

OK, my fault, I'm sorry.....I've been having a hard time catching up.
We had a wet year...right up to the time we needed to drive to Portland for our middle son's wedding.
Yes, it was a miracle we could get thru the creek at all....Monday evening, we spent 3 hours waiting for the water to go down enough to cross and go home and pack. The rains held off over night....and early in the morning we packed the car. Ha! Not believing the water had actually gone down far enough to let the car drive thru....we barely got the truck thru the night before. But, we put out food and water for the cats, put out hay and water for the sheep....herded the three dogs into the back seat and front seat of our car....and drove to the crossing to wait for another miracle. Yes, we were supposed to go to the wedding after all....the car drove thru the creek without stalling. We dropped the dogs in the kennel. And headed across the country.
Wow....may I just add the USA is a beautiful place!!!!
We drove across parts of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and finally wound up on the east side of Oregon.
For those romantics among you. JamesandOlga.com will give you a brief introduction to our children, who met while looking at an historic site in the Ukraine. They were married at a vineyard outside of Portland, and some friends and family...like us.... joined them for a couple of days on the Pacific coast. Would you believe....I love the ocean!
Unfortunately, once we left the state of mo....they suffered from an endless heat wave. High humidity and temps near 100 for 9 or 10 days. The sheep ran out of water once....we had friends checking on them. The cats put a hole in the screen and half escaped into the woods.

What I didn't put at the beginning of this story, is that our head Great Pyr, Angel, died last night.
She was the best guard those sheep will ever have....knowing most of them close enough to lick them in greeting. We almost lost Angel last year. She and the younger pyr, Sugar, were lost a couple of days in the woods. Although they spent six weeks hiding under the furniture on our porch.....Angel was obviously aging. We spent the past week keeping them inside during the day, and feeding by hand....but Angel left the porch in the middle of the night to join her beloved sheep in the barn. It's really hard to lose a good friend, who you have depended on for help 24 hours of the day. Angel, like a good guard dog, was wilful and stubborn...She weighed what we asked of her, in her own mind, and balanced it with her duties at the barn...or in the woods. Her eyes reflected an inner wisdom, and we were lucky to have spent a few years with her in our family.
We all knew she was leaving....but only on her own terms.
We love you Angel....and will always miss you.
Angel Dog Kelly.... born 2004, died 2009
Always good to her family of sheep....and their humans too.

email to a friend

2009-04-20T05:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, I had a great time visiting your blog, .....................Thanks!
Sorry I haven't written...
We went to the old house yeaterday....got back at 5:15....went 1/2 mile down our road...and were met by the raging colorado river...you know the one they shoot the rapids on...in those big rubber rafts,....
The water was churning brown and filled the low water crossing with curling waves and currents....argh!
A semi truck went thru from the other side...and stopped...killed their engine to push so much water....We told them we were going to wait for the stream to go down.
And we waited and wiited...and waited....the way we watch is to put a rock at the edge...and wait to see if the water no longer touches it.
After an hour the rocks were out of the water...so we moved them again....it rained and rained....we sat and sat....The second hour the rocks didn't move...waves curled around them.....the stream didn't go down.....
argh!
After three hours....the waves didn't touch the rocks....not down enough not to worry about killing the engine in the middle....or washing down stream....but It was three hours!!!!
It was dark!
If we killed in the stream and made it to the other side...it was a two mile walk to our house...in the dark....with kittys out there...and no gun.
We plowed more water over our hood than I had ever seen before...but we got across and the roads weren't washed out between us and our house. Our pyr came bounding down the road...so happy to see us...at least she is white...easy to spot.
Boy...that town house is looking better all the time.
There were no flood warnings....no rain in Arkansas....two hours away.....we only had an inch according to the rain gauge....darn low water crossing!
Peeps

tea party!....no?...last lamb?

2009-04-14T06:07:00.000-07:00

Here we are in the middle of the woods. Heh....
I meant to announce the last lamb on the ground. Well, we think it is the last one.
Count, three ram lambs, two ewe lambs.
Saving that first ewe is a little more important now.
I just looked, and we had a small horny ram lamb in with the girls on the 11th of January.
I thought it was late in the season.....but the first part of January could have meant some ewe was willing.
Let's count....Jan to Feb to march to april....the ewes if bred would only be three months along. Too early to see an udder. Oh well. I'll look next month.
On the subject of lambs, I had a nice lady call me about needing a bottle lamb to share barn space with her lonely angora goat bottle baby.

If there is anyone out there with a bottle ram they would like to foster on another shepherd....let me know. Last year I had several at the end of the season. I was really happy to have my favorite goat mom adopt one.

We are waiting for a call from the Ukraine yoday. Telling us that our future daughter-in-law is coming to America in a couple of weeks. That would be nice.
On the subject of weddings....we are planning that one the end of June. Any lambs born around the 11th of June would only be a couple of weeks old.
I know I am counting the lambs before they are for sure....But, I won't leave lambs here.... With or without the dogs....by themselves. Since we have no neighbors, I will need to place any pregnant ewes in May. So, if you are planning for an expansion of your feeding pastures, and want to adopt a lamb or two with their mom or not.....let me know. I may need a list of lamb sitting shepherds for the end of next month. Not panicing yet....just thinking ahead out-loud.
Can't shear here yet. We expect frost tomorrow. Then it is supposed to warm up for storms the end of the week. Been the coldest winter here since we arrived. Global warming...haa! I'm hoping for a few warm days before winter arrives again. Just think about our poor cold ancestors in the last little ice-age!
Well, best wishes for fat healthy lambs on your ground....the prettiest you have ever had!
Even four lambs can have jumping lamb races at my house. How about yours?

spring spring, seeing double

2009-04-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a week since our first lambs arrived. May I say, like mother, like daughter. We all have been hit by this latest cold spell. Sunday started out OK, then the winds came up and the temperatures dropped like the proverbial rock.
Like her mother, the Sunday before, Chocolate Torte decided it was time. Like the yearlings, she chose an inaccesible spot, where no one would bother her. This was a steep hill, with a mud ledge under a tree. In the full force of the freezing winds, new mommy proceeded to lay down and push out first one ram lamb, then before we spotted her, a second ram lamb. My yearlings usually have singles. My yearlings are wild as the winds too. Grabbing the wet muddy lambs and setting them down at the bottom of the hill didn't seem to work. Mom ran baaing around the barn, complaining that her babies were stolen!
I thought perhaps I could catch mom by her long tresses and drag her to a pen. So, I laid the lambs on the hay in the barn, and went to catch mom. All the other ewes thought it was fun to run over to the helpless lambs in the chase. I stood my husband by the fence panels, and carried the second and vocal wet lamb towards mom. She backed up. I decided to chase mom with the wet dripping lamb. That worked, I got mom and a lamb into a pen, and closed the gate.
Then I went to get the first lamb. He was still wet, but was obviously first. His legs dangled and stood out at odd angles. I put him next to his younger brother and went to get the bose.
When I returned, the second lamb was up and chasing mom in the required yearling round and round....trying to get fed. The first lamb was still laying in a heap. No efforts to stand. Perhaps she had rolled over on him during the second birth on that ledge. I decided to try a warm bottle, since his legs and feet were icy cold. I pried open his cold mouth and stuck in the nipple. Nope that wasn't happening.
Here is where Suzie saved another lamb.
Of course, mr i-am-cold-and-weak was the flashy one. I grabbed him and went into the house. Suzie had showed me how to tube. I had the tube marked, I remembered it took two, one to hold the lamb on his side, the other to thread the tube down past his lungs and into his stomach. He seemed to suck the tube into position. I fed him as much as I thought would help. maybe 4 or 6 ccs.
He was still cold, but seemed to hold his head up. I warmed his legs, then took him back to mom in a towel. I figured if he could crawl out of the towel on his own, he might get better. A half hour later, mr second born was eating, and mr first born was laying on the hay under mom's good-scented parts. I grabbed him again. This time I tried a warm bottle. He sucked that dry in seconds. We sat by a footstool, and I propped some of his legs into an upright position. By the end of the movie, he could stand if I propped his rear. Finally he stood alone for a few minutes. Back to mom, he was wobbly on the bumpy hay in the jug, but after more watching, he decided he had found the important parts.
Thank goodness for Suzie. For her teaching me what to do....for sending me the right equipment. For a good result. This is Milkyway and Coco's second day. The winds are dying down. The freeze warning lifted at 9 am. I have 4 lambs on the ground, and one more ewe to go.
Tell me again why we do this?
What fun?
Happy spring, from an aging shepherd, who is very glad she isn't having 86 lambs this spring.
Who says you can't teach an old shepherd new tricks?
Peeps, even count, two and two.
Happy lambs to you all.

spring

2009-04-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

They came out of the barn into the sunshine three abreast. Each lamb at mom's side. The side they nursed on. Mom was alert to any danger. She checked all the fences for signs of danger. The lambs scooting to keep up with mom's long strides. Around the pen in front of the barn with their jug, the lambs didn't seem surprised at the bright spring sunshine. They followed at mom's side around and around...for the first 15 minutes, mom didn't get a bite of grass. She led the lambs from one part of the great outdoors, to the other....then back inside the barn....only to come right back out. Those lambs are going to sleep soundly later, when mom settles down. Finally mom moved the lambs into the close end of the pasture. At every sound, her ears went up alertly, the threesome moved back and forth between the close barn and the fresh grass. The lambs will learn to explore more on another day. The oldest, Suzie Q, would leave mom for about 5 feet on her own, and then jump back to mom's side in excitement. Twinkie seemed lost in examination of a blade of grass...or perhaps a bug on the grass. Both were content to follow mom wherever she led.
Yesterday morning, another frosty morning, the girls played jump around the jug racing with each other to see who could get back to mom fastest. The sight made me laugh with pleasure, and tears ran down my cheeks.
I told you so....I told you so....
Of course, I didn't follow my own advise either. Saturday night was stormy and cold. Look! I told you Shetlands like to lamb in the worst weather. In the morning, I was cooking breakfast, and send my husband to check the barn. He yelled, I turned off the bacon and ran. "Two new lambs!"...My feeble mind went to the worst...."are they alive"? Yes, the second lamb was still wet from a recent birth. She was the flashy one. Smaller than her sister, who already knew where to find breakfast. The new ewe was shaking with the cold morning, so I ordered a kitchen towel, and lamented that I had not ordered lambing supplies yet.
I have a real micro management problem with lambs nursing. In recent years, I have found that lambs learn what to do, if I just leave. So I left, and came back. Then I left and came back. This went on for too many hours. Yes, I saw the youngest seem to nurse....her tail wagged. But, as the hours went on, she stood close to the corner in a crouch, and her sister slept. About 10 hours after their birth, their shepherd decided this situation was not getting better. I don't remember how many lambs we have birthed over the past years....somewhere around 460 or so. But those lambs were always mine. These lambs were for a friend. I called the vet....it's Sunday...even an hour away....I can't get medicine. The vet was at his girlfriends....don't bother your vet about something small like a lamb....only a cow could pull the vet from his weekend visit.
I called my friend Nancy, two hours away. She returned my call, and said she didn't have the supplies I needed either. "Call Suzie," she said. "You know her, you gave her some sheep last year." Nancy couldn't find Suzie's phone number right away. I want to last year's emails and tried to find Suzie's number. Finally Nancy called back...."She will be outside milking her goats ruight now....but call and leave a message." I did as I was told...Anxiously, I finally got to talk to Suzie. Suzie is a goat mom, but helps anyone she can with problems. Yes, she had the Bose, and Thiamin, I explained that I was unprepared for a problem, and unsure wheather the lamb was brain damaged, or needed selenium.
Bless Suzie. "How long does it take you to drive here?" "About two hours...I'm on my way" I said as I went to get the keys. My dear husband, just as stressed at my bummer lamb, offered to drive. After all, it was getting dark, and he doesn't trust my night driving. Before we walked out the door, the phone rang....It was Suzie calling back.
"Bring the lamb." "It will get the medication two hours earlier."
I grabbed the screaming lamb from mom, and jumped in the truck. The drive is long enough without a little lamb that you are worried about, especially one that cried periodically. Fortunately, we found the house right away. Suzie's husband checked the lamb for sucking, Suzie checked her pupils for signs of damage. Suzie's young daughter...a pro with livestock....held the lamb while we gave her Bose, Vitamin B and a squirt of E in her mouth. This lamb was early, her teeth hadn't errupted yet. This likely caused her to fall behind in the eating catagory. We checked the lamb's plumbing....she was offended. Then Suzie got out the goat colostrum and tubed my baby. I have tubed my baby kittens....but never a lamb. I watched, squirming more than the lamb. After walking around the pen in the middle of the kitchen floor....the lamb looked better already. Her eyes seemed brighter, and she wasn't hitting the sides of the pen. One more tubing, and the lamb seemed ready to travel home. The movement of the car sent Twinkie into a soft sleep for the more than two hours home. After all, she had a full tummy now too. Would mom accept her back? Would she now be ready to try nursing? I held the lamb in my arms and ran back to the jug in the barn. Mom heard her baby cry and cried back immediately. Twinkie ran to mom's side and put her head under the long wool.
We went back to the house and to bed, too much excitement for us old folks tonight. Dinner was forgotten on the stove. Oh well, the dogs like pork chops.
The moral of the story? Don't do as I do...Do as I say. Even with two lambs on the ground....I needed some supplies. Lambs love to come at odd hours. Thankfully, Suzie spent hours saving our little lamb. She was overjoyed, when I called the next day, to hear the lamb was all better....so was I.
Two on the ground...maybe two to go...wonder if we will live thru this spring. Maybe i'm too old for this excitement. Got to go watch the lambs again.
Peeps

something about winds

2009-03-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Spring wind, a fact of life. Sometimes it blows to dry the lands after winters snows. Sometimes to break up the ice. Seems to me sometimes it just blows for the heck of it.
Without the winds....it would be quite warm here. The clouds have blown away, the sun is out....and it is almost warm enough to enjoy walking outside. But the wind still blows.
There is a phrase about a wind blowing something good....OK...so my mind is old....ill wind?
Well, I'm hoping these winds blow something good your way too.
We are ranging here between spring showers and wind....I was down to the old house yesterday....the men were still working on the new siding. Seems it was raining while I was away this weekend. So siding is going up slowly. They were on the back side of the house, on the roof, complaining that they were almost blowing off. I hope they didn't. I finally remembered my staple gun, and tried to fasten my 8 foot window's plastic back down....It would appear to me that 4 feet of window can have plastic over it....but not 8 feet of window.
Today my husband had to leave for a while....so I stayed here...walking to the barn or the top of the hill every few minutes to watch the sheep.
I hate leaving when lambs are coming don't you? It must be just awful to have to go put in hours at work during lambing season. We used to have plenty of help in Wisconsin. The children would come home for days or weeks to help keep and eye on expectant mothers.
My best shepherd daughter would complain about losing days out of here social life by taunting me with "I like sheep" sung in a sing-song manner. I don't blame her. I remember one busy day in the spring when she took a break in the house for about 10 minutes and came back to find me busy trying to breathe life into a lamb that was pulled. "Can't I leave you for a minute without you losing a lamb? she cried. No....I guess not.
For me lambing has always been a life or death struggle. Every year we had more lambs...and every year we had more strange things that kept all of them from living. I tried...believe me, I tried...to stay awake for every birth for the three week surge of lambing season. It seemed if I stayed awake, I could shake lambs and save a few.
Now I know there are lots of folks out there who have never lost a lamb....or a kid. There is something about holding a dying lamb that makes a person feel so inefficient, and incapable, and small. Perhaps a sunbeam into the vastness of human life here. One of the shepherds was sending questions a while back about life experiences. One was being there when a person died. Frankly, I think that is no ones business. But the whole space and time between life and death is certainly brought to mind as we tend these helpless little creatures, that we call our friends.
Perhaps you can tell, as you read, that I view lambing as a bit of a struggle. I left my husband a few years back, with only two ewes to go. One lambed overnight, and he found the lambs just fine in the barn in the morning. The other went on a wild ride of labor....finally presenting my poor hubby with the wrong feet. He pulled and saved the lamb. A good feat, for felllow who had never pulled a front facing lamb either.
It's been too cold here this spring for me to shear the few pregnant sheep yet. Sure would be nice to see what is going on....but I wouldn't want to be out in this wind without a sweater either.
I wanted to say, that when I am home I can look to see what is going on. I enjoyed the sheep pictures, and I'm sorry to hear Karen lost some of her old friend horses this winter.
I am actually surprised we haven't had trouble with our older ewes here. All I have lost, so far, was two ram lambs to the kitty. On that note, I did lose the little kitty I was feeding while my neighbor was gone. Poor baby slowed down on the street. I'll miss that cat. She was the first to welcome me to my old house in the morning. Fortunately, I have a photo.
I enjoyed the photos of the volcano, and the foggy swamp too. I did mail some photos to a friend. I am just as bad as ever with photos. The old house stands as still as possible for pictures....but sheep do not. I did get a photo of Augustine....but I cut her head off....figures....one of the prettiest ewes around, and all you can see if her behind. Oh well.....maybe you are not missing much by not seeing my photos.
Sorry it took me so long to say nothing. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a story.
Peeps

spring, round two

2009-03-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

a roof over my head.....yes, in spite of the spring rains, we now have a roof.
We don't yet have new lambs. We are expecting some....maybe more, since we had "horny" the ram out with the girls one morning. That is a reference to what is called a "rack" in other animals.
Contact me....if I don't have the lamb you need....I know where the lambs are falling....whatever state you are in.
I am hoping this spring storm is not affecting many of you shepherds. I'm sorry I have not been writing. I have been leaving the house at 7:30....to get to the old house at 10 or so....and leave about 4 or 5 hours later to come back home.
Did I mention the cistern? The workmen uncovered a big hole under the back porch floor.
Although I could not see to the bottom. There was room down there to park a volkswagon. Maybe a VW bus! The thing started out at 4 feet wide and got bigger as it went down. Yesterday, the leaves came up to the top.
Yes, my constant trips with my little green yard cart....have filled the pit.
My question is.....where do I put the rest of them????
I still have both sides of the house to rake....I still have part of a big hill in the front to rake....OH my, do you suppose those leaves willl settle enough to double the amount in there?
Funny thing about finally achieving roof.
I climbed a ladder into my house for the first time in three weeks, and walked up the stairs to bask in the solid roof....only to stare out at the trees thru the sides of the house. Seems that the recent inch of rain was raining in the walls, instead of the roof. Do you know what happens when old shingles are scraped off a house? Tiny grains of 100 years of shingles fall thru the cracks in the roof....then rains wash the grains into pretty droplets on the floor. I have sandpaper on the floor along with pieces of old boards that fell down instead of off. With the hammering and shoveling on the rooftop, some of the remaining BB windows broke....leaving nice piles of sparkly glass on top of my sandpaper.
Today....if it's not raining....I am supposed to get siding to cover up the wide cracks in my side walls. That will be different, since there were years of shingles covering the walls before.
People are stopping in the street to say how nice the roof looks.....and are we putting the porches back?
I told the banker and the contracter yesterday...that by the end of the month I will be running to the bank to say I can't afford the porches. Did they think I was kidding?
On the subject of lambs arriving. The ewes tend to watch the weather....the worse the weather, the faster the lambs arrive. So watch out all you northern shepherds...if there is icy rain and snow....those ewes will be digging holes in your barn hay for you-know-what!
You know why so many of us prefer to lamb outside on grass? Because the ewes dig big pits inside, big pits in winter's rotten hay, much of it wet and smelly....and the poor little lambs are plopped into puddles of goo, and have to stagger to their feet astride piles of old hay their moms threw all over the floor. When we lambed in Wisconsin, the ewes would all try to lamb inside an old horse stall. We had to change the hay in there after every dozen ewes, because they all wanted to lamb where some other ewe had labored. The hay would get slippery with labor fluids.
Sorry...I hope no one was eating breakfast out there.
Shepherds deal with the craziest things. Right now I am watching carefully....when I am here...because the inch of rain started the dam running in the rams pen....the water seeps out and runs between the barn and the west pastures. The ewes have to jump thru the water...and I sure don't want a new lamb going thru that water.
Have a wonderul friday...and I hope all your lambs are the best and most beautiful lambs you have ever seen.
Peeps

spring is come, the grass is riz....unless there are big trucks driving around your house.

2009-03-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

lambing time. Wow, I read a few blogs today.....this is my day off. We usually do something together on Friday's, but my hubby is working today. So I actually have a computer to use.
Congratulations to all those lucky shepherds with new lambs. And congratulations to those with new goat babies too. All spring babies are fun.
I enjoyed the picture of the old house posted by my northern friend Karen, and the trip to the antiques shop posted by my older friend, Pat. Older in time of friendship that is.
We had shingles delivered yesterday on top of our old house in Arkansas. The local newspaper even published a photo and story of us. Slow day in the news....or everyone is shocked we bought the old place.
Anyway, since we have dial up it takes too long to comment on blogs, and I just wanted to say it is exciting to see photos of all the new babies, and things you are all doing. Mostly, I am driving to keep an eye on the work being done....and rake a few feet of leaves, nuts and branches. This may take me all summer.
I am aware of three little ewes out in my pasture sporting little udders. Still waiting to see what mr Peanut has accomplished.
I got photos of some more lovely spotted lambs from Denise, in Kansas. Congratulations all.

new lamb!

2009-03-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

It is spring! I am a foster mommy! Minwawe Tassell just had her first lamb yesterday at Allena's farm. A lovely moorit and white smirslet sokket EWE!!!!
I am sooooo happy.
Still watching here.....but I am glad everything went well with Tassell, and her new shepherd.
I hope I haven't missed any others new lambs....if I did....Congratulations! and happy spring. Still trying to get a new roof on the old house. It no longer looks like it's roof is made of swiss cheese.
Peeps

OH Joy!

2009-02-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it is almost spring here. The pond ice broke up last night. It was either the high winds, the 1 1/2 inches of rain or the addition of water into the pond.
Yes, the creeks are running. The Witch-hazel is blooming MMMMmmmmm. The robins have already gone north. And the flocks of geese....high in the sky....are flying your way. Whooppee.
On the other hand, we are facing two days of heavy rains on already water soaked ground. That means the large creek between me and the highway will be too high to cross sometime over night. Dang! We are also being warned of high winds. Maybe like yeaterday, when the dog beds blew off the porch. The dogs didn't mind.... they were fast asleep under the kitchen table all day. I guess it keeps the sun out of their eyes. There are running dogs in the woods, and my dogs won't come to the house for breakfast this morning. I'm hoping we keep electricity, and phone. Cell phones don't work in our valley.
Our contractor called yesterday. He has time to work on the victorian roof. Oh JOY! But has to start now, when he just gave me the figure and I haven't yet gotten any money from my friendly banker to cover the cost. I said...go ahead. I can't go down to watch/help because my working husband had to take the truck to drive thru the creek.
Now that I think about it, I must be a bit warped. I was so glad to hear we might have a roof to keep out the rains, that I didn't care what the shingles looked like. Now if I was buying a sheep....which I'm not....I would care what the wool looked like. I would ask for photos, parents genetics, and possibly go over and feel the sheep before buying. I must not be willing to wait for the choice of shingle....I did suggect a color group....aawww....a builder knows more about roofs than I do anyway. If my house had a decent roof...I would accept it, no matter what the color was. If my ewe had a lamb, I would enjoy it, no matter what it's color was.
So the saga of life as a shepherd turned house-mother continues.
peeps

Is it spring yet?

2009-02-08T07:53:00.000-08:00

Can I crawl out from under the bed yet?
I'm soooooo tired of this winter....Global warming HA! This was a real winter....I don't remember when the pond was not frozen. We still have piles of ice along the muddy roads...the creeks are running and the pastures still have ice too.
How are you folks in the great frozen north doing?
I will say that I put my foot down in planning for the next ice storm. Although we had electricity...we were frozen into our valley for 5 days. Yes, we did have electricity...we have friends who didn't....My theory this time was that we had animals who needed us during the length of the storm and recovery. However, as I think about losing 5 whole days out of my life....I won't stay again.
What if those were the last 5 days of my life? Would I still stay home with the cats and the goose...the dogs and the sheep. No. It's my life, I need those five days. I have things to do and places to go. The next ice storm that is predicted, I'm leaving. Bye.
What happened in Arkansas where our old house lives? I haven't heard if they are getting disaster status....but they need it. The whole town was out for a week too. City crews were cutting trees out of the roads and pushing them out of the way with bull-dozers. I know...a lot of them used to be my trees. We almost lost a porch...but our missing contracter came right away and propped it back. Another 4 foot pane of glass was broken and there are storms coming thru all week. I have to deal. Everyone here in the south is trying to recover the best they can....the last couple of months have not been kind to our old house. I am trying not to take it personally that we just had the worst ice storm in Missouri and Arkansas history. Lucky us.
Since our old house is on ice....so to speak...until we get our new roof....we are going back into the antique business to fill my spare time. I don't expect 85 lambs this year....I have lots of time.
If there is another ice storm...you will find me at the beach.
I don't think there WILL be another ice storm this winter, not only is the witch-hazel blooming...but the robins have arrived. They don't stay here all summer....so they are on their way to your house. Happy spring is coming....That means jumping lambs will take over your barns, your pastures and your lives. Enjoy!
Peeps

flippin'ice

2009-01-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

Alright, either I'm not supposed to use the word flipping....or the word victorian...I haven't found out which. Now, I will admit that blogger has been very good to me so far. I have had a nice place to talk about sheep...to show pictures of sheep....to even sell a few sheep.
So I suppose I should stop saying bad things about their nice computer program that called me "spam".
Tonight we are enjoying southern missouri winter weather. It is already too slippery to walk ourside in the dark....that means the big dogs will have to find their way to the barn, and hide out with the sheep. I expect the ewes will retire to the barn, which is knee deep in fresh hay. The ram lambs are likely too dumb to retire to their covered shelter....and will stay under the trees and be covered with ice and sleet by the next time I slide out to see them. One of the unfortunate parts of sending all our older rams elsewhere...was that the young ones don't come equiped with experience. We have been wondering if they even know they are supposed to EAT the hay in their pen. We don't see them anywhere near the hay bales....oh well.
So from the southern hills of the ozarks, I am saying hi....mostly because I have no idea if I will have power by tomorrow. So....HI!
I hope the rest of you shepherds and sheepies ( the ones who have computers and read blogs) are escaping the predicted winter storm...or on on the rain or snow side of it....I'm afraid, right now....we are in the middle.
Peeps

who me????

2009-01-23T07:02:00.000-08:00

I'm about ready to give up this e-techno-society. First, I am not allowed to have an opinion about political figures. That's bad enough....kind of reminds me of dictators, and secret police states...where they cart you off in the middle of the night for expressing dissent.
crap on political correctness.
I am of the opinion that 60 percent of this county's electorate are exactly the demographics presented for tv shows....12 year olds. They will believe anything....especially if it is repeated often enough.
That felt good. Now on to the problem at hand. My blog.
I rather enthusiastically started a blog about buying a victorian house. Knowing that most of you are shepherds and only interested in things sheep-like....I thought it would be interesting to see the things that happen to an old shepherd trying to adopt an old victorian house....on another blog.
Now...would you believe it? Blogger has tagged my blog as spam. Spam!!!!
How do they know it's spam???? Don't other folks buy victorian houses anymore? What criteria does the computer whiz at the keyboard have for labeling my new house blog spam????
Well....I am appalled. It must be that the use of the term "flipping" is immoral. Or maybe they are thinking of a victorian as a person...not a house style....good grief folks!!!!! I am really tired of people and computers being the judge of what I can believe and type...and publish....al-la dictators burning learned books....How dare they label me as spam!!!!
Rise up folks....before they make you fit the mold too. There must be some folks that can think and hold their own opinions out there....don't let them drive you into the woods too!
SPAM!!!! indeed!
By the way....I had spam hot dish last night....old family recipe....it was delicious. Hit's the spot on a winter day.
On the subject of sheep. I don't see the price of grain coming down like it shot up when gas rose. So how do you explain that? Is it because those politicians are still trying to take food products and put them into gas tanks on cars? What does that accomplish? Doesn't it cost more energy to change corn into gasoline than it takes to feed it to a nice skinny sheep?
I do see hay for sale in the paper...which is better than the last two years, in my state anyway. Did you notice that sheep mineral has doubled.....that's gravel folks.....ground up rocks and stuff.....so how come we have to pay double the price for a bag of rocks....gas is cheaper....? Shouldn't there be some deflation of these prices now that they can ship it cheaper?
Have you complained to your local feed store?
Do you notice how all these manufacturing plants are shutting down? Lots in our state. Putting our people out of work? Do you think there is any way those corporate types aren't getting on the phone to find some factory in bombay...or long-gone, china... that can make that same product cheaper....and then ship it back here so the folks that lost their jobs can buy it with borrowed money from ....say....china. Do you see a pattern?
Aren't those wonderful people you ellected to washington...doing a wonderful job?
Wonderful!
Spam....indeed!
Peeps...the discontent.

OK...it's winter

2009-01-15T13:51:00.000-08:00

Did I speak////write...too soon?
Naaa.
It will be spring soon....It just starts earlier here in the south. I have to roll out some hay for the girls tonight. We aren't sure the boys are eating hay. I hope they are, we just added some this week. But neither of us has seen them eating. Maybe they aren't hungry? If i don't see some evidence of hay disappearing....I'll but a bottle of molasses. That will convince them. My local farmer says if he has bad hay for the cows...he just pours a bottle on it. They'll eat anything with molasses. Last year my girls were eating 4 year old hay....and glad to get it. This year is better. We got two crops of hay....Next year my girls will be eating one year old hay.
We may fall below zero tonight....cold for these parts. I know a heat wave for some of you. Had a reporter throwing hot water in the air on the cable news today....even after living up there in the north....it seems amazing.
I did start a blog about my new-old-house....I'll post a link on here when I figure out how to do it.
I am hoping they don't get this cold spell down there in Arkansas because I am going down to rake leaves tomorrow.
Happy almost spring from peeps

hope springs

2009-01-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

Yes, all you hard-working shepherds....there is hope.
No, I am not being political!
It is the 11th of January, and the witch-hazel is blooming.
So hold on a little. I know we are all....and that means most of you in the far frozen north....we are seemingly stuck in the depths of winter. Here in Missouri, however the witch-hazel is blooming.
In Arkansas to the south, the birds are flocking for their move north. Spring will be coming!
My ewes however are still stuck in winter. Today....or last night....horny the ram lamb knocked over a fence panel....and being the smallest....except for his horns...which are the largest....he crawled out to smooze with the girls.
Being that horny is shorter than any of the girls....there is hope that he couldn't reach???
Of course....being shetlands....they always find a way.
So incase I find some fat ewe....ewes....five months from now.....I am recording the day.
Just in case.
But remember, spring is coming.....the witch-hazel is blooming!

old houses

2009-01-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

OK....so bopeep likes to struggle with old houses. This one may push the envelope.
I do have one of the realtors coming back with a metal detector to work around the old oak tree in the front yard. This tree has to be 6 to 10 feet thick, easily 150 years or more. I love this tree!
My friend and also my realtor, Nancy B, came by yesterday and picked up a few pecans. There are several pecan trees. They were pretty good even in the spring. We met the neighbors on the side. I love a neighbor who drives a police car.
We also reinstalled my first project window with new glass, and took out two stained glass windows with holes. I didn't fall thru the floor, but Nancy and Bill got really tired of hearing me say watch your step! Sorry, I didn't think of it, but we already started dropping rocks into the cisturn. There are children playing within feet of it, and I will be happier with it filled up.
We heard stories of the last full time resident, who clipped coupons. Doubt we will find much thrown away. The barn building is full of junk, but the best find was spotted by Bill....Old eagle-eye saw a big window up in the rafters topped by a screen door. With so much glass vandalized, an old window seems a great prize.
On the subject of what-comes-next, it seems that some things are meant to be. This house seems familiar enough to be part of my life for a while. Remember, you young folks....I likely have 10 years on you. Just think about it....where will you be in another 10 years....Will you need a change?
Yes, I love my peaceful remote valley, but am intrigued by the possibility of ordering a pizza delivered! And even just walking down a sidewalk. Imagaine having an antiques store within blocks. Our new old-house is in the city limits of Mammoth Spring, Arkansas. If you like adventure, I can heartly recommend the city, and the old vacation homes. You want pictures and prices? Nancy can provide them. But you can't have my house....not yet.
Yesterday, it was 62 when I went to bed. Today it is cold again. I suppose it IS january. I'll roll another hay bale out for the girls tonight, since we are expecting another round of rain and ice.
I hope all your sheepies are doing fine, and the girls are getting fat and sassy.

what ever happened to bopeep?

2009-01-02T05:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year....with all the bells and whistles!
Do you know what ever became of bopeep? After the sheep came home wagging their tails, did she send them to market....or take up knitting? Did bopeep grow up and get a job...leaving her younger sister to take up losing sheep?
I personally am waiting for the story to play out.
This bopeep has a few grey hairs and is still sporting a cold....but the remaining sheep have not gotten lost lately. I will admit that every morning as I walk the inside dog around the yard....security lights or not.....I always wonder if there is a big kitty standing out there in the dark beyond the bushes. What would I do if one leaped out to grab me in the dark? I know big kitty cats are supposed to be afraid of people....but these kittys saunter in front of cars, and growl at shepherds chasing their sheep. So there is always a question in the back of my mind...."what would I do?"
On a more serious note, I have gotten a couple of notes from real shepherds. They are thinking about their lamb crop in the spring.....and wondering what the outcome will be of a particular breeding group.
Have you ever thought about your ram? Do you have a new untested ram you just used? Do you know that much of your lamby success lies in your judgement in assessing that ram's genotype?
How much time have you spent charting out your new ram's genetics and the genetics of the ewes you used with him?
Thinking back on past breedings that I have done....I can't seem to remember using a black-black ram for breeding. All the rams I can remember were either brown based...or black carrying brown. And until the last year or two....I didn't breed with grey or ag based rams either. Now, I have to agree....the nicest fleeces seem to be either ag or white based fine fleeces....but remember, my lamb crop was supposed to be spotted. The grey based lambs came from favorite grey based ewes.....some of whom are still here.
Think about it...won't it be fun to see what that new ram can produce?
To keep this aging shepherd out of trouble....my hubby and I have a house in Arkansas sporting a big red ribbon on the door. Try topping that next Christmas. Yes, we did after much delay, close on the deralict Victorian. Go figure.
Let this be a lesson to you would-be flippers out there. Never, never LIKE a house you want to fix. But just try it yourself....walk into an old forgotten and ill-used house....let it tell you how grand it once was....can you imagine how lovely it could still be with "just a little help"?
I was beside myself with house fixing plans.....my hubby was beside himeself with early on-set buyers-remorse. The banker didn't want that house at all! The insurance company could still back out. The young woman once raised inside is raising her small children next door.
The whole situation...considering the economy is impossible. But in Arkansas, there is a big old shell of a victorian with a big red bow tied to a spoke in the fancy old screen door. No screen, just a bow.
Now, bopeep has tried fixing houses before. There was the "little house" near lake Pepin in Wisconsin....come to think of it, we always liked that house. It's remote for Wisconsin. Not enought room for sheep, otherwise, I would have tried retiring there. It is now, a "family heirloom"....so says my hubby. There was the river house....I spend most days driving there in the fall. If ever a house needed saving...it was the river house. We might have moved in to retire....but there was no room for the sheep. It was however a pretty good flipper. So as fall rolled around this year, bopeep thought about the extra time on her hands with so few sheep, and started rummaging through old deralict houses. There was a really nice high ceilinged house...cheap....where the follow had removed the chimney but left the square hole in the roof, and the walll, as I remember. There was the bank-owned wonder with a barn like unfinished structure attached between the house and the garage. It looked like either a two story deck or...from-the-water an unfinisehed pool.
There was the house by the creek....where the realtor said "oh no.... the water didn't come very high up"....but the far room had caved into something like a trampeline...only it didn't bounce back.
So now bopeep has a REAL fixer on her hands. As soon as I sweep up all the broken glass...I'll start on all the down plaster. OK there is no room for sheep there either, but the thought crosses bopeep's mind, that she could walk the dog down a sidewalk...and not think about big kitties.
Tell bopeep your dreams for a fixer. Did you always want to take down a wall....but people said to leave your house alone...it was good-enough? Was it Robert Frost in the woods going down the other path? Do you always wonder what would happen if?
Hey! It's a new year.....we all have the right to dream!

Peaceful? What next?

2008-12-20T15:55:00.000-08:00

Good evening all you shepherds and artists and knitters and everyone!
I know, I know....I have been paralyzed myself....trying to avoid making out registrations and transfers shut all my other writing down too....now that I have done a few....I feel better.
Which brings me to a short story.
Today, with a lull in the winter weather, we went to the store. Now for a local grocery, we are 45 minutes one way. So for an almost real store like wally world....we are an hour and a quarter one way...unless there is a slow person driving the same way we are ( which there was).
Getting my "fix" of ooh and ahh looking at cool stuff at Lowes, a fistful of paint samples and food at the grocery....we left for home. Our long driveway off the highway is home to two other full timers and two weekenders. So, as we were driving the required 10 miles an hour down our bumpy gravel road my Husband and I said something at the same time.
He said....Boy, this is remote!...and I said ....Boy, this is peaceful!
Wrong attitude.
Around the bend we slid to a slow stop seeing a tractor blocking the road. It doesn't take more than one car to block the road....so we pulled over on the leaves on the side....then we noticed the road behind the tractor was blocked by a big bale of hay just laying there. After a little manuvering, our weekender neighbor drove past us with his bale of hay for the horses, and we drove towards home.... driving around the piles of hay left in the road.
Looking around at the hills....next....we saw a herd of cows standing on the hill under the high wires. Whoops....someone lost their cows.
So we went home and called the nearest cow-neighbor that answered the phone....Have you lost any cows? As we were unloading groceries, the other cow-neighbor sped by. Obviously he never heard of the 10 mile an hour speed limit. A few minutes later we followed him to announce the presence of stray cows. In the city, you could meet blocks of neighbors in 15 minutes....here it takes that long to FIND a neighbor. He was turning around to see if he knew who they belonged to....so we followed him towards home. Finally, after talking to both the cow-neighbor and the weekender neighbor....we got home to do chores....We checked the back meadow to see if we had cows....but not so far.
I really don't want cows for christmas.
So the moral is....nothing ever happens....unless you are thinking everything is peaceful!

Winter 2008 in the meadow & woods

2008-12-20T05:08:00.000-08:00

Wow, Can you believe it?

I just am not ready for winter to be here, although we have had a very cold fall. Since thanksgiving the pond has been frozen many days. I always worry about ice on the pond, Mr Kitty, our real house cat has fallen in through the ice more than once. One time making a path thru the ice about 20 feet long before flying into the front door.

My sheep are doing well. Yes, I still have sheep. The great pyrs are sometimes sleeping in the barn, sometimes on the front porch. We put all the lights on inside the barn, and one outside too. That's besides the safety light we had installed on a light pole in the yard outside the barn. We hope between the barking dogs and the lights, that our wandering non-house-cat kitty will stay away from the ewes. It seems ridiculous in 2008 to be worried about a big kitty eating sheep....but we are remote. At least the snakes are all asleep in the cold weather. We lost two ram lambs out in the meadow this fall. At first, I thought it must be a lone coyote....but the second one was definitely our kitty. A neighbor from the same valley told about following the kitty down the road one day...."he was a big one too"....we haven't read about any more sightings in the local news tho. We moved the remaining boys up by the ewes. There are five out there now, and I have one to pick up who was breeding away from home. I was surprised that more of the girls didn't seem to be interested in our ram lambs. The only thing I can say, is that older ewes are definitely horn-snobs. The bigger the horns on the rams....the more they are interested. So unless some ewe backed up to the fence, and some ram figured out a method.....they should be unbred. Don't laugh....last year our 8 year old ewe taught a yearling ram the fence-method of breeding.

We are still waiting to hear if we are closing this month on the deralict vistorian house. Did I mention that Missouri house prices are down about half this year? And the rumored lay-offs are going to decimate this county.

But the real reason, I am writing is to say Merry Christmas to all of my friends out there....especially the ones who helped me by taking some sheep this past year. I know they are better off away from this valley, but I miss them....and if I am late on transfers, it's because reading all their names makes me sad.

This is a photo of Curly Locks, she is gone now to the big green pasture....but we will all miss her. Curly Locks, you were a good ewe...and pretty too, and your lambs will live on. Curly Locks was AgAa....and was born a twin to a perfect little sister, Ballet. Ballet was a yuglet sokket AaAa, but Ballet was paralyzed. I am going to think of Curly Locks and Ballet reunited and running together thru that big green pasture in the sky.

Here's wishing you all a worderful spring, with lots of lambs bouncing in the green pasture outside your homes.

Hard to believe it's November

2008-11-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

Good morning all you fine shepherds. You notice, I don't use the other form of shepherd. Sorry, I have always considered it sexist to change the word to denote a female doing the job. Women can be just as good a shepherd as any male. Except in elections.
When I was working in retail....which I did as a mother....go figure, I asked why the male manager got paid more.....when his store was doing less business. I was told HE had a family to support. Nothing personal.
So yes, I do carry a grudge toward a society that values males over more experienced women.
I'll come back in two more years to rub it in....by then you kool-aid drinkers will be squirming.

BACK TO THE WEATHER.....It's been wonderful here in Missouri lately, sunny, warm but not hot, breezy, but not enough to lose too many leaves. The sheep are still on grass. I do need to repair the front ram pen, but since we are expecting rain....I'll wait. It's a whole lot easier to drive a post after a rain. The leaves have been in full color all week. Every bit as nice as the great north country. We did lose a ram lamb last week. Not a neat kill like a cat, so maybe that lone coyote that's been hanging around up in our woods. I will move the remaining half dozen ram lambs to the front over the winter....then perhaps when they are bigger they can go back into the meadow.
The lambs in the breeding pen were frisky yesterday. I noticed the one older ewe had a rumpled behind. She was likely breeding in the quiet barn, out of sight. The two ewe lambs were hopping and running with excitement....with their ram lamb doing the same right behind them. It was almost as good as the spring lamb races. Sheep can give us a good laugh sometimes....with their sheer exuberance for life.
I did mention I was looking into business possibilities, however the state of Mo has archaic sales tax laws.... I'm not in the mood to jump thru hoops. If there is anyone looking for a business idea....I can give you one.
We are waiting for word on a contract. Don't you just hate waiting for legal stuff to come back? While looking for a fixer house.....we found one we shouldn't buy.....so of course I wrote an offer on it!!!!! NO is just not in my vocabulary. Until I get that particular house out of my mind....I am waiting on looking at any others. Of course the house we live in is a kind of fixer house anyway. Believe me, we had a list of necessary items on our wish list when we bought this property in Mo.
A barn was at the top, the house was about fifth down the list. We live in a typical Ozarkian house. Small, remote, with a front porch and a tin roof.....it's plenty big enough for retired folks. This one was already re-habbed when we bought it.....by really nice folks, with practical ideas....if not pretty ones. So we are about 3/4 s of the way thru correcting the ugly.
I'll let you know if we can glue this contract together....Actually, if there is any other shepherd out there wanting to fix and flip a house....just for fun and maybe profit. Write me....I love that sort of thing. It tends to keep me going in the long 5 months between breeding and lambing.
I can tell you exactly what not to make an offer on....a house you fall in love with....one with impossible problems....that you want to live in....not resell. The money pit kind.....you can't want to buy them.!!!!....but just try to ignore them as you walk thru.....ha ha ha....A flipper must think like practical pig.....not his brothers! Oh well, shepherds build stuff out of straw and hay all the time. Perhaps bad training for a practical miind. I prop leaning fences up with branches too. Faster than going back to find a real post....the sheep don't mind. Yes, I am a dreamer.
Have a lovely fall day...and kiss a ewe for me.

Mid October

2008-10-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, Have you started to breed yet?
I have my little ram lamb in a pen by the girls...but he hasn't attracted anyone yet.
I have three ewes who are contracted to breed. So there will be lambs if my about-to-be new daughter-in-law comes in the spring. Hopefully the lambs will fly away shortly before the wedding next summer.
So I will have to catch the girls and throw them in.....My girls are snobs....they prefer big horns on their males. Oh well....maybe just this once they will decide to follow my wishes.
I deleted my political blog this morning. It didn't tell me how to delete the whole thing...so I took off the posts one by one.
If anyone knows how to take the whole title off...let me know.
We live in the police state of missouri. Claire and her city thugs won't allow anyone to speak against her messiah. You think joe the plumber was raked over the coals for speaking the truth....here they want to actually throw you in jail for such things.
Used to be a free country.
Close your mouth peeps....

making lists

2008-10-14T06:06:00.000-07:00

Good morning,
It's foggy in the ozarks this morning. Our dogs do a lot of barking in the early morning hours.
Sometimes, they are sleeping inside most of the night, and they charge outside barking wildly, and run towards the barn. Since we cannot hear anything that could cause their ire....we are assuming they must smell something.
Something that moves quietly, and has an odor. Could be a bear, but I would think a bear would make some noise walking thru the leaves. Could be something else? Usually, when the dogs see someone coming with a flashlight or a rifle....they jump the fence and run into the woods to chase their enemy. Maybe a stray coyote, or some other animal walking thru the creek bed.
This morning, they were staying close. Angel, our older pyr was backed up to a fence close to the house. She barks with alternating high piched snaps and long throaty woofs. Her feet lift off the ground with her intensity. The younger dog, Sugar, was backed into the barn. Peeking out just far enough to let her continuous woofing echo in the hills behind the pastures.
I wonder.
On the subject of dogs. We have been making shopping lists. For when something hits the fan. You know, difficult economy, new president, rising taxes, disappearing jobs, and limited access to necessary goods. If you haven't started your list yet....you better. So, beside putting in canned food goods, and baking supplies, we write items to buy for everyday use.
Last week we were reading the list on the way to the store, and at the bottom, in my handwriting, was "dog remover"! Now, yes, we have dogs, but I wasn't planning to remove them. I thought about dog care items, but couldn't think of one we needed. We puzzled over that list for a week. "dog remover" What could I have meant by "dog" remover? My husband took the list while I concentrated on usual food items. Later he came back with a grin. "I found it" he announced. He had the item in his hand. Liquid plumbing helper....." clog" remover!
Have you made your lists yet? Things to have on hand if the country changes for the worse? Sheep to breed? Sheep to sell? Sheep to eat.
I had a sheep-to-keep list for years. No, I didn't keep them all. I did sell some of them to new homes, where they would be safe and well fed and I put away their water wings. Do you have a sheep to sell list? Ones that don't make you happy when they leap by you to escape your grasp? Ones that throw you into the wall as you grapple with them to hold them? I have one of those....kept her too. Better start a list.
Do you have lists of necessary chores...clean the barn....put up hay....clean out the buckets....fix the gate? Better get going on those....winter is coming.
My neighbor stopped to talk. He said he had to walk out in my hay field to see if that was really clover growing. What are you going to do with all that clover...he asked? I asked him if it was tall enoug to cut....No. Then I'll let the girls out there this winter. Bingo....another list was made. We only have three sides of the hay gound fenced right now. The side where the kitty was eating lambs has no fence.....Although I would like to put the fence in the middle, so I had plenty of space....I suppose I will have to fence close to the tree line. Ish.....I have some cross fences I can dismantle and move out there....maybe not enough to reach all the way.....but, I'll think of something.....maybe an electric wire acoss the empty space.....maybe electric wires all along that side!.....dang cat.
Got to go get another pece of paper and a pen.

August 10th, no....September 10th....no,.... October???

2008-10-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

Good morning, Boys and girls....
How did it get to be October? I have no clue.
When I last was with you, I still had sheep to sell. I am now down to my own.
OK, I have three more rams to deliver, but at least they are inside my state. Finally!
It has been a difficult choice, a hard emotional battle, a sad moment, but yet worthwhile.
I have placed many sheep in new homes this past summer. It was necessary. I could not predict the weather, I could not guarantee their safety.
I want to go out of my way here and give a special thank to ALL you wonderful shepherds who asked to help me, who adopted my lambs, and my ewes and even my rams. Who send me photos of my babies living peaceful, happy days...on lush pastures, with beautiful children and adults petting them...and giving them hugs. Yes, they are missed....but it is better.
How many sheep have moved? I started out this spring feeding 74 ewes....all but 20 were pregnant. We birthed 86 lambs, forty in three days of a 100 year flood. There were over a dozen adult rams....some very nice! Yes, I even miss those rams.
I now have 22 ewes and 11 ram lambs.
On a positive note....we went to the beach! This was my constant thought all summer...my motivation for long trips delivering sheep....my reward for a job well done.
There can be a life after being a shepherd for all those years.
The ewes notice the difference in numbers, the pastures now have to be mowed....the barn still needs to be cleaned!
So how are all the rest of you shepherds? You heard my tales of woe all summer....what are YOU doing? When will you be breeding? Who will you be breeding? Have you lined up a buyer? If you haven't noticed....the world is crazy out there! Oh...not as bad as they would have us all think....the people making the biggest fuss are the ones trying to pick our pockets dry so they can go to spas. Good grief.
Then there are the elections coming up. If that wasn't scarey enough...there's voter fraud, too.
I for one am tired of the political correctness, and blame game.
This is the greatest nation in the world. I am tired of the rest of the world, and certain candidates blaming all their ills on us. It's time for us to start making things again, and buying the products made in the USA. That includes shetland sheep! We have the most amazing quality and variety of Shetland sheep in the world! Give those rams a chance!
Now that I have a little time, I have some projects.
Keep you ear tuned, they could even benefit you.
I even have some stories to tell, boys and girls.....thanks to all you who have contacted my to see if I am still here. Yup!

Where do we go from here?

2008-08-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

It's August...what now?
The temps are hovering around 98 in the shade, there is full sun after the morning haze burns off. There is almost no breeze, and our well pump and pipe is laying on the ground.
Figures!
Yes, the pump was acting up again. Rather than have no water, we called to have it fixed before we were without water in this heat. Of course, I asked how many days it might take....how much water do we need to store for the animals?
No problem.....I was assured. We'll be done in a day. Yaaah right!
So now, after they found a slight hitch, we are waiting for more pipe. We can't put in a new well to fix this problem...that would take a month!!!!....I don't think the hot month of August is a good month to have no well.....so we'll fix this one some day....maybe even this week?
Is that too much to hope for?
At least we have the pond....but the water quality is suspect, since in this heat, it is bubbling.....Maybe we'll have to hit the spring.
On the subject of sheep....which, after all, is what I think about.
I still have three ewe lambs looking for a new home. I looked, and I still have about 6 ewes who are too young to stop breeding, and may have some traits that would prove valuable in a breeding program.
Easter....Grey ewe from Sheepy Hollow Bianca. Easter has a little spotting , but it is covered by her Ag....She does, however, have the finest and softest fleece I have sheared this year. She gets that from her dam.
Powderpuff, a spotted Ag....had her first lamb this year. Powder puff is from Bunny...who is also a Bianca daughter. You see where I am going here.
Dixie....Dixie isn't a friendly ewe, she is from another farm. But she did have two of the cutest black and white lambs I have had here....with long white curls of white wool. Dixie has a recessive spotting gene...and the last two years has had plain lambs....but I know the powers are in there to produce again.
Totter.....had her first lamb this year....Totter had a mioget sire...and her lamb this year looks mioget too. She has lovely fleece...as did her lamb. Too nice of a little girl to stay here.
There are a couple of others that I have mixed feelings about...they aren't as young, but have nice qualities for a breeding program.
I would like to place the three ewe lambs before winter. If you have a spot for some nice fleece in your breeding program, I may have a deal for you. If not, they can just stay here.
Kitty hasn't eaten any more that I can tell. We still have lots of spotted rams running around, too hot to catch them. The dogs are still attached to the front porch. Whatever they encountered, they won't go down in the pasture unless we are there...and then they beat us back up to the porch. Still hiding under the furniture too. But they do bark all night. Our neighbor is missing two dogs too. Remote, that's what they call it.

What do you see?

2008-07-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

How lovely, something new to talk about. I am thrilled about breeders actually thinking of a solution for this little spot problem.
We do have a special yahoo group for this discussion. However, no one was willing to start a discussion about how or why a certain sheep was or was not flecket.
In fact, breeders are a solitary group....and unwilling to let anyone else tell them their sheep is or is not flecket.
Sorry to burst the poster bubble....but the same woman who did the spotted cencus had her pictures made for the poster. Although the poster is beautiful....it does not come close to answering questions. I foget how many photos of spotted shetlands were sent in for the cencus. A few hundred perhaps. However, I was told by the author....that if a photo came in showing a sheep with spots....the breeder usually mentioned what the spot-name was for those spots. If there was no photo sent in for sponget....it was because no one breeder thought they had a sponget. And in a world of commercially viable wool......spotted shetlands are not in demand.
How unfortunate that the spotting names for shetland spots were defined by a professor and not an artist. If a flecket sheep is described by the term "looks like a jacob spot" Then cetrtainly the sheep in my picture does not resemble a jacob sheep....so could not be a flecket sheep.
We originally thought north american breeders could shed some light on the world os shetland spots....since we actually try to breed for them. Sadly, our original efforts were thought to be threatening to the world wide experts. And threatening to the egos of established breeders.
So as wildly spotted 6th generation sheep fade from the world view.....we must cling to the only words we know yuglet....flecket....sokket. Heaven forbid we use some other terms like fronet.
Breeders as I repeat, are solitary people....not given to heated conversations.
It's been a week of tension here in the state of "misery" as my older client likes to call it.
Our two great pyrs disappeared on Thursday. A pack of running dogs were chasing a coyote thru the woods. Apparently, our dogs jumped our fence and went to help. then must have turned the wrong way out in the woods. Since they have never been gone for more than a couple of hours, I waited until feeding time to worry. We drove all the roads near by....we called and called. We announced their disappearance to the running dog folks. No dogs. The next day, we posted signs at the feed store. Called the police and the post office. The only people who drive some of these roads. Then we went into the woods on the looging trails....calling, and calling, for hours into the woods. Finally we traveled the only other road that surrounds our miles of woods. It took over an hour, and sure enough...as we had the two other times we tried to drive this trail in the woods...we got lost. We almost didn't make it down the mountain because the road was washed out. We couldn't turn around as we had planned. But we did get to the high power lines...we had planned to call there, in case the dogs went the wrong way from our side of those lines. Another feeding time came, and I punctuated my feeding the sheep with loud admonitions to the dogs to come home now...a storm was approaching. Finally, I turned, and saw the young dog come in with the sheep. She was panting like an engine, and thirsty. We doubled our efforts to scream for the old dog. The one who doesn't walk well. The storm came and went...no old dog. We called all evening then went to bed, with the young dog tied on the porch. By morning, I took a bottle of water to our last bottle baby, and there on the floor of the barn was old dog. She looked dead...no noticable breathing...and didn't move as I called her. I finally woke her up. She was wet from her trip in in the fog and brush. But she was alive....if not willing to move. I dragged her to the porch and we rejoiced. Since our trip around the woods, we had realized how impossible it was for anyone lost there to find their way out. But the dogs did. They are still two days later, laying on the porch. But today, old dog does raise her head when we walk by.
Yaay for dogs.

why we do what we do?

2008-07-20T10:57:00.001-07:00

I read a really good post on Garrett's blog...look at the links on my right.

He was commenting on why we buy certain sheep....and how our goal may change.

One of his most brilliant statements was about keeping what you have bred. Many small flocks concentrate on selling their lambs. We should as breeders be concentrating on what we have produced by our breeding....and where it should go next.

To that end you NEED to keep some ewe lambs and some ram lambs. Only by breeding back our own lambs can we prove what we know....or perhaps what we don't.

I found the recent discussions on spotted yahoo very funny. Everyone has their own opinion of why spots occurr where they occur.....but shetland breeders have never done testing to see what causes these differences. Frankly shetland breeders can't agree on what they are called either.

There were two shetland breeders who actually tested the color theory of emsket and mioget.

Congratulations!

Until that was done, I personally thought emsket was a shetland myth.

There are so many differences in the shetland breed.....that each of us could test breed...and come out with different answers.

So don't get excited about what you know about spots....because unless you have tested it many times with many sheep....you could be proven wrong.

Then again, it is possible that with many breedings of spotted sheep....we are seeing different spotting, spotting that hasn't been seen here.

I have one such spot. Virginia Reel, ewe lamb on the left....looks like a typical Ag grey lamb....but she isn't....Check Karen's blog about Dylan( right link at the top of my blog)....she also looks typical Ag grey...but Karen doesn't have an Ag sheep on her farm. I have twin rams, not pictured.....who look like they should turn grey at any minute....but so far ther is no lightening at the skin at 6 weeks....

Anyone else have this spot appearing? What should it be called??? Bersugget? It's light and dark...but not typical Jacob spotting...so not flecket.

So back to Garrett's blog. This is your thought for the week.

Why do you buy what you buy?

Summer + Vacation ='s Work!

2008-07-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Summer vacation....ie: a time to do the things you haven't found time to do yet in the first 6 months of the year.

Yes, I'm afraid it's true. My marbles did slide down the mountain. It was bound to happen eventually. It runs in my family.

After our lovely time traveling with sheep, I started out by myself last week. My goals, still the same.....come home to fewer sheep. So I set out happily to do some family time in Wisconsin, and deliver sheep at the same time. I am happy to report that my family time went pretty well. However, missing some marbles.....I failed to check for important parts on all the rams.....ARGH!!!!

Always do that before you leave home!

Secondly, I found good homes for two twin rams.....but....they looked similar.....missing my marbles.....I unloaded the rams at the wrong farms. Go figure.....?

It will be OK. Those guys in the white suits can't find me out here in the woods.....and I'll figure out how to make up for my mistakes before winter.

Do you hear the beach calling my name?

I did get to visit with family.

I did get to put in the basement windows we didn't get in last fall....We also enjoyed mother-daughter time standing on two long ladders waving in the 30 mile an hour winds.....during the heat wave of 95 degrees with humidity in the 70's.....just before the storms. We were wearing complete matching mother-daughter outfits of long sleeved sweatshirts and hoods to fool the wasps, who were being displaced by our vinyl siding. To make the three days of family time complete, we got to put in two dozen pavers weighing 34 pounds each.

Isn't summer vacation fun?

I do have to recommend the upper Mississippi river for a beautiful sight. I am always surprised at how lovely the river is along the Wisconsin border. If you haven't seeen it. Put it on your list.

I still haven't figured out how to load photos...but the fax works good.

We still have little girls....who, by fall, will be boy-crazy. This is Diamond. They all have a spotted sire, thay all look similar to Diamond....the dark ones may be showing modified tendencies. Actually, The only one who looks non-modified....is Sunshine, who is dark moorit.

A few of you may have room for a little girl yet. Some of you don't.

If you do....have-I-got-a-deal-for-you....!....?

Summer

2008-07-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

I just read Karen's What-I-did-on-my-summer-vacation.

Way to go...we all need summer vacation.

Because of the kitty eating lambs without permission....we asked our oldest to come take some missouri air on his vacation....while we went on ours.

Our summer vacation began at 1 am on Saturday morning, when we tried to get ahead of a huge warned storm, by loading the sheep in the dark. Only one ewe managed to escape during loading, and we did get her back in without much delay. By late Saturday afternoon we got a free truck and sheep wash from Lake Erie. If you have never had a lake-effect storm, take it from me...avoid Lake Erie! Later that night, we finally arrived at our sheep's new home. We could tell everything was beautiful....even tho it was dark. I must say the new family was very patient and kind as we kept them all up into the second day of our vacation.

Our "second summer vacation" began with a quick trip down the NewYork Mountains into Pa. Bopeep was lacking sleep, and many of her marbles spilled down the mountain....but no one claimed to notice. Our truck did sport a new couple of cracks in the windshield from Bopeep swatting a fly. However, we did eventually arrive OK at the new home of our old high school and college friends. These folks actually introduced Bopeep to her one and only husband...in the fall of 19 something.....ohhhhh. You don't want to know that!

Anyway, we made the most of our vacation and all stayed up until it was Monday....and the "Peeps family" had to leave. Arriving home before midnight on Monday, we were glad to have made the trip....and anxious for another "vacation".

I do have some lovely photos of Summer Daylilies...but, the storm on Saturday morning, fried our Fax machine...and the new one installed on Tuesday....doesn't want to load my photos off my camera....so unless the computer genius tells us what to do next....we won't have new photos.

Argh!!!!! This is Puerto Rico....growing nicely....and looking for a new home that doesn't want to eat him....or otherwise tamper with him.

And this is what's left of Peeps, saying...go ahead...take a summer vacation.

talking about spots

2008-06-07T04:57:00.000-07:00

While I am waiting for the last ewe to lamb, lets talk about spotting in Shetlands.

First, spotting....all those pretty pictures on the shetland marking poster....is a recessive.

What is a recessive?

There are dominant genetic traits....and ones that come along for the ride. You don't see these other genetic traits unless you lose the dominant.

White is a good one. White is dominant to all other colors and patterns. If a lamb inherits one genetic gene for white from one parent....and one gene for black from the other.....you always have a white lamb. That white lamb does have one solid black gene....and could with the right partner....produce a black lamb.

Grey or musket....Ag.....this is a pattern. If you get one gene from a parent for Ag and one gene for solid from the other parent.....bingo.....You have a grey or musket lamb.

This theory also works for other patterns like katmoget or gulmoget. What if you breed a gulmoget or grey sheep to a solid one and the lamb comes out plain black? That means it does not have the gulmoget gene or the grey gene. It never will be able to pass on either of those genes to a lamb.

Hopefully, you already know the color brown is also a recessive.

So what about spots? Spots, being a recessive....only show up when there are two genes passed along. Oh Oh.....but what about those krunets???? Aren't they spots?

Consider a krunet as a sign that there is one recessive gene in that lamb. You could have generations of krunets before you get one body spotted lamb from them. If you have a dull flock of shetlands and want to spice it up.....don't go out and buy two krunet sheep and think you will get a spotted lamb.....unless you already have hit-the-jackpot somewhere else. Meaning....you have to be really lucky for that to work.

Spotted lambs are all over these days. They have all kind of prices too. There is nothing that makes an expensive spotted lamb better than a cheap one in the world of spots. Take your shetland eye with you when buying spotted lambs. Don't buy inbred sheep or glaring faults.....if you don't show shetlands....and you don't know what a glaring fault is.....go ahead. A lamb is a lamb.

What I have posted is a photo of Texas-two-step. He is young, so we can excuse him for his lack of pose. Texas, was a surprise. His dam had been waddling around for weeks....so I knew she was expecting, but she had never had so much as a krunet before. Dancer, was born in '03....a plain black twin to a yuglet bronget or bielset sokket sister. She has had twins....some brown....and one even tho plain....jitterbug, has produced spots. but nothing showed, up to this, her last year of lambing... nothing showed any spots.

The top two photos are of Dancers twins, Cha cha with her daughter, Duet, a yuglet bielset or bronget sokket....and waltz, with her twins, one another yuglet bielset sokket, Tango.....and her son, a big white spot ram.

What is a big white spot? Just that, we know this ram lamb, Foxtrot, carries black. He just appears to be white. He has less eye spotting, very little in the way of black spots on his body, and black ears.

Now look at Cha cha and Waltz.....would you ever suspect that they could have lambs like that?

Better yet, look at their plain old mom, Dancer....poor girl has always taken a back seat to her sister, Prancer. So, it took five years for old Dancer to hit the heights in spots....well done!

Sure surprised me, old girl.

I consider Texas-two-step to be the zenith of body spotting. This over all 50% white 50 % black is very pretty, and doesn't always happen. There may be another name for this....but no one from the other side of the pond has shown us a photo to tell us if there is. In fact, spots are pretty rare over there, since they breed for commercial wool use.

I breed for fun...and you should see Texas-two-step and his twin, Virginia Reel hopping around out in the pasture in their own lamb races. They make me laugh every time.

I would not expect to breed two yuglet/sokkets together and get a Texas-two-step. Although I can get a yuglet sokket from a flecket....and a flecket from a yuglet sokket. There are fleckets and then there are Texas-two-steps.

End of lesson.

summertime

2008-06-05T05:32:00.000-07:00

I hope you shepherds are all enjoying summer.

We have had hunters here twice....and yesterday, we did get our sheep out for an hour with nothing more than a noise in the woods. I used my new shepherds crook...a christmas gift from Nancy and Bill Barnett....two good shepherds here in Missouri. By the way, Nancy has some nice sheep for sale too. I can give her your email....if you want to find out about them.

I hope to deliver the sold lambs at least soon. I don't wean baby ewes.....so I am not sure how to deal with the few that will be still here.

We did have twins a few days ago and a ewe lamb was born this morning. I have one older ewe who has spent two days in the barn...just waiting. One other is out in the pasture. There are two suspicious ewes laying in the woods. But both are fruit-cakes...and I wouldn't know if they were pg unless they had a lamb.

In spite of our losses we do still have some lambs here. Some of our boys are starting to look pretty good.

This is a bad photo of Texas two step and Virginia reel. Our newest twins. At least I hope that's how you spell reel? Anyone?

At the top is the lovely flower garden started here because Angela Rountree was kind enough to bring me flowers from her garden....in the foreground is the rose bush just starting to bloom. Except for a few tulip bulbs...I hadn't had a flower garden since we lived in the city. I do love to look at flowers. There are lavender plants in the background....all from Angela too.

In case you were wondering how the primary was going, I am a bitter older almost white woman clinging to her guns, here in the heartland. Don't ask. What's McCain's webpage called?

sheep grazing peacefully

2008-06-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

Do you have time to go out in the morning, and watch your sheep grazing? You should.
The morning air is gentle, the dew is one the grass, fog may be rising out farther in the fields.
The sheep hang around in groups. Moms may have their own lambs and a few extras. Some lambs find a dry place out in the middle and lay there together patiently waiting for mom to call.
This morning I tied on my gun, and walked out with the sheep. I was mentally counting lambs....twins over there....where is that mom? The sheep sensing my presence, walked to the fence by the hay ground. A bad place since we have lost so many this week. My husband came out after a while....he had his rifle, and we stood and watched the fields quietly.
I'm always full of "good" ideas. Since we are together...let's let them eat out there for an hour.
It was cool and cloudy, just the time the girls can eat well, so they can rest in the shade later in the day.
My husband took the hill, where he could see everyone well. I walked by the woods, trying to keep the ewes and lambs far from the edge of the pasture. The tall grass was wet with dew, my jeans were wet above my knees. I walked with groups of moms and lambs. As I walked I made up songs about what I was going to do to the hungry kitty. I wandered the edge of the woods, yelling my songs and clapping. Listening to the sheep eating, I figure making people noise will keep the things that belong in the woods, in the woods.
The two great pyrs walked with me. Sometimes they ran smelling things in the grass. The older pyr was laying between the sheep and the edge of the woods....as if she knew that was a good spot. The younger pyr would sit and watch the sheep, then run out with them.....then the two dogs would go into the woods for a while. I wasn't really paying attention to where they went in and out of the woods. They scared up a vulture sitting in a tree. After 55 minutes of our quiet hour.....the young pyr ran out of the woods bounding towards me. At the same time, the older dog, still in the woods was growling and barking. She had something.
I startled better than the sheep did. I called to my husband, to call the sheep out of the pasture.
He had heard the dog, and was yelling SHHHHEEEEEP! He was yelling... sheeeeep! and I was running at the tailing flock of sheep clapping and yelling..... go go GO! As some of the sheep near the gate slowed down to eat again, I fired a warning shot. The big dog had also fallen silent. We hurried back out towards the edge of the woods. The young dog and I went into the woods to see if we could hear anything, or see the other silent dog. I was calling for her. My husband reminded me that the dog when chasing something runs silent. She must be a scarey sight running big and white thru the woods at night.
So, I was quiet for a while, and I finally heard crackling in the woods, I watched and finally our big white dog came slowly walking towards me, her long tongue showing she had been running. All she wanted to do was lay down in the damp sand by the creek now.
As we all walked quietly towards the barn pastures, I was reminded of the pastoral feeding sheep. Now they were all at the barn loudly calling for food. So much for a quiet morning in the woods.

How are things going?

2008-06-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

Right now....not well.
We lost 5 lambs this week, and I am concerned. I don't like to have my sheep eaten. I listened to mom calling for her baby boy all night. Now, baby boys may seem insignificant to us shepherds. Just so many un-salable boys to get rid-of in the fall. But to their moma sheep, they are precious.
We have penned them, cleaned their yellow butts, kept them in the right places with their moms, and in some cases, we even sell some of them.
I am in favor of life. I have to be in a special mood to cut down a tree....pull a weed....bring a flower inside. I am not happy with kitties right now. Given a clear shot, I could shoot at them.
But kitty stays just out of sight....conservation has promised to take action this week. I HATE leg hold traps. Our Hex, second oldest cat here, was trapped by a leg-hold, and let go.....by a very caring farmer. He lost a little foot, and a couple of his nine lives....but is a constant companion.
I know what could happen....we have to keep all nine cats inside....we have to chain up our outside dogs.....the kitty will likely get away, along with the kittens that have been feeding on my lambs.
We are waiting for two more ewes to lamb. If they are live lambs, I will worry about how long they will be able to live here. You know, the floods did change my mind about breeding sheep for lambs.....the kitty has reinforced my plans to sell or give away as many ewes and lambs as possible. At least the ones who could enjoy lambing another year, live safely with their lambs at least until they are three month old....and graze without being under water, or eaten by a wild animal.
I want to keep some ewes who are older and are my friends.....I could even see breeding one or two some year.....just to have bouncing lambs around. Maybe not....but I could "see it". One of my dreams last night was about a song called "guilt"....when I awoke, I laughed at myself. How typical, to intertwine our thoughts from the day into our dreams.

What am I doing?

2008-05-30T04:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not posting much am I?
I do drive quite a bit. We have been BBQing...and fixing fences.
I have sent many sheepy friends away from my home to other nice homes. Just this week Tassell, the one who came up to give kisses in the fields, went to a nice home with two little girls to play with. It is hard to give up friends who I thought would stay for a lifetime. It is easier when I believe them better off for leaving. But there is always the open invitation to come pick them up and bring them back home.
While on the road, I have had much time to think.
One trip, the gas price went up 10 cents a gallon over night. Does that worry anyone else? That scares me.
There is a liberal junior senator poised to become president. He silences opposition with ridicule. His followers crush disent with hatred. Does that worry anyone else? It scares me.
I saw a big rattle snake crossing our road. Does that worry anyone else? Maybe not, but it sure scares me.
I brought my flock in after a trip, and found three lambs missing. All shepherds would be sad at that finding. But, I am their shepherd, and I am responisible for their safely.
That really scares me.
I walked out to watch them grazing several times yesterday, as if I could protect them. I realized there could be a cat taking them right in front of me, and I wouldn't be able to see it.
That scares me too.
I'm sorry we have been taking rains away from other parts of the country. We have had three years of drought here. I know how bad it can be. I am scared for parts of the country not getting enough rain. The paper here keeps making deadlines for the government dole. Come sign up with Fema. Come collect your two cents for all the hay you have had to import. They will "fix" this area like they "fixed" New Orleans.
I figure fixing my fence is more useful, so I work on that.
I have found out that if something bad happens, it is neighbor helping neighbor. Family helping family. The theories that divide us are not as important as the things that band us together.

To that end, I hope to encourage you to fly the United States flag at your home, your farm, your ranch or your business. The flag is not a sign of the idiots who make the laws or run the country. It should not be used to convey hatred for bad policies. It waves over battles for our freedom. It is a sign of our vast country united for the good of all of us......against those who would do us harm. It is a sign that we will pick up our arms and fight against any threat to our union....and our collective use of our resources.
Oh, I know there are bad things that have been done under our flag. Just as there are bad things done under the guise of religion. They fly the Confederate flag in these parts. I could get in trouble flying the real flag. But, these folks are just as proud of their country as others who live in the real world....and not in the woods.
If you don't like the way things are being done in government. Write someone. Stand up and be counted against it. Run for office yourself.
See I may not be posting....but I still have my soapbox.

I know a few good shepherds who are hoping to sell some sheep. If you know someone looking for sheep. I can put you in touch. I still have some sheep myself. I even have some ewes ready to lamb. They went in with my baby ram....just before he made the ultimate journey.
I know they are livestock....but if you spend most of your days with them, they are your friends too.....or even your enemies.
Have you got a love-hate relationship with one of your sheep?
I do.
I suppose that should scare me.

hooked on lambs

2008-05-15T06:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, every breeder of shetlands is hooked on lambs. They are the ultimate fun livestock baby. Just born they leap-frog towards that wonderful milk bottle....mom's that is. A half hour later they find they can jump. Jump, jump....jump again....just like a dick and jane book. Oh look! Look at me...I can jump. I can run....I can kick up my heels and race with other lambs. Who can watch the lambs race....one or fifty, without smiling or out-right laughing?

How do you breed for lambs? Do you put the closest ram into a pen with the closest ewes and see what comes out? Are you an elitist? Fumbling with hormones and frozen semen, making designer lambs? What is your market for lambs? Do you sell lambs? Do you ship them for meat? Do you wether all your boys and raise them for fleece? What is your market for fleece? Can you sell your ewe lambs? Why? Why not? Who is out in your pasture right now? Can you move them on to some other shepherd?

If you plan what to do with your lambs after they arrive on the ground....you are too old-fashioned to last as a breeder in the 21st century. This all boils down to marketing. Marketing starts with a plan....and that means before you stick a sponge you-know-where. Or grab a horn to capture a ram. Your ram is 50% of your crop. However many ewes and rams you use in the fall, you need to know your ram is salable. What is the sign of a great salable ram? Horns....well, horns are the former sign...until so many breeders became frustrated by close horns, and puny horns that a whole new field of breeding started in shetlands the polled...or horn-less ram. This epidemic has been encouraged by designer semen that came with polled genes. So now, you get to choose wheather your rams have horns or "snails" whatever those are. I suppose you can already tell....I am a horn snob. I like horns on my rams. I prefer wide horns on my breeding ram, because the ram lambs he produces will likely have good horns even if their mother carries bad horn genes. I also prefer to use a live ram as opposed to spending bags of money on designer frozen semen that may or may-not "take" ....and lambs that may or may not have flaws. I'm a cheap type breeder. The old-fashioned way to breed is fine. I have been known to spend bags of money on buying a ewe or ram that seems to be good for my breeding program.

What I am getting at....is ....if you bred lambs this year without knowing why they were salable. You made a mistake. Don't do it again! This farming-business if far too expensive right now to waste your crop because you didn't have a plan.

Get a book on marketing. Read it. Make charts about why you can sell your next lambs locally or why not. Decide on a plan for selling lambs period. Do some research on what is selling. Look to see what is not selling....and where. When I first started breeding I started a web page. If you don't have one....you shouldn't be breeding. It is required for professionalism. To that end....I have just dropped my web presence, so if you are looking for me...I'm not there..... Even if you just tell how to email you, the breeder, and show photos of your sheep....you need a web page. You also NEED a blog. Maybe you need to chart out things to say in your blog....maybe you talk too much....like me...anyway. It is expected...and it is necessary. Go look at other's blogs. The best thing to do on blogs is show pictures of your sheep for sale with fabulous supurlative words about them. Study those words...and always use them....best, friendliest, show-quality, rare....unusual....Then make sure they are also expensive. I see folks now having two blogs....they are free. One for everyday salesmanship...and one for super-duper-salesmanship. You better do that too, if you want to sell lambs this year.

I may start one too. "Super-duper surprise ewes and lambs, get-em while they are still here!"

It will help if your lamb has some salable quality. Some breeders show at livestock shows. We put one on at Jefferson, Wisconsin. If you haven't shown before, come to see what goes on...bring a sheep...we will show you what to do....and when you have seen what wins prizes then you will know if you want to show your sheep at livestock shows too. There are qualities favored at shows. Big shetlands, close horns on rams that are already curled once for lambs, and twice for adults. Big wide back ends....kind of like saw-horses. Long bodies and long legs will help. Most judges have no clue what is good fleece...but it seems the longer the better, unless it already looks and feels like a rug. It is a specialized field. You will like it if you can bring sheep for sale....because real people actually come thinking they can buy sheep. The "win" of a prize qualifies you are a "show" breeder. Then you advertise that your sheep won prizes at a show...and it causes people to think your sheep are better. Maybe they are...maybe they arem't...but it is another marketing tool.

Yes, I am hooked at lambs. I am looking at those cute little ewe lambs, who although they didn't come with flashy spots....had flashy rams as sires. You know the type of ewe lamb, the one that follows you at a couple of feet, and when you turn around and talk to them they back up, but still look at you with those "bedroom eyes". I have to thank Garrett for that phrase, but I have heard Robin talk of choosing lambs to keep based on those expressive eyes. I wiggle my fingers at that shy ewe lamb...and she comes close to smell my fingers then backs up again. Just out of reach, in case I have my own ideas of catching her, and giving her a hug, and a kiss, and a pet under the chin. No....those moments are days in the future. Polka has a little bag now, and she has taken to following me and snuggling me for a pet. I give her kisses too. She doesn't seem to mind. Perhaps she already know she is scheduled for a new home. This may be her way of saying good-bye. It sure doesn't make it any easier for her shepherd. I remember her birth. Third in a bevy of triplets. The best looking too. Mom didn't have any milk, so I watched for a ewe to foster her....it took two days. Plum was a yearling hiding under a tarp for her first lambing. I crawled under the tarp, talking quietly to the new mom, Holding poor little wet Polka under a towel, Gripping her little legs under her, so she wouldn't stand and scare her foster mom. Both lambs side by side, finally....Plum licked them both as her own lambs, and the natural ewe learned to suck...finally it was Polka's turn...she leaped at the chance to taste her foster mom's milk. The two grew up as sisters. But Polka paid me back the next year, as she walked into the pen with her new-born ewe lamb, di-si-do....and let a new orphan lamb suck on the other side. Polka looked from one to the other as if she knew she had needed that help once herself.

It's pouring rain outside my window. I still have two fat ewes, but the barn is too crowded with lambs and moms to bother them in the downpour....looking for a ewe making little lamb-sounds. I'm expecting plain little lambs, now. But I see breeders who think those lambs are still salable. Maybe if they are ewes...but rams that are plain need a boost these days. What will be the next big sale in shetlands? I would think that after selling all those broken patterns as spotted kats and spotted guls...that someone should come up with a well patterned katmoget....and gulmoget. Show them what the pattern really is. Provide the best. Specialize. Charge a lot too. Your lambs are worth it!

who, where, when?

2008-05-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Someday, I will get organized. It is also likely true....that I have never considered organization very important. Oh well, maybe I'll be better next year.

The reason I make these announcements, is that I pretty much know who, and where....but when can escape me.

Some of our fences have gotten propped up. Some haven't. The grass is growing....but not where there are fences. That results in constant trials of who is in the woods...and how do we get them out? There have been three days when no one in the ewe pasture got lost. Maybe the rams were lost those days....but I don't remember. I think one of the brown and white ram lambs is gone...but, haven't had the ewes in long enough to make sure. Glory finally found her ram lamb....so I am hoping the missing ram lamb will show up someday.

Some of the ewes are getting to their new homes, some are still here. We are still having rain often. Between delivery trips, I have not done any shearing. Maybe later....when the drought starts again.

I do still have about a dozen ewes who should move on to new homes. If you have a cause to look for an extra ewe....ask about who is still here. I also have a few that are still expecting. Any ewe lambs still here, need to go to new homes this summer. The first batch of lambs will turn 8 weeks old this week. It would be nice to get young ewe lambs a place to live before July. They are just beginning to have real personalities.

Photos of some nice little ewe lambs who are waiting to be adopted. Maybe they can sneak their mom in too, if you have room.

Shy little ewes, looking for homes with fences, and grass and hay....learning to eat a little grain....if their moms don't get it first. Will give their adopted parents many years of companionship. Odd colors and recessive spots a possibility. Contact birth mom.

bopeep's sheep

2008-04-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

Lamb Number 539 and lamb number 540. I bought my first sheep, three shetland ewe lambs....in 1999. Think about that. I have been breeding for less than 10 years. How do I believe that I know ANYTHING about the shetland breed? I have friends, who have bred shetlands for almost twice as long. My last twins born a few days ago were numbers 539 and 540. OK, I may not have been breeding for more than ten years, but I have bred a few lambs. If a breeder had 20 lambs every year for 20 years. They would have bred 400 lambs. I just did mine in less time. I have seen some interesting things in my lambing seasons. Not everything....but a few. I have seen some health problems....not all....but a few. I have seen some spots.....not all...but a few.

Now that I am looking back at lambings and not forward, what do I regret?

I regret that I have only come close to a natural bielset. That was my original goal in breeding spotted sheep. I failed. I believe there is one flock across the pond that has natural bielsets. I doubt that there is another shetland breeder out there in the world, with any interest in just a bielset. Breeders seem to want to only breed spots that they have already seen...or bought.

How sad.

There is a big poster showing possible shetland spots. That poster inspired me the day I put a deposit on my first sheep. Who is breeding for the spotting on that poster? Why do you all claim to be content with only one type of spot? Why should all shetland breeder follow the bidding of a few?

Where is your sense of adventure?

How many yuglet sokkets with a white tip on their tail can people want to see in their field? Whatever you call them, they all look the same after a while. Do you, a breeder, sell all your raw fleeces to one spinner? Why, if you don't..... do you let one spinner dictate what you raise? Do you only raise musket sheep because musket sells well. NO! You would be bored with all musket sheep....however many varieties of musket you could try to see. So why aren't you bored with only one politically correct type of spot?

Now, I am not talking about certain breeders....I am not naming anyone else....I am able to state my view of the state of shetland spotting without defaming anyone.

I DO want to compliment certain other breeders, however. My old friend Stephen Rouse, has reinvented the shetland spot by crossing patterns with spots. This type of spotting has influenced the spotting world in an exciting way. Who knows what will come out at the birth of these sheep. How fun! Spotted Gulmogets have energized the flecket births. Thanks Stephen.

Sandy Truckner has a wonderful invention....a line of Caped Fleckets. She has developed these spots all by herself...and everyone interested in developing spotted shetlands should be trying to acquire one. Nancy Larsen almost had a natural bielset, she has a lovely line of fleckets. Nancy sold me sheep, who finally produced spots for me. Grab one of her sheep if you can, she knows wool and has sold her own wool for many years. I've even bought and spun her value-added wool....and I haven't had time to spin much. I also want to thank Nancy K. and her own special bluff country shetlands....Her lovely photos of her spotted sheep and her incredible marketing abilities have caused her spotties to go all over this country and Canada. Good for you, Nancy. You know what you like and you can sell it too!

Now let's talk about the breeder who has gotten this far in my rantings.

You.

How many shetland lambs did you birth this year? How many do you want to sell? How, are you going to sell them? Do you have a plan? Did you have a plan when you bred those lambs? Can you make a plan to sell what you already have? Try!

The world is expensive to live in....the livestock industry is going to get more expensive. You HAVE to be able to compete! Otherwise, you will have to cut back to a few old friends like I am doing.....and how sad that would be!!!!

If you are trying to breed some exciting spots....I would love to contribute to your ideas. Write me. I have a little experience in crossing lines to get different spots. Maybe I can help you achieve something different and wonderful! You have got to specialize to get anywhere in livestock these days. Think about your ideal sheep....and try for it. If you think it is ideal, you can convince someone else it is ideal and they will buy it too.

All these little sheepies need a home. They all need a little love, just like us.

yes, I still see sheep.

2008-04-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

For those folks who think I may be sold down and out. I still see sheep out there.

Lots of bouncy lambs.

I was going to say lots of small pretty ewes.

Yes, folks...for your information....shetland ewes are supposed to be a smaller sheep. That is their breed.

I didn't get into shetlands so that I could raise meat sheep.

Boy, you should have seen the stuff I had to erase!

I have this year, arrived at what I believe is the best yuglet flecket lamb. Lovely little spotties with varied spots and milti-colors. I see these lambs already playing with others of their own image. How do they know? I don't have mirrors in the barn. I am very impressed with these last remnants of my breeding program. I have always loved spots....and I love the variety caused by different rams and different ewes. How exciting. If you can't spin something wonderful from a flecket...you don't know how to spin.

If you haven't had a flecket born...you haven't lived.

Order of photos....Santa....big white spot ram lamb.....how adorable is that!

Pair of highly varied yuglet fleckets....were nose to nose before I snapped the picture.

Dang!

Waltz and her first twins...a big white spot and his sister. Ho hum. How ever did that plain moorit ewe manage to produce those lambs? He hehe, trade secret.

Hay ground...covered with sheep.

bad ideas

2008-04-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

Has this happened at your house?
Gosh, that lawn looks so good....it's a shame to cut it. Maybe we could put some sheep out there. It's fenced so they can't get to the road, and I'll stay outside and do some gardening.
Ha Ha Ha Ha.........Ho ho hooohho.
Don't ever think like this. It sounds too easy, and you know something will happen to make it a disaster!
Well, my first thought these days is what can my moms and lambs eat, since hay is not available....and a nice long lawn looked like a good substitute. So for two days I let ewe and lambs that were not sold out into the unbred side of the barn. That way they could follow all the other ewes out to the hay ground....where there are no fences.
Since the hay ground is about 1/2 mile away from the house....I don't always hear what is going on out there. I would like to know there is nothing endangering the ewes and lambs that have been sold.
What could be easier? The moms and lambs were fenced right next to the yard. I opened the gate and moms ran out to eat grass...the baaing lambs soon decided to follow the moms.
I got down on my knees.....not an easy job....and started creating a garden for my new Lavender plants...thanks to Angela! And I moved the lovely daylilies out of their pots....where they had spent last summer....The plants all went out in the south part of the yard.
As I was kneeling, I saw a ewe who didn't belong. OK....I don't remember which ewe I saw first. But as I looked up, I noticed more ewes that were not moms eating the long grass.
Sometime during the about two hours....a ewe had opened the gate into the other part of the fencing. All the ewes from the hayground were now pushing their way into the back yard. Some of the new moms and lambs were pushing their way out into the pasture side. Everyone was baaing....except me!
I wasn't even yelling....I couldn't be heard anyway. I finally got up, and went for the grain. As I passed the inside of the barn, I saw Donna....one of my first ewes....trying to push out a lamb.
Minor distraction, make sure Donna doesn't lose a lamb....she's 9 now...and not as agile as a younger ewe.
Armed with a bucket of grain....I began throwing grain, and calling baaing sheep. They didn't know the program.
As a shepherd, you know, sheep get used to a certain way of doing things. They hadn't been in the back yard before....so they didn't know which way to run. Half of the ewes came out and not many of the 70 odd lambs....who were now running back and forth wondering where mom went. Lambs wonder out loud....very out loud! During the din, my husband got the lawn mower going....thinking it would drive the sheep out of the yard. Actually, most just ran back and forth.
It did however, add to the level of noise.
I figured out how to move some ewes away from the gates with interior fencing. Eventually we got down to a dozen lambs running back and forth. I opened the gates wide enough to let lambs in but not wide enough to let ewes out. Finally the lambs got into the pasture fencing. They actually all got into the night fencing too. I really don't know how. But they were all mixed up. Two yearlings were watching Donna push. One or two moms couldn't find their lambs. So I went from one baaing ewe to the other looking for lost lambs. The yearling ewes lost interest, and I helped Donna clean the nose of her sputtering ram lamb. Off to find another lamb. I heard baaing from the jug, and looked right at the offending ram lamb, He wasn't baaing. Against the wall, there were fencing panels tied in place. Over them was a blanket....behind the blanket was a ram lamb. Wedged into the wall.....I untied all the panels and lifted the ram lamb out. Then I went back to revive the ewe lamb that Donna had just pushed out. I opened the sides. Everyone was now together.
Tomorrow...which in the sceme of things was today....the sheep could all go out to the hayground to eat. Heck with the hay crop...we need the grass.
So today, the ewes and lambs noisily made their way out to the grass....during the day many of them got turned around and wandered down the creek in the woods. They were trapped outside the pastures, and openings had to be made to let them back out. Oh well, what do you expect when there are no fences?
The second problem with today, was that the fencing at the edge of the hay ground was down from flooding. Logs and sticks, grass and leaves matted onto fencing took some posts down...took some with the fencing....all lay in a jumble at the edge of the pastures. So this afternoon, we took the posts off, shook off the matting....pounded posts back in, and reattached the fences. Only about 150 feet of fencing....but it made me feel better. At the end of the day, the fences could be closed to the hayground. Good, since with the lambs playing outside the night fencing. I quit. They can stay where they are tonight. Hopefully there won't be anything chasing them. The dogs can bark....and I'll rest. Go in the barn, you can find it. Go to sleep.
The flowers got watered today, from above...I didn't get that far myself. Sorry, I didn't look to see how much the flowers were watered either.
Don't let that back yard fool you.
It might be a bad idea.

dreary and not dreary

2008-04-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Are you stuck in a non-spring moment?

Today it calls for rain and storms.

again.....

Better than snow and ice...and floods....and wind storms...and earthquakes.

Whoops....

Had one of those too.

All it did was get me out of bed. Us northerners are used to earthquakes....so I just got up and checked the sheep.

Have you started lambing season yet?

I hope your girls don't make you wait too long.

We have had plenty of yellow lambs this year. Poor moms lick and wrinkle their nose.

We had an older ewe bred at thanksgiving last fall...so i am waiting for her to figure out how to push.

Top photo is Sprinkles...she is going to New York with her mom.

Others are of our last flood. Rams in their shelter, trying to ignore the water running over their dam.

Sorry, blogger didn't like my other photos....some days are just like that.

Going to check the barn in the rain.

sunshine

2008-04-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

I saw it once today...

I have been encouraged to post nice photos for my friends who are not experiencing spring.

Flowers in the rain, and flood photos of the lambs pasture...before and after. You can see the lambs and moms out with their re-appearing lake. The after photo shows the fence still down outside the lamb area...and the condition of the ground after the flooding water scoured the grass off the dirt.

The cute lamb pictures are of Do si do and her first ram lamb...this is the lambs first walk outside the barn down to the pastures and the other lambs.

Ok, the top photos are from before the last flooding rains.

Spotted rams are cute cute cute.

not again.....argh!

2008-04-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

I was going out to take some photos today. Good day...no sunshine...most of the stuff falling from the sky is frozen...so it doesn't get on the camera lens....
But,
Seems the fences were worse than I had seen. Under the cedar trees, the fences were leaning. It only took a few days for the ewes to decide that meant more food. Over they went, taking their lambs with them. It took me a while to notice. On the far side of the gates by the creek...you know the one with the five foot hole in the ground.....were some white things? Dogs? Are those our dogs, playing with some smaller dogs? Then as my husband heard dogs....and ran for his gun....I saw the lamb in the middle. As I jumped the fences, I could tell those were not dogs...but ewes on the wrong side of the fences. Seems almost all of the 40 some ewes and 70 some lambs had made a break for the woods. Lambs were running and ewes and lambs screaming. "where's my other lamb?"" Where's my mommy?" Unfortunately, the ewes were in several places. Some of the east fence was down too. Moms and lambs ran up to the road. Now we were paniced....what if a car came by? Grain buckets meant the moms jumped back over the fence...but fat little lambs tried to slip thru the holes....I was grabbing stuck lambs and lifting them over. As we pounded some of the posts upright...I picked up ewes and handed them to my husband over the fence. I found a ewe who had gotten caught in the old electric fence wire. She wrapped and twisted the wire first around her neck, then around her legs....slowing her down so she hadn't choked by the time I found her.
I really hate floods now. It's one thing to stand a few hundred feet of fencing back up so the sheep might not jump it.....but this job of detaching fencing and redoing posts will take all summer. As night falls, I can fence the group out of the questionable fencing....and open a bale of hay. More grain and hay should get us thru the night.
Tomorrows another day.
One of these days the sun will shine.

What? am I doing?

2008-04-11T16:58:00.001-07:00

The word from Missouri is "dry"ing out again.

We just got the road cleared, the phone back, and the rams

caught.

Another round of 6 inches of rain in one day, triggered more of the same here.

Can the flooding creeks go higher?

Yes, it appears they can. Someday when I can handle the pictures I'll post a few.

I will say the fencing will not recover well. It seems you work on one section....and then walk around and suddenly realize there is no fence???? My husband did that today as we caught the rams....again....after their pasture was under several feed of water. My husband and shepherd in training...went to get the fence post pounder to help straighter some fencing....It's over by the gate. Just then, I heard his voice...there is no gate...no fence...no posts...it's all washed into the woods!

We are however doing well. Our feed store found a few bales of hay. The lamb's lake is getting smaller. Our neighbor pulled his truck back out of the creek. Two others are not so lucky, with their homes getting water damage. Considering there are only five of us on this road....we ARE the lucky ones. We may have snow tomorrow....can that happen? Our pyrs were lost for four hours but came home....happily.

We do have ram lambs....yes, we do.

We are having a party in Alaska....how fun....love parties!

Living is wonderful!

2008-04-09T05:48:00.000-07:00

As I grow older, I am reminded it beats the alternative.
I laughed out loud this morning as I was reminded by old friends how silly my life has been. Yes, sometimes I have asked for it....what ever it has been....but we have had fun along the way.
I am blessed with my partner of ??? 40 some years. We have family who are treasures, both children, and brothers and extended family.
But look at me....I have....to the contrary of a statement made by one of the other breeders....I have made friends along the way. How amazing to have friends from different times...friends of many years of growing. Friends who live miles away...yet still are close. This is one reason I am selling many of my little sheep. I would like to go travel and visit old friends...before my old brain forgets who they are...or who I am. I say that honestly, knowing the problems of aged parents can visit their children.
May you all be blessed with old friends...those who knew you when....whatever you were when you were a child or an adult. There is a comfort to knowing the past so well, and still accepting our friends....especially accepting the quirky old shepherd I have become.

Now, I may not be older than some of my clients, one, who bought her first shetlands at age 79.
But maybe I don't age well. Let me tell you I don't move well....and to that end we will NOT move from this place. We may live somewhere else...but we won't move. Even this last move was a story of disasters. We needed to fence this place for sheep before the sheep moved. So I drove back and forth from Wisconsin every week to put in fencing. Because the fellow that took care of my present ranch was running a truck garden when we bought, I wore a revolver....you never knew who would pull into the property. I used to arrive to the empty house....the remote empty house, just after dark. As I unlocked the door, I would hope no one had broken in....no one was still there....no one would notice I was staying by myself. The phone was fitfull...most often requiring the help of the operator to call to Wisconsin. My husband was still working in Wisconsin, when the shippers called to say they were picking up my sheep early. We had arranged for a trip, where the shippers had a paid trip home. So months before our Wisconsin farm sold, before the furniture was moved out, before the cupboards were packed, We formed a convoy of 64 ewes in a trailer, two small red trucks carrying 7 cats, a goose, and our old ewe, Dayspring Panda....litter boxes, cat food, sheep buckets and feed. The sheep and the shepherd now lived in Missouri. My poor husband now lived in Wisconsin, where he had to sell the property, take care of inspections and repairs, move all remaining clothing, dishes, furniture, and fencing out....into storage, or our little cottage...finish his work, and move the remaining ram lambs to Missouri. Our daughter was again required to clean the entire house....mom was again absent for the cleaning day.
As you can see our moving from house to house has many stories....we just don't move well.
I would love to show you the view from the windoew next to me. Little pink blossoms dot the peach tree branches, the pond lays calm, reflecting the trees on it's border...the big white dog is lounging there, waiting for the adventure of walking the sheep out to their pasture.
Somewhere in the barn pastures, Berry is standing and laying down....looking around for her lamb....she knows it is coming, but nature is not urgent, so berry stands and walks around calling for the lamb she has carried for five months. Hopefully, she will finally get a lamb and get their jug in the barn before the next round of rains get here.
As I get ready for the day, I weigh the chores needed. We moved some rams to the south meadow, where they have food. If the water goes up, we won't be able to feed them for a few days. I need to move some two day old lambs and their moms outside, making space for the sheep who will crowd the barn in the heavy rains. There is always something interesting to do....like walking with the dog in front of the sheep thru the sahara pasture into the hay ground and counting them as they come in. Watching the pregnant sheep deciding who is close to lambing, so I can watch them during the day. Almost done for the year....
That's good.

inside my mind

2008-04-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

Hey! This is a new opportunity folks. You can see how a mind works.

I think I have told you about my first sheep.

They were a substitute for my mother, dear soul, who put up with me and my family for over 14 years. I know it was far more difficult for her to lose her independence and live with her daughter, than it was for her daughter and family to have another generation trying to fit in to a new home.

There were those typical age related problems. After 25 year in the city, I decided I wanted to move to the country. We bought a lovely farm....and after several mishaps, my mother was placed by me....her bad daughter...in a nursing home. I was, after all, a failure. I didn't keep my mother. I felt crushing guilt. I HAD to have something else to care for....something that would take all my waking and non-sleeping moments. I NEEDED sheep.

After buying my first three sheep, and letting them rule my life....I was hooked....I needed sheep. Sheep NEEDED me. My life was again justified by care-giving. The sheep couldn't get a drink of water, hay, grain, protection, they couldn't lamb unless I wiped the lamb's mouth so it didn't inhale fluids and die. I had to teach the little ones how to find their first drink....I gave them shots. I trimmed their hoofs....We got to our own retirement age...but I was not ready to live without my sheep. They defined my life....with sheep I had a purpose...a goal...value...work. So we moved all the sheep south. We bought lots of acres for them to graze on and had our own hay ground.

Surprise!

This new area that seemed so nice the first year developed droughts....three years in a row...now the hay that the sheep depended on was farther and farther away from the sheep. Dang.

OK....So I started to sell off my ewes, too many droughts, too many sheep....I sold pregnent ewes. Ewes with lambs. Flocks....singles....as many as I could. I dragged my little spotted wonders around to shows. I had web pages, I even finally had business cards made.

I'm not complaining. I did what I wanted. I started a flock of sheep who started to have spotted lambs. I worked on getting lots of different spots. Nothing was boring....most were not plain.

We had an incredible year in 2007. Most of the lambs were spotted, most were ewes, almost all were sold. OK....I was looking forward to another year of selling ewes down. Adding lambs to the mix. Sell those sheep. They don't really need me...they just need someone.

Surprise again!

Notice I haven't even complained about the big kitty that seems to find my sheep and invite them to lunch. I can deal with that. I just don't go in the woods without a gun. A few sheep to make a poor kitty happy. I don't mind. But this winter, we had winter. Not just ordinary snow...although we had that too. We had ice. Ice is quite different from snow. For one thing it's hard. Being an experienced care-giver, I know what can happen to old bones when they fall on ice. I was terrified! I had to go to the barn to feed sheep. The ground was covered with ice. The sheep couldn't walk either. The second problem with our home was that we became totally isolated in bad weather. We were in the valley until the road grader came our way. How ever many days that took.

OK. I remember winter. You get provisions before a storm. We learned to keep plenty of food on hand. Not knowing wheather the next storm would drop rain or ice or snow. Sometimes we could drive thru the low-water crossings, but trees blocked our way. Call the road grader again. Sometimes the electricity went out too....no water...no microwave...no computer...no TV. Once the phone went out....no road...no phone...but we did have electricity! Yaay...and food too.

I mentioned the last-straw.

The straw was the two or three day storm that flooded missouri and arkansas....it came when my sheep.....you remember my sheep? They were pg! More surprises....even tho crowded into the barn by rising waters....my girls still wanted to give birth. And give birth, and give BIRTH!

Lambs everywhere....jugs inside of jugs. 10 bales of hay, five bales of hay....how long before we could drive out to get more hay? Argh!

I've had enough. The universe is trying to tell me something....OK already! I hear you.

I'm not going to breed sheep again.

I am no longer defined by being a shepherd.

I still feel guilty about abandoning my mother....but sheep can't make that go away. However the weather here has been threatening. I see an end to my ability to rise above the ice...the rising waters.

I am no longer thinking like a shepherd.

I know my sheep and my sheep know me.

I have been trying for several weeks to find new homes for my children, my sheep. If I find them a new home, they will not blame me for ruining their lives by not careing about them any more. The guilt continues.

How cruel can an X-shepherd be? Can she leave the sheep long enough to find out who she really is? I've made great progress over the years. I might wipe a sheep nose, but I no longer find them their first meal. You are on your own kid. I no longer feel obligated to hold dying lambs. I might lay them safely in the corner by their moms and let them pass. I'm not in charge of defects...of birthing accidents....they are no longer my fault.

I have helped 531 shetland lambs into this world. I've lost quite a few too. I expect they will meet me when I leave this world.

I'm proud of my sheep lines. I worked for many years to develop spotted sheep. I did it the old-fashioned way. Cuz, I am an old fashioned girl.

Well, Sheepies. too bad there isn't a nursing home I can ship you to. ...I need to have some time without taking care of you.

We are almost done with lambing. There are a few old friends who have reserved some lambs. I'll try to take care of them until you get them. Some nice folks have offered to take some ewes....but I don't know yet what I will be doing this summer. With all the rain we have had there should be some grass....I can find some local auctions or put an ad in the paper.

I'll let my old girls stay on...the dogs take good care of them. We'll see if the sheep can find a life without me. They maybe didn't NEED me anyway. I just thought they did.

I'm thinking about beaches. Nice warm sandy beaches...without a baa in the world.

So now that I am feeling better, and everyone else is totally confused....

Sunshine!!!!

2008-04-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

Good morning,

Yes!

The sun is shining today....haven't seen that for a while.

At dawn today, I heard a call. Think about the musical call of a loon in northern minnesota.

It starts low, runs up in pitch, and then drops suddenly.

It doesn't sound like a coyote. I've never heard of wolves here. The running dogs don't bay like that...and there is no answering call.

I have heard this call at night, but it was a longer trill. Very unnerveing.

We have hawks...but they scream overhead.

As far as I know big cats sound like a woman screaming.

This is more musical.

Do blue herons call at dawn? Would their call echo over the hills?

While we are waiting for someone to ask about yesterday's special ewes.

This is a picture of Miss Dixie.

She would like to come live with you. She will bring her lunch.

That means, buy Miss Dixie.....get mom free. Just think, she comes complete with nourishing food, and a nanny.

What a deal!

blogs and sheep

2008-04-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

Today's featured ewes.....top, Tropical and her twin boys, Bahama and Puerto Rico....the twins are brown and white, and tropical is black and white.

Tropical would like a new home with or without her sons.

Tassell.....who could not love this ewe? She is the only registered yearling without a new home. She loves fun and running with the other unwed girls. I missed the photo of her chasing the cat up a tree. Tassell was a single born to a black ewe....Her sire was spotted moorit....she would like a new home with someone to play with.

Easter....no she wasn't born this Easter....but, yes, born on Easter....As i remember we named one sheep thursday and one friday that year too. Some years you just run out of ideas for names.

Easter is a looker....but not fond of touching. If she was bred, it was late winter.

Great spinning fleece.

I am selling, and I am cutting prices. These ewes need a new home.

Think adoption!

I want to thank my friend for letting me know I was being hit by spammers. Why do they do that? What kind of kick do they get? Do they have a life? Where do they find time to even WANT to irritate other people?

Get a life, people!

There are places to go, things to see, chocolates to eat!!!

Ya gotta LOVE chocolate.

Peeps, where it is only misting today.

Got to check the barn, I saw a ewe on her way back home.

water wings

2008-04-03T12:46:00.001-07:00

There are lambs....there are ewes...there are ewes with and without lambs.....Some are sleeping, some are in swimming classes.

We need homes. Check with me about where I am already driving to deliver.

I am dropping my web page. There will only be photos here....or in email. We have spots....lots of spots. We have puddles....lots of puddles.

We have come up with an idea for the lambs....little yellow water wings.

More rains today....just got the electricity back on.....I hate being without electricity!!!!!

If you know of anyone looking for spots. Rapunzel is still available. She is either warm black or likely dark brown. Longer primitive fleece....and can produce spotted lambs....that's one behind her.

I will deal on prices, I will help to deliver....let's find Rapunzel a new home.

Peeps, the soggy shepherd.

wet and wetter

2008-04-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

I understand the upper midwest is having problems with snow and rain too....I hope it stops soon. We need some spring weather.

Thankfully, the sun is shining today.

First.....Dramatic photo of Rapunzel. She is likely a dark brown, from Ridinghood and Minwawe Pan. She had twin spotted rams this year....doesn't everyone?

Rapunzel is calm and friendly.

Then we have a picture of Magnolia and her twin ram lambs....they look just like mom. Mom is also looking for a new home. She leans toward spotted genetics...maybe you can tell.

This bottom picture, is a photo of Bejig, She has a lovely long fleece with curly tips. I kept her specifically for her fleece. She does have a big white spot ram lamb and a black ewe lamb....Bejig is looking for a hair cut and a new home. She might want to bring a lamb or two with her.

I had some photos of our new lake....it is in the pasture with the lambs....figures. They seem to have gotten lost. We had the road grader out this afternoon....not bad enough to have flooding across the low water crossings. We also had three trees down.....hopefully, by tomorrow all will be normal....whatever that is.

I am scheduling trips with sheep....if you need one or a few...let me know....maybe I'm coming to your area too. Thanks so much to those who are working with me to find homes for these pretty girls. We'll work on the boys later.

more sheep

2008-03-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

These are a few more girls and lambs looking for a home.

Top, Prancer has twin ram lambs, they of course look like mom...black and white.

Second photo is of Di si do....she is two now and expecting her first lamb. Do si do hangs around with the other ewes who look black and white....kind of like chickens I guess. The white looking ewe is Marshmello, she, I belive is also expecting....she is smaller and goes out of her way to be friendly....she promises not to eat much....and thinks she is too young to stop breeding, even tho her shepherd loves her.

Last photo is powderpuff....I believe she is AgAa...this is her first ram lamb at age two.....also very small, powderpuff has proven to be an attentive mom....I haven't checked to see if her lamb is Ag....but I bred this lamb for fleece quality.

Yes, at last count I have four more lambs.

I want to thank those of you who have contacted my about lambs and ewes for sale....the sheep really appreciate your interest. ..me too.

We are again having a flood....we had a sudden downpour and large hail this morning. I didn't see any lambs laying out after being struck by hail...so we seem to have survived....although there is now a creek running thru our ewe and lambs pasture. Hopefully week old lambs won't jump into the water and try to swim.

what to do?

2008-03-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

This is Trotter....she is a mioget, mirk face....her dam is dark brown, and her sire was minwawe Pan....she has had her first lamb....he is a flecket in moorit....Jockey....Trotter and her son need a new home...together or seperately.

This is dutchess and her twin ram lambs....Dutchess is one of my best ewes....solid....straight....took second place twice...her lambs are from a dark moorit. She has a lovely intermediate fleece...and is more than friendly....I'm not sure why I got both lambs on one side....but they are only a week old and likely haven't determined which side is theirs...Dutchess needs a new home. She is AgAaBBBbS?Ss

This could be a line from the old woman in the shoe....who had so many lambs she didn't know what to do.

It's not....although I do.

We have had some difficult weather come thru this spring. Rains, Ice, Snow, Floods....the thing we have not had yet....is wind and hail. So now, I seem to be looking over my shoulder waiting for the next weather system to come and get me.

Do you have weeks or months like this....where it seems so many small things have gome wrong...or one large things has gone wrong....that you are faced with pulling yourself together to face what comes next?

We have children who chase storms....sky warn travelers....who predict where the storms are going and when. This is relevant, when one of our children calls and says a storm is coming our way. So last night, we had that warning. The tornados in our county were turning south....and according to the best predictions...should come over us in about 15 minutes.

My question is....what do you do?

I have over 50 lambs running with their moms out in my fields, and in my barn. My barn is corrugated metal. So, as I stood in my barn watching them all baaing and running....I was faced with two thoughts....first....get all the moms and lambs fenced inside the barn before the storm hits, especially with large hail coming.....and second....if the storm takes any part of the barn down, the lambs are safer being able to run away from the flying pieces of metal.

I was paralized.....so we left them all outside, and went in to find a safe place to hide in case the house was hit. As I was sitting, waiting for the winds to pick up....I was wondering what I should be doing? What would you do if your home was about to be destroyed? Do you pack the precious things that you have from your parents, do you not worry about the things around you...and wait to see what happens, trying to save your own hide? Our area was just hit by floods....there are lots of homes and businesses picking up the pieces of their lives. Trying to save personal things, cover ruined floors....find a place to live. What good are the "things" if you cannot enjoy seeing them? What good is your life if you can't enjoy living it? The storm rode the ridge of our valley to the north....the lambs got wet but not injured. I am still looking over my shoulder.

If you hear of anyone looking to adopt a few sheep or lambs....Tell them about my blog. I have sheep for sale....I have reasonable prices...and I will travel to help get them to their new homes.

I have a lovely new client, who was just called up to serve in Iraq....I know my problems are lots smaller....I pray that our service men and women will be safe.....that our politicians will make the best decisions....and that everyone will turn out to vote.

May your lambs be cute...and your family safe.

Peeps

more spots

2008-03-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

I was trying to get some of the lamb races...but only caught them when they had stopped. You can see why moms around here have so much trouble telling which spotted lamb is theirs.

I am also including photos of serendipitty, snychronisity and silver belle....all need a good home where they can find a spotted ram of their very own.

lambs for sale

2008-03-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

Surprise surprise....We have a few new lambs for sale.....

We have white and black and grey and moorit....we have spots....lots of spots.....many on little ram lambs. Lots of little ram lambs. Buy the dam...get the ram lambs free.

Maybe we need to sell spotted ram lambs for wethers. The yuglet flecket ram lamb on top is Chappeau....a half brother to our former head ram Minwawe Pan. Chappeau is available....he has a twin brother too.

Anyway. I am getting to the photos.

what water?

2008-03-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

I may have mentioned in passing the rains we had here.

I just wanted to follow up with some photos I took to show the extent of the flood waters.

No, the ewes didn't want to get wet....but they did find it hard to find a place to lay down too.

And Yes, that's snow....adding insult to injury. one photo shows the pastures and runs in front of the barn....the other shows the water running behind the barn coming off the ram's dam.

Sheep photo's coming.

the straw

2008-03-24T05:56:00.000-07:00

You have heard about the last straw....you know the one that hits the camel?
This 100 year flood has finally gotten thru to my stubborn mind.
I am not supposed to be breeding sheep.
It is now dangerous to my own health.
If I did not have a field full of sheep who depended on me for food and water and protection, and I heard there were days of heavy rain....or ice....or snow....coming, I could leave.
For that reason....I have decided to stop breeding when we have finished this spring.
There are plenty of up and coming breeders out there in the real world.
I am convinced I should be walking on a sandy beach.
YES!!!!!
We do have lambs. There are now over 40....most born in the two days of rain inside the barn.
There were jugs made with sheets, rubber tubs, camping mats, folding chairs, and sweatshirts, one jug was in the rain and covered with a tarp...poor mom and babe......Anything to keep the lambs with mom and out from under other feet.
YES....I have photos.
I am however, dropping my web page....so you will only hear of the lambs for sale here on my blog.
This morning, I want to mention the ewe lambs that I held out from sale last year. They were mine!
Now they can be yours!
I will not keep them, because I will not be breeding them.
There are four spotted girls, and one moorit. The moorit ewe was 7th at Naile in her ewe class....she may not be the most beautiful sheep....but she may be the most friendly. Tassell would rather follow me than eat with the others. She is of normal size and will sell with one of the spotted ewes, Pearl.....I also showed Pearl at Naile....she didn't make the top 10 but has lovely open bursugget fleece. Out of my best lines of spotted sheep, Pearl is AgAa yuglet grey with grey and white spots of color. These two could also sell along with the other three ewe lambs.
Three ewe lambs from last season....so now yearlings...not exposed. All three are out of our old head ram Pan. Twin girls from Prancer, and a single ewe from Riding hood. Prancer is a black yuglet sokket bielset.....I believe I registered the twins as black smirslet/sokket, serendippitty and synchronisity....one is friendly...one isn't....but they are typically funny and hang around with each other. The third in this group is a smaller ewe....Silver Bell....she is also a yuglet sokket, and her dam and twin brother are dark brown. Yes, Riding hood usually has dark browns...I don't know why....but they were always bred from Pan. These three ewes run together and will only be sold together. If you don't already have Nancy K's type of HST lambs. These could be yours.
I will deal, I might help deliver....these pretty sheep should not be kept in the woods.
Photos will follow, as I get my mind and body....together again.
Happy Easter a little late....sorry I was unable to post to anyone because of the phone going out in the storms. Our property survived, except for some fencing...but our nearest neighbor had to evacuate his home during the storm. Thanks for your good wishes and prayers.

spring lambs

2008-03-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

Interesting. I hadn't thought much about spring's color. I was too busy trying to get food into her mouth. Her dam is a two year old, extremely small ewe. The grand-dam is one of my biggest ewes. Donna, the grand-dam is also one of my first ewes. Born 1999. So, is the size of her daughter, Butterfly, because she, Donna, is older? Butterfly is a twin. Is her size related to her dam being older, and competition for a lessed supply of milk?
The fact that Butterfly is so much smaller than her dam, and of her sire.....who was Minwawe Pan.....is strange. Now, her color: Spring looks black compared to her dam, Butterfly....who is Ag grey. Spring is not shiny black, and I have no other lambs to photograph her with. I did check her mouth, and although it is dark....it may not be black-black. She is the quietest lamb I have ever seen. Spring was jumping last night, so she is progressing. But when she wakes up, there is no sound.....she simply walks to the fountain and wags her tail. It is possible that Spring was early, her dam being so small may not have had room to gestate any longer.
Questions of color can usually be answered by repeated breeding tests. I don't plan to do repeated breedings. It will depend on grand-dam....Donna. Donna, is bred. If Donna has a live ewe lamb this year.....then Butterfly and Spring can go on together to another breeder. Because I had never kept a ewe lamb for Donna's old age....I kept Butterfly to keep her dam company in her older years. How often do you see dam and daughter walking and eating or sleeping together? If you haven't noticed....you don't spend enough time with your sheep.
Modified color can be from one modifier or two. I am guessing that dark brown is caused by one. Mioget and Emsket are caused by two. Fawn appears to be a version of Mioget. Is it caused by one modifier, as opposed to two? You figure it out. I can add to the breedings of dark brown by two other test breeders.....dark brown runs in families. There is a difference between the warm colors of shetland black and dark brown.....those differences can only be determined by a breeder having experience with both. What is the difference between the color shaela and the grey color that some warm black/shetland blacks turn at about a year old? I don't know, you test for it. I'm still trying to decide if the facial eye circles that are irregular are caused by mirk-face and not really yuglet patches. Yuglet eye patches should be small and round....how does that happen? What causes the white spots to unmask just a portion of the face?
Well, I may never know. Spring, is my 461st lamb born. You would think I would know everything by now....some breeders appear to know everything after very few lambs born or bred....wow....kind of reminds me of something else going on right now.

spring!

2008-03-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

Spring arrived today.

Butterfly is her mom.

the end

2008-03-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

Well, at least I hope

it's the end of this winter.

Yes, it would seem that they do have winter in Missouri. This is our first one here. I would be happy to go farther south to avoid another one.

We had at best estimate...that is with a ruler....about 7 inches of fresh snow. That snow fell after the freezing rain and the sleet. Yes, I can walk....I notice the dogs are staying in the paths we have made to the barn. The goose does come up to the house, noisily asking for bread. The sheep don't seem to like it much, although they will eat the snow.

We live in the middle of a valley. We could go out to the road in either direction, depending on the water level, and the wash-outs. But the road crews have split this road into two districts. So one road crew comes and turns around, and the other does the same from the other direction. In bad weather one might come by faster than the other. And sometimes it seems neither one comes. We hate being iced in-flooded in-snowed in. Last night we were lucky. One of the road crews worked late into the night and plowed up to our house. Hurray!

We both went out in the snow to catch our pyr puppy, who thinks any truck is an intruder, and wants to challenge road crews. It was a good thing to grab Sugar....that's her picture. The road crew got stuck....and it took a long time before they could dig and rock the dump truck out of the snow. I know they had to divide the road in two parts because neither crew wanted to have to work on the whole thing. We are....remote.

On the Sugar fact sheet. She is actually a year old....but puppy-dumb. Our older dog tries to tell her what to bark at, and what to run after. Sugar has her own set of rules. One of her rules is to keep an eye on the front door when she is sleeping. To that end she has taken to sleeping in the yard. Sleeping on the porch must be out of her realm of understanding. So here is Sugar....curled up in the snow....she also curls up in the rain. I tried to move her inside several times. Well, not actually into the house, I do have some furniture since she moved out. My dining room table does have three legs now....I really want to keep four legs on my chairs.

the spring movement

2008-03-03T14:05:00.000-08:00

I like the sounds of this one better.
Yes, there have been plenty of geese flying north...I hope they don't freeze.
The witch-hazel blooms opened the warm day we had. Yummy!
I am still amazed at the smell of witch-hazel. I even heard two distant "peepers" this morning. There weren't many of them coming out of hibernation. Fortunately....as they will freeze too.
No flowers. No lambs yet.
No grass peeking out at me....
The ram's dam is running over, causing a wide stream of cold water behind the barn. It's OK....the ewes wouldn't go far in this rain anyway, so I kept them in today.
The rain is coming down heavily. The temperatures have dropped 20 degrees since morning. If it wasn't raining so hard....I'm sure it would be freezing and sleeting. Perhaps the energy is being held above freezing for a few hours. Then who knows what will happen?
I would tell you how many inches, but my rain gauge froze in the last sleet storm, and won't hold water any more. I'm not putting a new one out until this storm is done.
I did go out and pick up more bales of hay this morning in the driving rain. I hate not having enough food for an extended ice storm. All the girls are in the barn. I did have one ewe standing outside. Cotton candy. She has always avoided a full barn. Last year she would make her ewe lambs stand out in the rain too. I decided she would freeze solid after the temps got a bit lower. So I went out and put a pen in front of the barn, forcing her in. There are water buckets in the pen. The doors on the barn are wide open, because of the strong winds. Both great pyrs are staying in the barn...sleeping in the hay. It is lots warmer in there than on the damp cement porch of our house.
I am wishing you lots of joy this lambing season. I hope your weather warms and your lambs are lively. I am looking forward to lamb races when the ice melts. Got to keep positive. At least I still have electricity. I panic when storms come in here. Do we have enough food? What if I can't cook? So I always bake cookies before the electric power goes off. They help keep me calm.
Have a cookie....spring will come.
Heck with the political races....I vote for spring!

spring

2008-02-28T14:15:00.000-08:00

Spring around here means jonquils. Pretty yellow flowers lifting their heads to the sun.
Nope. Don't see any of those.
Spring around here means perfumed breezes full of witch-hazel blooms bursting in the sun.
Nope. Don't see any of that.
Spring here means flocks of high-flying geese, barking like dogs, they form arrows way up in the sky, all day the clouds come, all night they can be heard.
Yup. I'm seeing clouds of geese. The trick is to listen closely enough that you can finally see the arcs of flying formations before they are out of earshot.
Spring here is bouncing lambs, making me laugh at their joy for life.
Nope. Haven't seen any yet.
Soon....maybe.
Do you have any signs of spring there?
I hope so.

I wonder....

2008-02-23T05:22:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night?
I do. I find myself thinking about things, long before I realize I am awake, when I should be sleeping. Sometimes, it is my barking dogs. I hear them bark, maybe they even wake me up, and lay there trying to decide if it is one dog barking or two. The young dog has a short repeating bark, and she runs back and forth, from the road to the pasture while she barks. The older dog only runs when she is excited by something intruding into her area. If they are too close to the barn, the yard or maybe even the sheep, she runs too. The older dog is big, and her bark is lower in tone. I trust the big dog to know what is worth barking about, and what isn't.
So I stay in bed and wait to see if whatever has them barking....goes away. If it seems like there is too much barking excitment, I might get up and open the window to hear better....If it isn't too cold, I may walk outside and listen.
A couple of days ago it was a herd of screeching dogs running after something. My creek fencing has been battered by floods this winter. First the posts were washed out, and the fence lay on the ground in two curving stripes. The next flood moved more posts and looped the fencing into a tangle on the downstream side. This last flood must have broken the fencing....since one line wanders through the bushes and rocks....who knows where the end is....wonder how many posts have been lost? The herd of dogs came up the creek bed....a few feet from the ewes fencing and between the ewes and the rams. We had to run to the creek to make sure they didn't jump the fencing. We shot a few times in the general direction of the hills. The dogs left, but I need to fix the fencing to avoid having a trail too close to my ewes.
During lambing season, I usually wake up in the middle of the night and catch my breath as I fly out of bed to seee if they had a lamb in the barn. It doesn't take my body to get accustomed to jumping out of bed every couple of hours to go check the barn. Then I wake up without barking dogs....and quietly walk around sleeping cats, dogs, and sheep to peer into the dimly lit barn. All shepherds know the signs of a restless ewe digging into the bedding. Turning and sniffing the bedding as the ewe rises. Usually I am checking in the night for a week or more before the first lamb arrives.
Not this year. It is almost March, I know I had a ewe bred the 13th of October, and I know she wasn't the first ewe bred. For some dumb reason, I can't seem to pin down the first day a ram was in the pens. I know there were three breeding groups by the 17th of October.....so at least a dozen ewes could be exposed, and some before the 14th. Windchime, who I mentioned being bred in a blog was bred on the 13th....she would be due around the first week of March. But, perhaps there were ewes exposed before Windchime...and I'll bet that was the case. That means I could have lambs born around the first week of March....or even before that??????
I, theoretically, should be checking the barn for lambs. Why is it different this year?????
I can't get there from here.
We are again iced in, waiting for the temps to get above freezing. Waiting for a plow...or warmer temps to melt the ice. I had to lean on a shovel for every step between the house and the barn yesterday. We went out twice. Once in the morning for feeding, and once before dark. Ordinary years, I would be walking around the pastures, watching sheep, and watching bags on the ewes. trying to predict who would lamb next. Well, can't do that this year. Can't shear. Too cold....too icy....too soon.
Dang. This is no fun.
I'll slide down to the barn in the next hour. Leaning on my improvised ice-pick. Trying not to break something valuable on my body.
Anyone seen spring?
Are the ice storms done yet?
I wonder.....

skating on thin ice

2008-02-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

I remember skating during the winter of my 7th grade. We put on ice skates in the warming house....took off their rubber guards, and lurched across the rink in graceful sweeps.

Walking on ice is not the same. Especially when the ice rink tilts crazily down hill.

You may remember that I am not particularly fond of winter, period.

Well, I don't like it any better today...even tho the sun melted the satelite dish, and I can now get more than three channels.

I found some scant makings for a pizza, and a box of Christmas cherries in the back of the frig....that was not ever cleaned. Ha! Now, if I didn't have a giant fear of running out of diet coke, I would be fine. The mail man got here today. That is the first vehicle to go by since monday morning. At least there are no major trees blocking our escape.

If we get some warmth tomorrow, maybe the ice on the road will soften. I hope so.

The sheep are still barely wandering out of the barn. Their hoofs don't go into the ice...so they perch with feet close-together, trying to reach some melting sleet to drink.

I let a few cats out, but they keep coming back to scratch on the screen and come in.

In the city, if there was ice on the sidewalks, we walked in the snow, or folks put salt on them. We could walk a few blocks to 7-11, or some such place. Not out here.

Oh well, I have electricity, I can make more tea....I'll live.

Maybe.

still winter

2008-02-12T12:11:00.001-08:00

For those of us trying to escape the long winter....we didn't.

If I see another of these storms coming....I may get in the car and drive south.

Actually I had about 10 minutes warning. Then we had to jump in the truck and drive to the feed store. Why do all winter storms come just after shepherds have run out of feed and hay?

So, we drove the five miles to the feed store in driving sleet, actually it took 15 minutes to get the ice off the windows....but on our county road there were no other cars anyway. We waited our turn with the other 15 people who were also out of feed, and loaded up....driving about 30 miles an hour on the way home. What fun unloading all the hay and feed in the sleet and rain....whee!!!! That stuff hurts.

Whatever makes me think this is a good thing to do? This is dumb, dumb, dumb. The really fortunate thing is that the electricity has come back on. Thank you for TV, Computers, Microwaves, and Water. hurray! Water!!!!

My brain must not work at all any more. We finished feeding the sheep, and came back in....but didn't run extra water. Dumb, dumb, dumb! We had rain, hail, sleet, snow the size of snowballs and then rain. Rain is bad in the freezing temperatures.

How bad is it?

Well, in order to walk down hill to the barn this morning....we had to pound holes for our feet to fit into in the layer under the ice. One-half inch of ice does not give under your feet. So we took turns prying ice off the three inches of sleet on the ground. We spent hours, it seemed, walking our inside dog over the ice.

How bad is it?

The inside dog won't go outside. I found she had done her thing outside the kitty-litter box. Unfortunately, I didn't see her pile when I cleaned the kitty-litter box. Oh well, my shoe will clean up eventually.

When you are sitting around in the dark trying to keep the wood fire burning....you come up with all kinds of thoughts. We put the ice chunks from our holes in the ice....into a pan on top of the wood stove. Then we had water for the inside dog and the cats.

We wondered why we don't keep chicken grit anymore for throwing on the ice?

The bird food, I threw out the door, slid across the ice like a puck in a hockey game.

We wondered if anyone will come down our road to scrape the ice off?

Believe me, it won't be melting any time soon.

We wondered why we didn't have a cupboard full of food for such emergencies?

I took the opportunity, of the electricity working, to bake bread and cook some oatmeal.

Dumb try to make oatmeal on top of the wood stove just evaporated the milk.

As I was picking myself up from the ground, I wondered how long I could take chances with the physical work of raising sheep before I get hurt.

This ice storm may convince me, I need to slow down.

I'm trying to stay calm. Electricity helps....it helps a lot.

How many days will we be iced-in?

I don't know.

How bad is it out there?

wait, wait, wait

2008-02-09T07:52:00.000-08:00

Are you tired of waiting?
Do you secretly walk into the barn hoping to find a new lamb?
We all know it's not time yet....but do you grab under your ewes to see how long it will be?
I really don't know what you are doing reading this silly blog.
I don't seem to have any brilliant plans to improve my sheep, their fleece, or my bottom dollar.
I'm not full of great pie-in-the-sky advise about how your can make improvements to your sheep either.
I don't even have photos right now.... My camera is full of them....but they just haven't hopped onto my computer yet.
Oh well, I'm boring and bored.
Some of my blog links are absent too....Some of them have lovely photos....but not of lambs....and so I'm not excited about those blogs either.
I did have a good friend suggest the type of shears to buy, and offer to come show me how to cut that old dirty fleece off my ewes....and eventually my rams. Thanks for friends!
I find I am looking forward to doing just a ewe or two on a day or two.
The thought of having a big shearing with all the physical catching and pulling and pushing of sheep and fleeces....and meals....and all that comes of having every sheep sheared in a week when they all have to be kept dry and safe.....Those thoughts now cause me anxiety....I'm looking forward to NOT having a big shearing day...or two as my sheep numbers are so high.
Wheee! I'll be free of waiting for the shearer to fit me in....I'm free of paying a shearer who won't trim hooves if they need it....who won't worm the sheep as he goes. Who won't come back for months if some sheep is sick or wet. I can pay for more hay instead of buying gas for a shearer who lives hours from my barn.
Sometimes things work out the way they are supposed to.
Even if they work out kind of funny in our minds.
We need to adapt....to do the best we can for the person we are.....the place we live in....and the times of the days.
Five months of gestation....exposure sometime in September?
September, October, November, December, January, February.....If a ewe was bred on the first day of September....she would have already had a lamb. If she was bred on the 15th day of September....She would have already had a lamb.....So assuming some ewe bred when exposed in September is going to have lambs in February....I maybe should go out to the barn again.....
Wow....I hope it warms up soon!

calm before the storm

2008-01-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

Happy monday.
All is quiet here....flurry of activity is winding down.....progress is bing made but slowly.
No sign of fluffy wool instead of a ram in the back pasture. It is cloudy with a little drizzel once in a while. Warmer tho. We ran out of our own clover hay this week, so have started feeding the only hay available in an hours drive...Alfalfa. Yup.....that crumbly mix of stems and leaf bits that covers the sheep as her neighbor happily chews her mouthful.
With that thought in mind....I am wondering if I can afford to have my sheep sheared this year.
Shearing costs nearly doubled here last spring because of gas costs mainly. So I have been wondering what I could do myself.
To that end, I would love to hear from anyone who has clipped away the wool from their own sheep....I'm not expecting many fleeces to be usable. so what did you use? How many times did you cut the sheep? How long does it take? Would you do it again?
Peeps trying to cut costs, and feed the sheep.

Full Moon

2008-01-22T17:51:00.000-08:00

Guess it is a full moon week. We were doing pretty well with the ram downsize. We felt that we were making progress....even if it was slow. Do you ever see it coming? The full moon seems to have thrown me a curve. It has been a busy couple of weeks.
We were taking turns doing chores this afternoon. That meant it was dusk when my husband came back. He was feeding at the ram pen across the creek. "How many rams are supposed to be over there now?" I counted them on my fingers....by name. Three old guys, three yearlings, and four ram lambs. "Which one is missing?"
It didn't take us long after we got a flashlight. The rams were still eating grain in their pen. Closing them in, I scanned the hill for a dead ram. I already knew it was a ram lamb that was missing. Yup....found him. Well, what was left of him. Four piles of black wool tufts. Circular piles, showing where the cat had set the carcass down and pulled the wool off. It was dark now. I wasn't able to see if there was any evidence the cat had eaten parts on the way out of the pasture. The first pile was near the middle of the pasture...the last two were at the edge of the woods. I couldn't go any further in the dark. Not even with two guns....We opened the gate to the feeding pen. I wanted the remaining rams to be able to run away. No sense in closing them in. It will likely be a week or so before our cat comes back for more food. Maybe I can get the game camera set up by them. I sure would hate to lose a pregnant ewe. I didn't get a good count on the ewes this morning either. Darn....hope they are all there tomorrow.
Full moon....figures.

goals

2008-01-21T08:08:00.000-08:00

This was a discussion I saw on the new shetland list. If you haven't been invited to that list yet...you can contact me. I don't have the time to indulge, but I would be happy to hook anyone up that does.
I'm not talking about new years goals....I'm talking about life goals.
My new years goal list has lose-weight on it again....I had one new years that didn't include that.....that was fun to not worry about my weight. he he.....I have gained over 40 pounds since I moved south. Now here is an interesting thought. Why? I am mainly a binge eater....emotional eater....sweets fancier. I shouldn't have gained weight from a move.....??? Or should I.
Well.....to all those folks trying to take off a few pounds and get healthier....let me know when you find the answer.
What are your life goals?
How are you doing at reaching them?
If you are a younger person....you may just be trying to hold onto a house or job long enough to raise your kids. Life goals would be family centered. Raising sheep, where the home is in the country is a really good way to keep the children involved in your life.
If you are a middle aged person....you may be trying to balance caring for parents along with your growing family. My parents would have enjoyed sheep raising....my dad loved to build things and play with our cats when we lived in the city. My mother loved the cats too.....but didn't want to live on a farm. Too much like her own life, I guess. If you are a care-giver for older parents, get help. You won't be able to do it all yourself. Some parents have a way of out-living their children.
If you were as old as I am today....you would be balancing life goals realized, with life goals not experienced. What have I done in my life that I did well.....did badly....didn't like...loved? For years....I said that if I was given a terminal time for my life....I would go out and join an archaeology site. The pleasure of being outside, with team members....finding some lovely rock or bone...or bit of silver.....was so exciting to me that it colored all my life goals there-after.
You have to understand the city life. Cars, busses, shops, people, jobs, wages, fancy houses, achievement. Being in the newspapers, on tv, at parties, holding parties, dancing, newyears eve parties, getting raises, promoted, being boss.
I have recreated myself several times. I'm not complaining about what I have done....but I've done it already. For the last ten years I have been living in the country instead of the city. That is a joy right there. When I was standing at country auctions, I was so jealous. The country side is so much more relaxing than the city. I'm finally there. Whooppee!
So now what? Well, I did bring some bills with me. And some sheep, cats, a goose, and now I have dogs too. I had already mentioned that my sheep were a substitute for my care-giving job. But I developed goals along the way.
What were my goals for raising sheep? First, I wanted them to have lambs. Don't laugh....my first year everything happened to keep me from that goal. Once I got them to reproduce, I wanted spots. No....really!
New shepherds may not understand now that spots were rare when I started. There were a few breeders who had occasional spots, from certain lines.....but few breeders who actually WANTED them. I wanted them, and bought as many sheep as I could find and afford, that might have spotted lambs. It's been a few years now, spotted lambs are everywhere. If you don't have any go down the street and get a few. So why am I still breeding spotted sheep?
Well, there has been a recent emphasis on patterned sheep...on A-I sheep....on crosses of those lines....even with spotted sheep. I'm not involved in those breedings. I like rams....most of them....and I don't like poking holes in my girls. I have been doing a little breeding with colors, just for my own fun. I even bred with a grey ram this year to see what that would do to my fleeces.
But,
sorry....
my life's goal is not to provide you with a show sheep.
I have no interest in building a better sheep.
What I like having are the cutest lambs in the world. I want to breed little fluffy lambs with spots that are cute, different, and permanent. I want to sell the type of lamb that is so cute you want to pick it up and hug it. I would not be happy if all my spotted sheep looked the same. For that reason I collected several different rams with different types of spotting. I figure I did fine. I do have cute lambs. I've even sold lovely lambs who were friendly.
I want one more big bunch of spotted lambs. Lambs who race by in a blurr of spotted colors as they round the fence in their lamb races. I think that will make me happy. Then I want to find homes for them all. If the lambs born this year all lived out their life at my place....it would take me until 2020 to find time for some of my other life goals.
No, I don't want to wait that long.
I kept three spotted ewe lambs that were black and white last year, and one that was grey. Of the other three ewe lambs who are now yearlings...only one is registered. I would like to breed those four spotted ewe lambs next fall, and see what they produce. The three are Minwawe Pan's last girls. So it appears that my life goals of breeding sheep are winding down. I have a few friends, and cousins in this world that I would enjoy visiting. It would be fun to go away from home WITH my husband, instead of separately. We could call our kids and say..."WE are coming to visit" instead of just one of us.
I NEED time to walk on the beach. That has become my new life goal.
What a funny goal for a midwest girl raised near a lake. Our family didn't take many vacations when I was a kid. We went fishing often. I remember one winter when my dad and my brother made a wood fishing boat in the basement. It had four seats, and as smallest, I got to sit on the little one in the front. My dad was really good at fishing. He had a little phrase, when he got there. "Let me show you how to do that." He used that a lot as he showed me how to fish. I remember riding in his work truck out on the lake in the dark of winter. Windows open, hands on the door....ready to jump out if it went thru the ice. The ice that cracked and goaned in the cold darkness. One year we had a warm spell that threatened his ice-fishing house. Dad and I doned ice-skates and sloshed thru the water every afternoon to move the house out of the water and let it dry as the ice refroze. We skated fast along the shore as big chunks of ice cracked under our weight and tilted on the surface.
By the way....they had to break a hole in the basement wall to get that boat out in the spring.
I wonder if lack of planning has anything to do with the way I have lived my life? Who cares.
It's been good.
So what I have to say this January as we wait for those wet bouncing lambs....is take out your life's goals. Unpack them, and see how you are doing. Maybe a little planning will get your boat out of the basement.

cooooollllld!

2008-01-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

Goodness, fellow shepherds.....I am sooo sorry you have all that cold. Fortunately, usually the sheep do just fine. But I hate drawing water and having it freeze over before it gets to the sheep....don't you?
From the looks of our forcast you are going to stay cold all week. Ish!
That means we have lots of days that may not get above freezing here. Bother.....ice cubes in the buckets. Frost on the dogs, and the sheep.
Snow.....snow! Argh!
Glad we have some freshly ground meat for the dogs. Our younger pyr doesn't know how to curl up in the hay on the barn floor. The older pyr does. We have to give them enough calories to keep them going this week. So many times....I will get up in the night, and go out to listen. What are those dogs barking about????
If our little dog in the house hears a noise.....especially a car....she barks and the other two dogs start to bark too. I have found the dogs barking at airforce jets, trucks miles away on the highway.....crows. The crows here are as big as chickens. And sometimes the dogs hear coyotes or dogs. We have only heard a cat once down here, but have lost more sheep to big cats than to other predators. If there are coyotes near-by feasting, we go out and shoot the treetops. It seems to move them away. I get up because I don't want coyotes or dogs to think my prys are their only problem.
I was glad to hear that I wasn't the only shepherd who didn't get all their wool skirted, washed, and sold. I had to work on fleeces this year because I needed the room in the barn for our hay. Unfortunately some fleeces got rained on before I got them clean and in boxes....I would have burned all the fleeces...except some of them were hauled from wisconsin to missouri. Now that I had them here....I sure didn't have the nerve to waste them all.
Maybe some year we will figure out what to do with all that wool.
Think warm thoughts...wear extra clothes....and keep your mittens on!
Almost February.

Is it over yet?

2008-01-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

I know I shouldn't wish my life away....but I'm not enjoying January. Wow, do you think it will be warmer in February? I know there are lots of you up north of me who are below zero....But....that is a relative experience. Relative to what kind of cold you are used to. People here in the almost south ask me why I moved here. I answer....the cold. Not the cold like we have in Missouri....but the bone chilling unrelenting cold of Minnesota, and Wisconsin. 26 below this morning in northern Minnesota. That's throw-the-water-up-in-the-air time. I always add descriptions of water vaporizing in that kind of cold. People here stare and consider that possibility.
Now I will admit...I got my husband up this morning to light a fire in the wood stove. Even in the middle of the living room it was too cold to sit and watch the political pretend news. Consider that these homes were built before insulation. The windows don't always have storm windows. This year, I was going to add window plastic....like we used in the north. First problem....it isn't at the end of every aisle in these stores. Wouldn't you know....I have a hair dryer now.....bought to dry the puppys after a bath. Great pyr puppies look like fuzzy santa-bears when they are young. But it is January and I haven't seen any 3-m window kits yet. Oh well, soon we will have to put an air conditioner in the window anyway.
I am lost in thought about shearing. My sheep start the rise earlier here. By March, they are sticky and matted. We have discussed the possibility of shearing in February. But it's pretty cold right now. What will February be like? I know when I shear, I will have to close one or both west doors on our little barn. The winds has been whipping thru for weeks. Hard to even feed hay without freezing from the cold wind funneling thru the barn. The doors have been propped open to keep them from more breakage in the gales. We have had a few storms thru this year.
What are you going to do about shearing? There are lots of folks who make it a party. Food and crafts....selling fleeces as they come off. I have always had food. But I can't imagine talking to guests during the long hours of catching sheep and bagging fleeces. I used to have index cards with the names of the sheep to drop in the bag. Unfortunately, if I have to catch each sheep to hand them to the shearer....I am not the one who bags the fleece. I'm the only person who can tell the names of the sheep. It is really easier to find a certain color if the fleeces have the names of the sheep with them. Oh well, I have never had the time or money to add value to these sheep by selling wool. You have got to be kidding....skirt all of these 90+ fleeces.....how many years would that take me? Besides, my sheep were dirty in wisconsin. We had trees, and thistle, and burdoc....I fed alfalfa hay when I could find it. Yup dirty sheep.
Now my sheep are half fenced into the woods. I don't mind ordinary woods....but cedar trees hurt when the sheep stand under them in the rain. They are as bad as thistle...but cover the backs of the sheep more evenly. We have small "stick-tights" instead of burdoc.....I can pick them off the dogs....but not the wooly sheep. The biggest problem is in the sheep doing the job of clearing the land. It had been a long time since there was grazing on my land. The rose bushes pushed out into the grasses. There isn't a day that goes by, that I don't have several sheep wandering in with rose bushes caught in their wool. Sometimes the branch is trailing behind and I can step on it to remove it. Sometimes I have to judge the moment to pull and not lose my hand from the thorns. If you can shear your sheep....go to it! I've never been too excited about doing it myself. If you can skirt the fleece...wash or spin it...or even afford to send it out....Congratulations! Go for it. Get some added value! I told someone sheepy that I had spent several days in 90 degrees skirting fleeces. I did! I took out any really veggy places....ripped out backs...skirted legs....lost necks.... packed the wool in open plasitc bags and stuffed it into large plastic storage boxes. Then I stacked the boxes in the back yard. They winced at that fact...."you mean you left the wool outside in the rain?" Yup.....oh well. The boxes haven't blown away yet. Going on 9 here. Time to go feed the girls and let them out in the hay ground. They have pretty much eaten everything out there..... so it is no langer a hay field...it's pretty much a hay ground. At least they get lots of exercise.
Almost February.

Watching hay

2008-01-16T05:21:00.000-08:00

Are we half done yet?
Do I have enough hay to get thru the month?
Can I afford enough hay to get thru next month?
Should I worm them now?
What about CDT shots?
Wow, there are so many questions we have to answer before we can claim shepherd status.
This is usually a down time in sheep-life.
This year we have the newest thing in talk groups. I am definitely too old for this stuff.
Not only can I think of ten things more important than spouting my opinion, but I can't even figure out how to do it. Honest!
I spent minutes there today, trying to find the last comments in a "group". I didn't.
Oh well....better to do the dishes. Besides, in this "close-knit" group of shetland shepherds, there are never any disagreements that can make me chuckle. It might raise my eyebrow to see who is who's friend.
Really? I didn't know.
Shepherds are a singular folk. We have to be. It's hard enough to find a vet when we need one. We sure can't tell some other breeder we don't agree with their color concepts, or marking choices. I came really close to being "friends" with the older group of breeders. You know, the ones who didn't mark down anything involving "white spots". Horrors! Broken fleeces were spoken about in whispers....not posted on any board that would accept the breeders bragging rights. "that spot will go away when you breed her" Now discussions include eye spots that are too big...too small....too connected....too much the same color of the sheep. OK....which end is 50% black???? Should I use yuglet or not? If the white isn't perfectly fitting into the most recent marking discussion....maybe I should cull. Produces poor spots....doesn't come up for cookies....won't walk on a halter. Got dirty eating hay. I just don't get into this new stuff.
A sheep is a sheep is a sheep.
What in the world is wrong with that?
Pretty soon they will be building sheep to show by cloning. Whoops, they already do that....buy a straw...get the perfect sheep.
I'm too old for this stuff. I don't appreciate the beauty of percentages. I appreciate the beauty of sheep. If I should decide that a sheep has several bad points...and I should "cull" them....you sure aren't going to hear about it. I may want to sell that sheep to you. Then I'll put out a list showing all that sheep's good points...and likely add that I HATE selling this sheep, but I've run out of room. Here's a clue.....if a breeder has really run out of room, and loves all their sheep.....they move or stop breeding. Well, there is the alternative. We get older and change our priorities too. Do you know how amazing it is to have a breeder with the flock number 1.....10.....200? Imaging having sheep for ten years in a row.....20? Wow. Those folks are settled!
They really must love sheep.
I have, since I started buying sheep and breeding the rams to the ewes....saved certain lines of sheep for myself. Sometimes, it was the best marked sheep. I almost lost a very good friend because I wouldn't sell my first yuglet bielset sokket ram to her. I kept him...he was mine! I kept him pretty well until last January when I lost him to a couple of rams who should have been pulled out of his pen. Maybe I should have sold him....too late. I'm still learning some of the in's and outs of sheep. This year, I pulled. There were times when I refused to sell lambs at all....yes, I lost clients then too. But, I always found someone to sell them sheep. In the last couple of years, I have tried to part with some of those special lines...those special sheep. I have actually sold them. Some of them have been sold again....I regret having my little sheep moved all over the country. In some cases, I think they are well placed....and likely happy. Maybe happier than they would be in my flock. Better fed. I know many ewes depend on their daughters and dams to help out at lambing time, and I see sisters eating together when their daughters are sold....I regret selling some of those sheep. I, like some of the other breeders (who I chide for doing the same thing) I may have to buy back those sheep if they go up for sale.
Then there are those breeders and new clients who buy sheep from me....that are for sure better than I am. I am so happy to hear from them, they send photos, brag about their friendly sheep....and treasure the fuzzy little ones....just like I do. But better.
Yes, I think of my sheep like they were personalities. You shouldn't do that. Don't!
My shepherding came at a time when I needed to replace the care-giving roll I had played for over a dozen years. The sheep took on replacement rolls. They replaced my job with a different one. They helped me survive. For that reason, they matter to me. Their faults, real or imagined, are not important. They are a parallel life form that I have the honor to walk with every morning. What an honor to have sheep who will follow me, trusting my judgement about where they are safe. Some sheep like me....some, like the people they substiture for...don't.
I'm willing to put up with them. Just the way they are.
Now, I have to go feed out some more hay.
Wonder if I should buy hay today?

Spring

2008-01-13T07:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, the witch-hazel is blooming. The rams are fighting....it must be spring.
Does anyone else have this happen? Breeding has been over for maybe a month. The ram pen is away from the ewes. No one can touch noses....rub fences....or be seen wagging tails. Why in the world do the rams suddenly decide to fight?
I looked at January's blog from last year....and quickly turned it off again. Yes, it still hurts to know my head ram was killed in an afternoon in January. If I was forced to choose just one ram...it would have been Minwawe Pan. But he is gone, and I have to deal with the rams I have now.
My husband brought the water to the ram pen....and all was quiet....it was maybe a half an hour before he brought them grain. In that half hour, three of the grown rams were in a fight.
Yes, in that half hour they were a mess. Two were head butting....one getting both of them from the side and rear. It was the scene of a playground brawl. Grain didn't stop them. Pat went to get his gun. I stood and passed judgement. It was number three, taking on number two. Hopalong, who had been put into number two position after breeding this year, was getting hurt. Getting pretty wobbly, he would not last the night. But Hopalong would not come to me at the gate. Finally I got a hold of the other main fighter....and pulled him out. Covered with the results of his fight.....he trotted past me to the ewes pasture. Surprising my husband who was ready to drop them all.
Perhaps they had gotten wind of a ewe who was not bred. There were a whole flock of ewes gathering around the loose ram at the girl's gate. A couple of the girls should have been bred, by the very ram they now coveted. Oh well....it's January....at least if he has some willing girls, he won't break out into the girls pasture. So I let my newly-multi-colored ram in with those girls. Luckily, the butcher will take him tomorrow. My husband didn't want to eliminate him. The main shepherd....that's me....decided if he was let back in, he would again go after Hopalong....and then the head ram in that pen, Cinder. I happen to like Cinder. As head- shepherd of this flock, I get to make the call. If they need to be culled...they are culled. They have to fit in my flock. Sorry, ambition is not an excuse.
After we pay for this one....the "dirty fighter" is going to go too. Bless butchers. They can remove the condemmed from our sight....and make these decisions, and results easier.
Don't think that I take these culls with no emotion. Anytime we have to drop an animal....or lead them to slaughter....we retain that picture. I know it is my decision. In another time, and another place....that creature would be safe and live out a happy life. Playing chief judge and jury is part of the whole life cycle. It is a price I pay for the joys of birth. And those joys are very powerful. Don't let the downs of raising livestock, the culling, the predator deaths, the timely or un-timely deaths inside the flock....don't let those take top place in your mind. It is the joys of seeing births and watching growing lambs that brings joys to the shepherd.
Right now, the girls are showing, I'm making judgement calls about uping rations. Timing worming...when to shear....setting up jugs. Good grief...it's that time again.
Yes, it's spring. The witch-hazel is blooming.

Oh Dear!

2008-01-08T06:13:00.000-08:00

Here I am trying to stay out of trouble. And I may be considered offensive. Whoops.
Is this new list a way to count friends? I didn't know. That's OK....I am so remote, I don't have anyone around to be friends with anyway.
For all the people I know....who think I may be on the new list and avoiding them....no....I'm over here trying to live my life the best I can.
I'm so glad there are breeders enjoying the new format.....but I have been getting enough emails to cause problems with my computer activity. In the middle of form-emails last night, I got two frantic emails from my children warning me of storms in my area.
Matter of fact...those storms are coming in again....and I'm have to sign off to keep from getting hit by lightening on-line.
Enjoy your day.
Peeps

Peeps, where are you?

2008-01-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

Yoo hoo, over here. Yes, I am remote....my internet provider seems to be more remote. There is a new place to talk about shetland sheep. It looks like lots of fun. You can join any discussion that has been started....without interrupting everyone else. I tried.....you can ask the first very nice friends who invited me as a friend to join them. Lovely to be wanted.
By the next time I went to my inbox it was full of replies to something. You realize, with dial up in the country, it can take minutes to find a new link....to read the reply.
Wow....information age, by the time I had made a reply.....my inbox was full again with replies that others had written and posted before I could even rewrite my reply.
Yes, I had to erase some of my answers. There are things about breeding shetlands that push old buttons. I'm trying to clean up my act.
Actually, I don't have time. On the computer or off, to get excited about shetland genetic theory. I don't walk around all day thinking about spots. I can't afford to spend time composing answers to questions in my head....so I can write them in the middle of the night with my two fingers on my keyboard.
I hate to tell anyone that I can think of other things more important than my sheep.
I have plenty of goals for the new year that don't include shetland sheep in them.
I worry about things other than my breeding goals or sales for the year. For example, I worry how I forgot to add bread to the "bread pudding" I baked a few days ago. After that I worry about how long it took me to realize there wasn't any bread in my "bread pudding".
Fortunately, I am not the only spot-breeder in the shetland world. I may have bred a few hundred spotted shetlands.....and I may have my theories about what they should be called, how they should be bred, and why they should be valued. There are other breeders out there who have bred more spotted beauties....and fewer spotted beauties. They have reputations as "spotted breeders". Good.
Shetland breeders don't have to be exposed to my theories. They all seem to have their own theories, opinions and, experiences.
We started a yahoo group last year to sort out some theories on what certain spots looked like. Everyone wanted to join....but no one was willing to agree. Breeders wanted to debate certain spots, and what they were called.....but only if the spots were on their own sheep.
My dream is that shetland breeders in North American can post a picture of a yuglet, a flecket or sokket, or a fronet. Somewhere. Somewhere that beginning shetland breeder can find it and compare it to their own lamb. We have the history and experience as a group to answer lots of questions about how and why spots appear and what those spots should be called. We even have experienced breeders who have tested color genetics. Why are these answers buried in talk groups? I suggested some hard and fast rules to breeding spots on this new list.....others suggested exceptions to those theories. How often do those execptions occur? Once in a lifetime?
Once a year? Every other birth? Does that mean you believe there is no genetic rule?
If you breed the same two sheep together every year, and they don't have the spots you want every year.....you have the wrong sheep together.
To my mind it is a simple problem.
I must have a simple mind.
I appreciate all the folks who have started this new list, and all the nice folks who want to join in the discussions.....and many many thanks to all the friends and clients out there who have invited me to join. When there are hard and fast decisions about yuglets and smirslets....about sokkets and fleckets....maybe some one will share them with me.
In the meantime, my special family christmas cookies didn't turn out. I would like to make some that do. I need to bake a loaf of fresh ground wheat bread, today.
I never did get the refrigerator cleaned out. The litter boxes need to be cleaned. And I need to walk my girls out the half mile to their winter pasture. You can see by the time on the clock....even writing here, takes more time than I have.
Go have some fun, join in the wonderful discussions....you won't miss me at all.

ho ho ho

2007-12-19T16:56:00.000-08:00

How are you doing?
Will you survive the rush of the holiday season?
I'm looking forward to having family for a few days. I found the dining room table today....my dining room table has always been a place to work, and in a little house it gathers things that have no place of their own to live in.
So now I have a living room....if I can get the vacuum out of the box and construct it.....A dining table, that need a new table cloth. I used the red one for two years now, and it has gathered fur balls from the cats living on it. Maybe tomorrow.
I have half a kitchen....One of my occupations in December has always been redoing the house decor. It is a habit I acquired during the 14 years we gave Christmas dinner for both sides of our family. This year I decided I hated my kitchen. After looking at new cabinets I decided it wasn't that bad.....and all it needed was a coat of paint. Oh, and a lot of organizational things so I could get everything off the counter top and into the cabinets. Last week I spent everyday dismantling all the hardware, sanding, and priming the doors and drawers and all. New hardware and a coat of paint is really helpful at bringing some change into the kitchen!
One of the surprises found in taking the doors off all the cabinets, was that the bottom cabinet which was full of pantry items was open to the dog. You bet'tcha' that same little dog that flips the trash cans over and drags stuff all over the house. Unfortunately for Boots, the small dog....what she found was an open bag of chocolate chips. Now we are always careful not to let our dogs have any chocolate, but Boots has a sweet tooth. She appeared thrilled when she carried her prize into the living room. My husband took the bag, and after examining it, decided the dog had not eaten any. She did. Fortunately for Boots, in the middle of the night she vomited neat puddles of chocolate flavored goo all over the floor. Hey, it was easier to clean up than that primer she stepped in and tracked. I found enough information on-line to learn she wasn't going to die from her snack, and substituted burnt toast for the activated charcoal. Boots was however, bouncing off the walls and the furniture until the required 17 hour half-life of chocolate ended, and she crashed. Moral....keep all chocolate high in the cabinets.
I have only painted one side of the kitchen....I still have to find the counter on the other side. You know the problem with cleaning, is all the stuff that didn't fit on the newly painted side.....now sits on the unpainted side. Argh! And I still have to clean the refrigerator.
We got thru the winter storm OK. Six inches of rain, less than 1/2 inch of ice and a couple of inches of snow. You should have seen the ewes after walking out to their grazing pasture. They tried digging in the snow to see if there was still food. Poor girls.
It's been in the mid 50's the last couple of days. Everything melted, even most of the pond. Which is nice because the cats always find a way to fall in it. I found a dandelion in the grass today. I know it's December....because I have to clean the refirgerator.
Did I mention I hate to clean refrigerators? Thank goodness we only have one.
If I don't get back because I am cleaning the frig, merry Christmas. I hope your ewes are all fat and happy, and all your rams, gentlemen. I wish you good cheer with family and friends, and great traveling weather!
May 2008 be the scene of the cutest little lambs in every barn, and good clients who HAVE to have them.
If you adopted some of my sheep this year, thank you! I hope they surprise you with a wonderful lamb that turns out to be just what you always wanted.

busy, busy, busy

2007-12-18T05:35:00.000-08:00

Will there ever be a day....
When we think of a great meal and have time to cook it? See a mess in the refrigerator and have time to clean it?
Make a cocktail, and sit down to drink it?
Hear of a place we want to visit, and get there in a month...a year...a lifetime?
Take a walk in the woods, for no reason?
Lay in the grass and watch the clouds?
Start a new book before it's time to turn out the light?
Sit across the table from someone we love and have time to look in their eyes?
Bake something hot and wonderful for a child or an elder....just to see them smile?
Hold a newborn sleeping on our lap without feeling guilty?
Have time to actually write Christmas cards AND address them?
Crawl under the tree just to watch the lights?
Put a tree up?
Have fresh flowers?
Look around the house and not think of something to change?
Walk in the pasture without needing new fencing?
Remember simple pleasures forgotten from our childhood.....and still enjoy them?
OK....what did I forget?

what comes next?

2007-12-02T14:58:00.000-08:00

Are you breeding ewes this year? I sure am. I'm even breeding ewes I don't plan to breed. Do your ewes boss you around? Mine do. Those old girls by the end of the day seem to make more sense than I do.
"What do you mean I'm not having lambs this year????I always have lambs for you. Baaaa. What else am I good for? Besides.....I'm ready! Can't you see that? BAAAAA! I know I'm ready and that ram isn't doing anything right now anyway." So I try to remember why I wasn't going to breed my ewe....and sometimes I can't think of a good reason.
What are good reasons not to breed a ewe:
1....she is too thin, condition poor, rooing her wool from a past problem.
2.....she has had mastitis and doesn't have milk on one or both sides.
3.....she is a pain in the butt when taking care of lambs. Too loud....loses lambs in the pasture or the barn....jumps the fence without lambs.....butts everyone within 10 feet of her lambs.....too wild, can't catch her or her lambs.
4.....notice I didn't say too old....but sometimes those old girls don't have enough milk to feed a set of twins...be prepared to help out if you let that old-lady in.
5.....you have a wedding or big doings coming up in the spring next year. Get rid of your rams then, farm them out for a few months....it will make your life easier.
6.....you didn't sell enough lambs last year.
This last reason has more to do with you than your sheep. Sheep don't attract buyers by themselves....the shepherd has to be convinced that those new lambs are the best, the cutest, and the rarest lambs in north America. If you are not convinced of that fact, you need to go visit some other breeders and compare their sheep to yours.
In most cases I'll wager you can't find much of a difference between your sheep and those high-priced sheep in the next state, county, town. The difference in in your mind. You lack the confidence in your own judgement, and product.
Study the successful marketeers out there in sheep world. What do they do that you don't try? Web pages, blogs, sales pages, monthly sales notices, business cards? What kinds of words do they use to describe their sheep? Biggest, best, perfect, show winners, adorable, photographic, halter-trained, rare? You can try some of those words too. No one is conplaining about the veracity....use those "perfect" words.....Your lambs should be perfect to you. If you find fault with everything you raise, how is anyone else going to decide to take them home?
What comes next after you expose your ewes?
Marketing.
Start now, if you don't have a business plan, use a couple of months of gestation to develop one.
Your lambs deserve a better home than the one you can provide. Let them go now.....before they are on the ground in all their adorable bouncing glory. Plan to really try to market all but a handful. Those lambs are going to be your best! Give them and yourself credit.
They are not only the cutest friendliest lambs you have ever had....they are also healthy, and well trained, and proudly displayed in photographs for all those prospective shepherds to fall in love with. You just know I would love to buy one too. There can't be a lamb born that I couldn't love for some reason. Get ready to tell me and everyone else why we can't live without your very own new spring lambs.
I'll swear that some of my girls are getting extra wide.....good grief....it isn't even Christmas yet.

yes, they can....

2007-11-26T04:57:00.000-08:00

If your question is.... Can my sheep actually breed thru the fence? My answer is yes, they can.
Somehow, they also manage to do this deed while the shepherd has a house full of city relatives....and a new client on the phone.
"Look! That ram must be out....he is mounting that ewe.....Oh No! Is that the "old lady?" He's getting that old-lady, Mom, we're going out to catch him." When I did get off the phone, which audible content would confuse even an experienced shepherd.....I found my family standing around in wonder. Only an 8 year old ewe could back up to a young ram's fencing in such a way that he could get not only his front legs thru the fence and onto the ewe....but also the other inportant equipment.
Well, I wasn't going to breed Kitty, one of my first three ewes, and already eight going on nine. However, Kitty decided that since I was free to sell off her only remaining daughter this week....Kitty could breed again. I hope she gets a daughter. We let her inside the ram's pen, and returned to our Thanksgiving activities. Those activities mostly involved eating. Mixed with a little dowsing and digging in the dirt. At least it wasn't the "old-lady, Dawn, she is 13 going on 14....and her friend, Maeve, a spry 11 going on 12 was cycling this week. I had to go outside in the dark and drag Maeve bodily away from the ram pen and into the "safe" night pasture.
Yup, time to put the rams away for the season.....before any more spry "old-ladies" get the idea.

Oh Crap!

2007-10-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Not again.
Do you have days that start like this?
Why do I do it?
I don't know.
It beats what I was doing before.
Well, you all remember the little yearling ram who started out his breeding pen by breaking off the 6 inch post and getting a new bunch of girls.
Yesterday, he decided he was bored. We have all seen the signs that the breeding charm is worn off. No one seems ready, the rest are done. What will your ram do with himself in the meantime? It seems that mine decided to butt everything in sight. Unfortunately, that included girls trying to reach the hay in front of his nose, and the poor trees inside his pen. After a few hours of thump, thump, thump, this shepherd decided she didn't like mr ram any more. I took him out and made a note of when I could safley expose his girls again. Since it was raining.....hurray!....I put him in a new pen I had constructed for my show ram. This time of year shetland rams like to play king of the pasture....which has on several occasions caused unnecessary bleeding and horn problems. Thus, I constructed a safe place for my yearling ram to stay until Naile. Well, mr-I-like-to-butt neatly de-constructed that same pen over night. I awoke to no ram in pen, and an open gate into the ewe pasture. There were several other signs of over-night ram-play. Punched out fence sides. Broken off panel fasteners. Pink ram's heads. And I went over to see if I could find any rumpled butts in the barn.
It's been raining, but I found my wayward ram inside the barn with a couple of interested ewes....and I removed him to the far side of the creek. There he can fend off other bored boys, and run away from mrs cat. Haaa! Serves him right!
Dang rams. Scratch mr-yuglet-sokket-in-black off next years breeding pens. I don't like him anymore. Five months from today, I had better not find my non-breeding girls scratching holes in the barn straw....or mrs shepherd will finish what mrs cat has left.
I sure do miss my head ram.
Hope all your ewes are frisky, and all your rams, gentlemen.

What is today?

2007-10-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

It's about three days after Windchime was bred....I should write that on the calendar. Unfortunately, I often write the possible breeding dates on my calendars only to throw them away before I need that information.
Are you breeding sheep yet?
Why?
Why not?
In the north country, I used to put my rams in with my girls in November. Down here, in perpetual fall country, it seems the girls are ready sooner. It must have more to do with the level of the sun---not the temperatures. Although, I did notice the first morning under 60 the girls were frisky. It's not even November, and I'll bet a third of the penned girls have ruffled backsides. Sometimes, I notice. Sometimes I don't.
We have almost worked our way thru the 50 bales of alfalfa hay. We bought it so the girls would have more inclination to breed. Our own hay is mostly red clover. They like it....but it contains estrogen....so can mess with sheep breeding. I ran out for a few days and threw them clover anyway....Only two of my pens have grazing....I have to feed them something!
What has changed in your life? In mine, I have sold and moved over a dozen sheep. Wow....I really can sell some of my sheep. It is amazing how the fields can look so full of sheep after that.
I have finally thrown our great pyr puppy outside....and the older one too. It isn't 105 degrees anymore, and they can survive just fine outside.
The energy for the move was the day all the dogs were sleeping inside, and I heard dogs barking ourside. OK, I ran out without a dog...or a gun....and as it turned out I should have brought a collar or rope with me. I had two mongrel looking hound type dogs IN my ram pen. My big horned, four-times-larger rams were running in a group around the fence. Keeping away from the barking dogs was their intent. I coaxed one of the pups to the gate and man-handled him to the road gates. After I threw him/her outside I returned to get the other one....only to find the first climbing under the fencing to get back in. Bother!
Why don't people keep collars on their dogs? After I finally grappled them out in the road....I found a leash wound into my fencing. One of my son's quick fixes for a falling board. I made a choke chain with one end for one pup....and a choke chain for the other pup....then dragged them both into carriers already in the back of my pickup. Fortunately, the dogs didn't bite me. Didn't look like they had bit the sheep either. I drove them a couple of miles down the road and let them out with a bag of chips. Well, no it didn't solve my problem....but it was better than shooting them.
Yes, I worked on the bad fence....and threw my dogs outside too. At least they can bark to let me know my sheep have company. I have three more breeding groups to put together. I started a pen yesterday...but there is the possibility of storms later today....I'll wait 'til tomorrow to put some sheep together.
I'm down to three ewes lambs for sale, and I have three keepers in the pasture. I also have three that will go to Naile with me. Did I tell you about my fruitcake? Everyone has had their share of wild sheep. I have had this yearling in a pen and taken her out on a halter for two weeks now....she is still a fruitcake! I had the winning yearling registered, she was perfect! Then, accidentally I looked at her teeth. Her bite just didn't look perfect....everything else did!.. I figured the judge would notice. So now I have miss fruitcake to take with me. She walks fine on a halter if I am not looking at her....but let me move my hand and she is on the ground with her eyes bugging. Silly sheep!
What am I changing????? Well, I am doing the dishes. I'm picking out a color for the livingroom walls. I have plans to go north and visit before the snow flies. I have gone to look at houses. Did I tell you I collect houses? I'm down to two and an office building....I NEED another house. I already have a "hole in my head". Between breeding and lambing is the perfect time to work on a fixer-house. Nothing like a shopping trip to Lowes to cheer up a gloomy winter day! What do you do for fun? When did you do it last?
Yesterday? Last week? Months ago? Better have some fun today....those tomorrows have a way of going fast. Read a book, bake a pie, make a potroast!
I know what I need.....popcorn balls!
Yummy.

change is in the wind

2007-10-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

Have you ever gotten up an wondered what is coming next? We all know fall and winter are around the corner. Just after this 80 degree weather is done. There is a cold front trying to inch across Missouri. Hopefully it will have a little rain with it....if it gets this far.
I'm sorry I have been gone so long. It looks like a lot of other people have been gone too. I see the mssba group had another fall get-together. How nice it is to share stories and plans with sheep folks!
I went to see what everyone was writing about today. Couldn't find much....I suppose you couldn't either. Some of my links wouldn't open. Maybe someone was writing? My thought for today.
What do you need to change?
Is you life ideal today? What would give you some joy tomorrow? We really need to stop living life in the tomorrows and definitely not in the yesterdays....and get some todays in today!
You know, when we live on farms with livestock, we are contunually putting things away for tomorrow. We store wool, we store hay....we freeze food, We put away clothes....we store old stuff. My dear friend just had a flood. Not the outside kind, this was inside....and only happened in her house...not in her neighborhood. This is the kind of event that sets us back...it changes how we look at life...at things. Especially things. How many things do we all save that are not good for anything.....except to remind us of the past? I don't know about you folks....but I have lots. Perhaps these extra things make a new place feel like home to us. We have a box full of memories.....so we must be home. This is a good coping skill for our mobile society. I have lots of boxes....lots. Not as many as at my other home....but more than I should be keeping.
So what do you need to change today? Do you have so many old memories that you can't live today? Fall is a good time to take stock of where we are...look back at the year we have been living...and spend some wintertime planning our next forray into whatever life has for us.
One of the things I have been storing away is sheep. Surprise! I keep sheep. Lots. They don't fit in boxes.
Aside from all my little pet sheep, I have three dogs. Two are mentally and emotionally unfit. Likely because they live with me. I have Molly the goose. Why? You ask? Because! I have presently 9 cats....yes, they are all fixed. Some like to go outside....some would rather stay inside. Lucky actually would rather go outside at night...but, because she was a city cat and doesn't have front claws....she really shouldn't go outside in the wilderness at night. As I remember they removed front claws so the cats wouldn't claw holes in our furniture. Which should mean that all puppies should be de-toothed. This last one has chewed holes and parts off most of my household objects. Which brings me back to losing household objects.
What if, like Katrina....all our possessions were lost? We would have to grieve....because whatever furniture and other posessions we have around us....they reflect something of us. So....are we actually less because we have parted with something...or someone? No. I don't think so. I have been selling some of my older "packed away" pet sheep. It seems a hard thing to do. I can't tell you how many I have offered to sell...and then tucked inside the barn again. I suppose because when we raise or purchase a sheep. We are creating dreams of what ever little lambs might come about because of that sheep. So as I sell some of my pet sheep. I am giving up the dreams for myself and passing them on to the person buying my sheep. Now that sheep is part of their dreams. So if I give up...say, that little yellow plastic cowboy hat that I kept, because it was part of my youth, and part of my grandparents home....do I give up the memory? No, I think I could remember my youth and grandparents without it. Am I going to? Not today....maybe some day.
We took a trip. Really! We were going to visit our son, but found we didn't have time or the help to be gone long. So.....
We went to the beach. I like the beach. It is so very different from the life we live. I might get tired of it....I don't know. We had two days driving time to get there....one night on the beach and two days driving time to get back. Just the right amount of time. Kind of.
We really need to thank our oldest son for spending a week of vacation time from his job...to take care of our sheep, dogs, cats, goose....and neighbor. Children do take care of their parents.
So I have a little shock at being back. A little shock at what plans I need to make...at what possessions I need to keep....or not. At how much time I need to spend being a shepherd....a wife...a mother...a friend. I thought since at least one of my friends is changing right now. Some of the rest of you might be too. And....I want to encourage you to do just that. Change. Live. Enjoy. Love.
On that note....I am going north in the next two weeks to visit my brother and my children. So if there is anyone you know who could use a couple of nice shetlands. I am bringing the truck, and could tuck a couple in for you or some beginning shepherd who has a dream.
Dreams.....they are the beginning, if we only act on them.

good buys

2007-09-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, isn't it interesting how life pushes you in one direction or another?
Now when I started blogging this morning, I was thinking about my friend Stephen, who had saved a few sheep for someone who backed out of the deal. I had that happen this year too....but I only got stuck with three lambs I had planned to sell. Stephen needs to sell five, now.
My other thought was about my friend, Karen, who is trying to recover from a badly broken arm....and needs to sell off some sheep because frankly...who can handle sheep with one arm in a sling? You can find Stephen's newly released sheep for sale on his blog or web page. He posted a cool list on shetland sheep for sale, too. Because Karen may not be as widely known....I'll post her links. She has some beautiful sheep with great conformation and unusual colors. Maybe if you are really lucky she will sell a spottie too. http://karensshetlands.blogspot.com/ and her web page http://www/.twinbrookfarms.net
Both breeders have fantastic sheep , and prices, and good genetics.
Now, since this morning, I have also decided not to be a sheep hoarder anymore. If you know me, you know I have always had sheep that were mine! They were not for sale to anyone...at any price. I NEEDED them. I kept certain lines of sheep...I kept certain spotted sheep....I always have had my own "special stock" of shetlands. I can tell you the good traits of these sheep and the bad ones....oh yes! My sheep have faults....They are just like most people.
Have you ever laughed about some breeders always selling the best sheep with all the best traits? I'm not into blatant bragging. I love my sheep. They may not be perfect....but I love them anyway. If you are looking for some nice spotted genetics and some nice fleeces....you might like my sheep too. All my ewes are presently for sale....lambs, yearlings...two, three, four and five year olds. Anyone over five deserves a permanant home...so I am keeping them....I am also not selling anyone who can't breed easily. I'm keeping the culls....go figure. I'm keeping everyone who doesn't sell....they may be hungry this winter, but they have a home, and a shepherd who loves them.
I will make up prices based on quantity. If I own them, and they are under five....they are for sale. I'm not going out of business....I will be exposing some of these ewes....and I will sell them exposed....but it's been a rough summer. My sheep are hungry. I have let them all out in the south meadow today. It's the only food that is available and still fenced in. I'm hoping that that big kitty cat is gone for right now....At least we haven't had a kill for over two weeks. How can I expose my ewes and lambs to danger? They really wanted to graze today. Got to run and check on my flock. All you wild cats go away!!!!!

selling out vs selling down

2007-09-18T05:33:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting topic.
We have had several people over the years who needed to sell down their flocks because their circumstances changed. Some people have had similar sales several years in a row. Have you ever bought sheep from a shetland sale like that? I have. Some breeder sales used to raise my eyebrows. Was it really a sales ploy? Just meant to sell off the sheep they no longer wanted? Was it legitimate for a person to beg for people to come buy their sheep before they were butchered....and then breed more lambs the following year?
I have decided it is legitimate.
Shetland breeders are suckered into breeding by the incredible beauty and personality of their sheep. How can I refuse a wagging tailed wide-eyed ewe, shuffling her butt outside a ram's breeding pen? I'm not sure there is a shetland breeder out there who doesn't have more sheep than they really want or can care for. I sure have too many.
No, I take that back....there are those breeders who think of their shetlands like livestock. Maybe they were raised on a farm. Maybe they have had circumstances toughen them up. Sorry, folks....my sheep are shetlands, they have personalities....I walk out in the morning and pet them and kiss them on the nose. I am not tempted to eat my babies. I am able to ship my extra ram lambs to the sales barn. If I can find one that wants them. Within driving distance.
What are dire circumstances? Why would a breeder have to sell....sell even the sheep they wanted to keep?
Life changes, health changes, farm land changes, drought especially, comes to mind. There have been several breeders affected by drought this year. Is that a reason to sell down your flock? You bet it is! Take my area for example....we had some rain a week ago ( after two month of dry)...but now there is no more rain in the forecast...and the grass that sprouted a week ago is dead again. I know when my ewes are hungry. They run back and forth....at a good clip too! Baaing. Trying to find some good grazing, the ewes run from one end of the pastures to the other several times a day. I have to figure all this running is causing some weight loss too.
Today, I am going to have to take their lives in my hands. I have to let them out in the south meadow, where the cat has killed five rams this year. I don't have a choice. There is no hay in this county. Cattle breeders have been selling down all year. Not enough grazing for cows, on this bad grassland. Not enough grazing for my flock of ewes either. But just like those other breeders out there....don't expect this breeder to sell down and stop breeding. It's not possible. This is a shetland addiction. It's not my fault we have drought. It's not the other breeders' fault they have changes in their lives that keep them from taking care of so many sheep.
I'll be breeding some of my girls soon. Yes, breeding....They are nice girls...they might be yearlings....and need to breed to make sure they can be moms at all....they may have had their lambs grabbed by me early on in the spring....before they even thought of weaning them. I promised them they could have lambs again. If the cat doesn't eat them this fall, they can go out in the unfenced hay ground and the high woods this winter, and eat whatever they can find. Maybe we will get rain later this year. It's possible.
I have started to sell off the spotted ewe lambs I kept out for myself this spring. There were four spotties, three in black and white....one in brown and white. Bet you can't guess which one went first. I also kept a set of AgAa spotted twin ewes. I will sell the twins together.
If you have hay and pasture in the south....let me know. They are all for sale. I may even be selling off my special flock ewes. Some exposed. I'm not cured.....just trying to the best I can for the girls that depend on me.
So if you see a sales list by someone who need to sell off some of their sheep. You can be sure they likely would want to keep them all....if they could. They may try to keep a few just so they don't feel so bad when the rest leave. Do you shed a tear when your sheep go down the road to a new farm? I do. If you have the room....this may be your lucky day. If you don't have room...don't critisize the breeders holding the sale. They may have no choice. Those sheep need a good home somewhere. They are nice girls....and sometimes, even nice boys. I am declaring it "Buy a Shetland" week. Let's try to find homes for those sheep!

about time

2007-09-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, sorry it is taking me so long to get back with the program.
I had a good time at Jefferson.....saw lots of old friends....saw some great sheep....won a few ribbons...2nd's and 3rd's....but can't remember what for.
Our son got home today from his trip to Russia....glad to have him back and on his way to Portland. Our son-in-law should get back from his tour to New York with his band, Little Man, this week too....another one to be glad about.
I do want to thank all the wonderful people who came to Jefferson, to watch and expecially the ones who gave up some of their free time to both show and to help. Boy! It is nice to have a few people who are willing to help make this a good show for all the midwest shetland breeders.
Congratulations to Caitlin....and her blue ribbon ram lamb....she is one of the 4-H clients who are really growing up into the shetland scene. The ram was even somehow related to my lines....but bigger.
I got the local paper today in the mail....you know how Kieth Oberman always starts out with his.....which one of these news stories will you be talking about tomorrow?
I have to share this one. Front page is a photo of our local police standing with some tall weeds....Yes, those kind. The story tells about a raid that netted the good guys lots and lots of weeds...and guns...and pigeons. That's what I said....pigeons. It seems the bad guys had lots of pigeons...and as the police were taking stock of the scene....in flew a pigeon, a homing type pigeon with money tied to it's leg. You bet'cha.....they were selling weed by pigeon! Talk about good old Missouri know-how.....it's those pigeons! Really! They were the one growing crops and selling them. Yup, just sit on the porch in those rocking chairs....let those old pigeons do the work.
Kind of makes ya think doesn't it?

meow!

2007-08-31T06:38:00.000-07:00

Actually it is dry here. Very dry. The hundred degree temps have broken, and there has been rain to the south of us. But valleys being strange weather warps....nope....we didn't get any. The nice grass that sprouted with the inch and 1/2 half we got the last 6 weeks has dried up and disappeared. I have more ewes and lambs waiting around the barn in the morning for me to open a bale of hay. I have to bring hay for the front 7 rams....and now the show pen and dumping spot for my ram lambs is out of grazing too. So they get hay. As everyone knows, you can't just feed hay to one sheep....they all want it. I did throw a clovery flake of hay right on top of one of my show sheep this morning....back to the hose. I'll brush and pick as much as I can off the lamb...and then wet her down. Yes, really wet....but not her head. Then the sheep get to graze on a halter in the back yard until they mostly drip off well. That is so they don't lay down right in the dust and get mud all over them. It would be nice to have a month for the sheep to get their fluffy look back after being wet....but I only have a week to work with.
Speaking of sheep...we lost another one to whatever cat we have out back. Yesterday morning, I put on my gun belt about 7 am and walked out with a bucket of water to count the rams. Opps....one short. Shepherds don't worry about predators....I just penned the rams...a couple may weight as much as I do....so I don't trust them. And I walked out in their pasture. I checked the spot where two of the last rams were killed and cleaned. Nothing there, so I wandered around for a few minutes, calling sheep....sheeeeep!....and listening for a stray ram to answer back. After a while of walking around, my husband came out to see who was missing. He went to get his gun too....looked like we had a problem. As he went to the house, I found the new kill site. I looked around for a path where the carcass was dragged. I did find some weeds tall enough to catch brown wool....I was half way across the pasture watching for my trail when my husband got back. Finally we found a patch of skin and a three inch splinter of bone. Yup....seems our cat was headed up to the same spot in the woods, where two of the last sheep had been eaten. I started up the hill to the fence. Head down to watch for brown wool on the twigs. Puurrr....grrrrrrr.....owl. It was a soft strange sound....I stopped walking and stood up. What was that sound? Was it a tree rubbing?
Again I heard a noise.....it dawned on me that a cat with food in it's mouth would sound like that...."go away I'm eating!" Purrrrrowl...grooorowl....grrr. That second noise was a sure signal. The cat could see me....and it didn't want me taking it's food away. I convinced my husband that he shouldn't stay out in the woods alone either.....hard to do with an armed husband. And I left for the house and the phone. The conservation fellow was right out....and armed with a couple of shotguns, the two men started out into the woods again. I stayed in the yard near the house. OK, I was walking sheep...but it was a pretty good excuse to keep me out of the woods.
We are going to have a night hunt with a deer stand and bait. I need to train the bait to stay on a rope. I won't be out in the woods looking for a trail of wool or bones...or horns...or pussy cat. I figure that cat said my presence was not appreciated....and I believe it. I'll be home in the house....thank you very much.

full fall fleece

2007-08-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

Good day all,
It may just cool down here in Missouri this week. Hurray!
It has been a seige, and I know there are lots of breeders out there with worse heat and flooding this month. Fall will be a good thing.
Have you handled your lambs lately? That is, if you have any left to hold. I was pulling a few for pick-up and was surprised at their wool growth and pretty curls. No, I didn't say crimp....did I? I actually like my crimp in ringlets. Some lambs have a "stand-up" crimpy fleece.....some have crimpy fleece that falls into rignlets....especially after a rain. Since it hasn't done much of that here, I have been hosing down my show stock. I can't believe how unpleasant a dusty fleece can feel. Thank goodness, water is OK for show sheep. Pretend it just rained here.
Really, I looked at the weather this morning and we have a 20 % chance of rain today....With an 80% chance of rain, we can still miss it. Something about valleys and air movement over them.
I wanted to mention how nice it was to hear our Alaskan shepherdess got some shetland ribbons and had the best of show goat too at the state fair. Way to go! You can find a note about her efforts to promote shetlands on her Alaskan blog ...the link is on the side of my blog.
I promise I will get back to talking about my young life in the third grade soon. Do you remember third grade? Was it a pleasant experience? Does your entire school life blurr into snatches of recess?
Well, off the point.
What I did want to say, was after you notice the older types of fleece on your lambs and maybe on your yearlings....if you have any sitting around....does it start you thinking about changes to your breeding groups? It did mine. I found two yearling rams out there who were relegated to eating grass and growing horns. I really liked their fleeces tho. So now I am thinking about girls who have fleeces that are similar. Wow, wouldn't it be fun to get a bunch of lambs with really nice fleeces too? OK, maybe that was your intent all along, but here, my focus is on spots. So breeding a bunch of greys just for their fleeces is something different.
Hope it rains lightly for you and your sheep.
And good morning to my traveling son. hope you have a great day today.
Love, mom

too hot

2007-08-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry, I left you in the middle of a second to third grade crisis....but it has been too hot. Too hot to write....too hot to move. The sheep have been taking it really well....that menas I haven't figured out who is going to collapse from heat related stress yet. Last year we lost two from the heat. It was 105 yesterday....no rain for 6 weeks. You have to imagine what the ground looks like. The trees near the dirt road are heat stressed. Leaves turning yellow. Interesting that the leaves are also covered with a layer of old dust. Not just new dust that lands from the dust kicked up from a passing car....but dust that has been on the leaves for a month....so kind of thick in areas with little spots, from maybe dew?
The sheep broke out yesterday, I don't blame them. They got out in the woods and ate leaves and stood around. If it had been cooler they would have gone out to the hay ground....but it was too hot for them to move out of the local woods.
Have a great weekend...and I hope lots of breeders get nice ribbons at the MFF....Have a good time up there in the north.

need a new home?

2007-08-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it was cooler today....109 on Sunday....in the shade.....only in the 90's today....Which was good as we spent a lot of time climbing the hills behind the ram pasture on the south side. Yes, the cat got another one. Actually, we did finally find enough that the conservation guy took it home. Conservation was here in maybe an hour....pretty excited to have another kill.
That was good....but I was just a little disappointed to lose a spotted ram lamb this time. Poor boy.
So we have another two days of over 100 degrees to get thru. And it was only 8 days between kills. Which may mean we have a female feeding kittens....
So, I am wearing a gun again.....and looking up a lot. It is pretty easy to be brave during the day....it's my ranch, I know the fences....I know the trees....I know some of the hills. I have to feed and bring water during the day.
But in the dark....it's harder. I'm as worried about the dog being outside as the sheep. I'm not putting the puppy out over night yet....too hot during the day...likely too dangerous at night. No use killing her by letting her run.
I did just get a note from someone looking for spotted sheep. I may have to sell some. I kept a few spotted ewe lambs just for myself this year....like I usually do....and now, I think I should conside selling a few....I would rather sell them than have them eaten. I don't mind losing a few rams....but if this animal starts to look closer to the house for it's prey....that will be a problem.
If you hear of anyone in my area of Missouri...who can come out and look at sheep. Looks like I should sell some.

colored chalk

2007-08-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

I told you this one was coming. By second grade...did I mention this was a catholic school? My brother was already graduated. I was in the school without someone to check up on me. These were the days before uniforms. So I can remember a green plaid wool skirt, and maybe a navy colored skirt. I'm sure these were paired with white blouses, and maybe with sweaters. The reason I bring this up...is that I was not only quirky, and clumsy....I dressed funny. This was likely not my mother's fault. It was my own stubborn choice. My first problem was that I wore skirts and lots of the other girls in my class wore slacks. Slacks were not lady-like.....so I couldn't own or wear slacks to school.
But we lived in the north country...so I did own a green snowsuit. My snowsuit had an ugly zippered jacket with a hood. Maybe there was fuzzy stuff inside the hood. But I sure didn't have any fuzzy fur on it. But my snow pants I liked. They looked like riding pants...they were green and had a tight leg at the bottom and built in suspenders. I am guessing they were also wool. Well, dumb little girl that I was, I wanted to wear pants to school. So I remember standing in the coat room before class. Do you remember coatrooms?....They were little hallways off the side of the classrooms. Just made to keep coats and mittens and boots in during the day. It kept all that smelly wet wool that dripped water after a recess playing in the snow....kept it all in one place...away from the learning stuff. I would stand in the coatroom after the bell had rung and all the other students were going to their seats....and I would tuck whatever lovely skirt I was wearing into my snowpants. Now, I thought to myself...I look like I am wearing pants. Of course to my student friends....I looked like a goofus who couldn't dress herself. Why would I want to go around sitting all day with layers of wool buttoned into my snowpants?....Quirky comes to mind.
Mentally impaired? Maybe.

But what happened next was not really my own fault. My second grade teacher had been told I could draw....So she would let me draw....again the colored chalk and the blackboard. To cover a big blackboard with colored chalk could take days. I'm sure I had to do other school work during those days too. But the result of dark wool clothes...like navy sweaters and colored chalk dust made my mother un-nerved. How could her little daughter get so dirty in one day at school. I'm sure I never gave my mother any reason to explain my important and dirty blackboard work. But she maybe called the school to see if I was sitting too close to the black board or being beaten with blackboard erasers after school. Finding that her only daughter was really doing art work....My mother went to town and bought me a smock.
Have you ever owned a smock? Not many students wore smocks to school. In fact I don't even remember a teacher wearing a smock to school. But I....that quirky, clumsy child who couldn't jump rope and dressed funny was supposed to be the only student in that room. The only one wearing a navy blue smock...carefully starched and ironed with red polka dotted pockets shaped like an artists pallet and a big red polka dot bow....bigger than any clown would wear. I was horrified. I already had a problem not fitting in with those other kids....this smock would be the end of me...they would laugh me out of the classroom. Imagined problems are always worse than the real ones...unless you were mary ellen. I could too make it worse....First I would take the darned smock off and stick it into my coat pocket....finding from my chalk filled clothing that I was not wearing the precious cute girly smock...My patient mother would scold me...and wash and starch it again and iron it with it's great big bow for the collar. Then I was sent to school with no blouse under my smock....just an undershirt. Ok....I couldn't sit in class with an undershirt...but, I still remembered I could tuck this terrible sign of how different I really was....right under my clothes. Now I not only looked like I couldn't dress my self...I looked fat too. The ishy scarf that my mother lovingly ironed so it was wide and showy in it's red and white polka dots...was stuffed into my pocket or boots or somewhere I didn't have to wear it. Argh! No wonder I couldn't jump rope...I was fat and dressed funny, and I think I wore pigtails too.
Yes, I can remember these things really good Karen, and I'm writing these stories right here....It should make everyone feel sorry for such a dumb little girl....but you know it could just show you how stubborn and bull- headed I can really be. Sorry.

Weather today 103 in the shade....colors on the ground are yellow and brown....The sheep insist on putting their noses down there anyway trying to figure out what happened to their food.
I wish you all cool breezes and misty steady rain with tall green grass and fluffy hay in the barn.
Peeps

Dick and Jane

2007-08-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

Really!
My schooling was really all about Dick and Jane. That was how we learned. First we had a big book on an easel in the front of the schoolroom. The book opened from the bottom so that pages turned over the top of the easel. We learned great words...like "Oh oh" and "Look, look, look!" The use of those words over and over helped us to recognize the words the next time we saw them....yup....Even the worst reader could read some of those words, sometimes.
May I quote directly from the "New Look and See Basic Reader." This was actually later than the edition I learned on...it is from 1956. Page one....Look....page two... look look.....page three...oh oh oh....page four...oh oh oh look....page five.... Jane.
I suppose page five actually indicates a new chapter. And would require a day of teaching the word Jane to the class. Whoopee....Just imagine the boredom in those classrooms. As I remember there was a lot of staring out the windows....even if there was nothing to be seen. Clocks were definitely in...they were on the top of the black boards in every classroom....We could see the little minute hands jerk with every minute ticked off of our day.
All of the class work involved these readers. We sat in reading groups. We wrote words like look...over and over on graph paper...that paper made it possible for the teacher to correct the smallest mistakes...."your "o" doesn't touch the line here...that's wrong...go do that word ten more times. How many is ten more times?...Don't know haven't gotten to counting yet. We cut out little words from a sheet of paper and pasted them on another piece of paper....hey, I don't remember why we did that...but I'll imagine there was that goopy library paste involved. Again we could get corrected....You cut into that letter....don't cut so crooked next time....you pasted it on the wrong line...maybe you need summer school....Argh! That dreaded term...school during the summer. Lots more boredom there. And remember these schools didn't have air-conditioning.
Some of the time was also spent drawing pictures of Dick and Jane. That was where I came in.
I liked to draw. My grandfather had a drawer in the library table where a coloring book and a box of 8 fat crayons were kept. I still have several drawings I made of my grandfather sitting in his easy chair, with his legs crossed, and wearing glasses. Why....do you think....would I still have drawings I made from my preschool days?
Easy answer, my family never threw anything away.
All bills were kept in all envelopes....sometimes there would be notes on those envelopes...had to keep them....all adding machine tapes were carefully kept inside the banking envelopes....just in case we needed to check the figures again....which, of course, meant doing a new tape to check the old one.
Some good things can come from keeping everything....like me....I can go back a year and find every email written to me....used to keep them for longer...but it tends to mess up the computer memory. Back to drawing. I liked to draw. I had a black board....yes in those days they were the color black. And this may have been a hand-me-down from my brother...or someone else. I don't think my parents would have bought me anything with operating parts.
My mother used to tell me she couldn't understand how my brother could play with toys for years....and those toys would still be perfect....and I would take a toy apart and break it in minutes. I'm likely still like that....how does this work?...maybe I should look inside. Anyway, my blackboard had a scrolling bunch of pictures on paper at the top. You may have seen one in an antiques store....I'm mostly antique now....whatever I had as a child is way past collectible.
The scroll of paper started with letters and numbers and then went to simple shapes and then actual pictures that you could copy in chalk on your board. Over and over. I like doing things over and over. I'm not into doing things differently much....If I bake bread, I like the same recipe....If I clean house....that's "if"....I do it in a certain direction. Top to bottom...front to back. Dang, I'm predictable! I like drawing or painting the same thing. But drawing was easy for me....I couldn't jump rope to save my life....I don't think I could shoot marbles well, or jacks either....I definitely couldn't play ball.
Some of my problems come from being left handed....I could never figure out how to hold a bat....from looking at someone else....and I must have been born with two left feet...because jumping rope was a life-changing event. Think about recess in a school. Games of ball are started by the boys...in my day, games of jump-rope were started by the girls. My eye hand coordination was always off....and my feet just couldn't be taught. I would volunteer as perpetual twirler...or some such thing....anything to keep from tripping over that darn rope over and over again. You just have to imagine the temper tantrums at home as one after another of my family members tried to teach me to jump a rope...I remember even my daddy could do it.....ARGH!!! How to get picked last for every game on the playground....oh we don't want her...she can't even jump rope.
But I could draw pictures. You tell me what you want, and I'll draw it....I was pretty good at making perople move around...on paper...not in person. And the first grade teacher liked to see what odd way I would take in telling a story in pictures. She sent a roll of my art work to her teachers in the big city.....it was the story of Peter Rabbit. And my mother was very upset that she couldn't get her hands on that roll of paper to save it....remember we HAD to save everything....So during the evenings, I had to do another story of Peter Rabbit for my mother to save on the back of a calendar. (still got it) I'm guessing we didn't have shelf paper in our house. I remember having a terrible time coming up with a piece of oil cloth for school. My parents must not have liked the stuff...so we didn't have any. And I couldn't walk to the store...because we lived in the country. And we didn't have a car...we had to use my daddy't truck....the one he used for his business...to get to any stores. I must have gotten bad stars for weeks because I couldn't get a piece of 12 inch oil cloth for the top of my desk.
Did you know about stars?....I'm sure we got stars on our foreheads too. You've been a good little girl today...so teacher licks a paper star and glues it to your forhead. The stars came in shiny red and green mostly. I had to take piano...and the teacher there didn't take up your forehead with the stars...but she had cute little pictures of kittys and frogs and birds all with a musical theme...and if you practiced good...never did that...you got a star thing on the back of your hand. If you didn't practice good....you got a whack on the back of your hand with a pointer....smack....that will teach you not to practice. Lord knows why I had to take piano...but those teachers never spent much time giving me stars.
I did have two major events in school. Because I could draw good....I got to do the christmas nativity scene on the blackboard. In colored chalk! More about that later. I also was sent to different classrooms because I had memorized a poem during class....and I apparently didn't forget it under pressure. Just imagine a little first grader being taken into rooms with desks as high as a giant would use....and you've got to say the poem...complete with gestures. Good grief....I suppose that doomed me to teacher's pet too.
You know those early school days were so traumatic...that anything after that should be taken with a grain of salt. Kids are kids....and adults should be adults....
Speaking of adults. We are hovering in the nineties....all eatable life forms are yellow....sheep are hanging around the water buckets...which last about an hour without refilling. Maybe 6 sheep at a time are out in the field....and they run for cover with their heads down. I'm not sure if that is to get in the shade fast...or to avoid the b-17 horse flies that seem to like this heat. I warned a neighbor after flagging him down about a cat in the area....and I moved one of my pet rams from the south meadow to the front ram pasture....we didn't go out to light up the night sky last night...because the vet is really worried about our dumb behaviour.....he tells me I'm not the safari type.
Hope it's cool and raining like crazy where ever you are.

staying out of trouble

2007-08-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

OK, I have a lot of opinions about shetland sheep.
And perhaps my writing style, with it's "meant to make you laugh" style, is confusing. However, when my good friend starts thinking I am hinting negative things....about anything shetland....that refers to anyone in particular. Then it's time for me to stop.
Yes, I have strong opinions, they may not always be right....heck...they may be off the wall...but I write them here in my blog...and that, I thought was OK...and I like to talk about sheep a lot....there isn't anything else out in these parts lately. A lot of yellow leaves falling in the pond....some dead fish...some crazy cat that likes lamb. Some very brown dirt that the ewes keep sticking their noses in and puffing up little dust devils. We only have two more orange days on the weather calendar...that's exciting...now if they could figure out how to draw clouds.
So I'm just going to talk about my childhood.

I grew up in one of those ideal fifties homes. You know, the one with both a mother and a father. I have a big brother too. He is seven years older...and spent much of his childhood baseball practice rocking my crib. By the time I was big enough to go outside and play....I would have been by myself....but I had my dear cousin living next door. Dick was almost my same age, and we played everyday. Well, he would come to get me in the morning....but I couldn't go outside to play until my mother had combed my hair into long curls....kind of those very same ringlets you see on old bopeep pictures. So we played Dick and Jane stories together....well it was really Dick and Mary Ellen....no one was allowed to call me anything but both my names. We played let the chickens out of the coop, and other games of tag. We made hats and umbrellas out of Rubarb plants. One time we stripped all the bark off the wheeping willow tree in their yard, that must have been fun....In the evenings we all played red light-green light. Kind of a you're it game, and caught lightening bugs in glass jars. Some summers we made rubber-binder guns....Boy, those hurt if you got hit in the face....we cut inner-tubes into binders, and used clothes pins for the triggers. Dick and I played invisible people lots. They were outer space folks that came and captured us.
I have old snapshots of us playing in a sand pile, and sitting together on my very own rocking horse. Who is still in my living room. I found a wonderful man to live my life with....and he also has his old rocking horse....it is in the kitchen.
Such is the stuff dreams are made of. What is it about little girls that makes them horse crazy? I'm sure I pestered my parents about having a horse....my rocky horse is named trigger. After my true love Roy Roger's horse. Since my parents told me I couldn't marry my cousin Dick....because he was my cousin. As if that made any sense to me? I decided the next best thing was Roy Rogers. I was going to marry Roy...and that was that. One mean person told me Roy was already married to that Dale Evans person....I have never liked her since. I remember crying and crying. I can't hear Happy-Trails-to-You without being still pissed. Oh , I am sure they had a happy life without me. I had a black holster with some silver things on the belt...and a cap gun that had white grips with a long horned cow on them. We may have gotten real caps around the fourth of july....otherwise you just said bang bang! I lived pretend. Riding my rocky horse, and swinging on my swing. Those were the days when swings were made of long ropes tied to the branches of a tree. None of this gym stuff. If the branch of the tree was perfectly straight....the swing would go back and forth. If the branch was crooked...so was the ride on your swing. I could sit "side-saddle" on my swing and pretend I was going off into the sunset on my horse.
My swing was made of wood. None of this old tire stuff at my house...those things made your clothes dirty. And the sand in my sand box, that my daddy made for me....that was white sand. No ordinary dirty type sand for this little girl. Every week the ladies would have a tea party.
That was an activity at my Granma's house. She was a lovely little german lady, who smelled of face powder and hair pins....if they had a smell. And I was the only girl. Believe me in those days you had better act like a little girl too. I wore frilly dresses, and had curls in my hair...and I went to every tea party. Even tho I was too small to do the sewing and crocheting like the real ladies. Dick and I....yes, he had to come too. We had our own set of tin dishes in the china cupboard. I'm sure he would have rather been playing football with some boys. But he sat and played tea party with me....We even had a working egg beater. Little girls and boys were to be seen and not heard. But Grandma had both a front and a back porch...so we could play in the one the ladies weren't using.
When kindergarden came....I was the one that had to go to school...and my only pal in the world would sit on the bank and wait for my school bus to bring me home. Not long after that, my Dicky and his family moved to town. My mother and his were not often on speaking terms. So I only got to see my life-long friend at family doing...weddings and funerals...when our mothers were wearing white gloves and hats, and acting lady-like. Did I mention kindergarden yet?
I didn't fit in well. "Does not play well with other children"....that would be me. I only knew one other children well....and he wasn't there. We had to do icky things at school. Like glue paper together with little wooden sticks that we scooped that library paste stuff out of the jar with. The paper got wet and tore of you tried to squish the lumps out of it. The paste could be eated if you got to like the taste of it....must have been real healthy, as I remember it would grow mold over the weekends. When the paste dried on your hands, you could tear it off in sheets that looked like your skin. I remember getting scolded for being immature, I used to hide under my rug at nap time.....I would never get to the music box in time to find anything but wooden blocks to clap together. No cymbols or triangles to make beautiful music with....just wood blocks...clap clap....My school career went downhill after that.
Did you really read all the way down to here? That was silly....I have nothing to say.
I hope you have a wonderful day anyway. Do something fun....eat something delicious...and I hope you find someone to play rocky horse with in your old age too.

snarky blogs

2007-08-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

Man, you know how hard it is for a person who lives out as far as I do to start a rumor?
I don't even talk to the mailman.
It's me....Stephen is talking about me!
I misunderstood a note in May...written by Stephen to me, Peeps. It's all my fault.
I'm terribly sad Stephen, if I have caused you any trouble. I really want to make up for my faults.
I must have faults, I have a dragon hanging on my backside.
Did anyone know I have a temper? Well, I would be the first to deny it. But I do.
OK....first, Go check Stephen's blog, you will see that he does indeed have spotted sheep. ...and always will have, because he will contunue to breed for spots!
Actually he IS the main spotted sheep person in the whole continent.
I will be the first to admit....Stephen had many more spotted sheep than I ever did....we just happened to like the same things. And we are, good friends. I love Stephen's spotted sheep....I even still have one, Windsprite.
Did you know that if you put a photo of something on your refrigerator....it comes to you?
I had a picture of Windsprite on my refrigerator all one summer, and Stephen finally decided to sell her. She has been in my flock ever since. These last few years, I haven't bought any sheep from Stephen. Not that it wouldn't be fun. Number one reason, I can't afford Stephen's sheep....anyone's sheep. I'm retired. Second reason, I already HAVE lots of sheep. AND I like the ones I have...
For many reasons, Stephen and I have diverged in the type of Shetland we like. That's a good thing.....we can all find a shetland type we love and want to own. I like my little old-crooked legged, fine boned, long fluffy fleeced spotted shetlands. Stephen likes his spotted Katmogets, I'm sure he breeds other spotted types too and everyone loves his spotted gulmogets. Stephen has made more of a statement in the genes of shetlands than anyone else ever will. Especially me! Just imagine what he has done for those "broken fleeced shetlands", those were the days....huh? Stephen,....now everyone wants one!....It's all because of Stephen and his dreams, he and Bill, and their wonderful personality and love for their sheep. We all do still love them. Even if they now have a concrete sheep on the lawn.
Now for the "mill" I am super glad to hear Stephen is not forsaking the spotted realm of Shetlands. I'm never ever going to out-guess the spotted numbers that will spring from his farm, again. I'm surprised that I had to read his blog to find out he thought I had said a bad thing. If anything, I was more disappointed to find he seemed to like those katmoget fleeces better, but if they are spotted I suppose it's OK. Super crimpy fleeces are the thing right now. For the record....you can all reach me at ctx35770@centurytel.net. In fact, I have heard so many bad things about me lately, it won't bother me to hear more. It can drive me to do the dishes....which in this house is good!
You can also find me dragging my tiny little crooked sheep around the shetland show at Jefferson, and the Naile show in November. I'm proud of what I breed.... You will find me smiling even if in last place, because the sheep I am showing are lovely little sheep. I'm glad to be able to have them on my ranch....even in this dry heat wave. AND I am not going to change what I breed for anyone.
So if you want a spotted lamb go to Michigan....or Minnesota....or New York ....or a number of places around the country.....I hear that Alaska will have some too.....I'll be happy to direct you to the closest breeder that has some. They are just plain darn cute.
Don't even consider coming to Missouri...it's hot and dry down here....I hear Michigan actually has rain.
And if you need a rumor...I'm fresh out.
If you need a friend, I'm available.

bye bye sheep

2007-08-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

I did mention we have to find a new place to send ram lambs. Well, maybe we won't have quite as many.
I called the Conservation Department to ask about a kill we had over the weekend. Although we are missing two rams this year....this was the first kill we had found. Our main group of rams is across the creek bed....presently dry creek bed....from the rest of the sheep. I have a small ram pen up by the road that has in the past supported three rams. This year we are feeding them hay, as everything is burnt. I have one older boy in there with two yearlings. The older boy fights all the time with another his age in the back meadow. Thus the separation.
Some years we have had over twenty rams in the back meadow. All summer and winter they have been safe. This spring we missed a yearling ram. Here one night, gone the next day. Believe me, if there was a trace of him, wool or anything we would have found it. We spent three days tramping through their pasture, the woods, and down the creek looking.
Every evening we take a bucket of grain across the creek and call the rams. They come running to get a mouthful before a bigger ram pushes them aside. Easy to count, next to the fence. Eight older boys, and five big ram lambs. Whoops.
There are only twelve.
At the end of the day, we penned the rest of the rams at feeding time, and started looking. Now often, a ram will get his horns caught in the fence, or find some barbed wire or electric fencing to tangle with....we were expecting to find a ram. Nope....what we found was three areas with tuffs of black wool. As if mr ram was pulling it off in his mouth. And the intestines. Whoops again.
I am sure I don't remember biology from high school. So I am at a loss to tell you what parts there were....but, I am guessing a paunch....which looked like a water balloon, and a pile of other things that appeared to be a stomach with something else attached. No sheep carcass....no bone fragments...no hoofs....no blood.....no horns....the only thing that had flies were the parts that were from inside the body.
Now it is dry....there are marks in the dust...but no clear footprints....no evidence that a herd of coyotes were feasting. No marks on the other rams. No barking dog in the middle of the night.
There were a few paths through the weeds on the other side of the fencing...but no sign that a partially wool covered body had been dragged thru. So we decided to come back in the dark and light the place up with a gun. Both flashlights and gunfire. By the next day, I began to think about the remains of my ram lamb. His name was navy, OK, so he was black. Something in the back of my mind didn't seem to fit. What we had found looked similar to what our cats leave in the yard. The dogs are always prowling for those innards. Dogs will eat them....cats won't.
I called the Conservation Department folks to get some information about this unusual kill. Now we have had coyotes find a sheep carcass....we used to throw them out in the trash pit. We live out in the country....and there is no dirt. What we found was wool everywhere as body parts were dragged all over ...not to be gross but coyotes don't finish everything....I had to pick up parts from everywhere. Now, we have a big compost pile near the front of the pasture...fenced with high fencing, so that our dog doesn't explore it for a nice chewing bone. Missouri doesn't really want to admit they have cougars. But the sightings have been well documented this year....so mr conservation didn't deny they were here. And yes, it seems that cats...cougars and bobcats do remove the innards before they make off with their prey. Dang!
Unfortunately, I didn't snap a photo that first night. I was told there are fellows at the main office that can tell what killed just by how the kill site looks. Well, by the time I went back with a camera....there was nothing but the chewed grass laying in the dirt. Something had made off with the surrounding stuff.
So now, we are still going back to light up the night by the rams....but I have mixed feelings about exploring the woods on the other side of the fencing. I keep forgetting to look up. Our vet takes a big gun when he goes in the woods these days. Of course, he has seen what cats and bears can do. He tells me a big cat can jump 40 feet. Well a bobcat could take a ram lamb down. Unfortunately, what we have seen here does not have a short tail. Something about the size of a big ram lamb , but with a long long tail....whoops. Here kitty, kitty.
Well, I am sorry to bother you with such un-nice stuff....but if anyone has had a kill that looked similar....or different. I would be interested in trying to understand what is out there in the dark....Do coyotes eat everything....or do they run around like dogs chasing down another victim? My kill experience has been limited to chickens....Fortunately.
I'm checking the paper for a sheep auction to attend....Don't want to take my sheep where it's dirty. Send some rain this way when you are done with it....the orange days in the forcast here only go up to Saturday....maybe in another month we can get another 1/8 inch of rain to fall.

Why is that sheep baaing?

2007-08-04T05:31:00.000-07:00

Check on a sheep baaing, check on any sheep baaing!
In this hot weather, we shepherds need to be vigilant. Especially us.
We raise Shetland sheep....you know.....the ones who can get into trouble. Yesterday was hot. Stinky hot. Dry and dusty.
I let the sheep into the meadow, where there is grass the color of green, and lots of shade. I counted them up to about 40 then went back to the barn to see where the rest were.
They were milling in the barn area waiting for me to open the gates to the sahara. The promised land where they found something that tasted like grass the day before.
So I fed out some hay in the barn to the beggars. Dropping most of a bale on the other side of the fence panels we use to control sheep flow in the barn. They look like the corral panels used for cows...but are sheep sized.
I did let the sheep out, and heard some baaing on the otherside of the creekbed in the far meadow. Thinking it was a ewe and lambs that just discovered she was alone....I went back in the house.
Yes, we do run air-conditioners in this heat. The dogs all lounge around during the day, and even the cats come back in in the heat of the day.
Molly the goose honks to come in too....but I draw the line at feathers and goose-shit.
When I went back out to draw more water for the sheep, I heard a sheep baaing. "Sheeep! Everyone's over here." OK....so the heat muddled my mind. Of course the baaing sheep could understand what I was saying....I called "sheeeeepppp".
We got a brief shower late in the day. Thank you for those prayers. Most of those pop-up showers had missed us. We got 1/10 of an inch....not enough to water the grass, but enough to get the dust out of the air. Your mouth actually feels gritty after a month without rain.
I went out during the shower and closed the gates. The sheep were sheltered in the barn....not knowing what that stuff was falling from the sky. So I ran and closed the gates to the sahara, and the south meadow. I was sure everyone was back in.
Haaaa....Shetlands!
Returing when the sheep were back outside I started to get ready for nightly feeding, when I heard a ewe again. OK....maybe the shower uncorked my brain. I hopped the fence and saw her immediately. A white sheep....well a big white spot sheep....near an old hog pen. Sure enough as I approached, she made a move to get away, but the barbed wire wrapped twice around her throat only bounced her back. She was lucky, I left her out in the sun all day, but she was attached near a big bush, and had some shade to keep her alive. After she was unwrapped, we only had a few red spots for the experience....she ate fallen leaves from the winds, and seemed in good spirits.
I counted my lucky stars for the rain, and the live sheep and went to bed.
About three o'clock in the morning, my husband turned on the light and got dressed. "There's someone baaing outside, I'm going out to check." Shepherds like their sleep.
But after a few moments I slid on some shoes and followed him. Who needs to get dressed in the middle of the night?
Sure enough there was a lot of commotion....Buffy's twins were up near the barn baaing loudly at Buffy, who was off in the darkness and fog. I started down the sheep path with wet weeds brushing my legs. Buffy finally appeared, and Snowwhite's twins. But there still seemed to be some extra baaing. My husband was leaving for the house, but I called for the light. Some ewe was baaing in the barn too. You know how sheep are. If one is baaing they like to answer....Baaa.....BBAAAA....baaaa. In the back of the barn, I could see Miss Muffet....with her head stuck thru the fence panel to eat the hay I spilled on the other side. But, she was alone....and didn't take her head out when the light shown on her.
I've seen this behaviour before. She had stuffed her head thru, and couldn't get it back out. I don't know how they do it....Bunny used to get her head caught all the time. Some of the panels have gaps in them where I have pried Bunny's head out. So I jumped the fence, which was cold and wet....found a 4 by 4 in the yard and stuck it in-between the rails. Thus loosened, Muffet pulled her head out and I threw some more hay in the middle of the barn so she wouldn't put it back.
Trust me....listen to your sheep. If they are baaing on one side and everyone is on the other...go check. I was lucky this time....not so lucky once before.
Speaking of not-so-lucky, that was the name of our farm cat in Wisconsin. Another story, sometime. Well, sorry I didn't dream of another dragon yet. Maybe later.

what are your dreams?

2007-08-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

Well.
Isn't this interesting,
so many folks
wanting to talk about
dreams.
What is so fascinating about dreams is that they try to solve things that you wouldn't even consider in your waking life.
Do you have re-occuring types of dreams?
Do you have little houses and little undiscovered rooms filled with colorful treasures?
I've done that too.
I did have another dream that I was awakened from....so I remember it.
It had finally started to rain....how I wish it would.
And, the roof was leaking....again
...no problem if we could just get rain.
There were big puddles of water on the floor, and things were getting piled on top of furniture to keep them dry.
However, there was a bamboo basket which had already fallen apart from being wet.
Now the pieces of bamboo were wiggling around and bubbling in the puddle as I swept it out the door.
So, my mind may be trying to solve a mystery for me that I am not even aware of.
What could it be?....the wriggling bamboo was brown.....more non-color....more muddy meanings.
Clear as mud.
Yup,
Did you know that your mind can also solve your waking problems if you ask it?
Since spirit lives in eternity and can see without the constraints of time....you can ask questions of yourself about the future.
I did intuitive readings about our new home in Wisconsin....since then our old home....but they were unfailingly accurate. Even to the giant windmill on the same highway, and the smell of corned-beef and cabbage from the purina plant on the river.
Now, I'm not telling you that your intuition or your dreams will be crystal clear....but
You will with practice learn the "code" you put into your dreams.
I often dream about leaky roofs.....wonder what that means?
I actually LET the sheep out into the sahara today. Half of them followed me to the meadow...but the other half refused to even consider going out there. They just stood baaing over the fence, until I relented.
Since there is no rain, the sahara won't recover anyway. May as well let them grab what is left on the ground. At least they stopped baaing to open more bales of hay. Going out to find some more sheep feed today. Looks like we'll need more protein again,
Peeps in the southland with a heat warning for the next week.