It's Been A Week...

Chaco and Noah

Just a quick update, since my computer is being squirrelly.

First, Noah, the little orange kitty has been very, very ill. At this point it looks like it being from the Advantage spot flea treatment I put on them three Saturday's ago. My best guess is he probably ingested it from licking if off his litter mates. I've had him to the vet twice and all blood work and exams show him to be very healthy. However he began having severe seizures last Sunday and had them all week, about every 4 to 5 hours. During the off times he has been very out of it, and his cognitive abilities have suffered.

I'll try and post a more informative post on this later, in hopes it will give a warning to others. Thursday I noticed a change in the pattern of the seizures, with more time between each episode. Friday he stopped having seizures and hasn't had any that I know of since. He is acting close to 90 percent normal today, and seems to be much more alert and aware. He still has a slight bit of cognitive problems, and seems very tired but otherwise the change is remarkable. Prayers and good thoughts for continued healing would be much appreciated. It's been emotionally exhausting and painful to see such a healthy young kitten go through this.

We've all been worried....

His little kitty family took good care of him, cleaning him up after the seizures and surrounding him and cuddling close to him, to give him comfort when he needed it. Gabriel was especially concerned and would stay close with his arm around Noah much of time. I would hold him during the night after he had his seizures, but they would take over in the day and keep him warm and comforted when I put him back in the box at night.


Secondly a week ago Wednesday I started getting sick. I ended up being pretty sick Thursday evening, all Friday and Saturday, and started getting a little better on Sunday. I finally went back to work Tuesday. I'm guessing it was some sort of flu virus. Respiratory, fever, chills, aches, and the worst part, just having zero energy. Doing chores took every ounce of energy I could muster. My Mom even came up and helped me one night, carrying in wood, building a fire and helping with some of the chores. I haven't been this sick in years. I'm still doing allot of coughing, and energy levels aren't what I'd like, but am doing much, much better.


Today the sun shone and the temperatures were in the 70s. After my Dad jump started my rider mower I was able to finally get the place mowed. It looks so much better. I can't believe it took so long to get this chore completed, but events just conspired against it.

That's the brief update. I better get this posted before the evilness that lives in my computer tonight swallows it up.

Kittens Meet World

Gabriel meets Chickie

I love this photo! Curious meets curiosity.

Beautiful little Trinity

Noah tackles the yard tractor.

It's a big world out there little kitties....even if you do think you are hot stuff....

Cheerful little Gabriel, Adventurous Noah and Sweet Trinity are all in need of loving homes!

Fall Colors...

Hard Maple in the front yard...

Saturday was a beautiful day--sunny and warm, but not too warm. Our fall colors are not going to be dramatic, but let's face it..even a so-so color display is still pretty fantastic, if you just look around. Many of the leaves have already been stripped from the trees, and the oaks have went straight to rusty brown. But here and there...splashes of vivid color.


Click to biggify any of these pictures to catch the colors and detail.

Most of Saturday I spent working around the place; cleaning up the gardens, putting away flotsam and jetsam that accumulate during the summer, and some housework. I also took pictures and played with the kittens. I had hoped to mow the front, but the battery didn't take the charge, so it's back on the charger for a longer period of time.


I also made a hurried trip down to Leadmine to shop at the Amish/Mennonite stores. The produce stand was shut down for the year which was a disappointment. I only wanted a few apples, but I also wanted the best fresh bread in the world. The lady that runs the stand says her mom bakes the bread and it is just so good. Oh well.... I went over to the bakery instead and got a couple of their loaves and some apple bread.

Then I went to the bulk store/scratch and dent (yes I know an odd combination, but it works..it was very busy there). I took the back roads back, and it was just so pretty.

All in all it was a nice day. The sunshine felt so good, and it's amazing how it helps with my attitude!

Rush Hour?

Prime Parking Space in the Horse and Buggy Section...

Jackdaw's Breeding Group

Fairlight Jackdaw
(Three Ring Just Jack x Fairlight Duckie)

JackieD is a black and white smirslet ram lamb born this past Spring. He is a pretty little fellow, and I finally got some good photos of him, with his head up for a change. He is a good natured little fellow, and I hope he will produce some spots for me. His conformation is nice, and I think he can add in some 'bone' to the lambs. He is a small but sturdy little fellow. I'm not sure yet what his fleece type will be, possibly double coated, or just as possibly intermediate. Jackie has four ewes, three of which will be staying here. As soon as I break up breeding groups Jackie and Selena will be going to live over at Prosperine, which is not too far down the road. He is out of Just Jack, a moorit and white flecket ram with a nice intermediate fleece and Duckie, a solid black double coated ewe. Again with this combination of bloodlines, I'm hoping that there will be some spots.

Fairlight Selena
(Minwawe Redford x Fairlight Blackberry Winter)

Selena is three and half this year, and has not lambed despite being put with a ram the last two years. Because of space restrictions, I can't keep everybody, so I hoped to sell her to a fiber home. She has a gorgeous fleece, that shears out impressively. Earlier this year, I was able to sell her to a fiber/pet home and she will also be going with Jackie to Jama's. I'm hoping she does settle to JackieD as I think she could produce some lovely lambs. We decided that putting her with Jackie when he was separated from the ewe flock would be a good thing. He would have company and she might possibly breed and settle with a longer season with the ram.

Locksfield Willow
(Fletcher Sundance x Fletcher Limmerick)

Willow is 8 1/2 now, and had the year off from lambing last year. She is a very loving, wonderful mother, so this year she gets in the breeding group. Willow has produced many lambs for me, but only three ewes. I would love to get a solid (non Ag) ewe lamb from her. She produces lovely fleeces and beautiful lambs. She has an intermediate fleece, and was a wild flecket at birth. She is also Jeffrey's dam. She is also pretty pudgy. :-) Willow was the first ewe I picked out and bought for my Shetland flock. She hasn't ever warmed up to me too much, but neither is she a wild snot, so we co-exist peacefully. I'm not expecting Willow to give me solid fleckets, but I'd happily just take a solid ewe lamb from her.

Fairlight Luna
(Minwawe Redford x Locksfield Willow)

Luna is a lovely little musket ewe, who is 3 1/2. Luna is a small ewe, with a lovely, intermediate fleece. Luna was a wild Ag flecket as a lamb--probably one of the most beautiful lambs born here. Luna is much like her mother, Willow (who she hangs around with most of the time), not overly friendly, just content to hang around on the outskirts. Like her mom she will come up for cookies, and is probably a little less suspicious of me. Luna produced Orion, a lovely yuglet sokket musket ram her first year to lamb. This year she produced a lovely solid moorit ram, Conway. I'm really hoping that she will produce some spots for me---and hope just as hard that they won't be Ag! If I can't have a non Ag ewe lamb out of Willow, I would settle for one out of her daughter.

Fairlight Rosemary
(Minwawe Redford x Locksfield Tabitha)

Lastly, but never least is my dear Rosemary. This is the friendliest, sweetest ewe on the place. She has a home here for the rest of her life, if it's up to me. She has a nice intermediate fawn fleece, but is somewhat cow hocked and her tail goes from 'okay' to 'oh no' depending on the season. This year she produced two lovely, lovely little lambs, with gorgeous fleeces. Rosetta, her daughter was one of the lambs I retained. Her fleece is so beautiful---lustrous, crimpy and a wonderful fawn color. I'm not sure Rosemary will produce color for me, as she had solid lambs this year from a flecket ram. Her sire is a smirslet/sokket and she is out of a solid moorit ewe.

And those are the breeding groups for this year. Willow's bloodline figures very prominently--she is dam of Jeffrey, great grandam to Chickie, dam of Luna, and grandam of Selena. Shandrew Rouen, my oldest ewe (she'll be 10 next spring) is also featured heavily---she is dam of Lark, grandam of Chickie, and grandam of Jackdaw.

Five more months and a bit, and we'll know the results!
(p.s...if the sheep look a little stressed, it was because I was basically stalking them to try and get some decent photos!)

Jeffrey's Breeding Group

Fairlight Jeffrey
(Stone Ridge Harris x Locksfield Willow)

Jeff is six and half years old now, and I haven't used him for several years, having had access to some rams with outside bloodlines. However, this year I wanted to give him a couple of ewes in hopes he will produce a nice ewe lamb for me. He always produces lambs that have lovely soft fleeces in the intermediate range I like. His fleece stays very consistent throughout, only falling off on the back of the britch area. However he does produce 'scadder' around his neck area, especially just before breeding season--perhaps in attempts to impress the ladies? He is sired by Stone Ridge Harris who was a grey flecket and out of Locksfield Willow, also a grey flecket. Jeff himself was a wildly spotted grey flecket as a lamb. I plan to get a fleece sample to micron before I break the group up. I had intended to get one when I put them together, but with all the excitement I completely forgot.

Jeff's twin brother, Callum, who is now a wether, sired two lambs before the big surgery. Of those two, I still have the ewe lamb, Duckie, who has produced both Omen (smirslet) and Jackdaw (this year's black and white flecket). This line seems to cross very well on spotted lines, so we shall see. Both breeding groups are basically much the same lines crossed backwards...Jeff is related to most of the girls in Jackdaw's group and Jackdaw is related to the girls in Jeff's group.

Now on to the ewes...all two of them..

Fairlight Lark
(Minwawe Redford x Shandrew Rouen)

This ewe is a nice darker moorit (under that sun bleached fleece) with a very, very dense fleece. She has one of the lower micron counts in the flock. Lark produced a nice ewe lamb for her first lambing this year, Fairlight Eve, but no spots. Lark is out of a moorit smirslet ram and a solid black ewe.

Fairlight Chickie
(Locksfield Griffen x Fairlight Duckie)

Chickie is a sweet little solid black ewe, possibly double coated. There will be a little line breeding on her dam's side by putting her back to Jeff, but nothing to close. I'm hoping for spots out of both of these ewes, but who knows. I know Jeff will produce wildly spotted Ag fleckets, but here is hoping for a nice little spotted ewe lamb that isn't Ag! Chickie's sire is a black smirslet, and again her dam, Duckie has produced both a smirslet (Chickie's twin brother) and a flecket ram.

Sorry for the slightly blurry pictures. The girls were being very clingy and nervous, and would either hang out next to the fence, or I would have to snap one across the pasture...

Fall Pictures.....

The other night, with the leaves on the ground and green grass all around, I thought I'd snap some nice photos of the dogs.

Boonie was very agreeable (as long as there were treats involved), but I can't say the same for Ashley.

Here is Boone....What a good boy....

And here is the rest of the story.....

"Please, please don't tie me to this fence and leave me...please..I'll be good..." seemed to be Ashley's thoughts. Nothing like taking a picture of a dog that thinks she is being abused and abandoned. My memory card was full up anyway, so, so much for the 'photo shoot'. I do like that one of Boone though. It's seldom I get a picture of him looking right at the camera. (And yes, Ashley is blowing coat, and despite brushing and plucking she looks pretty ratty).

I'm off to get some things done outside. The SUN IS SHINING! What a wonderful, not often seen thing around here lately. I hope to get some mowing done (battery is on the charger now), hang out lots and lots of laundry among other things.

All the critters are enjoying the sunshine. The kittens are playing madly in their pen (despite the stinky flea treatment I put on them earlier), the chickens are sunning on the south side of the buildings, the sheep ran happily out to pasture, trying to be the first one to find new fallen leaves, and even the inside cats are following the patches of sun around. Nice....

Have a great weekend.

Vacation.....Poof....

Sneak Peek of Jackdaw's Breeding Group

L-R--Rosemary (fawn), Luna (Musket), Selena (very back--Fawn), JackieD (black/white smirslet/flecket) and Willow (grey)

Well, it's almost over. This is my last day before I head back out to work on Monday. I'm disappointed in what I didn't get accomplished. I know that I did get allot done, but with the rainy weather, the outside tasks that I needed to do (mowing) didn't get done. Out of ten days of vacation there were two..count them...two..days that were dry and sunny and today is one of them--and the other was one day when I was at the lake.

Kitty Play-pen--COMPLETED--kitties installed.
It is mostly in the garage, with only about a foot outside. They can get plenty of sunshine, but safe from rain.

Last night we got a killing frost, so I'm headed out in a bit to pull and stack the rest of the garden plants. It's beautiful and sunny today and the leaves are falling in mounds. This afternoon I'm going out to sit in the sun and play with the kittens, maybe read a little and do nothing else!

Tempe---attached at the foot?

Last night we had a Fire Department soup supper fund raiser. I'm secretary for the department, so I get to take peoples money when they come in. ;-) We charge 3.00 per adult (less for kids), and 10.00 for families. There is no limit to what people can eat. It's a pretty good deal, and by not charging an arm and leg everyone can come and get a good meal for a good price. People also seem to feel more generous because of this and last night we made over $400.00. That is very, very good for this small community. We (the membership of the FD) bring various soups and desserts, so there is minimal expense for the department. All that is paid out of the budget is for paper goods, crackers, cheese etc. We hold the event in the Community Building. The FD operates with volunteers and on dues and donations only. No government funding or anything like that. We have to pay insurance and work comp, utilities and upkeep of the trucks and grounds. Our dues are 30.00 per family, and at the moment we are operating in the black. So far, with two soup suppers a year and sometimes a yard sale, we have been able to keep from raising our dues. The turnout was really nice last night and people seemed to enjoy themselves, even though the fire was spluttering around and it was chilly in the building.

Fall foliage....tattered poke berry bush

My house is kinda a mess right now, but I hope to get it in some semblance of control today. I've been working on several areas and have things scattered about, waiting to be relocated. I just can't figure out with all the work I did this past week, how things can look so...undone. Sigh..

Verity...I promise someday you'll be as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside...and if not...who cares?? ;-)

Oh well, despite the groanings, it was a great vacation. I did get some work done--the important stuff anyway,-- and just enjoyed not having to rush to get everything done before or after work.

Have a great week.....

Mirror, Mirror

Remember this cat? Showed up out of nowhere (wearing a flea collar, no less), three weeks later had six kittens etc etc..? This is Butterfly. Butterfly is going to the vet Monday for the big spay. I'm hoping it goes well for her. She has had allot to cope with in the last several months. Butterfly would love an indoor home with someone. She would just love to have a quiet little corner in the world to call her own, with lots of good food, and someone to love her. She's probably not even a year old yet, but she has been through the mill already.

And who is this?
This is Trinity, she's one of Butterfly's daughters. She's almost a big kitty now at 10 weeks. She is shy and sweet and I've been working on her to bring her out of her shyness. She has made big steps in the last week and enjoys attention. Her markings mirror her mother's on opposite sides...except for the little Groucho Marx mustache. Trinity would also love an indoor home where she could be a little princess and not have to worry about all the meanies in the world and not have to go through the mill. If you'd like a sweet matched pair these two are it, although they don't have to go together. Trinity will be spayed before she goes to a new home.