Baaa-d Farmer

While relating my hay predicament to my sister in an e-mail, I told her I wasn't a 'baaa-d' farmer, just one that had miscalculated. Shortly thereafter, I received via e-mail this story my sister wrote. As usual in this family you have to be careful that you don't inspire a story or poem with some innocently said word or deed. I found it quite funny, and some of the sheep antics were right on target. :-) I hope you enjoy it too.

Baaa-d Farmer

The sheep ran up the hill. The sheep ran down the hill. They were sure they had heard the Farmers voice. Where could she be, they all thought?
“Well, I believe we should take matters into our own hooves.” Said young Beater who was trying to take charge. “I think we have a baaa-d farmer.”
Their stomachs growled. They needed to eat. It was the middle of the winter and the ground was frozen. There was nothing to eat and they needed to eat – NOW.
“Now before we start running in circles, let’s think this through.” Said Maaa the matriarch of the group.
“Now look, Maaa,” Beater said, “Your ways are the old ways. We youngsters like to act now – you know in the moment.” He smoothed his rumpled head wool.
She ignored the young ram. “This is what we know. This morning we ate our hay. This morning we saw our Farmer. Just a few hours ago we had food. She won’t let us down. We must trust in what we know.”
“Did you hear that?” said Beater. “It’s her voice again.” And he ran up the hill. All of the young lambs followed him. But when they got to the top they were spooked by the sound of their own hooves hitting the ground and immediately ran back down the hill. “Wait!!!”
With all but Beater back in the flock, Maaaa began again, “We know we were fed this morning. We know we were fed last night. Therefore I conclude that we will be feddd tonight.”
“But, I heard the Farmer say ‘That’s the last of the square bales.’” Said Siiiister. “And it is only two hours before dark.”
The flock -old and young- looked at Maaa. “We have to trust her.”
Suddenly, from a distance the world’s in harmony (no wait a minute that’s a song). From a distance the flock could see someone walking toward them. The person’s face and hands were covered. Only beady eyes looked out. To their side was a huge flat-faced wolf. The flock started to bleat and shake.
Then to their surprise they recognized their Farmer girl and the big wolf next to her wasn’t a wolf at all but the big dog that chased when he shouldn’t. All of a sudden, behind the intruders bolted the experienced collie they trusted to guide them. To the flocks amazement the collie herded them to a hill they had never been to. When they reached the top they could see a field with large round bales – just ready for eating. They, the flock, were saved.

The End.

Thoughts of Spring

Beautiful Spring 2006

Peonies and Evening Primroses

Yes, I'm still pining for Spring, but this week we are having such a wonderful break from our 'winter of torment'. :-) Since Sunday we've had 50s and 60s, and mostly sunny. Saturday was horrible. Cold, snowy, with a harsh wind blowing. Sunday dawned still windy, but much warmer.

The ground is very soft and muddy as it thaws out, but its so nice to walk outside and not be all hunched up with the cold. Its amazing too, how much less time chores take when you don't have to struggle with frozen water buckets, gate latches and gates that are stuck to the ground. In the morning I gauge how well I'm doing on getting the chores done, by two school buses that go by. The first one goes by when I'm usually about half way through and the second one as I'm finishing up. This morning, I was all done except tossing some hay to the rams and the first bus went through---I was pleasantly surprised. I had quite a bit of time to let Boone run around while I tossed limbs on a brush pile! It was hard to go inside and head off for work though.

I was very taken aback when I finally realized that the last full week of February is upon us. What this means in my world is that in less than three weeks, little lambs should be making their appearance. The first ones on the calendar should be around March 15-16, however there are three of the sheep ladies who were very discreet, so I don't know when they were bred---the earliest date possible (according to when I put the ram with them) is March 5th! This all translates into I have got to get my fanny in gear! Now!

I try and have all the girls hooves trimmed, plus shots and worming before lambing and shearing day . I've started waiting and doing the rams when they are on the shearing platform, as its just easier to mess with them one time. Still that means that 18 sheep need to be tended to before March 24--eight of those are pregnant, so they need to be first on the list.

I did get Hope down the other night because she was limping a little (I think it was just caked mud in between her toes). I didn't have any vaccine, but got everything else done---so its just 17 and a 1/4 sheep left! ;-) My usual strategy, since I do all the work on the sheep myself and don't have a restraining device, is to only work on one or two per night--this is usually my limit anyway, as I don't have alot of daylight hours when I get home. I will lure the unsuspecting (okay they suspect, big time, but their love of food overcomes....) flock into the barn, choose my victim, and snag them around the neck with one hand. If they are a hard case, I will put the halter on them so they don't somehow wear me down and escape. If they are mild mannered, then I turn their heads into their shoulder, pull up on the outside hind haunch and tip them off their feet---they will slid down my legs so there is no sudden impact with the ground. This works about 95, okay....maybe 85 percent of the time. The other percentage usually disintegrates into an ugly little rodeo. I love the sheepies who, once down, lay serenely on their sides, enduring having their toes trimmed. The ones that kick and thrash about are the worst, and I often think evil thoughts towards them . The Shetlands will not lay on their sides so I've developed a different approach to them--although its far harder on my back. I sit them on their butts (with the above method in modification) and lean them back against my legs. Some of them are still outraged by this and do plenty of thumping around. Giving shots is the hardest---trying to stabilize the squirmy sheep and find a good location--plus pushing all that wool aside.....

Because my pastures and hay aren't that great, I will start increasing supplemental grain to the preggies about 4 weeks ahead of time (note---which its past time to do!). In order to accomplish this I usually have to pen up the ones that need more grain at feeding time. There are always a few in each bunch that are big old hogs, and a few that just won't get in there and fight for it. This year I'm going to 'across the board' increase the Shetland grain so that the six bred ewes will have plenty. Its not going to hurt any of them to have extra eats for a few weeks. The two crossbred Merino ewes are twins, so I will pen them together in a stall at feeding time and start increasing it--now! As unbelievable as it seems the time is at hand.

I also need to work on getting the barns set up , by spreading lime and straw and fixing the jugs for lambing, and revamp the chicken pen (lets just say there isn't much left of it after the girls and Redford went thru it during breeding season!), so I can pen the chickens up. (The chickens roam free on the acreage during most of the year, except early Spring. I don't think they would bother the lambs, but I don't trust chickens, and I also want to re-seed and let grass get ahead of them.) Unless I have the chicken pen re-inforced like Fort Knox, the chickens won't stay in. They appear angered and appalled when I won't let them out, and rebellion spreads rapidly through the ranks. I use cattle panels for alot of the fencing around the 'home' paddock (where the sheep stay at night). Little lambs can scoot right through the panels until they are several weeks old. To prevent them from getting through, I run two foot chicken wire around the bottom. Its fairly inexpensive and can stay in place all year. I have started using the plastic slip ties to secure and they work very well. After the lambs are big enough, I will unwire a corner or two to make 'chicken gates'. Now I need to inspect the wire and reattach as needed as well.

Whew....where did the time go? Or more importantly--when will I quit putting everything off to the last possible second???

Here's hoping the mild and beautiful weather is wide spread so that you are enjoying it too!

Favorite Authors

Its another cold day, with a dusting of snow. The roads were in pretty good shape this morning though, so that was nice. The heater in my truck isn't working, which is not nice. My toes were frozen when I got to work (okay, they felt frozen!), and I had to take off my shoes and put my toes practically on the space heater. I have a serious case of winter blahs. Serious.

So, on that note, since nothing else strikes my fancy, I've decided to talk about a few of my favorite authors. Readers, you may not know this, but I'm a serious book-alcoholic. I'd rather read than watch t.v......although sometimes I try and do both. I will read just about anything that is in front of me. Magazines, books, newspapers. Over my life time, I've went through phases of what types of books I like to read. Always animals stories--I've read and re-read James Herriott until I know most of the stories by heart. I'm always looking for good animal stories---ones featuring vets being favorites. Of course when I was a kid, I think I read all the horse and dog and cat stories out there, and there were a lot of them, back then. Most very sad and gut wrenching. (i.e. Black Beauty, Blitz, Beyond Rope and Fence) Sometimes I still read kids books, because I like the simple plot lines and stories. In high school I went through a stage of reading westerns. My sister got several bags from someone, and that just gave me more fuel. I loved most of them---Max Brand was a particular favorite, as well as Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey (I even named a cat after him--a GIRL cat....), and someone with the last name of MacDonald.... I also read a lot of Harlequins in high school--that was before they went the way of being so trashy. Some of them were quite good, with exotic settings of Australian sheep ranches and such. ;-) I've never gotten into the 'romance' books that litter garage sales around here. I need a little more plot line than that, thank you!

I like novels that are well-written and have a setting or plot line that I'm interested in. Sagas usually don't do much for me, but I've read a few I've enjoyed over the years. I recommend the novel "How Green Was My Valley" which is very hard to get into but worth the read once you get past the first few chapters.

I've read alot of Christian fiction, but am only impressed with a few authors. Very few people can weave in a strong faith plot line without becoming preachy or outright silly sounding. My favorite authors of Christian fiction are Dee Henderson, Terri Blackstock, and Francis Rivers (who either can write stunningly well or....not....) I think there are alot of books written in this market that are sub-standard just because there is such a demand. Of course I tend to think there are an amazing amount of books out there in all classes that had no business making it past the editors! :-) I used to force myself to finish a book even if it was horribly written, but now I give it my best shot and if it doesn't click for me, I move on. I've read a few books that were so horrible, evil, stupid etc. etc. that I have trashed them.

I've been in my 'mystery' phase for many years now, and think that I probably won't outgrow it. :-) I love a good mystery, but I'm pretty particular in what I really like. An author that can weave together a good plot line, plus present regular people in their regular lives in an interesting and believable way is a must. Humor is just an added bonus. I don't care for slapstick, exaggerated humor, but love it when its subtle and works off everyday situations and events. I would like to say that the books I read are pristine in the language they use and some of what I call 'scenes' but they aren't. I frown on a main character that has a filthy mouth, but will tolerate some of that in a minor character. I just skip over it and continue on. Same way with the obligatory 'scene' that most books have to put in there at least once. Most of the authors I read know that people have a good imagination and leave it at that--they don't feel the need to spice things up too much. I am always amazed when a 'secular' author can bring faith and God into the situation in a believable and understandable way.

Okay, now....here are my favorite authors---I have more, but these are the 'top' ones that I keep most of their books.

Tony Hillerman---I love his Jim Chee mysteries. This man (in my opinion) is an awesome writer. His books are for the most part set in the Southwest and his main characters are Navajo tribal policemen. His glimpse into their culture is fascinating, his characters are flawed, 'normal' people who are always goofing up a little. He inserts subtle humor throughout. His descriptions of the setting puts you right there without beating you to death with it. If you decide to read Hillerman, start with his earlier books, as his last few have not been up to his excellent standards. This guy is great.

Elizabeth Peters, aka Barbara Michaels, aka Barbara Mertz. This amazing lady has a whole slew of books out there! My favorites are the ones she writes under Elizabeth Peters that are about "Amelia Peabody" and her family. Amelia and her husband are archaeologists in Egypt around the turn of the century (late 1800s). The mysteries are good, the plot line interesting, the culture fascinating and the books are hysterically funny at times. Peters has written a lot of other books as well, that usually will take you to another country and give you a glimpse of what its like there. Her characters are funny, flawed and very human. Her books under the Barbara Michaels name are very good too, but tend to have 'darker' undertones. Sometimes down right creepy.

I also like JA Jance (not all of hers though), Robert Crais, Steven Havill (very tame little mysteries set in the southwest featuring members of the Sheriff's Dept.--but the characters are strong and interesting and you find yourself getting involved), and Stephen Booth (these are sometimes very graphic, but that man can sure write! They are set in Britian). Sharyn McCrumb also has some very haunting well written books set in the Smokey Mountains.

Anyway, that's just a few.....I love finding a new author that I like, that has bunches of books already published! :-)

Find a good book and have a great day! (Oh, and if you have some good authors/books to share, please do! I'm always on the hunt!)

Living the Ice Storm--Pictures

Bird Frozen In Time (it's not a real bird, folks!)

The water supply....Mom found these wonderful blue containers at the discount store about half way through the outage. I usually filled the two large buckets, plus a mulitude of smaller bottle containers each day. The one Sage is sitting in was not for drinking water! ;-)

Cooking On the Woodstove

Coffee, Soup Bubbling, Pizza warming--this was the first day--when I was still optimistic :-)

Day Whatever---Eggs, Coffee, Kinda Toast

Needed Items

Next to food, water and heat, here is what I keep in my 'survival kit'.

Starting in the middle at the bottom and working clockwise: C batteries for my really old tape recorder, a list of what batteries I need to have on hand, replacement wicks for the kerosine lantern, a battery operated lantern (This is something I didn't have on hand, but longed for), Fliplight to read by (this is also a new purchase!), battery candle light (not a strong light, but helpful to carry around and keep by the bed etc.), Kerosine lantern (used as a decorative piece when not in duty), and lamp oil (not pictured), battery operated transistor radio (a must have, otherwise the isolation is overwhelming), emergency candles (burn longer than regular candles), matches, D and 9 volt batteries, and decorative candles (to make your house smell pretty and lift your spirits). I keep most of this stuff on hand in my 'surival kit' box, but added a few things after the ice storm that I wish I had had. And I do have to admit some of this stuff is left from the Y2K stockpiling scare! ;-)

Exhausting Work

Good help is hard to find, but as you can see, here are the hardworking crew, finally resting after their grueling 12 days. Its hard business to sit on their person's lap and try and keep her warm, measure water in buckets and oversee the running of the household!

The Ice Storm....Daily Diary

"I feel calmer now. Its light out, although the sun doesn't shine. The landscape is unrecognizable. My imagination conjures up the words "nuclear winter". The devastation defies comprehension. Its been almost three days since we lost electricity to the outrider ice storm. Its been an exhausting and tense time, but now its time to pick up the pieces and go on."

Day 0--Friday

We'd been warned---a major ice storm was on the way. I got off at noon and headed into a neighboring town to get my taxes done. I breezed thru the Wal-Mart before my appointment, picking up things here and there, preparing to be 'stranded' for the weekend. High on my list was D batteries, 9 volt batteries, peanuts and extra dog and cat food...oh, and new underwear (no, I don't know why, but they came in very useful when I couldn't do laundry for days and days! :-)It was drizzling rain. My tax preparer was an old high school friend and despite the falling temperatures we had to do some visiting and catching up. I was getting antsy as reports were coming in that the freezing rain was getting closer. I still needed to get home and get two round bales of hay out to the sheep. I picked up two pre-ordered pizzas on the way out of town, one for me, one for my folks who help me out with so much. The rain was freezing on the truck. On the way home I noticed a funny, beautiful weed out in the pastures--it seemed to have white blossoms......several more miles and it finally dawned on me...I was losing the race--the pretty weeds were actually just normal weeds with ice forming on them. Uh oh. As soon as I got home and changed clothes, Dad came up and we started putting out the bales of hay with his tractor. They already had one loaded on the bale buggy. It was a cold, sloppy job getting the bales out, but a great relief to have them out. I had them dumped as close to the barns as we could, so if it got really slick the sheepies could still get to them. As soon as we were done with that, I dashed about putting fresh bedding for chickens, filling all the water tubs with the hose and carrying in massive amounts of wood. Once in the house I filled up all the containers I could find, then later scrounged around found a few more things to fill with water. The freezing rain was upon us and it wasn't pretty. At 11:00 p.m. the electricity went off.

Day 1--Saturday

Words fail me. The night was long and tense. Darting from window to window at each crack...thud of a branch falling, listening to the trees dying moans. Before the electricity went out, I watched as the maple across the fence slowly dissolved...one branch at a time. It was eerie and made me feel small and helpless. After the lights went out, I went out into the breezeway, shining my feeble flashlight, trying to see if anything was destroyed, if the sheep were alive. When I shined my light towards the girls barn, 18 pairs of wide eyes reflected back at me. All night the questions haunted me as I heard the destruction continue---are the stock safe? Are the buildings still standing?

There was still traffic on the roads, maneuvering thru the downed branches. A neighbor stopped and asked my mom if he could pick us up anything in town and gave her his cell number.

Day 2--Sunday

The rain doesn't stop. The second ice storm is here. They say it will be catastrophic. The night was a repeat of the night before......its dangerous to walk outside. Chores are done quickly, praying a limb doesn't fall on me. The stock are alive and seem well. They are jumpy and bewildered. The buildings are okay. The garage has one small edge bent over on the roof where the mulberry tree hit it. The constant sounds are the rending of the wood....craack...shsssh...thud. Talking to my sister on the phone and her electricity goes out.

Day 3--Monday

The power outages are widespread. Our little world is a disaster. They told us not to come in to work today. Dad chainsawed a path to my wood pile, where the maple and mulberry trees had made it almost impossible to get to. A few limbs are still randomly falling. The rain has stopped. Last night was high drama. At 10:30 I ventured out to make a final check of things, and discovered a crushed panel in the ram pen. I tried to shut the gate to the smaller ram pen (the boys were tucked in their house), but there were too many frozen limbs blocking it, and a huge broken limb sways and cracks overhead. Boone, the mastiff is 'helps' me. Finally I kick loose a spare panel, and carry it down to the downed fence. Another limb is hanging from the tree in the way, but I am able to jerry-rig the panel in place with a couple pieces of wire and a prayer. Boone stays in the house until after midnight because limbs are crashing all around his pen. Dad takes my sister a load of wood. I fill up several feed bags of wood from the woodpile for her. We also sent a fire log, starter sticks, lantern oil, wick, a book she was wanting to read, and some INSTANT COFFEE. (very important!) The silence at night is absolute. No dogs even dare to bark. The darkness is absolute. No lights anywhere on the horizon.

Day 4--Tuesday

Back to work. Wash hair and 'shower'. Filled buckets of water at work to water the stock. On the drive in the landscape is cold, bleak, motionless. The trees are bound to the ground with frozen, drooping and broken branches. The scene is macabre, something out of a book of horror. The roads are clear. Wind gusts----the sounds of a million wind chimes fill the air as the icy tree branches clink against each other. Had a meltdown, but doing okay now.

Day 5--Wednesday

Fill water buckets at work. Dad took more wood and a bunch of kindling from his stash to my sister. Some sunshine today. The landscape changes again and is breathtaking in its beauty. The worlds glistens and is full of a sparkling diamonds. The night was cloudy. Talked to my brother and sister tonight. My brother wants to come down and help...he wants to do something.. but there isn't much that can be done, except wait it out. Talked to my sister. We bolster one another as we sit in darkened houses. Its good time to connect with family, but sad that this is what it takes.

Day 6---Thursday

Wash clothes at work. Fill buckets. Shower bath (have discovered a long handled dipper that makes 'showers' much easier and effective!) and wash hair. Power lines almost down across the highway on the way to work. My truck is small enough for them to let me squeeze under, but the semi trucks are having to wait. They close the highway after I get through until later in the day. At night it is beginning to sound a bit like a truck stop, as generators hum in the distance. The night sky was clear, and I've never seen so many brilliant stars. Tried to find the dippers but only found one. Neighbor took a load of wood to my sister. A church member called me at work and offered a generator. I said I was doing okay, but then found out that the neighbor who took wood to my sister, were all staying at their daughters house with basically no heat, so I called the people with the generator and gave them a heads up. They ended up setting the generator up for them. You can't out give God it seems! My sister's electric came back on (She only has a tiny fireplace to heat her house). Talked to my sister (electric came back on, while we were on the phone!), another church member who was checking to see if we were all okay still, and a neighbor lady. I called the neighbor lady who is older and farms by herself after her husband died several years ago. She said she was doing okay, and we had a good visit sharing our stories. She could work circles around me I think.

Day 7--Friday

Ho hum.... Glad its Friday! Filled extra buckets at work for the weekend. Electric went off at work the last half hour. Made a big mistake of trying to cross town to go to Wal-mart. Got caught in awful traffic since the lights were out. Got there and the stupid store was closed. Finally got to Radio Shack and they were open, so I was able to get some batteries I needed. Then stopped at a tiny grocery on the way out of town that had a generator working the lights. Got some extra dog and cat food, milk, Peanut butter. Got a couple bales of alfalfa hay. Looked nasty when I opened it at home. The sheep ate it okay. It had a nasty price on it too. Dad helped me drag the mulberry brush to the field to pile it, so we could open up the drive to the sheep pasture, as another bale will need to go out soon. Boone and Ariel helped too. Very tired tonite. Sister's electric off again.

Day 8--Saturday

There was a brief thaw during the week so most of the ice slipped from the trees. Starting to see how much damage there is to the trees. Heard on the radio that over 300 electric poles are broken, and 4,000 are still without power with our provider. (Many more still w/out power in the area on different providers). Finished cleaning up Mulberry tree outside the fence. Cleaned up elm that was over the bales of hay. Loaded a bale in the buggy. For breakfast I fried two eggs on the stove and made toast. Best eggs I ever ate. I make coffee by heating the water, putting a filter in a strainer and pouring the hot water over the grinds. Works well. Mom fixed a meal of salmon and mac and cheese and shared with me. Its snowing and sleeting tonight. Hateful stuff. Talked to Mom and sister and a co-worker.

Day 9--Sunday

108 Linemen risking their lives and working to get our power back. Saw four tree trimmer trucks go by---the first activity we've seen in the area. 2900 still w/out power. Poles broken now at 375. I saw three lights over on the south ridge tonite!!! Crescent rolls don't cook well on a wood stove.....
Here is an excerpt from a 'book on tape' I'm currently listening too (note to self: when you've been w/out power over a week, its not a good idea to listen to a book about the end of civilization as we know it!---to real). This is from Into the Forest: "This wet dark day will long be over... by next Christmas. The electricity will be back, phones will work, in town there will be food at stores and gas at the service stations. We will indulge in all that we lack, soap, shampoo, toilet paper, and milk, fresh fruit. Our computer will run, we will use the Internet, listen to t.v......"

Day 10-- Monday
Washed clothes at work, filled buckets, took shower bath and washed hair. Sister's electric back on again! Tired tonight but got some stuff done---unloaded water from truck, carried wood, fed hay, tidied house of clutter, cleaned off inside back windows (for some reason, lantern light really emphasizes the smudges...). There is electricity over on the main highway--its getting closer!! More excerpts from book: "a convergence of all these disasters caused this"....."and how quickly people adapted to the small to the changes"......"the final flame vanishes...darkness claims us once again. The casual way we used to use things...we lost the habit of groping for the light switch when we entered the room"..... I feel hopeful tonight we will soon have power.

Day 11-- Tuesday

Tonight--4 lights to the south and 1 to the north! June, the sheep very sick today. Doctored her the best I know how. Gave shots in near darkness, not easy. She was good though...bad sign. Put out big bale of hay. Hard night.. one obstacle at a time. Starry night. The sky is so light tonite, its filled with shades of black, grey and a paleness that glimmers. Saw two electric trucks headed east at 6:30 p.m.! :-) I think they were working across the pasture to the east as I saw red winking lights in the distance. My two tiny solar path lights shine dimly but bravely against the darkness. Discovered that static electricity actually lights up!

Day 12--Wednesday

June still sick, still treating her. Mom called around 3:00 p.m. and said their electricity was back on! Which means mine was too! I headed home early, turned on the well house first thing. Headed in the house, washed several loads of laundry, refilled all the containers (just in case!). Strawed the dog house and June's stall, carried wood in, watered sheep and dumped ice, medicated June, finished cleaning out the last of the stuff from the 'frig, then bleached it out. So clean and shiny and empty. Dried clothes, took a shower. Still hear generators in the distance and know that my neighbors to the west and north are still waiting. All the useless items that were in the way during the outage can once more be used. (Those were: t.v., VCR, remotes, washer, dryer, computer, coffee maker, toaster, microwave, toaster oven, bread maker, etc. etc.) Thank God we are through to the other side!!

A typical day of life during the outage: Get up, clean ashes from the stove, build fire, put two bowls of water on the stove to warm, add water to the back of toilet and flush, fix critter food, do chores in the dark, carry water to the critters, bring truck around--load buckets and water containers etc, use two bowls of warmed water to 'shower' and wash hair, dress for work, then off to work, back home--unload water, feed & water critters, carry 3-4 loads of wood in, warm supper on the wood stove, trim wicks on the lantern, fill/flush toilet, listen to news on the radio, eat, collapse in chair by the stove and read or talk to friends and family on the phone. Off to bed.

Only one more post on the Ice Storm...I promise! (For those of you who are getting depressed reading them---you know who you are....)

Living the Ice Storm....Part Two

The Ice Storm was actually two different fronts that moved through, so that one hit on Friday, with Saturday having a light off and on drizzle. The second storm hit on Sunday and was worse than the first. After listening to the destruction all night Friday and Saturday it was hard to believe it could get worse, but it did. Not long after dark on Friday, the limbs started breaking and falling to the ground. Crrrrrack....swish......thud.... Every few seconds it seemed, Friday night, Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night. Finally by Monday the limbs had quit falling with regularity, although there were still a few here and there that continued to succomb through the next few days. It was dangerous to walk outside---chores were done, while constantly looking up or scurrying quickly under trees, traveling the roads was equally as bad, as limbs were down or still falling everywhere. The livestock, dogs and cats were all spooked and were very subdued, except when running from falling limbs.

The roads stayed open the whole time though---no ice on them, thank God, but many were blocked at times from the trees/limbs across them. If the roads had become impassable, I believe many people would have died. So many were without heat and had no means to heat their homes. Shelters were full across the counties.

On Saturday, there was still alot of traffic---people trying to get to town and get 'emergency' supplies. By Monday, there was very little traffic, and people had been hunkered down, trying to survive the last three days. I think it was then that we all realized, just looking around at our little part of the world, that this wasn't going to be a quick fix. At that point, many people who had been trying to stay in unheated homes, decided to head for a shelter.

By day four or five, people started reaching out to each other more, keeping in touch on a regular basis. Most people had spent the first few days, trying to keep themselves, and their families alive when suddenly thrust into this primitive existance. Our elderly and infirm in the area were checked on immediately. Most of them were taken to family members or other homes that had heat. By day four the generators were starting to echo across the country. By the end of the outage, it sounded a bit like a truck stop parking lot when you stood outside at night! :-)

People were good, and people were generous. We all had stories to tell, and we were all in the same boat. It was good to slow down enough to re-connect with family and friends. Generators, wood, lamp fluid was all shared as we could. There were a few people who did die in the area---from using heating sources that weren't vented properly----but honestly its amazing more did not perish. We know so little any more about such things and the learning curve is quite harsh.

People became incoherent, dazed and we all looked like zombies. We are told this is 'post traumatic stress'---but who knows? We were all the same, and most people were patient with each other, so it didn't matter. Stress levels were high as we learned how to cope. We found out we were declared a 'Disaster Area' and that 'Looters' were hitting the vacant homes. Say what? Disaster Area? Looters? Thats only for real bad things like Katrina, isn't it? While it was a disaster, it didn't seem like it on that scale. Most people still had their homes and lives, we could still travel, still buy supplies if the stores were opened. We live in a 'hardscrabble' area for want of a better word, and most people just coped and went on, many met the challenge with creative solutions. "Foraging" became the term of the day. People would drive to the neighboring towns to see if the stores there had; batteries, lamp fluid, kerosine, kerosine heaters, generators, wood etc. etc. Some things were impossible to find for awhile, others terribly expensive.

We have a local radio station, that in good times we mockingly add the words 'Scare' to the front of their call letters, as they get quite excited and dramatic on their reports. However in bad times we are so very thankful for them, as they turn over their entire broadcast time to reports of what is going on---the electric companies would give updates, local shelter updates, if there was kerosine etc. available, where stockmen could get water for their livestock etc. etc. My little transistor radio was an amazing connection to the outside world, and again, humbling to hear how wide-spread the damage was. The linemen went above and beyond in their efforts to get us reconnected, working in unbeivable conditions. There were teams that came in from many states to get us back in business. Bless them all.

It was a time I'll not likely forget. All other winter storms will be compared to the Ice Storm of 2007 and hopefully very few will measure up! :-) I never felt afraid, although my nerves overcame me a time or two during the actual nights of destruction. Sadness sometimes overwhelmed me when I looked at the destroyed trees, but I felt God's protecting hand through it all. What an reluctant adventure it was!

Living the Ice Storm....Part 1

For those of you sick of seeing pictures and hearing about The Ice Storm of 2007 woes, you might want to skip the next several posts. :-)

After the first few days I began jotting my thoughts down about what was happening. For all the trouble and trauma it inflicted, it was (hopefully) a unique experience that will not happen again. It's not likely that we will be without power for extended length of time again (please!), so I'd like to revisit that time and share a little of what went on.

I also plan to post a few things about what to have on hand, what I didn't have on hand that I wished I did and things like that...but that is later.

A couple of things that I want to point out, no matter how 'ready' you are with things to survive, you need to know that there is going to be a some 'mental' adjustments that are hard to cope with. Now if you live in the boonies, off-grid and that is your lifestyle--well, you've already made the adjustment and aside from some physical difficulty your life isn't going to change much. Now, as for the rest of us, in our varying degrees of dependence on modern conveniences---we had to make the adjustment and learn to cope.

I tend to lead a somewhat 'rustic' lifestyle, if you will, in that I heat with wood, and keep things like kerosine lanterns, candles etc. on hand for power outages. We've had our share over the years, so you learn to keep things on hand, 'just in case'. You also, through prior experience, learn to fill up every container you own with water if you hear there is an ice storm coming! When you have a well, you don't have water if you lose your electricity. The severity of this particular ice storm became quickly apparent, so that about halfway through that first evening, I went rummaging through the house looking for more containers to fill. I was ready, or so I thought,---after all I read Countryside Magazine, and I love pioneer stories. We'd weathered a power outage of five days once before. (When I was much younger, had a week off from work, and fewer livestock! I enjoyed it that time!)

The hardest part for me during the 12 days the electricity was off, was the water situation. It was just a 'drudge' trying to get enough to keep the sheep watered, plus water for the other animals, enough to keep the toliet flushed, as well as bathing water etc. Running water...hot running water...became a deep longing. :-) After the first three days I was back at work on a mostly regular basis and developed a routine of hauling multiple buckets and containers and filling them at work during lunch. We also have a washer and dryer here and by the second week, I broke down and brought a couple of loads in to wash. I had many offers from people to come by their house and use their shower, (and no I didn't stink! ;-) but I just didn't have time (or energy) to take them up on their offer. Instead I had 'bowl baths' every day and 'bowl showers' and hair washing every other day. The difference was a bath was one bowl and a shower was two bowls! When you don't have power, you have to plan ahead for everything--since there is no instant warm water or heating. I warmed the water on the woodstove, which usually took about a half hour, so I had to make sure the first thing I did when I got up was get a good hot fire going in the stove, then put the water on to warm while I did outside chores. Meals were the same---you can cook about anything on the woodstove, but you have to think ahead, as it takes longer. Oh and back to the water---you can take a pretty good 'shower' with a few inches of water! :-0

When you have an ice storm of this magnitude and the power outages are so widespread, you become quite isolated very quickly. The few stores that were open the first few days, were swamped and lines were long. Gas stations also had very long lines and many ran out of fuel. I didn't really need anything, so I stayed home and basically went to work. I did eat hot fast food for lunch most days that I worked, just because of the logistics of getting everything done was overwhelming to me, and a hot meal seemed like just the ticket. ;-)

Normal chores and taking care of the livestock became much more time consuming, I think in part, because I had to totally re-learn and re-think how I did things. By the end of the twelve days I had managed to streamline things a bit. I am very blessed in that my employers were very patient and understanding during this time and coming in a bit late and leaving a bit early was okay. We called it our 'emergency status' working time, and everyone dressed casually and were here as much as they could be.

The darkness was so complete while out doing chores in the morning that my flashlight beam was terribly inadequate. It was pretty awesome and humbling to be surrounded by total darkness for as far as the eye could see.

After the storm was over I really did enjoy going out at night in the dark, while making a final check of everything, and looking up at the stars or just absorbing the dark and the quiet. I've never seen the stars so brilliant and bright and I found out the 'dark of night' is seldom black dark. The sky was often a deep dark blue, or light refracted behind clouds so that there were large light colored swaths here and there. The first few nights, after the storm, the quietness was complete. Not even dogs dared bark against the enormous dark. There were no refrigerators running, no televisions, nothing.

.......to be continued..........

Ariel

I thought I'd post a few pictures of 'the old girl' this morning. Ariel is a registered Blue Merle Rough Collie. She will be ten this year. She didn't have quite all that it takes to make a show dog, so she got to come live with me and be a 'farm dog' instead. I've had her since she was about 7-8 months old. Until last June she and her buddy, Jody, a Sable/white Rough Collie kept things pretty much in line around here. Jody died a few days after her 10th birthday, suddenly and still pretty much of unknown reasons. Despite a bunch of tests done on her to try and save her, there was still never a diagnosis of the root cause.

The girls were half sisters (same sire) and about a year apart. They were buds, but intensely jealous of everything the other one did. They would occasionally have 'melt-downs' that sounded a whole lot worse than they were. Ariel has had a difficult and lonely time without her barking bud, but she seems to be doing better. She is actually trying to create a 'pack' with Boone, the big Mastiff. They are a funny pair to see, and I have to supervise, since he is so big and rambunctious and she is a bit on the frail side these days.

Ariey 'insists' on going on walks when I take Boone out, although some days you could tell she really didn't have the energy for it. She stuck it out though, and I believe by the end of summer she was really moving alot better.

She is a dork and a little goofy, but she is such a good girl. Her bark is so high pitched and annoying that it would drive a reasonably sane man or woman crazy in a short while. I don't exaggerate. I've watched 'company' literally cringe when she starts barking. She does love to bark--at existent and non-existent things alike. She listens though when I tell her to shut up. She used to steal stuff when she was younger--tools and things that a dog really shouldn't need. Very sneaky about it too...... It burns her up when Boone gets a bone and she doesn't (she won't chew them anymore), so she will wait until he is out of the yard and steal whatever it is out of his pen. She still occasionlly has big running sprees--sometimes when I first get home, she'll start running big looping circles as fast as she can. She doesn't last as long as she once did but not bad for an old lady!

She has always been moody--either the highest highs or sometimes the deepest lows. She would have to work her way through her blue funk---a day or two--then she'd be fine. From the first she has had odd eating habits. A very hearty appetite for a couple of days, and then she will eat nothing for a couple of days. Jody used to love that part and would clean up both pans if I let her!

When she was around 4 or 5 I took her to obedience classes just for the socialization and 'special' time together. She loved it and already knew most of the lessons. When we were 'at ease' and having a command explained to us, she would lay on her back with all four feet sticking up in the air......much to the amusement of the class. She also got a small order of french fries afterward, which to this day she really, really loves. Now, she will do the obedience commands if she takes a notion to. :-)

Ariel gets to spend the nights in the house these days. Something I started when Jody passed on, as Ariey was so sad. She enjoys laying in front of the wood stove on her blanket and never makes a sound all night.

I love the Collie breed and have had the pleasure of having four beautiful collie girls in my life. They've all had wonderful, easy going temperments, unique to the breed characteristics and terribly smart. Many 'commands' they seem to pick up by osmosis. Basic manners seemed to be inbred and things like 'thats far enough' on walks seemed to be readily understood. My girls have all enjoyed being around other critters (even chickens) and not harming them. The only big drawback to the collies is their long double coats. As they age some of them seem to have a hard time shedding out and it can become a mess very quickly. One of my first collies, Mara, was a blue merle 'smoothie'. She was a lovely thing and her coat was a snap to care for.....but its still not the same as that beautiful long flowing 'Lassie' coat.

I was glad to get these two pictures of Ariel. She hates to have me point 'that thing' at her and so its very difficult to get a good photo of her. She was engrossed in something off in the distance in both of these...so she never even knew when I snapped 'em..... :-)

Making Progress

Despite the continued uncooperative and in my opinion unecessarily cold weather, I can see some progress on the brush clean up.

I find it hard to bend when I'm all bundled up in my coveralls and other winter gear, but it can be done and is necessary in this cold although I'm sure its not pretty to look at. Nevertheless slowly the brush pile(s) is growing.

Here are a couple of pictures--one is a before. I think I've posted this before, but this is whats left of the white mulberry tree in the side yard. To the right is the woodpile, that was pretty much inaccessible for a few days, until my Dad got the chainsaw in there. And......

Ta da! This is the same area taken after this weekend. I've been working on this area off and on as I had time since the ice storm. It was on the 'high priority' list, since all the debris was blocking access to where my wood guy brings my wood---which I'm hoping he will do soon--now. All the limbs I dragged (drug?) through the gates and out into one of the pastures. A new woodpile is growing from the downed trees---you can see it in the near right hand area of the picture. There is still some wood I need to stack around the base of what's left of the tree (middle back area of picture), and a few big chunks that need sawn up, but for the most part its gone, gone, gone! Its amazing how the skyline has opened up where this tree was. I do hope to 'regrow' a mulberry in this spot. I think there will be some offshoots, and I hope to prune one to grow up very straight--with no forked branches! The white mulberry's are nice in that while the birds and other wildlife still love them, they don't leave the awful purple stains the regular mulberry's do. The white mulberry's are a bit of a rarity in this area, and I think this one was 'self seeded' by a bird or other varmint from a neighbor's tree down the road. It was about 20 years old.

Now on to the next area! I think cleaning up around the front area of the place is next. Then the ram pen...then ....... and on and on. :-0

Here are a couple shots of the rams in their pen. You can't hardly see them, but the boys are working diligently on removing the bark from the limbs, to make them lighter for me to carry (yeah, right!). There is still an occasional limb that will fall, and the boys run like greased lightening every time they hear that particular tell-tale 'crack' from a falling limb. In the first picture of the rams pen, you can kinda see the section of fence that was crushed (the only fence that I had that was completely smashed down in all the mess--which is really amazing). This fence is made out of cattle panels, so it wasn't too hard to get another panel wired in place. The squished panel is still under the tree. ..where it will likely be for awhile yet!

Yesterday was up in the 50s! It was quite windy, but very comfortable outside. I'm sure all the critters enjoyed warming up their cold bones. It was a very brief reprieve though as last night the temps went back down into the 20s with only an expected high of 30 today. Very rude awakening. I was hoping the hoses would thaw out so that for even one day I wouldn't have to carry water to the sheepies in buckets....but alas it didn't happen. I've been carrying water to them since January 11th (yes I know exactly when! ;-) as I filled up all the troughs the day before the Ice Storm! ). Its getting a little old. I was glad though that the big icebergs that have been filling up the boys tubs finally thawed enough for me to dump yesterday.

I have enough hay, barring any 'bad things happening' to last 66 more days or so. Its a grim feeling, and I'm still trying to track some down. All I can say is...if we have a decent hay season this year I'm getting twice as much as I normally do---JUST IN CASE!

Have a great day!

Spring Break

Figuratively speaking that is...... I'm a bit tired of winter weather and cold, cold, cold, so I thought I would step back to last Spring and re-enjoy some of the lambs. A good reminder that soon days will be warm, grass will be green and little lambs will once more be running in their lamb races.

Heres little Lucy, a crossbred half shetland (1/4 Merino and 1/4 Dorset). She was one of triplets and was such a cutie. As she grew her wool was really looking fantastic. She went to her new home later in the summer with 4 other of the sheep to provide wool for their new owners spinning pleasure!


Here is little Hope-ster. Most likely she is the last lamb of my favorite and first ewe, Gracie, a Dorset. Gracie loves her babies with an overwhelming passion, but I nearly lost her this past year during lambing. What a horrible ordeal. I couldn't get the baby turned, neither could a neighbor who raised sheep for several years. Finally after calling many vets I got someone who would work her in. (It was late Saturday afternoon and most were closed). After a hair-raising drive to a neighboring town, with my Dad driving and me sitting in the back of the van with Gracie, the vet was able after a bit of work to get the baby out. I was astonished when the lamb hit the ground and gave a little gasp. I was sure the lamb was dead and suspected that I would lose Gracie too. I grabbed the little lamb at the vet's word and began swinging it about and then rubbing and drying it with a towel. The minute I laid that little lamb in front of Gracie's nose and it wiggle and made a tiny noise she came alive. From flat out on her side, to up on her breast, and then all the way up to standing, licking and talking to her beloved baby. Gracie had a huge drive to live and while she was sore and swollen for days she was very content with her new little girl. It didn't take long until she was ready to proudly show off her newest to the rest of the flock (which are mostly her daughters and granddaughters). Hope's name certainly seemed logical---to have a live lamb after all that time and pulling was beyond any hope. Hope was a very large single ewe lamb, and she was turned upside down--very odd presentation and difficult presentation. She did initially have some eye problems, I think from being grasped by the eye sockets to get her out. So even though her and mom were under constant care for a week or so, she quickly outgrew the other lambs. She is a sweetheart, and is still deeply attached to her mom, Gracie. She is 1/2 Merino, so I hope to eventually use her in my crossbred program. If you can see in the photo, her front foot has a very light brown spot on it. I have had some spots show up in these white dorsets and merinos and it will be interesting to see what is produced when crossed with the shetlands.

Here is beautiful little Birdie. Initially I called her Maybelline because she had white 'eyebrows', but in the long run it didn't seem to fit, so Birdie she is. She was very friendly as a lamb, but now is shy and reserved. I think in time she will become friendly again. She was suppose to be on the saleslist, but I really like her, and so now I have another black Rouen daughter! Her fleece seems to be much improved from her sister's though.

Lastly is lovely Luna. What a wonderful little surprise this girl was out of her grey flecket mom, Willow. I was expecting black or grey and got musket instead. Hopefully she will carry since her sire was a sokket/smirslet. This little girl has been so pretty through all her color changes. She is very shy, but at least isn't as wild as she was a lamb. She will stand back and watch the others gather around, but the whole time she will be waving a front foot around like 'don't forget me'! Birdie and Luna are registered Shetland sheep.

Hope you've enjoyed this re-visit to Spring and that its helped brighten a cold winter day in your world! :-)