It's Here!!

Musket Shetland Sheep Roving

It's finally here! The musket lamb's fleece roving I sent off to be processed at Stonehedge Fiber Mill. It's gorgeous and very, very soft. I'm afraid the pictures are not going to do it justice. It is lighter than I expected, but has a definite brownish cast to it. Oatmeal would be a good description I reckon. Unfortunately the pictures make it look greyer than it actually is. Anyway, I love it and I have two whole pounds of the lovely stuff... now where can I hide it??

Ha--I'm finding myself suddenly very possessive of all this gorgeous roving.. and I don't even spin. I just sold all of the black Shetland roving, and while thrilled, I am somewhat unexpectedly bereft about it. Hmm... maybe I do have a problem.

The Bounty Of Friends

I am not a very social person, but I have a few good friends that mean the world to me. We don't get together every week, or sometimes we don't even talk for weeks at a time. But we know that if we need each other or just want to talk we are there. We pick up the mantle of conversation with ease when we do call or visit. We catch up with each other, we gossip, we giggle, we enjoy friendship. I have one dear friend --my 'best friend' who I've known since sometime in grade school. We can't quite remember when, but we vaguely remember how we first became friends. Over the years we have drifted in and out of keeping in touch. She married, and we both got involved in our lives. For several years we fell completely out of touch. Then we re-connected and our friendship continues. We have lunch often, and we never have enough time to talk, but we enjoy each other. She is an open, unaffected person, generous of heart and full of laughter. She gives the best and most heartfelt hugs. Why would I ever want to lose this friendship?

Through the years I've connected with other people and become friends. It always seems odd in retrospect that certain people will become your dear friends. Sometimes you have little in common, sometimes there is an age difference, but I can look back and know that these people touched my lives in real and rich ways and became a part of my being. Some of them have passed away, some have moved far away, even some I've never met in person!

Then there is friendship that goes beyond that simple word. Some people are just a part of you, forever and ever. My cousin and I grew up together --we were inseparable. There were only a few months difference in our ages and we lived within a mile or so walking distance. I can never remember a time when she wasn't in my life. Sometimes I think about how we must have lain together on a blanket and probably stared at each other, and maybe giggled little baby giggles. As we grew we explored, and played and swam and used our extraordinary imaginations to make the mundane exciting and brave. When you run pell-mell down a steep rock and shrub strewn ridge, fleeing from a bear (likely a fire blackened stump in a grown up mind) you are connected with that person forever. You shared the heart thumping fear, the screams and eventually the hysterical laughter. Together you built tadpole farms in the creek and felt minnows nibble at your legs. You raised imaginary horses on green fields, married imaginary ranchers and raised more imaginary horses. In reality you helped your cousin with her daily chores on a dairy farm. The work was hard and allot was expected from them, but between the chores there was always time to play and laugh and a never ending playground. As we matured our paths parted ---our lives became dis-injoined. She eventually moved away. Life has dealt her unimaginable tragedies. Sometimes out of the blue, I think of her and my heart aches for her, and I wonder how she is doing. We keep in touch, but not well. We meet at funerals and hug each other and sob and vow to do better. We love each other, but we are separated at this time in our lives. Not a day goes by when I don't think of her, or some silly thing we may have done. My childhood memories are so intertwined with her that there is no way to separate them out. We've decided that someday we will sit in our rockers---side by side----at the nursing home and once more relive our memories. I love you dear cousin, I surely do.

Yesterday I visited a friend who is one of those people you meet up with in life and feel connected to instantly. Sometimes her and I plan things to do or just visit and chat. Her husband goes on rendezvous sometimes so we often enjoy going places that wouldn't interest him. The other day she called and offered the bounty of her garden. I immediately said yes, and went over last night. I have a garden, but it's pretty pathetic at the worst of times, and small even in the best of times. She has a huge garden and plants enough for an army. We picked and loaded up sacks of tomatoes, cukes, squash, okra and zucchini. Then we visited. I got to see video of her first grand child, and her re-papered kitchen. We caught up on our lives, and had a wonderful time. She finally sent me home with a lovely bouquet of zinnias and the bouquet of friendship.

Treasure your friends, think of them often, and always realize God places these special people along your path as you travel the road of life. Some are there only briefly and others will walk with you the whole distance.

The Dog Days of Summer

Ariel blow drys her hair after a cooling bath

Boone's ho-hum sighs echo through the breezeway

It's hot, it's humid and it's dry. The sheep graze early and late, or try and find a patch of stingy shade to browse around in during the day. The rest of the time they huddle in the shade of the fence line as close against the ground as possible, immobile except for the twitches that attempt to drive off the flies. The chickens are nowhere to be seen, except an occasionally shadowy form in the deep recesses of the barn. The cats have tucked themselves away in secret cat places. The dog's lay stretched out in the breezeway on the cool concrete. In deference to the elderly a fan is set up and soon appropriated by Queen Ariel. Boone stretches out behind her. They both wait for someone to do something. They are bored, but they are hot, so they wait patiently. The shepherd is in the house, in front of the fans, miserable and irritated. She doesn't take the hot weather well, and the drooping plants and barren pastures depress her. Rain has passed by once again. Dark clouds of promise drifted to south and to the north. It happens every year, but somehow the shepherd forgets and the angst of it all is repeated each year.

The rains will come again. Perhaps not in time to save the pastures, but when they do come the transformation of the thirsty dry earth will be amazing. Overnight everything will once more be green and strong and alive.

Until then we will all find our cool spots and wait it out. It is summer, after all.

The Great Cat Rescue.....

So yesterday, at noon, I went on an errand during lunch time. When I came back, I parked my truck under the lone tree in our parking lot. I have quit parking under this tree because since the ice storm, it has several large dead limbs hanging by a thread, just waiting for me to park under them, so they can crash down. Paranoid, perhaps, but I think not. Need I remind readers of two flat tires, two separate window incidents and yada, yada. But, no, I had to park under that tree at that particular time. Yep.

So I parked the truck and had 15 minutes left to read. It's hot,so I rolled both windows down. Munching on lunch and reading, relaxing, it took a few minutes to sink in that I was hearing a very faint meowing sound. I tried to ignore it, but I have some kind of mechanism that causes me to get sucked into these situations almost immediately. Before I even knew it, I was outside looking around for the source of the meow. The whole time, my mind is saying, you looked, you didn't find, now go inside to work! Hurry! I kept looking. Finally I looked up....and up. There high in the tree was a cat, a kitten really. Just at that age where kittens start finding all kinds of things to get into.

I wore myself out making periodic trips out, trying to coax it down. I called it, I sweet talked it, I opened a can of food and tried to lure it down. I tried to suck my co-workers into the operation. Finally I told myself, it would surely come down in the night, when it wouldn't be so scary to look down. Feeling sick at heart I left for the evening.

When I pulled into the parking lot this morning, and saw two of my co-workers standing under the tree, looking up, I groaned and thought about just driving away. Yes the kitten was still there. Very vocal and more active. We called, we coaxed, we looked like idiots. We moved the Church van under the tree and placed smelly cat food on top of it. We thought, and plotted. We decided an hour and then we would call animal control to see if they had suggestions. V. my co-worker remembered some really, really long poles used for what we don't know, and went and fetched them. I got a Styrofoam bowl and we thumb tacked it to the end of the pole. We put a little dab of cat food in it and managed to get quite a bit on ourselves as I tried to weave the pole up towards the cat. The idea was to try and lure it with the smell of yummy food to come down a limb at a time. It almost worked, but 'she' as we began calling her, chickened out. When we would walk away to think out a new strategy she would cry and cry. Finally I called the police station to try and get animal control. I left a message. They were suppose to come. They never showed up. V. called again and got the animal control guy. He didn't sound very motivated or helpful, but he would 'swing by after he unloaded some stuff'. Several more trips out to sweet talk the kitty.

Somewhere in there I had formed a very unhappy plan that if we did get the kitten down, I would take it home, put it in a large cage and V. would perhaps work on her husband all weekend so he would let her have the cat. Now the chances of that happening were very slim, and I was a bit sick about having another cat, but what to do???

When I came back from another unsuccessful attempt, V. had had a stroke of genius and called the humane society to see if anyone had lost a kitten. I would have never thought of that, because in the country people rarely 'lose' a cat around here, but they sure do 'dump' them. Amazingly someone HAD lost a kitten in that vicinity! A miracle! V. called the number, and got a machine. She left a message. About ten minutes later the guy called back. Yes, they had lost a kitten! She was cream and white (match), her name was Priscilla. She had been lost the right amount of time. They lived just behind where we were located. In about 10 minutes, the guy shows up. I wasn't sure he was animal control or the owner, so I asked him if he was AC. He said no... but he was a deputy sheriff and a volunteer firefighter--guess he thought he had to give credentials! Ha.... So I took him out to the tree. For a minute I was afraid it wasn't a match. His face scrunched up, then he said PRISCILLA, what are you doing, honey?? I'm not kidding when I say this kitten literally started wailing and crying at the top of her lungs! There was absolutely no doubt these two knew each other. So the guy tries to climb the tree--it was not a pretty sight. I finally said, let me go and get a ladder so you can get up to the first branches. So I dash off to the office, go running in, yelling for V... she isn't there, I dash down the hall towards the custodian's room----around a corner and nearly collide face first into the ladder that V. was rushing to bring out to us! So I take it out to him and Priscilla is determinedly working her way down the tree to him! I stepped behind the van out of sight and he soon could reach her and got her down. She was so happy to see him. She is probably around 4 months old or so. She had to be one tired, thirsty and hungry little kitty, but her purr button was working just fine. Evidently Priscilla has a knack for getting into 'situations'. Last week she somehow got into a trash can and the lid shut on her--however her kitty brother was trying to rescue her and pull her out by her tail! ;-)

Often cats appear aloof, but never doubt they have a real and strong attachment to their people! But then us cat lover's don't have to be told that, do we?

As for the animal catcher? He never showed up, but who needs 'em anyway.

Egg Suppliers & Hay Barns

This is the King of the Roost and one of his harem. He is doing considerable showing off for this less than impressed hen. He is an Americuana and she is a Americuana cross. These feathered 'employees' work hard---ranging the pasture eating bugs and keeping, um... things, scratched up, and also laying lots and lots of eggs. As I've mentioned before, none of my chickens are 'spring chickens' anymore, but most of them still lay eggs with regularity. The Americuana's seem to retain their egg laying capabilities into their senior years. I've got a few other breeds that lay brown eggs, and I rarely get a brown egg these days---almost all of them are green, so the proof is in the egg color I reckon.

The weather has been amazing this week. Very cool at night (I even put on a long sleeved shirt to do chores in this morning) and tolerable during the day. We are still very dry. None of the grazed pastures are rebounding, the ground is cracking in places and even the weeds are wilting. The sheep come in with mud tracks under their watery noses. I try not to get depressed, but something about seeing the earth so parched hurts my soul. I've been watering the garden every other night, so I have lots of tomatoes coming on, as well as some egg plant. Not sure the squash is going to make anything as it bakes in the sun.

I have two projects going right now. Well actually two that I'm trying to finish up, they've been ongoing for awhile. I've almost got the backyard converted into that pumpkin patch I mentioned weeks ago. I have four pumpkin vines growing and most of it mulched. I still need to lay down some kind of weed cover (newspapers, feed sacks, wool...) and then put down some proper pine mulch around the stepping stones. The gourds I planted near the back of the patch have taken over--I had to clip them back a little over the weekend. They are even vining up into the cedar tree! So far I've used about 4 loads of straw/hay mulch from the barns to put around the pumpkin plants. Should be very fertile next year.

The second project is pictured below... the annual cleaning out of the hay barn/garage. This is actually my two car shed type garage, but I use one half of it for hay storage. As most of you shepherds know, the hay barn can become quite piled up during the hay feeding season. I try to keep all the scattered bits piled up, but somewhere along the line I lose the race so that suddenly I have lots of loose hay to take care of. I was able to salvage one tarp load of 'good' bits of hay and have removed three loads of 'bad' stuff. The latter just goes to garden areas so it gets a second life.

I'm almost done now with cleaning it out, but in the picture I was only half done. You can see the pallets and tires stacked up against the walls. These are used to lay on the dirt floor to keep the hay off the ground. Over those I lay down old tarps and that seems to help keep that bottom layer from mildewing as bad. My hay guy is very kind and humors me as I scramble around laying down pallets and tarps. I will finish up pulling the pallets up so the ground can dry out and all the bugs can scram. I also need to spray for wasps before they bring the hay, so nobody gets stung!

Have a great week, and I'll be posting more food pictures soon! ha... this time Quiche! (all those eggs you know.)

That which was lost......

...has been found. I find it amazing that this little cat, turned back up. Her name is Dixie, and she has never been one to stay close to the house. This time however I had not seen her for at least two months and maybe even three. I was about to write her off--literally--and list her as 'missing' in my Animal Record book.

Her story is a bit unique in that another cat, named Chet showed up here one day and moved in. While this story isn't about him, he was quite the character and didn't give me much choice about his moving in. Several months later, he moved in what I think was his sister (Dixie). First he put her up in the ruins behind the house, but made sure that he pointed out to me where she was. She was pretty friendly, but scared of everything. So I started feeding her, of course. It didn't take to many days until I realized that he had moved in his pregnant sister! Two weeks to the day she showed up, she birthed four little grey kittens. Three looked similar to her and one was a darker tiger grey. She had them under a pile of junk and was quite content. I wasn't raising any wild kittens though, so rudely stole the kittens and moved them to a cage that I had set up in the yard. Reluctantly she followed them down here. She was a pistol when she had kittens. She is so timid that she runs from everything, but not then. Any of the cats even looked towards her precious babies and she would attack them and run them off. Except Chet. She always let Chet hang out with her and the kittens. She would even leave him to kitty-sit on occasion. So, she was such a devoted mom, I promised her she could keep one of the kittens, but not all. I found homes for three of them, and let her keep Echo---I silvery tabby like herself, except that Echo has stripes and Dixie has swirls.

Shortly thereafter, Dixie decided she could care less about being a mom and took to leaving for long periods of time. She has done that to this day. Usually in the winter she will stay closer, and curl up with her daughter during the cold nights.

This is the first time she had completely abandoned us though. She really looks pretty good, although, I think her eyes look sad. Physically she is in decent shape. I put some flea control stuff on her, and hopefully she'll come back so I can worm her. She ate an entire can of cat food (she formally hated canned cat food!) and some of the dry.

When I was moving the Shetland rams this morning, I saw a leg and tail of a cat curled up on the back stoop of an empty house my parents own. I was sure it looked like Dixie instead of Echo (because of the swirls), but I feared getting my hopes up. I walked over there and kept calling her. At first she was skittish and kept dashing a little away, and then coming up to me etc. Finally though she gave in to a vigorous petting session, meowing the whole time about it all. She then followed me the short distance to the house and chowed down on the food I offered. I'm very happy she is alive and well, even if I don't approve of her lifestyle! ;-) Very strange. But then cats often are.....

Rotating Pasture

From the top: Jeffery --enjoying the grass and wearing a grape vine,
The three Shetland boys, Drake, sampling the goods and lastly Blue and Lanny--the big 'pony' sheep.

The boys are happy today. Each of the two ram pen's got rotated onto fresh grass. We are very, very dry here and in desperate need of rain. If we do not get any soon, I will be feeding hay within the next two weeks. The ewes have two large pastures that I switch them back and forth on. The lower pasture is shot since its so dry and they will likely start needing supplementation on the upper pasture in another week---two weeks if I'm lucky and we get rain.

Blue and Lanny, the Merino ram and his wethered son have three small pens that I switch them through. The pen in the picture is rather small and the grass was pretty well shot last year. Due to several years of neglect and chicken abuse (dust baths) the pen was full of rank weeds. This year I managed to seed it to clover, lespedeza and fescue. Many of the weeds took over again, but down near the ground the other varieties are thriving. I will likely only keep the boys on there a week, then mow it and see how it looks. I'd like to make it a thriving patch of ground again.

The Shetland rams, Jeff & Drake and the wether Callum have four small areas I can rotate them between and that will soon be five. I'm still in the stages of getting things set up, so this year I have unfortunately let them overgraze their pastures, as I couldn't get them moved in a timely manner. Hopefully things will be smoother as I continue to work out a system. Today they went into an area that hasn't been grazed since late spring. I noticed a good deal of the lespedeza I seeded has thrived! The boys were very thrilled to be out where the pickings were plentiful again.

When you first turn sheep out on a new pasture, they will dash about, sampling this and that.. much like people at a salad bar! They are excited and sure that something better is in the next patch of grass. I still have lots of weeds and sprouts in most of my pastures, and the sheep will enjoy eating them as well. I really get a kick out of watching the sheep on new pasture.

The girls were quite put out that everyone was getting new pasture but them! I'm hoping to have at least one of their pastures cross fenced by next spring and keep them rotated in a more beneficial manner. The end goal is to cross fence both pastures and have a total of four smaller pastures to move them through. I would love to be able to offer them new grass every week, and I know the pastures, sheep and shepherd would benefit from it.

Have a good weekend.

Quick, Easy & Good Breakfast....

....or 'brunch' in this case.

The hens are keeping me well supplied with good free range eggs, so I to enjoy them fixed in various ways. If you'd like a change from plain scrambled eggs and toast ---try this updated version!

Add canola or olive oil to skillet, then beaten eggs, then add chopped mushrooms---your choice on how much. Sometimes I add a smidgen of oregano as they cook, which adds a bit of an exotic taste. Again, your choice, they are good either way. Once eggs are scrambled, I remove from skillet, and lightly rub olive oil over the wrap I'm going to use. (The one pictured is a tomato-basil flavor, but plain is just fine too). Then I lightly 'toast' the wrap in the skillet, until it is slightly browned. Add scrambled eggs to wrap, and a pinch or two of mozzarella or swiss cheese. Taste is excellent, and add some garden fresh cherry tomatoes and it is appealing to the eye as well. Enjoy!

Fairlight Magena

Registered Shetland Sheep

Gena is a very lovely registered Shetland ewe. She is a yearling and will be ready to put with the ram in the fall. Gena is rather shy and won't willingly come up for petting, but she does love crackers and will take one from your hand. She has a gorgeous moorit fleece with nice crimp and handle. Her lamb's fleece was one of the first to sell at a Spring fiber event. Gena is sired by Minwawe Redford x Locksfield Tabitha and has excellent conformation and tail.

I have two of her full sisters from this year so am willing to let this little beauty go. She is sired by a moorit smirslet-sokket so should carry spots. I also have her grey half sister available for those interested in a package deal.

If you want to see more pictures and information on Gena, check out my website at http://www.fairlightfarm.com/?page_id=6

Located in SW Missouri, where we need the rain to keep the grass growing!

This and That......

Last week I got my windshield fixed....finally. I was pretty glad I didn't get it fixed real quick though, because a few weeks after the major 'incident' it got another big star crack. I thought I would take this picture before I had the windshield replaced though. Its not that great because of the busy background. However, you can see how whatever hit it caused an almost completely inscribed circle. Pretty wild. The best I can tell is that the 'point of impact' was actually right in the center of the circle. I'm sure hoping this new windshield stays chip free for awhile!

Sage Grass-cat seems to be much better. He isn't visiting the litter pan as often and has gotten quite feisty when it comes time to give his meds. He also has become quite ornery again. I told Meshach I was sorry, and that maybe the sad-sick Sage was a sweeter kitty! Just kidding---I'd rather have ornery than sick any day. Sage takes the antibiotic with minimum fuss, but he sure hates the 'gel' stuff I have to squirt in his mouth. Of course the label says the cat will eat it if you give them a little on their mouth. Sure they will. It smells awful... all fakey fishy smelling. Ugh. (This stuff is similar in consistency to Laxatone or Nutri Cal). Fortunately he only has to have this once a day. Last night he put up a very valiant fight and managed to extract himself from the towel, scratch my hand, and fall off the counter. I quickly nabbed him and re-wrapped him in the towel and finished giving the junk despite his dramatic attempts to gag it back up. After its all over he gets a tiny bit of chicken. (Meshach gets a bit too, for free!) I've switched them back to the original formula on their food, and now will just have to wait and see if this is going to be a long-term problem.

It's very hot here --continuing in the 90s for the next several days. It's also extremely dry and the pastures are flagging. Bummer. We need rain badly. It's hard to get motivated in the evenings to do anything outside. I need to finish cleaning out the hay barn and get it ready, so hopefully it can soon be filled with new hay..... I opted instead to work in the house with the fan blowing on me! :-) My bookshelves are a mess--overflowing with books crammed in every nook and cranny. I got quite a bit done towards restoring order, but there sure isn't any extra room for incoming books! I even have a stack of sell/trade/give away books too!

The sheepies are keeping a low profile and are a bit subdued in the heat. At night when they come in they will stand around panting with their mouths wide open. They have good shade in the day and if there is a breeze its not too bad, but its been pretty still the last couple of days. Other than keeping fresh water out there isn't much else to do for them.

Oh, the other big news.... remember the tech guy from the DSL that said that my modem being 'fried' was a fluke thing? Well, it wasn't. The one I got last Thursday died on Saturday. Let's just say that the tech person was a little more testy with me than before and I got the feeling I was walking on thin ice. As he explained to me 'having two modems go bad that close together just doesn't happen'..... So, anyhoo, I'm not sure what the next step will bring. They are sending me another, and I'm going to buy a 'super-duper' surge protector (its on a 'normal' one now) and change the outlet that I'm using. The only thing the guy could think why it would happen was if it was getting short bursts of energy through that outlet. I have it on the surge protector and all my other computer equipment operates off that outlet with no problems, but hey what do I know. SOMEthing is wrong that's for sure. He even had me go to another location (my parents) and plug into their outlets to see if it did the same thing. Any DSL experts out there???

And so it goes.... have a great week!

Christmas in July?

"Christmas Cactus" that sits on my desk at work

This particular cactus has about four different plants in a long narrow flower pot. Each plant is a different color. This is the first time this marvelous peach color has shown up. My co-worker has a pot just like this (she bought us both one), and it's interesting that her peach one is blooming as well. The white one on the other end is also putting on blooms! The reddish and darker orangey colors all bloomed months ago. We have lots of flowers in the office, mostly African Violets. When I first started here over ten years ago, my co-worker 'V' had a couple of violets and I also had a couple. Then we decided to begin some starts by putting the cut leaves in water. We named the plants, we babied them and we grew crop after crop. Soon we ran out of space and we got bugs in the soil, so that ended our Violet Farming Adventure. It was quite exciting while it lasted! We still have 24 violets between us, as well as philodendrons, lilies, and other various plants.

Speaking of plants I believe we got one dumped off here at work! Yes, I've had dumped cats and dumped dogs, but this is the first dumped plant. It just 'appeared' in the office. No one seems to know where it came from. It isn't just some little old house plant either, no this thing is huge. I think it stands close to four foot high--some type of palm looking thing. It's hard to work around it. So far we just pretend its not here and manouver around it, watering it once a week, hoping it'll go away. We don't have the room for it.... but what to do?

Big Rotten Doesn't Feel Well....

Poor Sage, he is having some urinary tract problems. At this point he hasn't had any blockages, but he is visiting the litter box numerous times per day. He is now on antibiotics (since yesterday) and some kind of paste stuff that I have to give once a day to help de-acidify 'things'. I think that's what it does, I can't remember everything the label said. Anyway, this stuff is making him have loose stools so I hope that will stabilize. I'm just praying he doesn't get worse and have a blockage especially over the weekend!

He is fine otherwise---he doesn't really act sick, just seems slightly puzzled and put out by it. He plays, he eats, he drinks and generally gets into everything like normal. He is maybe a bit more clingy. I noticed the frequent litter box trips Wednesday night and then got him on antibiotics and the other stuff the next day. I may have to change cat food, but I hate to do that if it can be controlled other ways (since I have two kitty's in the house). I did get the 'fish' flavor of the cat food I use (Science Diet) and have been feeding that for several weeks. I think after this episode it will be back to the 'original' flavor. If problems continue to happen, then I'll have to switch to that special expensive junk. I'm researching more options now though to see what ideas I can come up with. I'd love to get one of those cat waterers that have water continuously cycling and pours like a fountain. The boys would love that, but it works off electricity and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving something like that plugged up while I was gone. So for now I've been letting the bathroom sink trickle a little. I hope the big feller recovers soon, I hate it when one of the furries is sick. I always expect the worst and worry about them. I think he is awfully young to have this problem too... If anyone has dealt with this sort of problem and has any tips on management I'd love to hear about it!

Sage had been acting even more obnoxious than usual this past week, so he had been in trouble allot. One day he managed to knock over one fan 'on a stick' ---one of those tall oscillating ones. Luckily it didn't damage it, except for knocking the front shield off, which I wired back on. I maybe yelled a little about that...then that night he managed to knock over the big oscillating fan on a stick in the back room! I saw it going down and stuck my foot under it to cushion the fall, and fortunately again the only 'damage' was knocking the shield off. It made allot of noise though, and so did I. I was tired, cranky and so I did allot of yelling and lecturing. I rarely smack anybody, but I do sometimes 'lecture' loud and longley.... :-( So evidently two attempted fan destruction's in one day was my limit. I was totally surprised and unprepared for Sage's reaction. He had a complete come-apart, fuzzed up to twice his normal size, stalked after me, arguing and yowling about being yelled at! He was so upset! Finally a little later, he was still walking with a fuzzed tail, so I was more calmer, and told him to just settle down and then petted him and told him he was a big goof up, but I loved him anyway. He was so happy things were 'back to normal'. Geez.... Now I feel really bad, because he was probably already not feeling well before the 'big fan incident'.

Last night I was woken up by something thrashing about around my legs. I finally figured out it was Sage playing with the little quilt ties which I had (mistakenly) left on the outside. He was having quite the fun, so I don't think he really feels awful or anything. I'll keep you posted how he does. In the meantime, Meshach, the 10 year old seems pretty revved up in this cooler weather and wants to play. It's good to see him acting like a kitten again.

Have a great weekend.

Moorit Everywhere You Look!

....Yes what you are looking at is a bunch of sheep fannies. However these sort of shots are interesting to other sheepie people.... Really. And lest you think we are stranger than perhaps we are---these sort of photos help show conformation. Is the tail a proper length and shape? Are the hind legs positioned well? See, really....

In this first photo you will see from L-R Locksfield Tabitha's 'Short Tail Ewe' (or STE), Locksfield Rain's ewe lamb and Tabitha's 'Long Tail Ewe' (LTE). Yes, I'm working on names.. but it's difficult. I don't think any of these nice ewe lambs have overly long tails, but STE has the most tiny perfect little tail (which you can just barely see the outline of) so hence her nickname. Perhaps not fair to LTE who really doesn't have a loong tail.. but oh, well....

So, next photo is STE. Isn't she lovely? This little girl is just an overall beauty. Her fleece seems to be a modified color--perhaps fawn? I'm unsure of what this color is called, but her sire (Minwawe Redford) carried it in his fleece and has passed it on to several of his daughters. It's not Ag as it is throughout the fleece. Now little STE looks like some overstuffed teddy bear but as much as I'd like to get my hands on her, she is very shy. She is working her way up to getting friendly, but it is a slow process.

The next two photos are of LTE. This is STE's twin. She is slightly bigger, very, very friendly and let's me bury my fingers in her lovely fleece. She also has the slightly modified color like her sister, as you can see in the picture of her fleece.

Lastly is "River" (tentative name), Rain's ewe lamb. This is the famous Ringo's twin sister. After giving CDT shots over the holiday, I'm now more thoroughly confused as to what color this ewe is. Her mother is Ag grey(however I think she is an emsket as she has retained a dark blueish color) and her sire is a 'moorit' but I think maybe a fawn, as he has a steely grey cast to his fleece. So, anyhoo, I would have sworn River is not Ag, but after parting her fleece she is very silvery. I don't know if this is another expression of what her sire carries or if she is indeed Ag. She really doesn't express any other indicator's of the Ag--no silvery lips/around eyes or ears. Tongue color looks the same as the others. I expect only time will tell. She isn't wild but she is kinda snotty and doesn't really want to 'mingle' with the hired help! ;-)

I have one more nice moorit ewe lamb, who wouldn't cooperate. So maybe next time. This one is out of Shandrew Rouen, and has the absolute most gorgeous mocha looking color....... I will have to admit though--after being able to tell the big white sheep apart ---easily--over the years, I am struggling to keep these four girls straight, as to who is who. Rain and Rouen's are very similar (Rain is Rouen's daughter), and I also confuse LTE with River. This is pointed out to me, when I go to give LTE a good scratch and River looks at me like I'm nuts and hops away...

And one of the best things about these girls? Their sire is a smirslet sokket, so hopefully they will carry spots. AND STE and LTE's full sister from last year is for-sale if you would like your very own moorit spot carrying ewe!

Have a great one.

Ringo Take Two

Can I help it if I'm smitten by this little guy? Yes, I know he is a wether. Yes, I know I can't keep him (can I?). But he sure is beautiful and I hope that he will get a special home where he can be petted and fussed over to his hearts content. Yes, I do place wether's in fiber and pet homes. My flock is small enough that its more feasible to place them. It's like placing any other creature that is 'pet material'. Make sure people are educated, make sure the sheep isn't alone without other sheep and make sure you stay available for the new owners to ask questions of. Shetlands make super pets. Yes, they are 'livestock' but lets face it---most of us chose this breed because they are friendly, and personable. Why not enjoy their special quirks--like wagging their tails---and introduce others to them as well. Not everyone wants a breeding flock...believe it or not. :-)

So back to Ringo. Yes he is 'star'. He loves people. He is friendly and sweet and very curious. He has the finest fleece produced on the lambs this year (yeah, I know...darn...) out of some really outstanding fleeces. Buttery soft, lots of crimp, and oh, how lovely that first multi colored fleece will be! Yep, he will likely fade, but if we are lucky he will keep the dark blue of his mother's fleece color. And I think most of those face markings are going to hold. I know he will keep his wonderful personality and that soft lovely fleece!

If you are interested in Ringo and his half brother 'Shane' (black wether) just email me for more information.

Someone asked in the first post if he was polled. I don't know. He had scurs before I wethered him, but they were much smaller and shorter than his half sibling ram lambs. Shortly after wethering he knocked both of the tiny things off.

Trying to take these pictures was a challenge. Ringo wanted to be right next to me--not out there away--he might miss something!

Hope you enjoy looking as much as I enjoyed playing and taking pictures!

Sleepy Sheep

It's 10:30 p.m. and time to make one last check on the livestock. Count the sheep, check the rams, put Boone in his pen for the night. It's one of my favorite times. The sheep are sleepy, calm and peaceful. They usually bed down in family groups, with half grown lambs tucked up close to their momma's. Even last years lambs will lay down near their mom more often than not.

Its dark out and millions of stars shine in the night sky. Strange sounding night birds call to each other. Sometimes I linger, listening, letting the peace and the quiet of the moment wash over me.

Stay safe tonight woolly ones.

Hot Summer Days

Blue Merle Collie (Ariel) and 'Blue Merle' Ram (Jeffery)

(Picture taken several years ago)

It's been hot the last few days and the temps are suppose to climb this weekend. I expect the only thing to do is get out and work early in the morning and then hibernate during the day! I've got several fence repair jobs I need to get done, before the sheep further their wanderlust. I do have the hot job of mowing the yard behind me, as I did that last night. My yard 'proper' (inside the fence) is not huge and I have lots of trees and plants so its easier and neater to push mow it. I will be mowing all the front where the sheep have grazed it down also, but that's pretty easy with the rider mower. Once that's done, the place should look pretty spiffy.

The ewe's are getting out on new grass in the evening, and the rams are also getting switched over. They won't have grass for very long, but I'm hoping that it will last into August before I start feeding hay.

Boone, the big french mastiff, is always 'helping' me in everything I do, and mowing is no exception. He knows he can't chase the push mower when its running, but the minute I kill the motor he starts trying to bite and pull the wheels off. Evidently this is an exciting game. As I mow, I usually have to throw piles of toys out of the way, and he will run and grab them and return them to where I didn't want them to be. Very proud of himself, but when you are hot and sweaty it gets old pretty quick! Last night he finally decided to move them all outside the yard (I had the front gate open) where I assume he thought they would be safe. This hot weather is pretty hard on him and he pants very loud with tongue hanging out. It's not really very quiet around now, when everywhere I go all I can hear is this loud huffing and puffing following me!

After I got in and had a shower, I sat in front of the fan to cool off. I was having problems with my modem for the DSL so had to end up calling them. Seems somehow my modem got fried! I keep everything unplugged when I'm not home (except the phone line) or when its storming. Anyhoo, it was fried for sure, and they are sending me a new one, no charge thankfully. I was quizzing the guy about what I could do to avert this from happening again. He assured me it was a fluke thing and wouldn't happen again. He seemed puzzled when I laughed a bit hysterically! Oh please--it will happen again---spoken by the lady who has had two flats (and one caused from an animal bone for pete's sake!) in the last two months on perfectly good tires, and two different cracks in her windshield...and... Things just happen.

Once I settled in bed, with the ceiling fan and a large oscillating fan (that doesn't oscillate anymore) pointing right on me, it was still pretty stuffy and hot. I ordered the cats to leave me alone. (What is it about cats, that even if its a 150 degrees they still want to lay right on you??) Surprisingly they were agreeable, for awhile anyway. The house did cool down quicker than I expected though. Because it was so hot, I switched ends and was laying with my head at the foot of the bed, closer to the fan. Now a little background here---Meshach likes to lay in the crook of my arm most of the time, or curled against my head. Sage on the other hand, sprawls out across the foot of the bed near my feet. So there I was settled in at the foot of the bed, with Meshach laying near but not against me. Sage jumps up---looks around with puzzlement on his face. First he looks at my head, then looks at my feet, then back again.. His look clearly said--hey whats going on here? This is not the way its suppose to be. He huffed off and went and lay somewhere else. Pretty soon Meshach curls up on my arm and I finally drift off. I wake up in the middle of the night, still with a cat sorta curled up in the crook of my arm. Only its really stiff, and just doesn't seem right. I blearily look and its Sage! He was semi-curled in a large ball, with his feet propped against my arm, but grimly bearing with it. Just to see what he would do (he usually doesn't like to be held and cuddled--gets rather emotional about it) I scrunched him up a little. He didn't even stir, but squinched his eyes tighter and pretended all was well. It was quite funny! I can't imagine why I rarely get a good night's sleep! :-)

Have a great weekend. I'll be internet-less for a few days.

Locksfield Griffen

I'm pretty excited about using this nice young ram for the fall breeding season. Allena from http://www.allena.thethreeringranch.com/ has graciously worked with me so that I could lease him early in the fall to put with my ewes. You can check out pictures and his description at the Three Ring Ranch link above. Since I have alot of black and grey in my flock I wasn't too keen on purchasing a black ram to use over several years. However leasing a black smirslet/sokket ram for one season is a great option. I love his small size and the whimsical look he has on his face. I think he will cross exceptionally well on the Minwawe

Tornados, Mud & Rain

That's why they call 'em muck boots!

We've had rain here and lots of it. The best I can figure is around five inches the last week. Thankfully we've not had the extreme flooding that some areas have had though. After the last couple of years of near drought conditions, I'm happy for the rain. It has caused some havoc with haying, but then what else is new? Doesn't everything??

The mud and muck have been awful. In fact there are places I quickly realize I shouldn't go when my trusty muck boots sink deep in the mud.... deeper than they boots. Finally yesterday the sun came out after 4 or 5 days of cloudy rainy weather. I can almost hear the grass growing...or maybe that's wishful thinking. Today is another sunny day, and truthfully it will be nice to see some of this mud recede.

My garden has become a weedy jungle with monstrous tomato plants.

Saturday I went to the 'big city' to stock up on dog/cat food and bum around some of the stores I don't often get to. I ended the tour by going to a large flea market. This place is huge and kinda junky, but has lots and lots of good stuff and great prices. It also isn't air conditioned, but has fans strategically placed so you can stop in certain booths and let the sweat blow dry off you. As I was almost done, and browsing through the last booths, I heard what I thought were the storm sirens. Well, I'm not a city girl, but they sure sounded like the sirens. I looked around. No one looked concerned. The people at the counter were busily helping customers, with nary a look outside. Hmmm... I thought.... Soon I was up at the counter and heard more concern around me--was it a test? Must be a test. Would they test on a Saturday? Finally some resourceful gentleman (not the owners I might add) called someone and yes, indeedy, it was the storm sirens. And no it was not a test! Uh oh. Remarkably, the people at the counter and nearby customers remained unconcerned. I was a bit worried. The lady helping me was sooo slow... I finally started pulling tags off for her, to get her to hurry along. By now the sirens had stopped, but as I went outside I scanned the sky closely. There were some ominous clouds but nothing too threatening. I turned on the radio. Nothing. Then a short blurb on the radio. Something like 'oh yeah, there is a tornado warning, better take shelter'. Sheesh. I ended up calling my Mom to see if she had heard anything while I hit the road for home. Once I got on the highway I could see very dark and scary clouds off to my west. By then the radio people had woken up and were posting the path of the storm. It was for the most part all off to the west, although we did get more rain from it. It also was behind me and later caused some torrential rains in the towns I passed through. I was fortunate though and didn't have to deal with anything more than some temporary fear and concern about what was going on. Never is it dull.

Enjoying the sunshine, but not the humidity! ;-)

Of Health Papers, Tires and Animal Bones

My weekend was a busy one. So much to cram into a few days, but there are always things to do and errands to run.

Friday I get off at noon now. This is a relatively new treat we enjoy. I've quickly become spoiled to it and would hate to go back to full day Fridays. This past Friday I had made an appointment with the vet to see two sheep that have been sold and will be crossing state lines. General health inspection as well as identifying ear tags are required. No blood tests or anything complicated. Mostly just paperwork being filled out and the vet looking them over. I had made the appointment for 2:00 p.m. I get off at noon, it takes 35 minutes (if I don't get behind slow traffic) to get home. Another half hour to catch and load the victims and a few minutes to spare, then another 25 minutes to the vet. It was definitely do-able. That is until I pulled into my driveway at home, got out to check the mail and heard a loud hissing noise coming from the rear of the truck. I stood there in disbelief as I watched my tire rapidly going flat. Then I jumped in the truck and got it up by the garage before it went down all the way. Fiddle sticks! What to do, what to do. I needed to get this done, as the people were coming the next weekend to get their sheep. I also knew there was no way to get the sheep loaded and change a tire and put on the spare. So, I called my trusty parents and sent out an S.O.S. Can I use your van and do you think Dad can take off a tire in 30 minutes or less??? Since I live out in the country, the idea was, if I borrowed their van, loaded the crate and sheep in the back and also took the flat tire, I could drop it off to get it fixed, thus eliminating the need to fight with getting the spare out from under the truck and put on. Then I rushed out to try and lure the sheep in. (Not always easy in the middle of the day!) Thankfully they were up for a bit of grain luring and the two wethers I needed went right in. Lock up the gates behind them, and then I see Dad in the van whirling around by the garage. Out there I went and he told me to go ahead and load the sheep and he would work on the tire. Of course the lug nuts were on super tight as they usually are, so it wasn't an easy job. While he was doing that, I got the crate in the van and grabbed a couple of halters to go and get the boys. Bless their little hearts, they both stood in a stall and let me slip the halters right on. Since they aren't really halter trained we had several episodes of 'dead-sheep-dragging' but all in all it didn't take to long to get them to the van, where I lifted them one by one(don't you just love the little Shetlands!) into the crate. Did I mention it was really hot and really humid? Sweat was pouring as I checked on my Dad--he told me to go and get ready to go, he almost had the tire off. So I ran in the house and washed a little sweat off, changed clothes and ran back out. By then the tire was off, loaded in the van, and I was on the road. It reminded me of a pit stop during a race car event! I left with 30 minutes to get to town. All windows were down, since the boys were in back and the air doesn't work that well in the van. Pretty soon I noticed a smell....not the manurey/hay/sheep smell coming from the boys--I'm used to that smell (only maybe not in so concentrated form as it comes on a hot day in a hot vehicle!) No this smell...it was worse...it smelled like something long dead. And it got worse. I sprayed body spray into the recesses of the van. I stuck my nose as close to the window as I could. I happened to have some potent muscle ointment in my purse. I opened it and held it under my nose.

Finally I made it to town. The boys were very vocal the whole way. You can get some really strange looks when you are driving a vehicle with the windows down and loud baa-s are coming from the inside. I had enough time to drop off the tire at the tire shop. I looked horrible---my face was red, my hair was still sweaty and windblown, and all that baa-ing behind me.... The attendant rushed over and asked if he could help me. Concern was evident on his face. I told him a needed a flat fixed, they looked at the sheep and then I was quickly out of there to the vet's. I made it right on time for my appointment. When I got there, I got out and propped open the back of the van with a stick that is kept for that purpose, so the boys would have a good airflow. They were still protesting. I went inside (looking like a wreck, obviously) and was greeted, and then a quick--can we get you some water? I told them no, I was fine, and went on to explain what had happened. We got the paperwork filled out as Doc finished up with another patient. Once that was done, Doc walked out to the van with me trailing along behind. He asked if I had tags in (they've had to help me tag a few in the past) and I said, yep, then he stuck his face right up by the crate and started talking to the boys. I told him we'd already got the paperwork filled out and he laughed and said, well I guess my job is about done then. The boys stood there and looked great for him. :-) As we started to walk away, I asked his advice on removing horns or parts of horns in a manner where there wouldn't be as much blood loss (Someday I'll post on the horn trimming nightmare...once I get over it!). He came back and propped himself up in the back of the van next to the boys and we had a 'learning' session. I got a few good tips from him. I also want to point out that the stick holding the back door of the van up? Where he was sitting? It broke when I got home and was unloading the boys. Snapped right in two, door crashed down... While we were working on the paperwork, I asked one of the gals if she had Pizza Hut's number. Of course she did! With paperwork in hand, I went out, tucked the boys back in and took off. I called Pizza Hut and ordered a couple of pizzas. A large one for the tire changing crew and van lenders! I appreciate it so much when they come to my rescue! While that was being prepared, I went by and picked up my tire. Now, I don't think it's a good sign when an attendant says things like... "you don't want to know what was in your tire". Oh yeah I did! He was working another tire and someone else was grabbing my tire for me. He said---I'm telling ya you aren't gonna believe it! An animal bone!! An animal bone?? I didn't believe it. I stood there in the middle of the garage with my mouth hanging open. Finally I recovered and realized the other guy had went outside with my tire. I rushed out there and apologized as I opened the side door so he could load the tire. I told him I was still pondering the animal bone thing. It cost $8 to have it fixed, but they were very fast, and very kind. By then the pizza was ready so I went in drive-thru and picked it up. Its amazing how fast you can get your order and change when you have sheep bellering through the window into the restaurant! Oh, and the smell was still there... on the tire I now knew, but the smell from the boys was growing stronger, and it all mingled with the fresh pizza smell. Farming isn't the place for those of queasy stomach! ;-0 I was worn out. All that adrenaline I guess. The boys were little angels when I put their halters on and unloaded them at home. The tire was put back on, and pizza was delivered! Oh, and that pizza was good!

Saturday was interesting too--but maybe on another post! The pictures have nothing to do with Friday, but are some things I worked on today. I washed the moorit fleece today, and it was still drying in this picture. It has a shorter staple and a lovely dark brown color. There isn't much of this one, but its part of a lamb's fleece and so soft. My 'plan' (yes, I woke up in the wee hours one morning with this idea...) is to use it to 'nuno-felt' a scarf for myself. With nuno felting, you use a background material, like a sheer silk and with hot water, soap and lots of rubbing you work you wool and other bits of material through the silk. It makes a gorgeous light weight, but warm item. I've only tried once before and didn't work the fiber enough to get it completely through the silk. Now I'm ready to try again. I'm not sure there will be enough of this, so I might use some merino (white) in tiny pieces and also some of the musket roving when I get it back.

The other picture is 'my version' of two Shepherd's Pies I made tonight. I'm trying to make dishes that I can divide up and take for lunch, instead of eating out or having a sandwich everyday. These were simple. Stew meat, simmered in the crock pot most of the day. (I used stew meat because roast was too expensive and I didn't need that much meat in them). Then I removed almost all the liquid, added peas, carrots, green beans, corn. I also seasoned it at the same time, and let it continue to simmer until done. I had two boughten deep dish pie shells, and filled those with the meat and veggies. In the meantime I made some instant potatoes and used those to top the 'pie' with. Then in the oven for about 25 minutes and its done. Yummy.

Have a good one!