Cats...Kittens...Vet.....

Exam x 1 = $18.00
Injections x 2 = $28.00
Prescript. Refill = $5.00
Meshach About My Business Again = Priceless



Examination x 2 = $20.00
Wormer x 7 = $7.50
Amoxi Drops x 2 = $8.00
Vaccinations x 6 =$90.00


Healthy Kittens Once Again = Priceless!

It's been an expensive week.....but we are all still kicking!

Send Help...And Lots of Food....

...This seems to be Butterfly's plea these days...

To say that motherhood is wearing heavily on her shoulders would be an understatement. Don't tell, but I think she is borderline abusive to her kits! Yep. The little mites will run up to her when they are all out playing and she will snatch them, kick them, bite them on the head..then give them a lick and a promise. Then she gazes off into the past (or future) while the little kitty veeery quietly tries to escape her clutches and then slinks off. Of course when she is ready for them to nurse she is all sweet goo-goo love to them. The minute it's over though, she is up on the highest shelf in the condo. I think we will soon have weaned kittens....

I can't say I blame her...they can be an obnoxious little bunch at feeding time. They are now eating solids quite heartily and at times ferociously. And they play..and play...and play. Still though...their little round innocent faces and pudgy little bodies are like a magnet. So sweet.

Before I just thought I was going through allot of cat food and kitty litter....Silly me. But I must admit...I've enjoyed these little rascals--too much I think...

And here they are at 5 1/2 weeks old.....

Black Male---Adventure is his game even though he has no name...

Verity--Black Female
(Oh my goodness..what is with those giant eyes??)

Noah--Orange Male

Tempe---Torti Female

Gabriel--Orange & White Male

Calico Female

"Call" names only, people...I'm not keepin' 'em all. Nope.... just maybe that little black male and maybe Verity and....;-)

The End!

Celtic Festival 2009-- The Animals

Of course my favorite part....

The sheep didn't really enjoy the event. Rosemary was 'okay' and she didn't baa all day as I feared she might. However she was very selective in who she allowed to befriend her. The cookies helped her, and she didn't hesitate to indulge in those when given the chance. Rosetta was okay, because she was with her mom, but she wasn't letting anyone touch her! JackieD just shut down. He didn't want to be touched, he did not want to see all these peoples ---so he hid behind the girls. Finally about mid afternoon everyone had relaxed enough to lay around and chew cud. They were very happy to be loaded up and to get home. These are three of my friendliest sheep who crave attention and petting, so I was a little disappointed that they took it so hard--I don't like to see them stress. Oh well, you never know. The stories they can tell the other sheep...." there are bajillions of humans out there, but we are the only sheep in the world!"

Highland Bull Calf

As last year, our neighbors on either side were cattle. A sweet little Highland bull calf on one side and a Dexter cow and her tiny bull calf on the other. On the other side of the cow and calf was Patrick the Dexter bull. The calf kept trying to befriend the sheep (they were his size!) but his momma kept pushing him away from them.

Dexter Cattle

Patrick the Irish Dexter Bull on a walkabout

The Clydesdale's didn't show up this year, but a new display was a lady with her Irish Wolfhounds. She was across the aisle and catty-corner to us.



What enormous dogs these were and so quiet and even tempered. Farley --the grey one (who I did not get good photos of!) was especially friendly to me. He is a rescue dog and very happy in a now stable home. He shares it with the older tan male dog (whose name I did not get) and they get along famously from what their owner says. I just could not get over their size. They make Boone look like a lap dog.

Irish Wolfhounds

There were many dogs that passed through. There were a pair of Westies, and a pair of black miniature show poodles (the male was from Denmark!) which I failed to get photos of, as well as these happy little Scotties.

People are very interested in livestock heritage breeds and the hardiness of most of them. Small hobby or self sustaining farms are making a come back and these smaller, thrifty often dual purpose animals are filling the niche. It's funny how the circle completes itself.

The sheep just want to know if they can go home now.....

The captivating eye of an Irish Wolfhound.

Celtic Festival 2009-- The People

The weather for the Celtic Festival was shocking--warm, mostly sunny and humid. Where was the rain, the damp, the cold breeze?? I was up and at 'em early on Saturday, trying to get everything done and on the road by 7:15. I came pretty close. Rosemary, Rosetta and Jackdaw went into their catch pen with only a little murmur. JackieD ending up getting choked on grain and there was drama with that. Once I got them penned I pulled the truck up right by them. Rosemary was beastly about being loaded. She went up, but then became a stiff ridged sideways sheep statue, and would not be forced into the carrier. There followed a silent battle of wills and eventually she was stuffed in. Rosetta was easy, JackieD was almost easy, but he weighs a ton! The little spotted pig.

Calling of the Clans

Once I got there, I was told I could drive my truck right up to the display pen. I made the pen a little smaller with an ex-pen I brought and then started to unload sheep. My Dad, who is in the Sheriff's Posse was on parking duty at the event and he came by and held the carrier closed while I carried each sheep and plopped it over the fence into the pen. Went very smooth. Then I had to figure out my layout/setup for the day. I brought raw fleeces, roving, and silk/wool scarves to sell and hand carders and drop spindle for a display of fleece to roving. There were also lots of business cards, brochures and info sheets about Shetlands. I honestly don't look at this as a sales event, because the crowd is not normally a 'fiber buying' bunch. So I was more than pleasantly surprised when by days end I had sold 36 ounces of roving, a raw fleece and a silk/wool scarf.

The day was filled with fibery people it seemed. As usual there was allot of questions about the sheep, with most people being very interested and open to learning. I had one little boy pretty much scold me for not brushing my sheep everyday. Obviously in his eyes they looked a little too unkempt! Another lady rushed up exclaiming that I had brought a big horn mountain sheep (Jackie). I'm pretty sure she hadn't thought through the whole idea though...Celtic Festival = Big Horn Sheep?... She was very surprised and a little dubious that he was a Shetland Sheep...

There were the usual contingent of people that 'eventually' would like to have a few animals, and were thinking about sheep. Some are still in the dreaming stage, some will never make the step, and others have researched and will fulfil their dream. My mantra to all is 'good fences'...you must have good fences. I think it comes as a surprise to some that good fences would be so important to having sheep. Those that were interested in fiber were numerous too, and the cross range of ages was inspiring. Then you have what I term in my mind as 'city folk' who haven't a clue about farm animals and just want to have their picture taken with them. Cows or sheep, uh, tinkling is cause for great exclamations and observation. (Oh people..get a life--you do it all the time--glad someone isn't in the bathroom with you, cheering you on!)

More Calling of the Clans

On the whole though, people are interesting and they like to discuss the sheep and fiber. The day was filled with meeting new folks, visiting with a few old friends and family, and generally talking more than I normally do in a month of Sundays. I had two things I wanted--Fish and Chips for lunch and one of the plate sized shortbread cookies. Jama eventually found and bought me the cookie, which thrilled me no end. I didn't share it with my family at all! Nope...I still have over half of it and am enjoying every bite. Allena stopped by with her family and gave an impromptu drop spindle lesson for new Shetland sheep owner, Barbara. My Mom, Dad (when he could get away from his duties), Sister and Niece all came by and stayed for a spell.

This guy was sorta like Captain Jack Sparow meets Braveheart

I didn't get as many pictures as I normally do, but tried to get a few. From what I heard the number of vendors was down, and it looked to me like clans were fewer in number as well. There were no marching Kilties, or parade as usual either. However, the 'civilian' crowd seemed pretty steady in number and the music was a nice background accompaniment throughout the day. I really can't think of a time when there was any kind of long lull in the stream of people that came through. The weather was very sticky, and for awhile the sheep were uncomfortable. I think part of that was stress. I had brought a battery powered fan, but didn't' use it as eventually a nice breeze picked up out of the north.

Here are a few pictures of my 'booth' and sheep setup. It was difficult to set it up so that it flowed, but eventually I settled on an "L" shape for the tables. I had a chair set up next to the sheep between the tables and pen, so I could answer questions and run interference if necessary.

Rosemary (front), Rosetta and Jackdaw

People looking over the wool display and checking out the sheep.

All in all a good day! Coming next...Celtic Festival --the Animals....

Oh...and here is your gratuitous man in a skirt photo. All of 'em were wearing these sock things this year! Okay, okay...I know..they are kilts and kilt hose...

I Live At A Zoo....

Before I share the Celtic event, there is the back story and after story (I'm sure those are technical terms.) I had been scrambling all week to get things pulled together for the event, and finally by Friday had everything at least planned out. I was on my last nerve.

I work half days on Friday, so as soon as I got home, I planned to load up the truck with all the wool, roving, tables, supplies and sheep crate etc. When I pulled into the driveway, I noticed Jeff and Cal (Shetland ram and wether) standing under a tree in a place they never hang out in during the day. Still in Celtic planning mode, my thoughts were, hmmm..that's strange, wonder why they are standing there? That was the last I thought about it til evening.

Loading went pretty smoothly and in about an hours time I had the truck packed to the gills, including having the sheep carrier loaded and strapped on. Somewhere during this time, I let the kittens out for their first solo unsupervised play time. Granted I was keeping an eye and ear out for them, and it was only for about twenty minutes.

Fast forward to evening. It was time to fix a catch pen for the sheep that I had to load the next day, let the kittens out again and then tote them to the breezeway to put up for the night. I was out in the garage, with the kittens, when it struck me again that the rams were still in the same vicinity as earlier in the day. Finally I says to myself-- I better go down there and see what is bothering them. Maybe a plastic sack or something caught up on the fence... When I walked around the big round bales to take a look, I was stunned to see a little dog staring back at me. What the heck? Who are you are how did you get in my ram's pen?

This is not an actual picture of "Fox"--I borrowed this from the nets as an example. I didn't actually get a picture of him. This resembles him, minus the white, and the look of bright eyed health.....

He was obviously not well, limping about and looking very uncomfortable, but he did have a collar on. He was a strange little creature, and of course I had visions of rabies or getting bit. Butterfly followed me down and he never even glanced at her. He didn't run, but neither did he want to be caught. I went ahead and finished up chores--put the kitties up, fed the rams some hay (since I hadn't paid the proper attention to their signals), and fixed the catch pen and got up the sheep. Then I tried to feed the little dog, but then the ram/wether came waltzing in there and went right up to the dog! The dog paid absolutely no attention to them, but sat like a little stone statue with his eyes drilling into me. Please help me... I was sure that Jeff would flatten him, but he simply sniffed him, and turned and walked away. So then I had to lure the sheep back out of there with some grain and shut the gate between the pens.

Then I was able to feed him. He would let me touch his head, but didn't want any part of me snapping the leash to the collar. To me he looked like an old dog. The best I can figure is he somehow squeezed himself through the cattle panel gate to gain access to the rams pen.

While he ate, I went and finished doing some chores and put Boone in his yard (he was freaking out all over the place). I also called my Mom to see if she would call around to the neighbors and see if he belonged to anyone. In the meantime I looked out and the dog was now out of the rams pen and wandering around the front of the place (still within my parameter fence).

All I could think was I can't leave him wandering around ---I was going to be gone all day the next day, and there were cats, kittens, chickens and sheep to worry about--not to mention Boone freaking out. I was incredibly bummed--what on earth was I going to do with an old, intact male dog? I had hopes because of the collar, but Butterfly was wearing a (flea) collar and that didn't indicate anything. By this time I was calling him Fox, and decided he looked an awful lot like a Shiba Inu. He was wandering about, with me still trying to coax him to let me snap the leash on.

It was starting to get dark and I was just getting ready to call my Mom back to see if she'd had any luck--because I still didn't know what I was going to do---when I looked up and saw her walking up the road. After Mom got up there Fox decided to head up to the garage. I sure didn't want him up by the sheep so went to head him off. Then miraculously for one brief instant he let get close and I snapped the leash on! Woot! I expected him to lead, but he started screaming and bit at the leash, but slowly we worked our way down.

The upshot of it all, after a flurry of activity, was Fox got tied to a long training lead attached to a tree, Mom stood guard and I went down and helped Dad load up another cage I have into their van. (They were using this for Heidi and she had just graduated to her new house and didn't need it anymore). Remember my truck was loaded up so there was no way to haul it on there! I heard the dog scream once while I was down there (Mom said she walked a few steps towards him!). Got the cage set up and after everyone left, me and Fox slowly made our way to it. I ended up having to thread the lead through the top wire, and pull him in, while using my foot to push his butt. I was very mindful about getting bit, although I really don't think that he would have. He put up a struggle, but finally I got him in the cage, with a hay and blanket to lay on, water and food.

I felt really bad because there was no way I was going to take him out of the cage the next morning before I left--there would be no time and I was afraid he'd get loose. I told him just to potty in there as he needed, but he held it all night. Poor little doggie, he eventually went sometime after I left but was pretty tidy about it.

And sometimes things have a good ending! One of the neighbors Mom called didn't get in to the wee hours of the morning, but when she saw the message she was very hopeful it was her dog and called the next morning. She attempted to describe him to Mom but Mom had only seen him in the dusk and couldn't give her specifics, but when the lady mentioned he was as Shiba Inu, Mom was able to tell her that is what I called it. By then I was already at the Celtic Festival and was ecstatic to hear that it was likely "Fox" was going home! I can't even describe how relieved I was. Taking on seven cat/kittens was overflowing my plate as it were.

The lady that he belonged to was really scared he had bothered the sheep, (I gave a little lecture once when one of their corgis was in my field) but he hadn't. She was very happy to get him back. They run a back yard breeding kennel with a few breeds, and I guess they had gotten him a few days ago. He had gotten loose (or they turned him loose?) and he wouldn't let them catch him. They kept putting food out, thinking he would come around, but then he disappeared. He had been missing about three days. I'm so relieved that he was claimed. They feed/treat their dogs well, even though it is a backyard breeding setup. Fox is seven years old, but looked much older since he was so thin and crippled.

There again, if I was paying attention I should have known something was up. I had to lead the sheep out to pasture for two mornings in a row and they kept looking to the south like they saw something. I think that Fox got hit or something because he had a big cut on his foot and acted so sore. I gave him some aspirin and I think he slept very well that night.

I'm unable to turn away the lost and homeless critters, but when it rains it pours and I was feeling a little desperate!

The after story is shorter----I came home to an empty crate, my happy dogs, and relaxed sheep. I was only going to unload what I needed to, but on the way home I was listening to Laura Ingalls Wilder's, The Long Winter, and got inspired. The sheep were so glad to be home and gladly jumped out of their carrier. I figured if Almanzo and Cap could drive their horses miles across a snowbound prairie, fill umpteen sacks with wheat and turn around and head back in the same day, surely I could unload my piddly little truck! :-) It went pretty fast and I was really glad to have it done after all.

And that is it. I live in a zoo and I'm the caretaker.... I think......

Contest Winner!

First off, thanks so much to everyone that participated! There were three people who guessed the gender of the kittens exactly. In fact the first person to comment with the answers was the winner....drum roll please....


...congratulations to Vicki for correctly guessing the kittens gender and for being the first 'out of the gate' as it were. I have to ask if it was a lucky guess, or if you picked up hints, or if you could just tell by looking at their sweet faces?

Vicki if you will let me know which kitten you want as your prize, I will get it shipped to you in a few weeks. Okay, okay....which book you want....

The second person to correctly guess, was Tammy at Wrensong. Once Vicki decides which book she wants, I'll let Tammy know what is left and see if she wants a runner up prize.

Thanks again for participating! I enjoyed all your answers. Sage was insulted about some of the weight guesses though. Michelle and Allena came closest to his actual weight of 14 lbs. Phylliso & Tammy are his furever friends with their guesses of 12 lbs.

Coming soon...a day of Celtic Clannish-ness...

Where Has the Week Gone Randomness....

My itsy-bitsy shadow says slow down!

It's been blurry this week. The long three day weekend was wonderful, but I've had trouble keeping the days straight every since!

This weekend is the Celtic Festival (already!) so I've been scrambling to get ready for that. (Because I put everything off to the last minute as usual). I'm going to try and take three sheep---if they cooperate. I've separated Rosemary (Fawn), her ewe lamb from this year, Rosetta (also fawn) and Jackdaw (Black/White Flecket ram lamb) into their own pen. I'm hoping this makes it easier for them to 'go on a day trip', since they won't have been with the flock for a week. That's the theory anyway....we will see how the practical application goes. Friday afternoon I will load the truck up and hopefully have everything ready to go--just add sheep---on Saturday morning.

Butterfly says..."don't even tell me about your busy life".....

The kittens are growing like bad weeds, and now are starting to eat solid foods. They are quite aggressive about it, and end up with more food on them than in them at times. Butterfly gets her canned food rations on the upper shelf, so she can eat in relative peace. The little furballs are learning to come to 'kitty, kitty' already. Butterfly is getting quite crotchety about the whole motherhood thing, so I think it won't be long until she weans them.

The evenings are just gone the minute I get home it seems. Of course it is getting darker earlier, which doesn't help. The routine goes like this: get home, change cloths, feed inside/outside cats their evening treat, feed dogs treat, go let Butterfly out to roam around, count kitten noses, turn sheep on upper pasture, fix/eat supper, water sheep & chickens, let kittens out and watch them for twenty or so minutes, load kittens and Butterfly up for their commute to the breezeway, unload, feed, and settle them in for the night, pen up chickens, collect eggs, pen up sheep for the night, do any other random outside chores needed, maybe squeeze in a walk for the dogs, blink...it's dark. There is plenty to do inside, but I always get a bit resentful this time of year as the days shorten and there is less time to accomplish outside things.

My tomatoes are finally starting to produce. I've even gotten a few, many of them slightly gnawed by some of the bazillion garden pests that have descended this year. I actually have gotten some Arkansas Traveler varieties to go with the Cherokee Purples. The third variety, which was suppose to be Lemon Oxheart, is pretty obviously a Roma instead. I had several pounds of mixed tomatoes that needed to be dealt with, so I decided to make spaghetti sauce. The store bought sauce is chock full of sodium, and I wanted to try a homemade version.

From this........

...to this

It actually turned out pretty good, but due to the small amount of tomatoes (3 lbs do not make allot of sauce) there was only enough for one dinner--and even that was pushing it after I cooked too much spaghetti. I hope that I get more tomatoes as I'd like to try and freeze some. I also won't put any green peppers in it the next time as they took over the taste, and added a little more zing than I wanted! I've got lots of nice peppers coming on in the garden too. So, I had all three varieties to add to the sauce---the Travelers, Cherokees and Romas, however most of them were Romas. I also added mushrooms, and assorted spices. The cookdown process took very little time, but de-seeding the tomatoes did. Even at that, the sauce was still pretty 'seedy'.

Sandwiched in with all the last minute flurry, has been trips to the dentist to try and fix another abscessed tooth. I'm getting pretty frustrated with it all, but am still hopeful this tooth can be saved.

We have a winner (actually several) on the contest, and I'll try and get that posted sometime over the weekend. Thanks for playing the game. :-) I'll try and take lots of pictures of the men in skirts, and uh, other events too. Hope you all have a great weekend.

And now I need to head off to bed! It's calling my name.

Sage, guarding his second choice chair (mine, mine, mine!) ..yes, I got to sit in my new chair! However the harassment by a certain cat eventually drove me out. Sage says..."this here is the line...don't you be crossing it!"

Meshach shows off his hard drinking skills....actually its just water and he loves to drink out of a bottle, so he has his own. He takes his pill much more readily when he gets a sip of water afterward. Meshach says...'ah....the paws that refreshes'

Contest! Books for Prizes!

Object: Guess the gender of the six kittens born here August 6th. There are hints in previous blog posts, or if you don't want to take the time to look back, just give it a guess. Interesting thing about cats--colors are sex-linked depending on who the the sire/dam are and their color. I knew that a couple of colors in cats are almost always one gender, but didn't realize the rest of the story. Google it if you are interested. I found it quite fascinating. If only Shetland sheep colors were that predictable....

Hints: 1) The daddy to the kittens was most likely...black. And you know that Butterfly (the mom) is a black/yellow/white calico.... 2) There are three boys and three girls.

Rules: Contest will end next Friday, September 11th at noon. Winners will most likely not be announced until Monday, September 14th. Enter only once, please. I can only ship to the USA, but if you want to enter anyway and you are in another country, please feel free to, just for the fun of it! Winner gets first choice of a kitten...or okay, one of the three books listed below.

What I need to Know: Gender of each kitten listed below. To make it easier I've numbered them. List number and sex of kitten in your entry. First person that lists them correctly wins. However, if no one gets them 'exactly' right, I've thrown in a bonus question. How much does Sage weigh? Hint--he is a big kitty, and stands 13 " at his shoulders and is 34" long (including his tail) more or less. He wasn't real happy about being rousted from his nap for measurements. So the person that first gets all the genders correctly wins. However if there are two or more that do not get all the answers correct, but have an equal amount correct, then the Sage weight guess will break the tie.

Here are the kittens:

#1 -- Orange Tabby

#2 --Black/Orange/White Calico

#3 -- Solid Black

#4 -- Black/Yellow Tortoiseshell

#5 -- Yellow/White Tabby

#6 -- Solid Black

Group Shot: L-R #3, 5, 1, 6, 4 & 2

And here are the prizes: (I know...no books about cats!)

Coop
Practically brand new--only read once. Click on the title for more information.

Cesar's Way
Very good condition. Click on the title for more information.

The Joys of Beekeeping
Gently worn..ex-library book. Click on the title for more information.

Oh yeah...and about that tie-breaker......Sage himself. (I can't help it if he looks like a dork....wait a minute..he is a dork...)

Sage says..."Think long, and hard before you make your guesses...especially about my weight"...... I say--I hope lots of folks enter and please enjoy yourself!