Old Ladies Club

Somewhere along the line there has become a need to open a geriatric wing out in the sheep paddock. It's hard to believe that some of my 'old girls' really are old girls.

Rouen (Shandrew Rouen) on the left was the first to join the club. She was born in 2000 so she'll be twelve this Spring. It took awhile to convince her to be the charter member to the Old Ladies Club, since she is so independent and sometimes just down right contrary.(I don't need no stinking special treatment!) She loves a good scratch and petting session. She is pretty stiff and I'm sure sore when she first gets up and moving in the morning, but she can still move pretty fast once she is warmed up. I love that sweet little monkey face and I love the independent (yet curious and friendly) personality that is a hallmark of the Shetland breed. Rouen comes up to the barn in the morning after I feed and eats her portion out of the feed bucket while the others are eating. At night she runs to the gate for her nightly slice of bread.

Willow (Locksfield Willow) is on the right. Willow was born in 2001 and will be 11 this Spring. Willow was the first Shetland that I ever owned. I bought her and boarded her until after breeding season at her former owner's home. She came here (along with an ewe lamb) and produced two ram lambs for me --the first Fairlight Shetlands. From all accounts she was a very friendly ewe at her former home, but for me, she has always remained aloof. She is not a wild ewe, but very shy. When I bought her, I also bought a small grey ewe lamb named Rain. Rain as it turns out was Rouen's daughter. The fall of the year that Willow lambed I also bought Rouen and brought her here. Evidently her and Willow were sworn enemies and there was no glorious reunion--just fussing and fighting. Over the years as their family lines have melded and age has caught up with them, they are now for the most part civil to each other. Once in awhile they will swipe each other in a shadow of the spirit of younger days. Willow has joined the bread brigade at night and now runs to the gate for her slice. She has also started seeking me out after feeding in the morning for an additional grain handout. We might become good friends yet.

These two ewes, were my foundation Shetlands and they have served faithfully producing wool and babies for many years. Both are retired now and deserve every bit of spoiling they can get.

The third member of the Old Ladies Club is Gracie. Dear, pushy Gracie. She really doesn't need extra groceries but I did promise her when she hit 10 she would get special treatment. I conveniently 'forgot' for a whole year, but since she will be 11 in March, well, it was time. The reason for the delay is that Gracie has trouble handling her cookies. She turns into a cookie fiend (or bread or cracker) and will obnoxiously try and get all the cookies--whatever it takes. She will body block (not slam, she is very polite) any other sheep from getting close to the cookies--she also will continuously body block me as I try and maneuver through the paddock. She would make a good sheep dog, as she has herding down to a science. She is learning a few manners--proving that you can teach an old dog..or sheep new tricks. She is getting really good about 'back up' before she gets her bread.

Gracie was one of my original four sheep--Dorsets by breed. I bought her and her three half sisters when i decided to 'get into the sheep biz'. I had no clue about what to pick in a sheep and fortunately their breeder had nice healthy sheep. Presented with a sea of weanling white sheep, I picked Faith because she was big, solid and strong looking, Mercy because she was a nice sized compact ewe, June because she was large, and had a beautiful unusual looking face, and slightly different look to her lovely wool. And Gracie. Little bitty Gracie--a March born ewe lamb in a flock of January sisters. I picked Gracie because of her sweet little face. And Gracie turned out to be my little companion ewe--always following me around, always meeting me at the gate. She has always been special, and has been the heart of the flock. Yes...you too Gracie, you've earned your Old Lady special rewards!

There are several waiting in the wings to belong to the OLC. I'm trying to convince Callum to join--even if he isn't an old lady, but an old wether. I think it won't be long before he submits his membership--that hunk of bread I've been slipping him on the sly is getting to him. Of course Blue the Rotten has his own Old Rotten Club. Since he is still a ram he has his own personal suite and paddock next to the girls, where he gets two pounds of grain a day plus a half loaf of bread, and special hay as well. Much to the dismay of the rest of the flock, some sheepies get special treats and special eats--it's called retirement with benefits!

Catching Up

Summer's Last Hurrah--Sheep on new pasture

It's been way to long since I posted, and there has been lots happening on the little farm. I hope to do several posts that are a bit outdated, so I'll probably work my way backward and see how it goes.

Part of the issue with posting is that my computer is on it's last half leg. So far I can still post on the blog but it's slowly eliminating my options--for instance I can't access hotmail at all. Yahoo mail can be accessed and sometimes replied to (although often it takes about three or four tries of copying and pasting the message...). Turning on the computer is its own special challenge. To get the monitor to engage I have to plug in the power strip, rush to the computer and push a button to achieve 'takeoff'. Then sometimes it comes right on or sometimes it does a bunch of ominous beeping before it will do it's stuff. It goes on and on, but the upshot is, that sometimes it just isn't worth the hassle..... As finances permit I hope to get a laptop in the maybe not so near future.

On to other things. This past week I was on much needed vacation. I didn't get nearly enough done, and am feeling a bit flustered because I have so many 'projects' going at the moment that I can't seem to accomplish much of anything. However it was nice being able to set my own schedule and work around the place for a week.

Autumn colors and lots of dust from the road!

The first day of official vacation, I did manage to tear up my washer. The third day of vacation I spent way too much money getting a new one. Just for the record that makes it for the year (so far) --a new washer, dryer and hot water heater. Would have been a new air conditioner too, if the hot weather hadn't been on it's downward slide. I do now have a matching set washer and dryer and that was totally unexpected (since I got them six months apart from separate dealers), but nice.

The weather was perfect all week. We got some rain, but it was needed and so I enjoyed the cloudiness and rain. Most of the time it was really very lovely--cool, but not too cool, sunny and sparkly.

Fairlight Rosetta--she will be part of the group. Sweet little ewe with a gorgeous and very soft intermediate fleece.

I'm thinking of putting together a small breeding group with the Shetlands this year. Really it's been hard decision to make. It will most likely be the last 'hurrah' for raising sheep, and if I do carry on with putting them together, it will be only a select few. I'll be using Fairlight Jasper, the little grey Jeff lamb that went to Southard Farm last spring. Should get some lovely little lambs out of these pairings--much of it line bred. Individual pictures and information will be posted if I decide to go ahead and set up a breeding group.

A few weeks ago I went to a library book store sale. I think I ended up with somewhere around 17 books or so....Usually this sale happens when I'm gone on vacation and I don't want to travel back into the town I work at just to go to the sale. Because of that I had never actually been to it before, but had heard it was a 'must go'. This year they had it a week early, so I worked through my half day and planned to attend an early bird special part of the sale. For this you had to pay $5 plus the .50 or 1.00 for each book you bought. Since it's a good cause and I thought it would still be well worth the cost I forked over my $5--after standing in a long line for 20 minutes! I arrived well before the event, and kept seeing people dash around the side of the building where the entrance to the sale was. Although I knew it was way too early, I finally decided I better head on around too. Going around the corner revealed a line already formed--with hardcore book buyers clutching large tote bags, or pulling little carts on wheels...or dragging large plastic storage containers! Yikes...I didn't even bring a bag.

Ahem...I think this speaks for itself...

After waiting the twenty minutes and getting the scoop from a book sale pro, I was getting pretty antsy. Once the doors opened everyone moved in an orderly and polite fashion into a very large room with bookshelves and tables. The books were quite nicely displayed, most by topic or type and in alpha order by author. I was very impressed. The quiet intentness of the book buyers was a little creepy in a nice sort of way. Finding a section I was interested in, the best thing to do was just start pulling out anything that seemed to interest. I ended up with a few surprise buys when I got home, but for the most part was very pleased with what I got. Yes, I know I really did need more books.

Gracie--one of my first four Dorset sheep--I picked her out because she had such a cute face....she'll be 11 in 2012

The puppies have grown like mad and are now bigger than their mom. I hope to do a couple of catch up posts on them. It has been an interesting experience and I am glad I ended up keeping two puppies instead of one. Keeping two has had it's own special challenges, but the benefits outweigh the negatives--most particularly that they have the same energy level and tend to keep themselves entertained. More about puppies in a future post--including another puppy play day and the Celtic Festival!

Tempe says to check back on Tortie Tuesday! She has a very exciting secret to share.... (if her bad blogger 'bean will get in gear and get the post ready...)

We Interrupt This Blog

Gustav trailed into Missouri Tuesday afternoon, and it's been raining ever since. This is a good thing though. The rains for the most part have been steady but gentle. Because I keep forgetting to check or empty my rain gauge, I'm unsure exactly how much we've gotten, but I'm pegging it at least 4 inches, maybe a little more. We desperately needed the rain, even the weeds were wilting down to the ground. With this good soaking rain, it's looking very promising for fall pasture. The grass started greening up almost immediately.



I have much to blog about, but not much time or energy right now! Hopefully after this weekend. The Celtic Festival is Saturday, and as usual I have waited til the bitter end to get everything ready for it. The two Moorit wethers, Angus and Aberdeen, who will be representing the Shetland Sheep, have been getting last minute halter lessons, and learning the joys of scritches and cookies. Angus is all for it, but Aberdeen has some reservations. I've separated them totally from the flock, in the hopes that they won't baa all day! There is still roving and fleeces to pack, flyers and signs to make and other preparations. It does sound like the weather is going to be really nice though. The rain is suppose to move out today, and the temps will be in the 70s! Regardless, this year, we will be under cover in one of the livestock barns, so that will be nice.

The three day weekend was wonderful, and then Tuesday I got to meet for coffee with Michelle from Boulderneigh and Allena from Three Ring Ranch. That was pretty darn neat, and I hope to get that posted soon.

On a sadder note, Ariel, my little collie girl, doesn't seem to be doing too good. She continues to get weaker, (although as stubborn as ever) but is still eating good--as long as its special eats. We had some extremely hot, humid days, and I am hoping this contributed to her fading a bit. She seemed a little stronger and more alert last night, and even had a dry doggie biscuit and showed her concern that Boone had gotten a rawhide bone and she hadn't (of course she got one, even if she never touched it--it was the principle of the thing, you see). We will see how it goes.

Little wet Rouen, eating some 'consolation-cause-it's-raining' hay

Next week I'll try and get back on track. In the meantime, hope you all are having a great week.

Gracie's says "You talk about a bad hair (wool) day!"

When Good Sheep Have Had Enough.....

The following pictures aren't pretty. But when a sheep has had enough, even a good sheep, will pout. Dramatically. When the last of the lambs were born during the night, which were Duckie and her twins, I helped with the first lamb. It was the black smirslet ram, so I was doing quite a bit of ooh-ing and aah-ing over him. Just like I had 14 times before. I guess Gracie had had it up to her sheepie ears with all the attention going to the cute little babies. I mean, hey she is cute too, and she is sweet, and nice and only sometimes gets rude if there are crackers involved. So into the barn she stomped. Straight past Duckie, the new lamb and me. Up to the corner of the barn she went, and flounced down with a heavy sigh---with her backside pointedly positioned in my direction. I think that pretty much says it all.

Gracie Pouts

Sorry Gracie, I'll try and give you more of the attention you need and crave. Oh, and cookies too.

Have a good week!