Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The sheep parade!

Every morning I get to walk with the sheep. It is a blessing and wonderful way to start a day. 

Simon says let's go sheep! (he always leads the way and he is a little bossy too!)
Really Simon? So early?? 
Sheep leaving me in their dust (literally)!
Little Mayhem sheep says hey, wait up!

Still walking!
And we're THERE! Waaay out in the far part of the biggest pasture- whew!
Big Kitty walks too- he always wants a ride home. Too much walking for an old man barn cat! 

And that is my early morning. A good walk taken- part of the sheep parade! 

Just finished an update on the website so hope you can stop by. Lots of fiber, roving and even some mittens!! Smooches from the sheep everyone! 


Thursday, September 06, 2012

Oh baby baby!


Remember Penny and Mayhem? Don't they look all grown up now? They moved in with the big group of sheep about a month ago (?) and are happily tagging along with the 'big' sheep. Guess that makes them big sheep too? Sniffle. They are past the 'I don't need you any more Mom' phase though. They love to have hugs again and follow me everywhere. (unless they make it out of the gate into the yard- then I am toast! The big sheep taught them to 'zig and zag' when they run away from me. They are incredibly hard to catch- specially when I am laughing so hard at their behavior. They think they are so sly!)

This is our Snowy sheep- a gorgeous Romney gal who retired here from the famous McNair flock. She had twins shortly after she arrived about 3 years ago. (Pixel and Pixie). She still keeps a good eye on the now grown up twins. THAT said, she has adopted Penny & Mayhem too! When Penny and Mayhem were tiny lambs Snowy used to come call and call them when I was walking the lambs along the fences. Mayhem is smitten with his new mom and while Penny is not as smitten, she stays with him and the three are near each other all the time now! Sheep are amazing. Snowy just loves babies....

AND, our little Bantie hen paraded her little chicks out a week ago too! She has 9. We really try to keep the eggs picked up but the girls love to try and hide them on us! We find a hidden nest every day. Stinkers! Hard to give them too hard a time though. Those hens are SO proud of their little family. AND the fact they outsmart us! The chicks were the size of a 50 cent piece-I am always amazed how quickly they grow.

And here we have two hens determined to hatch the same eggs??! Really girls? Talk about turf wars! I am sure the eggs they are sitting on are not fertile, they should have hatched them weeks ago. I am going to take some of them away and make sure, if they are not viable I will leave a few with them to sit on, or give them a few new ones. They are SO dedicated! You leave first. No YOU leave first!

Still pretty dry in Wisconsin. Been getting a bit of rain here and there. Finally a storm that brought us just under an inch of rain all at one time. We're hoping we get enough rain to just keep the sheep grazing the pastures as long as possible. Normally we can delay feeding hay til almost the first of November. Fingers crossed! Hay has doubled in price because of the drought- ouch! 

Lots of critters in the world having extra tough times with their families. If you are able, a bag of dog food for them or even a foster home? Placement help? Food for the family? I wish there was SO much more we could do here. Working on paying things forward any way we can! 

Smooches to all of you- hope the weather and life are treating you spectacularly!