Porch sitting was one of his favorite things. Some other stuff here was not. For his own best interests, Amos has moved back to his original farm.
Showing posts with label amos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amos. Show all posts
Sunday, August 21, 2022
Porch Sitting
Porch sitting was one of his favorite things. Some other stuff here was not. For his own best interests, Amos has moved back to his original farm.
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Sunday, June 5, 2022
Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
March
Apple changed their software for making the Memories and I had a ton of trouble getting the month end compilation put together. When I finally got it to sort of work, I no longer could find the setting for length and it ended up almost 10 minutes long.
I manually pulled out pictures and videos...and more pictures...and more pictures until I finally had it down to around five minutes. I still felt it was too long for anyone besides me to watch, but when I really couldn't pull any more pictures out I had to just accept that March was one busy month!
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Haircut Day
First up, Short Round. She marched into the chute from Easy Breezy like she knew exactly what was coming. I just love this old ewe. I wasn't expecting much from her fleece, but I salvaged quite a bit and tossed it in the washer and it's actually quite nice :-).
The Ellie Monster. I was afraid she might be sassy, but she did just fine.
She and her momma, Short Round, have something sweet planned for their fleeces :-).
Muuuufin
Still very black!
Jared aka Big J
After you get your hair cut you get to go eat grass in the yard. It was a bit drizzly, but no one seemed to mind. Yard grass is a good treat!
Mini Moose, now being called Macro Moose :-o
It was actually mostly wool...mostly.
Amos helped push sheep from the big pen into the catch pen.
Lots of Pinto pictures because his family wasn't able to come watch...and we all love Pinto pictures ;-). Here he's listening carefully to a discussion on catch pen/chute set up. Big Moose (looking on) is not paying any attention and is only thinking about ways he can get in trouble once he hits the chute.
I love how intently he's watching :-).
Tabitha on deck
Maisie on the board. She behaved herself...as best she could :-D.
And Amos has the last sheep penned.
Great catch, Rusty Ewe!
Another shearing in the books. It is always a huge relief to have this out of the way. We had yet another great crew this year and I'm so thankful for everyone's good help!
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
February
It's hard to spell February after a month of spelling it Fiberuary! All in all it was a pretty good month :-)
Monday, February 21, 2022
The New Routine?
I always kind of assumed Maisie would be the sheep that broke me, but I miss Willard more than I can even say. I miss all of my old friends...more than I can say, but I think Willard has maybe been the hardest because he was such a big part of my daily routine for so long.
I miss walking up to the barn in the dark with my flashlight or seeing the light on in Easy Breezy at night. It's not that I don't have a reason to get up in the morning now, but it's just not the same. I still take my coffee and go sit in the wash room and try to answer emails...with Archie's help...but answering emails isn't always a very inspiring way to start the day, especially with Archie's help.
It's getting lighter earlier now and the last few days I've taken the dogs for an early morning walk rather than waiting until after morning chores. I carry my coffee out to the field and it's been pretty nice. It beats sitting at a desk working on a computer for sure. This morning I thought maybe this should just be my new routine.
So if you're looking for an email from me... ;-).
Friday, February 11, 2022
Bea's Vehicular Support Dog
For some reason Bea loves to ride with me in my car, but has had a melt down in Tim's truck and now the farm truck.
The day she had to "go to work with Daddy" we thought it was just kind of funny and figured she thought she'd been corgi-napped and knew she was going to miss all the fun stuff on the farm that day.
I tried to take her on an hour long ride to the feed mill the other day and I actually contemplated driving off into a ravine before she finally jumped over a tall seat back and ramped into the back seat with Amos.
Thanks, Amos :-).
Interestingly, she rode just fine in the farm truck on the way to the driving event, now that I think about it. Hmmm....
Thursday, February 3, 2022
January
Seen on IG, "January was a tough year, but we made it."
It was really more long than tough...mostly...but like all months, lots of good stuff, too. Thanks for being part of it :-).
Friday, January 28, 2022
Snow Angels
B. Willard was a gift that kept on giving. He came over as a lamb from Tring Farm years ago. I think he'd been weaned. I don't remember bottling him...but maybe I finished him here... Okay, blog to the rescue. He was 5 weeks old and anyone looking at this youngster would know this was Baby Willard. That classic Willard look.
It's fun...and a bit sad...to go back and read the old stories and look at pictures. Willard was a never ending source of entertainment. We called him the Sheep of Impeccable Character. He truly was. I said B. Willard B. Mine to him all the time. He was the star of the very first Hug a Sheep Day.
Willard's biggest gift to me was his sweet and cheerful personality. He ended up with terrible arthritis in his legs, but he kept "making the donuts" as long as he could, hobbling out to graze in the yard each morning, giving me a nod as he walked past the porch where I was usually sitting. He and Cheeto took the best care of Early and he never seemed to mind when Ellie used him as a springboard. I think he loved those lambs.
A gift we gave each other was the late night and early morning barn checks. Willard had always been a good napper and loved to sleep flat out on his side. I can't count how many times I saw him like that over the years and raced over to make sure he was still breathing. As he got old and stiff, he frequently could no longer get himself back up and he'd get himself in trouble trying.
After one too many times finding himself "upside down" for too long (sheep are not designed to lay like that) and worrying that one day I'd find him dead, I started making a late night trek to the barn and setting my alarm to get back up there early in the morning so he wasn't unsupervised so long.
I am not a night owl. I like being up in the morning, but I'd used the rising sun as my alarm. Trudging up to the barn in the pitch dark was something new. I didn't hate it. In fact, walking up there with a big cup of coffee and the dogs and cats, especially when Salt was here, became the highlight of my day.
I'd click on my flashlight, and say "Hey guys, just me." before I walked into the barn in an effort not to startle everyone else. If there was a problem, I'd fix it and if not I'd say "'Morning, Willard. 'Morning, Cheeto." and go sit on the Wool House porch, drink my coffee and watch the sun come up.
I did this for at least two years and I think they loved that morning routine as much as I did. And seeing the two of them cuddled up together at night sharing a pile of hay was the sweetest way to end each day. They took the best care of each other...and that took care of me.
I miss that so much.
It's getting better. My day is not ruined now by not seeing their smiling faces, but I did have the conversation with myself the other day that there was really no reason anymore for making that early morning trek. They were gone. My driveway buddy Salt was gone. The rest of the barn would really prefer I not bother them until daybreak.
That morning I found Ellie stuck somewhere needing help. This morning I found a "snow angel". In the near dark it just looked like a dark spot on the ground, but when I got closer I saw it was a sheep print (camera brightened). Seeing the two legs stretched out in front told me this had been where a comfortably warm and happy sheep had slept...and that made me happy.
I'd have missed it if I'd not been out there early. A gift.
Friday, January 14, 2022
Said No Sheep Ever
This has always been one of my very favorite Far Side cartoons and I couldn't help thinking about it when Amos arrived here yesterday.
This is Amos. He's an eight year old border collie and he's here to help me with farm work and be my new best friend, as only a border collie can. Hopefully he can settle Bea down a bit as well, but as they say, "There are some messes no one should have to clean up." ;-)
Amos is 20's cousin from Georgia. His dad, Camp, was one of my all time favorite border collies and I feel so fortunate to get the opportunity to have him here on our farm. He's very too patient with obnoxious puppy Bea and has met the chickens and Archie. Possum is still laying low, but I think he'll be fine with her as well.
The sheep aren't thrilled with him being here, but the next time I leave a gate open and they end up in the yard sassing me about going back where they should, I'm looking forward to having some back up who'll be more than happy to tell them "when to eat and where to stand" ;-).
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