Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch...

It's been a crazy few days :-o.  I was going to try to update everything in one post, but let's break it down a little.

The snow and ice is gone.  I miss the snow, but not the ice.  We had a couple of really warm days and now it's cold and windy again and now I'm missing the warm sun.  I must be getting old.

The water line project is cooking along and almost finished.  It's a huge mess, but it's sure going to be nice when everything is back to normal.  Or the new normal since the old normal was what was making things hard ;-).  I'll do a full tour when we're finished.

Speaking of tours, I am hoping it will be a clearer live tour while I'm walking around the barn now.  In the past the barn has been too far away from the Wool House WiFi to keep up so I've had to just use my cell phone.  I now have WiFi in the barn!

Thanks to amazing and kind tech support from some sheep friends we have a WiFi extender installed just inside the barn that is providing internet access out there and it is supporting four live barn cameras.  I can check on sheep whenever I want, even in the middle of the night :-).

I'm still doing the "Amish barn checks" (what I jokingly called it when the electric went down the other day and it's sort of stuck) throughout the day and before bed, but it's fun to peek in and see them up moving around, laying down chewing cud, sleeping, or even our guarding the back of the barn.  

Remember Maggie's Solstice Story?  She was out there last night and I figured out how to scroll back through the recorded "events" during the night and saw that she stayed out for a while, went back in, came back out and once when she was in, Pinto took watch.  

I think this is fascinating!

 

Also Rans

Here are a few more pictures I liked from the Solstice shots.  It was really nice "having" to take my camera out to the barn.   Thanks for playing along :-).

Ellie

Murphy

Maisie

Mini Moose and Big Moose.  Big Moose is not so big compared to Mini Moose.

Kaala

Levi, Big Moose and Ellie in the back.

Muffin

Biscuit

Tavia

Krista

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Kaala

With the way the draws have come, with so many matching their real personalities and traits, I expected to not see Kaala until Sunday or Monday.  

Kaala got here in 2018 and her first shearing here was 2019.  She was the very last sheep to be shorn that day.  In 2020 she was again the last sheep to be shorn.  In 2021 she was the last.  In 2022 she was second to the last.  I don't remember where she fell in 2023, but it was definitely in the last two.  She was at the end of the line again this year.

Some sheep figure out to just go on through.  Most fall in the 'wherever they land' category and some sheep put it off to the last minute rather than just get it over with.  This frequently happens with lambing too.  You know who the early lambers are going to be and the same couple of ewes will always be at the tail end.

Kaala has spent this year teaching people how to spin yarn.  Her fleece is perfect for this because it's not too long, but not too short and has just enough gray running through it that you can easily see your angle of twist.  She's in all the drop spindle kits these days.

Kaala likes treats, but what she really likes is to wait while everyone else goes out to graze in the morning because she's figured out Liddy, who also waits, get a special breakfast and she's figured out how to capitalize on that.  

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Levi

This might seem like an odd picture to post, but it actually tells part of Levi's story.  Levi is known to fiber artists as one the most popular spinning fleeces in our flock, but he's known around here as the most dangerous sheep on the farm...but there is not a mean bone in his body.  

Jacob sheep tend to be feral and flighty.  They are a primitive breed and that's just part of the package.  They panic and scoot away, but they aren't hard to handle once you get used to that and have a good working pen.  Levi just panics and a sheep his size (275+ pounds) in a panic can easily send someone to the hospital.

He's lived here since he was weaned (2016) so I know nothing awful has ever happened to him.  His mother was a friend's bottle lamb and I don't remember her being nutty.  His dad is a Rocky son, so again, nothing to raise any red flags.  It's just who he is...but it's maybe not who he really wants to be.

When we "work" our sheep here we bring them into the barn and then funnel them into the outside stall and then tighten them down to a 14' x 14' catch pen at the end of the stall.  Once in there they are pretty tightly packed and there's not so much room for someone to try to get away.  It's always much better to be able to catch your sheep quietly and calmly.

For a sheep like Levi I wait until I see him in a good spot, either in a corner or blocked in near the wall by some other large sheep.  I then sidle over to him without making eye contact and try to scoop under his chin to keep his head up (even a tiny Jacob can get away from you if they can get their head down) and then gather him around the neck with my arms.  Never try to catch sheep by grabbing their wool.  

All Levi has ever had done to him is routine exams, vaccinations and foot trims.  Shearing is done through the working chutes and pens, but again that is a time where everyone watches what they are doing.  You never want to get run over by a sheep in a panic. 

Once caught everything is usually okay.  Sometimes he still loses his courage and tries to bolt, but I just remain calm (and hang on tight) and he calms back down and we carry on and here is why I think he doesn't really want to be "that sheep".  

He's scared of me, but we actually have a good relationship and he trusts me as much as he's ever going to trust anyone. Once he settles down he always looks up at me and lets me scratch around his ears and rub his face and I can feel him relax and I can tell that he'd really like to be "that sheep".  Maybe someday.

Levi might not be brave enough to come all the way up to you, but he loves to stand with the safety of a fence between you and him and he'll try to quickly grab any treats you hand out. He especially loves the chopped alfalfa :-).

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Pinto

I'd be lying if I said Pinto wasn't one of my favorite sheep.  What a turkey :-).  

Of course Pinto's main claim to fame is his ability to jump in and out of the arena at will.  I'm glad he's the only one who does that, although honestly I am a little surprised that no one else has tried to follow him. It's easy to assume he's just looking for the best grass, and that is for sure the best place to find it, but I think he also just likes to go off by himself sometimes. 

He spent much of the first year of his life alone and while he really loves all his friends here, it's not uncommon to also find him in what I call "his office".  He likes to go sit in the aisleway stall when the Easy Breezy sheep aren't in there.  He sometimes tucks himself in the corner of the outside stall.  And of course there's always the arena.  

Sheep are flock animals and it's unusual to see a sheep choose to go off alone unless they are sick or injured of getting ready to lamb, something like that.  Pinto does it almost every day.  He doesn't seem sad or lonely...maybe just contemplative.

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He's definitely a thinker and probably one of the smartest sheep I've known.  He had to be.  The best part of it is he doesn't use his super powers for trouble like some sheep we know.  He's just a good solid citizen.

His new favorite treat is Frosted Mini Wheats, but he likes crackers and cookies as well.

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Tabitha

Aside from being the only Jacob we have who will come up and grab a treat from anyone who shows up with a box of treats, Tabitha's main claim to fame is her horns.  

Jacobs are a polycerate breed, meaning they have multiple horns.  For the breed standard they have to have at least two horns, but they can have up to six.  Tabitha has five.  They aren't show worthy horns, but they've served her pretty well and have the scars to show for it.

Looking at the first picture it appears that she only has three horns, but here's a better view.  There are actually two nearly fused upright horns on the top of her head along with another upright and two lateral horns, one on each side.

She's not afraid to use those horns and while the sticking up horns aren't good for direct punching, she can give you a bottom hook and flip or a top down smack.  She's not a mean sheep, but she's also the only Jacob we have that can battle her way to the front of the cookie mosh pit ;-).

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Big Moose

If a picture can paint a thousand words it would say there is not much better than napping in the warm sun on a cold winter day.  Especially if you are wearing a warm wool sweater.  Sitting out with the sheep is one of my favorite things to do.  Care to join me and Big Moose?

Big Moose is not a big treat eater, but he does love the chopped alfalfa.  I think he'd be all about cookies if Murphy would give him a chance to give it a good sniff first.  

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Short Round

Short Round only came here because I wanted something good to come out of sweet little Early's short life.  

There had been a screw up in the lambing shed the day Early was born and Kathy thought Short Round was only going to have one lamb so she grafted a triplet from another ewe onto her. She was headed to the other farm when I pulled in later in the morning and she told me to keep an eye on the adoption, but that she thought it looked good.

I made my rounds of the lambing jugs and when I got around to the grafting pen there were three lambs in there.  Okay, I must have gotten confused, so I checked the other jug pens again.  Nope, I had been at the right pen.  At least four hours after she'd had her first lamb, Short Round had a second lamb...and now she had three lambs :-o.

Early wasn't in the best of shape, but we finally got him squared away as best we could and I brought him home with me that night.  I don't fault Short Round for not getting him up and going better on her own.  She would have under normal conditions.  She was a good mother and always raised good lambs.  She could count to two though and she knew she was already taking care of two lambs so I'm sure she just did not understand what had happened.  

Early was a delight in every way.  He was cute and smart and funny and just a corker.  Once I got to know Short Round I realized she was where he'd gotten his big personality.  She's a delight as well and has become one of my all time favorite sheep.

Since we're including treat information about each sheep I'll tell you first that the old flock ewes don't really know anything about cookies and crackers.  They are not pets and they don't really care to be pets.  Short Round and her daughter Ellie hopped off the trailer when they got here the next year and she took one look around and said "No problem, I can be a pet sheep.  Whatchu got in the way of treats, lady?"

Short Round will eat anything.  I mean anything.  I think if I handed her a Big Mac, she'd eat it.  I've never seen anything like it :-D.  One of her favorite treats is bananas.  I'd like to think B. Willard taught her to eat those, but I have a feeling she'd have figured it out on her own.  She also likes oranges and she loves pumpkins too, but seriously, she'll eat anything you hand her.

She's living in Easy Breezy because she's very arthritic, but on good days she still heads out to the yard for a graze.  She and Jared were special friends and I know she misses him almost as much as I do.  They always grazed the yard side by side and when Rocky died, she stayed out in the yard with Jared all afternoon.

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Bullwinkle

"She took forty-leven pictures of dumb ole Mini Moose and only two of me and in the other one I had my eyes closed."

This isn't a terrible picture of Bullwinkle, but I do feel bad that I didn't have more to choose from.  Who knew that the only sheep I didn't get a couple of good pictures of yesterday would be the one I'd draw this morning.  

Bullwinkle's had a busy fall.  His wool got picked to blend with some dog hair and my friend who spun it did a fantastic job and it turned out really pretty.  The yarn is 60% Bullwinkle and 40% dog hair.  You need to blend wool into your dog hair yarn to cool it down.  Dog hair yarn is apparently so warm that you can barely wear it.

We picked Bullwinkle because he is a Rambouillet cross and has the finest crimped fleece in our flock and we thought it would be the best blending fleece for her project.  Fine wool sheep are never my first choice, but his mom died when he was a few days old and he needed a new mom so I brought him home.

Bullwinkle is eight years old now, but he's still one of my babies.  In fact, his nickname is Bebby Bebby.  He was a bratty little lamb and he's still a bit of a brat.  He's no longer able to jump on me...thankfully...but he didn't quit that until he got too old and fat.  Now he just sidles up to me and paws at me and I tell him to knock it off.  Boys...

Bullwinkle loves all treats and isn't afraid to bust his way through to the front of the pack to get what he wants.  I guess it's good to be a big fat brat ;-).

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Ellie

As all the cool kids say, "She cute."

She's also a bit of a sass bucket :-).  That ear is frequently cocked back, much like a raised eyebrow.  Ellie is a front and center sheep and always comes over to see what I'm up to, especially if I have my camera.  She's cute and she knows it.

And the smirk.  Don't you just want to goochy goo her under the chin?  If you do, her face is very soft and her facial hair is just a bit longer than most sheep and it's almost silky.  

One night, when she was still a fairly young lamb she chewed on a spring snap and ended up hooking her cheek like a fish.  Actually hooked herself.  Like a fish.  When I found her the next morning, Tim had to come up and work the "hook" out.  Like a fish.  Not the best claim to fame.

The vet came to make sure she didn't need stitches and commented that she'd never seen anything like that before...and just a few weeks later the exact same thing happened on a nearby farm.  I'm sure they thought I was just trying to one up them when I told them the same thing had already happened over here.

Ellie likes saltines the best.  

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Krista

Of course Krista would be closely following her baby boy!  She was/still is a very devoted mom.  She was such a devoted momma that she was still calling those two lambs over to nurse a couple times a day when they were NINE MONTHS OLD.  That all changed when Pinto arrived.

If you'll remember, Pinto was still an intact ram when he got here.  Krista, Short Round and the lambs were living in the side field at the time and we put Pinto in the adjoining paddock we call Del Boca Vista.  Krista took one look at Pinto and acted like she'd never seen those two lambs before in her life...and they were never allowed to nurse again ;-D.

Now, three and a half years later, her brief love affair with Pinto is long over, but she's still taking care of her last two lambs and I'm so glad she got to keep them with her.  Short Round kicked Ellie out of the house as soon as she walked across the high school graduation stage.  Maggie and Christopher are Krista's family and they are important to her.  Sheep do have friends and families.

"Come on you two.  Time to go in."  

"Okay, mom."

Krista loves all treats and even though she's small, she will fight her way through the crowd, especially for a handful of the "good alfalfa".  She also loves apples so I think we'll have an apple party this afternoon.  Today is a sheep work day.  We are checking eye scores, body condition and trimming feet, so a treat after will be welcome.  I'm posting this early because I'm guessing I'll need a treat later, too!

I think that second picture would make a good new puzzle :-).

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Christopher

Photographs are interesting.  Christopher looks like a fairly normal sized boy here, but standing next to you he's actually a hubba hubba sized sheep who's almost as broad as he is tall.  His fuzzy forehead is hand sized and you can bury your hands deep into his creamy wool.  He has one of my favorite fleeces.

Christopher is still very attached to his momma and would like to be as friendly as his sister Maggie, but he's just a bit shy.  Sometimes he lets me rub his ears and forehead, and sometimes you can tell he really wants to, but just can't bring himself to do so.  I'm not sure why this is as his mother, Krista, is very friendly and Maggie is as well.  Sheep definitely have their own personalities.

Look at those big chukka boot legs :-).

Christopher is not good at fighting his way through to the front to battle for cookies, but he does like them if you sneakily toss one back on the ground in front of him.  I may set out a couple of flakes of hay out to distract everyone else tonight and then try to sidle up to him and see what he does if I have a cookie in my pocket :-).  

Update:  He let me walk up to him and I think wanted to take a cookie, but hasn't actually eaten a cookie from a hand before I don't think so he didn't really know what to do.  He nibbled right on the edge and then before he could get brave enough to take it, someone else would grab it.  We'll practice some more.

Solstice Sheep Day Two - Andy

I almost blew it on day two.  I thought I'd taken a nice picture of Andy yesterday, but when I pulled it up this evening, it wasn't in correct focus.  I looked through the last couple of folders of pictures, but none of Andy...so I picked up my camera and headed for the barn.

Night pictures are usually not a great option, but are a good challenge.  I'd hoped to sneak in and find him sleeping someplace easy to compose, but everyone was immediately on to me and jumped up.  I tried to find a shot, but this is what he kept giving me.

"This seems deeply suspicious.  What's going on?"

"I'm the Solstice Sheep of the Day?  And if I let you take my picture I get a treat?"

":-)"

Andy likes all treats, but grabbing a bite of the fancy alfalfa the old sheep get is maybe his favorite.  I was able to sneak him a handful which he grabbed and then quickly backed out of the melee.  Not everyone got treats tonight.  It would have been too crazy.  Andy tends to fly under the radar, so it was nice to let him know he was extra special today :-).

Andy is one of the bell sheep.  You have to look closely to see it in these dark pictures.  He wears the bell in memory/honor of Graham Lamb.  Graham babysat Andy when he first moved here and after Graham passed, I took the bell from his neck and placed it on Andy's.  They'd been good friends and I hope the bell reminds Andy of his old friend.

Solstice Sheep Day One - Muffin

As I was preparing to get up this morning I decided I would wear my Maisie sweater today.  I love all my sheep sweaters and I like to think the sheep know I'm wearing their wool and are maybe a bit disappointed if I wear something not from our flock.  

I was rustling around trying to find Maisie - I do this by feel in the dark - and felt Muffin's sweater and changed my mind and decided to wear her.  As I was pulling it on I thought "Wouldn't it be fun if I drew Muffin's name this morning!"

I cut all the name tags out, folded them tightly and then shook them up in a bowl and without looking put each one into a pocket.  I love surprises and if I'd seen a name, I'd have put it back in the bowl and tried again.  I was Very Careful.

And on the very first day of Sheep Solstice I drew...Muffin :-).

Muffin and her mom, Mrs. Pepperpot, moved over here from Final Frontier Farm in...are you sitting down?...2017.  Good.  Grief.  Time flies.  She'd been the sickest little lamb I'd ever seen who actually lived and she still looked pretty rough when she moved over here to be Biscuit's best friend.

"First hot day this summer, you are probably going to lose her, so don't get too attached."  Too late.  I was already attached.

Watching Muffin and her mom take the very best care of each other was one of the highlights of my sheep life.  Remember them sleeping together, Muffin's head tucked over her momma's back?  The day we had to put old Pepperpot down was soul crushing, but the last thing I told her was that we'd take good care of Muffin and here we are seven year later, still enjoying some Muffin magic.

About an hour later I walked into the front room and found a ceramic sheep laying on the floor.  Archie!  It was a sweet little shiny black sheep and I picked her up and set her on the kitchen counter.  She'll be our mascot for the season.

Muffin is a sweet treat lover, but she also loves pumpkins, so today everyone got to have a pumpkin party.  My friend Celia and I picked up an entire car full of pumpkins at the season end at our local orchard.  I never shared that picture and need to go find it.  That car was loaded!  I think we had over 150 pumpkins of various sizes piled in there.

Muffin's portrait?  One only a mother could love.  Look at that slimy pumpkin face :-o.  Her calendar picture is so much prettier, but this one tells a good story.  Oh, and who is that sheep trying to share her pumpkin?  Yep, it's Biscuit.  I love that they are still best friends.

We'll try to do better tomorrow ;-).

Solstice Sheep

I have always been one of those people who struggled to enjoy the holiday season, for various and the same reasons so many others do as well.  I understand.  I also hated the holidays being over though, usually because I felt sad and stupid that I hadn't made the effort to enjoy them.  Two years ago I decided to try to fix that.

Wing and a Prayer Farm did a beautiful winter solstice advent calendar and I treated myself.  If I did even just one deliberate thing to find some joy in the season, I could open my treat for the day.  I didn't miss a day and I ended up actually enjoying the holidays for the first time.

Last year I re-used the calendar and had Auntie Reg tuck a bunch of tiny sheep figurines in all the pockets as my prizes.  Not only did I enjoy some holiday cheer during the day, I got the fun of finding my sheep and then adding them to the flock that night and taking a pretty picture to share.  The whole year had been awful in so many ways, but it ended with some peace and joy that carried on into the next year.

This year I thought about what I wanted to do and decided I'd give little gifts back rather than get them for myself...although gifts given are usually gifts received as well ;-).  

Tucked in each of the pockets is a tag with a sheep's name.  Each day that sheep gets to be extra special and get their portrait taken and a short (or maybe long) story written about them and also sneaked a yummy treat.  

I've got some apples for the ones who are willing to eat a healthy snack, crackers for those who like salty treats and of course some good old fashioned vanilla wafers.  I'll try to remember to tell which treat each sheep prefers.  There will probably be treats for everyone each day because sheep don't understand calendars and special days and the treat bin is extra full thanks to you all :-).

I'm only doing current sheep this year because I don't want to risk making myself or anyone else sad thinking back on dear old friends now gone.  There is a place for that for sure, but not right now.  I do love having their pictures and stories on the blog, but it can be a rabbit hole lined with tissues.  

I chose the picture above because not only is it one of my very, very favorites and made a beautiful "cover", but those sheep are many of the dear old friends.  I don't think there is anyone in that picture who is still here, but they are always with us in spirit and I hope they still enjoy the treats as well.

I will post each Solstice Sheep over here and on Instagram.  I will try to share at least a few on Facebook, but as always that is not my favorite platform and part of trying to make it through the holidays is setting some boundaries.  There will probably be extra stuff on IG because it's fun and easy.  I posted today's sheep this morning.

There is already a good story about this draw!  I'll share it later today :-).