About Last Night

I feel like we've gone below zero before, but maybe because of all the snow and ice it felt even colder.  It was miserable.  

I kept hay in front of everyone and they all made it through, but when I walked into the barn this morning feeling around for the light switch and heard a tiny little voice respond "Momma?" to my "Hey guys, just me." and knew that Maisie had stood all night in the skirting area, I nearly cried.  I'm as tired of it as they are.  -7 is just. too. cold.

I took 48 pictures this morning.  Pictures I thought would tell a story.  They probably do, but the pictures themselves weren't worth sharing.  This one is cute though and does tell me a story.  Crazy old Burrnie has fully embraced sneaking over to the gate for handfuls of the Easy Breezy alfalfa or cookies.  

We've had lots of cookie parties to not only help with morale, but also to make sure everyone is acting right.  Tabitha looked better yesterday, but was a little off again this morning.  She's due for her second dose of antibiotics and the weather is sort of breaking so hopefully she'll be on the mend.

Hang in there, southerners.  It's got to end eventually...and then we can all go back to complaining about the heat ;-).

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Burrnie

It was cold this morning, but the sun was warm and the light was nice.  I wasn't super happy with the picture I had of Burrnie so I grabbed my camera for a re-do.  I love the light in these early morning shots and I love that Burrnie is resting in "his" spot, right in the middle of the inside stall, surrounded by friends.  It's important to be surrounded by friends, especially if you are Burrnie.  

I took this picture just 15 minutes later.  He hasn't moved, but the sun had.  The shadows are coming from the slats on the top of the wall in front of him.  

I call Burrnie my Sesame Street character because his wool is sort of yellow and his face and legs and ears definitely are and even his eye membranes are a yellow color.  You look at their eyes to check for anemia from parasites.  It's a system called FAMACHA and we check that throughout the year, more frequently during the summer months.  His are always fun to check.

Burrnie loves treats of all kinds, but especially loves Vanilla Wafers.  You have to watch your hands because he grabs them so fast that you could lose a finger.  Burrnie is another sheep who'd love to be relaxed and friendly, but is just too scared.  He had an awful start to life and that's never left him.  We don't mind watching our fingers.

Burrnie finishes up our Solstice sheep party.  This has been fun.  Several people have mentioned that they think they can identify the sheep better now which gave me the idea to do a fun challenge tomorrow night during our traditional Christmas Eve live video.

We'll still do our normal "take a deep breath and enjoy relaxing in the barn for a few minutes" visit, but I'm also going to focus on each sheep for several seconds and then say their name so you can quiz yourself.

I'll probably set up a giveaway of some sort tomorrow so check back :-).

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Murphy

As we drew near the end of the Solstice Sheep this week I started counting who was still out.  Five to go.  Who were they...Liddy, Tavia, Tessa, Burrnie and Murphy.  Then I was down to three and I drew Liddy and then there were just two.  Ooh, wouldn't it be fun if Murphy was the last one?

I fed Bea and the cats and put the kettle on and finally got up my nerve to pull today's tag...Dang it,  Murphy!  Wouldn't that have been a great story if the sheep who is best known for being the first out every dang day of the year turned out to be the very last sheep on the Solstice calendar?  Oh well, it's still a pretty good story.

I've been sharing everyone's favorite treats and at first glance this picture doesn't appear to be a treat picture, but it is.  Besides being the leader of the flock, Murphy's main claim to fame is opening gates.  So much so that there were some many times I toyed with sticking him in a big cardboard box with, or sometimes without, air holes and shipping him back to New York.

Murphy's motivation for opening gates is always food related and his main goal in life these days is to move into Easy Breezy (on the other side of this gate).  Oh, he doesn't want to move into a retirement home.  He just wants to steal their food.  

Murphy is obsessed with any treats, but is especially fond of the chopped alfalfa fed to the Easy Breezy sheep.  

A Tale Of Two Pictures

My idea for going back to my "roots" and using the big camera to not only take better pictures, but also pictures more inspiring for blogging seems to be helping.  I love my quick grab iPhone shots because they are frequently telling a story, but the more traditional pictures remind me of why I enjoyed photography and blogging in the first place.  

This may have something to do with computers versus phone screens.  Everything looks fine on a phone screen.  When I post a phone shot over here on the blog/computer, there always seems to be something missing.  I think quality.  Not that an interesting phone shot telling a quick story isn't a good photograph, but maybe the artistic depth isn't always there?

Something to chew on...

I saved this picture from a foggy morning a couple of days ago.

I grabbed this story as I was walking up from shutting the field gate last night.

I'm glad to have both.  And I guess that is the bottom line.

The Ol' Sneak Attack

I saw Burrnie sleeping in the sun this morning and tried to sneak in and take a picture...but he caught me.  This is his favorite sleep spot when it's warm.  When it gets cold, he moves in to the middle of the stall, about 10 feet from this position.  Cozier, but no pillow :-/.

I realized that when I hit a big run of blog posts, it's usually because I've taken pictures with the big girl camera and not my phone.  I have to manually download those picture to the computer, but when they are  on the computer, it's easy and fun to create a blog post...like in the olden times.  Plus I like them better :-).

I'm making a bigger effort to use my beloved camera more and thereby use my beloved blog more.  

Would you like a new puzzle?  I'm going to try to remember to do them more as well.

Cheers!

The 2025 Farm Calendars

It's time to reveal the 2025 farm calendar!

Putting the farm calendar together has become one of the best parts of fall....besides the cooler weather. These calendars started as just a fun way to share some pictures with friends and family, but gratefully grew into a "bake sale" way to help our small flock of sheep support themselves.  

I had a fun group of photos to work with this year and I like the whimsy of several of them.  Who wouldn't like a sheep blowing a raspberry at a big pile of snow? :-)  Once again I added a short story to each month and lots of mini pictures fill in the blank spaces and add extra fun and tell further mini photo stories.  

We also created a limited run of companion note cards again this year.  I used quite a few of them last year and was happy that I sent more snail mail than I have in years.  If you'd like to share a favorite calendar picture with a friend, the companion card is a perfect option.  The accompanying stories are found on the back.

It is still unrealistic for a small farm to "upgrade" to a fancy online shop site so once again we are doing the old time ordering system where you send me an email letting me know what you'd like and where it should be shipped and I'll include an invoice and return envelope in your package.  Add an extra note if you'd like :-).  

Those notes are how I learned that several of you don't turn the calendar pages until it's time so that each month is a surprise.  I love that idea and now do that myself.  Even though I made the calendar, by about March I've forgotten who comes next.  I love being surprised!

That spoiler factor is also why I've put all the boring text up here and hidden the sneak peek calendar and card shots below.  Don't look if you don't want to!  Or you can peek...but goreallyfast ;-).

2024 Equinox Farm Calendar $25.00  

Companion Calendar Note Cards $10.00 

Buy together and save $5.00  $30.00

We charge just actual USPS shipping cost with no mark up for packaging and handling.  If you'd like a quote, send me and email with your zip code and I can give you an exact price.  

If you'd like to see all of the pictures, I did a video tour and talked a little more about the pictures and what these calendars and cards do for our small farm.

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A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady)

Well, Lancelot is still rolling in the mud.  We lost Jared over the summer so Maisie is now the “friendly” face of the farm.  She might look a bit frail these days, but it’s still a good idea to watch out for the sheep with the tail.  Possum and Archie take turns (mostly) in the wool box bed.  Pinto continues to jump in and out of the arena at will, and a new friend, Pinot, is keeping spell check confused.  When Bea's not out ruling the world, she’s now moved from our feet to the bed.  She has no idea what we would do without her.

We will always miss our old friends.  If you aren’t familiar with their stories, we encourage you to visit the farm blog to meet them.

As always, a special thanks to Saint Tim for doing all the hard work and heavy lifting and a grateful thank you to all of you who are such an important part of our farm family.  Your care and kindness through the years is appreciated more than you could ever imagine. 

 

Whew!

I've been so busy trying to get myself and others ready for the Kentucky Shepherd's Market this Saturday that I haven't even been posting much on Instagram the last few days :-o.  

I think the market is going to be really fun and I'm excited for all the interest in a new fiber venture, but after the last few years, I am no longer a very good "go out in public" person, so there's some a lot of stress about that.  If I get sick, someone still has to take care of the animals...  That's something to think about before you go out in public when you are not well.

My sheep are why I do these things.  I took a few minutes after I got done feeding last night to remember that and enjoy them and the peace and quiet of being in a cozy barn with your best friends.  I ended up going live for a bit because I figured I wasn't the only one who might enjoy listen to the sheep rustling about eating dinner.  

Exhale...

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A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady)

I've enjoyed using a few of my pictures to help promote the market.  Chocula and Mini Moose are my favorites, but I have a new Pinto version ready for later today :-).

Well, Since It's National Puzzle Day

Here are two more puzzles that I forgot to share last week.  

I love this silly Sesame Street (because he's the same color as Bert and Ernie...) character of a sheep and hope this might make a calendar picture for next year.  Burrnie flies a bit under the radar here, but he's a favorite from over the years :-).

I love Maggie's smile and the fact that Mini Moose grew up to be one of the biggest sheep we've ever had :-D.

Happy National Puzzle Day!

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch...

What. An. Insane. Week.  So much so that as I was sitting here trying to remember what all happened this week and finally had to go back and check my own IG feed I realized there wasn't even much on there either besides the Great Bee Move.

That in itself is probably worth at least two blog posts, but before I do that I'm going to revisit Burrnie's Sheep of the Week post to answer a great question.

You say that his wool is creamy white but his hair is yellow. What is the difference between wool and hair?

There are actually some breeds of sheep that only have hair.  They are commonly known as...wait for it..."hair sheep".  Some examples would be Barbados Black Belly, Katahdin, St. Croix and Dorper.  All sheep have at least some hair though.

Here is a closer picture of Burrnie's face.  All around his face (eyes, nose, mouth) is hair and it feels much like a short haired dog's coat.  Where things get fuzzy on his cheeks and forehead is the start of his wool and his wool covers all of the rest of his body except his legs, which turn back into hair.  

The hair on Burrnie's face and legs is the same yellow color.  While his wool looks nearly the same color here, it's actually a creamy white...when it's clean.  You can see that in the hat I made as a thank you gift from him to Robin.

Burrnie's wool is very soft and, as we talk about in regards to wool quality, very crimpy.  What that means is if you run your hand over it, it feels "fuzzy", not smooth like hair.  If you look at it under a microscope however, each fiber that looks fairly straight and just fuzzy is actually zig zaggy (special pro term ;-).

A fine wool sheep (like a Merino) can have up to 100 zig zags per inch.  A coarse wool sheep (like a Cotswold) might only have five per inch and their zig zags are more like loopy curls.  I've never counted Burrnie's zig zags or crimps per inch, but I'd guess it's...well, I should just go pull a lock out of his bag and do the math.

Here's a fun way to think about the difference between hair and wool.  You would stroke Burrnie's smooth face, but you would bury your hand into Burrnie's soft, fuzzy wool...when it grew back out ;-).

Keep the comments and questions coming!  

My Favorite Sheep...Of The Week

This week's Sheep of the Week is Burrnie :-D.  

Burrnie's story isn't anywhere near as harrowing as Renny's was, but it's not for the faint of heart either.  He came out of a horrible neglect situation and was rescued by Nistock Farm back in 2013.  He moved here in February of 2014 and has been a fun addition to the flock.

I teasingly call him a Sesame Street character because even though his wool is a creamy white, everything else about him, like his hair and skin is yellow.  Even his dark red "eye score" (a way to check for anemia from parasites - dark red is good) is tinged in yellow.  I'm sure he has some Tunis in his background.

Burrnie loves being here and loves sleeping in the the barn with all his friends.  He used to always sleep right in the middle of the stall in the middle of everyone, but I'm starting to find him sleeping on the "hill" between the inside and outside stalls lately.  I think he does that because he's starting to have some trouble getting up :-/.

If you scroll back through the blog and IG, there are quite a few pictures of Burrnie sound asleep at the night check.  He frequently doesn't even wake up as I walk through and tell everyone good night.  Even after all these years I still love to see him sleeping like that.  Everyone should feel that safe and secure.

This is as close to a baby picture as we have, taken while in quarantine at Nistock Farms.  You can see how he got his name.  It's hard to believe he was ever that small.

"I'm pretty big now and my eyes aren't nearly as bugged out. I've never gotten covered in burrs like that again, but I don't mind my name.  I'm proud of being tough enough to get through all that with the help of some nice people."

"Here is me getting carried out to the car when I moved to Kentucky.  I was much fatter by then, but Andy just scooped me up and carried me all the way up the stairs and out the door.  I don't think he could do that now haha."

There are a ton of good Burrnie stories if you scroll back through the blog.  I'd forgotten about his first cookie party and putting him out with some of the boys and Daniel causing so much trouble.  Or that he and Maisie used to be good friends.  There are a couple of references to that.  Maybe one of the best stories was Bill shearing him blindfolded.  Burrnie's always been a good sport.

Burrnie has a fairly short fleece, but it's on the finer side so a bit softer than the longwools.  I spun and knit a hat for Robin from what I could salvage from his first shear and I've used it for felting several times. Burrnie's main job here is just being a happy sheep :-).

Surprise!

We've had some weird potential predator sightings lately, one right up by the closed chicken coop door (!).  I picked up a cheap game camera yesterday to see if it could be of any use.  I've long loved following Colorado Farm Life's captures of not only the wildlife around them, but also their daily comings and goings, so I was pretty excited to see what I'd find here.

I need to do some thinking on how best to focus on the chicken coop area without the horses messing with it, so for last night I set it up looking out towards the back of the farm, just up from the creek.  I'd seen a coyote further out from there and figured if it was going to trek to the barn, it would likely cross this path.

I knew something has been coming around at night because Bea has been on high alert and doing a good job sounding the alarm.  Interestingly though, I've not heard any coyotes calling except way back on a neighboring farm.  I'm not sure if this is what she hears in the evenings as the time stamp was from early morning, but look!

Just strolling through, using the bridge.  I've never seen a deer here.  I've never even knowingly seen any signs of deer when I've been out walking, but of course their tracks and droppings look very much like sheep...  No coyote or fox sightings.

I'm only going to run it at night to try to save on battery usage, but for fun I left it on this morning until all the sheep had gone out.

Murphy, leading the way.

Baby B

Burrnie:  "I feel like someone is watching me."

Liddy is never up with the early risers ;-).

 Bullwinkle and Biscuit bringing up the rear.

I haven't decided where I'm going to set it tonight.  I think I can rig it up near the coop, but I'm also toying with watching the creek.  I'd like to set it up back at the ponds, too, but need to let it do it's main job for a few night first.

Stay tuned!

Resting During The Heat Of The Day

The dog teams had more trouble with heat this year than cold and most mushers stopped during the heat of the day to rest.  Our freshly shorn sheep are actually enjoying the warm sun.  We've had a couple of chilly nights, but not terrible, and once the sun comes up, everyone is warm and comfy.  I glad we didn't shear the oldies though.

Hydration is important, too ;-).

Frankie lays down to sleep more than any horse I've ever known.  This is his outdoor bed.  He also sleeps in his run in stall sometimes, too, but this is where I most often see him.  Oh, and out on the hillside is another favorite.  He eats until he gets too sleepy and then just lays down.  Rough life :-).

Biscuit's "racing stripes" are from itching along the rusty gate.  That boy needs a bath, but I sure don't want to wish for rain :-o.

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Resting my “dogs” during the “heat” of the day. We’ve had a couple chilly nights, but the sheep are warm and comfy once the sun comes up. #iknitarod2019

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Mar 19, 2019 at 9:45am PDT

I've got the body basically finished (still deciding on final length and what sort of bottom edging I want) and both sleeves started, so I can almost see the lights of Nome off in the distance. Once I get finished, I'll get the official shearing post up and also some other fun pictures from before shearing.

In the meantime, enjoy sitting in the sun with everyone for a few minutes :-).

Aw, Come On...

Fall Snow

For anyone keeping score at home, this is actually the second snow.  Neither has been very "big", but if it snows enough that I'm excited about it, I'm counting it as a snow!  Maybe these were mildly foggy mornings back in August ;-).

I was walking around the barn trying to figure out a way to take a cell phone picture that really showed how pretty it was this morning, not having any luck, grumbling to myself, "This is one of the many bad things about not blogging enough - no good camera pictures anymore."

...um...

...hel-lo!  If you took 14 steps to the right, you could go pick up your very lonely camera from the Wool House...

...oh...yeah... (insert eye rolling emoticon)

Burrnie looks like he has a posse!

Spud in the foreground, Jared and Tavia, one of his many "girlfriends", on the left.  Jared is still quite the ladies man even after being 'tutered this summer.

From a slightly different angle.

A new favorite picture (and puzzle :-).  I couldn't have captured the colors this well with my phone, hel-LO!  Sigh... 

I took about 20 pictures of Muffin eating a leaf.  Want to see them?  Oh, Muuufffiin ;-).

"Muffin, Muffin, Muffin.  Who wants to see a billion pictures of Muffin eating a stupid leaf!"