Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Maggie

I almost blew it today.  I knew I'd taken some pictures of Maggie the other day, but when I opened them up this morning they were nothing I really wanted to use.  I'd planned to go out during the afternoon and take some new pictures...and the day got away from me.  

I thought about the possibility of getting a barn shot this evening, but knew that Maggie wouldn't be in the barn.  She very seldom is.  Ah, the beauty of this challenge...go try to take a picture of her in the dark.  If you can figure out a way to do that, it will tell a good story.

Maggie is a watcher.  I find these sheep interesting.  Maisie used to sit outside and then when she got older she'd sit just inside the door, watching and listening for trouble out back.  I always thought she learned that from Hank, but when I saw Maggie start doing that I realized it might be something more.

Maggie has slept out back since her first summer.  I found her exactly where I knew I would, right at the corner of the Del Boca Vista.  Occasionally Christopher will sit out there with her, but Maggie is the dedicated night watch.  

At some point she must move inside because I seldom find her still out there in the morning, but occasionally I do.  If it's been snowing during the night, she always has snow on her back so I know she's stayed out there for a good bit of time.

I think this is fascinating.

I think this will be a beautiful and challenging new puzzle.  Enjoy!

Oops, I almost forgot to share her favorite treat.  Maggie is a very shy treat taker so she doesn't always get a treat when the big sheep are being too rough.  I just snuck her a handful of alfalfa before anyone noticed.  Everyone loves the chopped alfalfa :-).

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.

February

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February was a busy one!

Eating Hay While The Sun Shines

The Kentucky Shepherd's Market went really well and was well worth all the effort, but I have to say I'm glad to be able to catch my breath and catch up with things I've been missing, like pictures.  

Krista

Thelma

Biscuit and Murphy

Maggie and Christopher

Thelma

Levi

Biscuit and Murphy

I love to watch my sheep eating, especially on cold, but sunny mornings.  I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I am Not Ready for spring yet.

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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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 :-).

Knee Deep

We got our first heavy frost last night. Frosted grass is especially dangerous for hefty horses, but I worry it's hard on hefty sheep as well so I don't like to let them out to graze until the sun has melted the frost and hopefully some of the sugar in the grass has receded.

I walked out with them to see where we were grass-wise and what was going to need a fall mowing and what might be best left as it stood.  We usually try to mow off the seed heads so as to reduce weeds re-seeding, but it got so dry at the end of summer that we are just now ready to catch everything back up.

I wish I'd taken my big camera.  What a beautiful morning.

 

Ellie, Maggie and Christopher

Muffin, Pinto and Christopher

Pinto, Maggie and Christopher

I love that the four "lambs" are still good friends.  

Yep, this paddock looks like this could use a little off the top.

Happy Fall, Y'all :-).  And there's a new puzzle, too, just to keep everyone's production high on a Monday morning ;-).

Boys

Unlike our good pal Pinto* who moves out of and back in the field at will, Christopher can only figure out how to get out.  When he realizes everyone's gone in without him or the horses come charging up and scare him half to death, he starts crying his eyes out until I come rescue him.  

This happens every day.  

Yesterday it happened three times. 

I feel like that funny little kid marching through his yard, yelling at the crowing rooster.

This morning I stood out back to spy on him after I let everyone out.  

Bea helped.  She agrees with the little kid as well, but mostly in a farm rules enforcement capacity...although she's probably as tired of listening to him as I am.

He stayed with the flock for awhile and then started easing back our direction...but, while too stupid to figure out how to get himself back out the way he came in, he was smart enough to know we were spying on him.  

We relocated to a more stealth location...sitting in comfortable chairs on the porch with Archie making uncomfortable muffins on my lap...

...so I missed the shot of him crawling under the fence down at the creek.

As I type this he's standing at the gate nearest the Wool House, once again yelling for help at the top of his lungs...for the last time**.

(Grabs spare fence plank...)

*I think I'm going to add a new category to the blog - a "fer crying out loud" label.  Unless I tagged it wrong, I don't think I've ever shared Pinto getting out and back in the barn lot :-o.  Don't let me forget!

**Famous last words

My Favorite Sheep...Of The Week

"I'm the what?"

You're the Sheep of the Week this week...or last week.

"Oh, okay."

Working down the list of special requests, this/last week's sheep of the week is Krista. I've always loved this sweet old ewe.  She retired over here from the ewe flock at Final Frontier Farm almost two years ago and what I've learned about her since she moved here only solidifies my love and respect.

I snapped this picture a couple of days ago.  Those two lambs of hers, Maggie and Christopher, will be two years old next month.  They are still a solid family unit.  That's Ellie back by the gate, running to catch up.  She's an adopted daughter.

When all the lambs got to be weaning age that summer, I decided to just let the ewes handle things.  Short Round kicked Ellie out of the house pretty quickly.  Krista continued to call her lambs over to nurse for a few seconds a couple times a day, long into the winter (!).

She'd probably still be letting them nurse if Pinto hadn't have shown up.  As soon as she realized an eligible bachelor had moved in, she sent those kids packing ;-D.  Well, she at least stopped letting them nurse. I don't think she'll ever actually send them packing.  

There is no doubt in my mind that this is a family.  That Krista is a mom who loves her kids and always will, given a chance.  When they got separated during shearing last month, she called to them and they answered until they were all back together.  Four legged animals are no different than twos.

Here are the oldest pictures I have of Krista. Those lambs were by one of the Nistock rams and they were super cute babies.  I've often wished Maggie and Christopher had come from one of the wool rams, but then Maggie might not have become who she is and I'd not trade her for anything.  Christopher is a good sheep, too, but I'm not sure he's destined to become a Super Hero like his sister ;-).

Remember you can always look back and find more pictures and stories from any of the sheep or other family by following their label on the right hand side of the blog.  You may have to scroll down a bit to find the labels list.

Okay, who's next?

Sixteen Candles

Yesterday was my 16th blogiversary!  

I'd like to type out something really profound to commemorate this, but I can't figure out what I want to say, so here's a cute picture (and puzzle) of Christopher and Maggie sharing a hay snack this afternoon while Krista looks on, still keeping watch over her little family.

I'm glad they're here and could stay a family.  I'm glad you all are here, too :-).  

Merry Christmas

I really enjoy listening to Christmas stories, well, any good stories and some of my favorite people are the ones who tell great stories.  I like to think that our animals tell each other stories as well.  I wish I could sit down here between Bea and Blossom and listen to Grandpa Rocky.  Everyone has a story. 

Merry Christmas!

Jessica is our puzzle post winner.  Please email me (thecrazysheepladyATgmailDOTcom) with your mailing address :-).

The Pumpkin Party

Well, the after the pumpkin party.  Or maybe I should say the after we ate all the original pumpkins party ;-).

That's a ewe on a mission.

And the race is on!

"Let me show you how it's done, boys."

The two white faces looking at each other are Christopher and Maggie.  They are still the best brother and sister :-).

If you'd like a new puzzle, this is a fun one.  Enjoy!

A Mother's Love

Every afternoon around 2:30/3:00 Christopher leaves the barn by himself, walks past the sheep water tank, out and around the corner to the front field, gets a drink from the horse waterer and then returns to the rest of the sheep still sleeping in the barn.  

He may nose around a bit by the horse stalls, but mostly it's just to get a drink.  The water is from the same source.  The sheep tank is inside the barn, out of the sun.  The horse waterer is a smaller capacity tank and sits in full sun.  Both are cleaned regularly, but I know which one I'd drink from...and it's not the horse's water.

I drove Frankie in the arena the other day.  To get there we go through the gate at the front corner of the barn and past the horse stalls.  I leave that gate open until we drive back through when we are finished. Frankie and I drive into the barn to unhook and unharness and afterward back out front for a bath.

Along comes Christopher.  He gets a drink, sees the open gate and thinks there is no one around and decides to wander out into the yard driveway for a snack.  I started spraying Frankie down just as he got started eating and he saw us...and panicked.

"Oh no!  There's that stupid horse!  And there's water spraying everywhere!  Oh waily-waily!*"

He cried and cried and I tried to talk to him to get him to calm down and wait just a minute while I finished giving Frankie a quick bath and then could go help him find his way home, but nothing was helping.  

"Oh noooo!  Help me!" 

He was in zero danger ;-).  

"Momma!  MOMMA!  Help me, momma!"

"Hey!  Who's out here bothering my kid!"

He stopped screaming and started eating as soon as he saw her coming.

"Christopher?  You woke me up for this?"

"Well, I guess while I'm out here, is that grass any good?"

I'm not sure if Short Round would still come running if Ellie yelled for her.  I doubt I'll find out.  Ellie doesn't get herself in too many scary situations.  I bet Krista never stops taking care of Christopher and Maggie :-).

* "Oh waily-waily!" is from The Wee Free Men by Terry Prachett.  This is one of my very favorite books...in case you are looking for a really good story.  I've lost track of how many times I've listened to it.  If you like audio books, the reader is perfect!

 

December

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December was a blur...but it was a pretty darn decent blur.

November

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November was a pretty darn good month :-).

Between A [Gate] And A Hard Place

As I mentioned the other day, I was sure Krista's kids would be happy to demonstrate their "amazing" gate skills and they were.  Luckily only one of the little thugs can still fit through.  I love the looks on Krista's and Christopher's faces.

 "Now open the latch for us, Maggie!"