Remembering

Hank has had to work a lot of overtime lately.  He's always worked hard at night, usually mostly early on and then an occasional warning throughout the night if he hears something suspicious.  Lately we've been even hearing coyotes yipping in the mornings, after daybreak.  That's not happened before.  

I'm hoping it's just because there seems to be a good rabbit population this year, but one did come way too close to our back porch the other night, so we do what we can to help.  Baaxter, Tilly, Iris and I ran down the sidewalk "barking" and Hank quickly "escorted" him off the farm. We are our own special pack :-).

I didn't want a guard dog. Hate hearing dogs barking in the night.  When other shepherds told me that his deep bark wouldn't bother me the way other dogs do, I didn't believe them.  It's true though.  And I do find comfort hearing him "on duty" if I wake up in the middle of the night.  

Hank is here because we lost a lamb to coyotes several years ago.  We never forget that.  

For all who serve and protect...

On Your Mark

Miss Ewenice is getting pretty excited about the Tour de Fleece this year. She loves to be the center of attention. The life of the party. She's a diva. Her needle felted likeness - the prize to be drawn from the successful participants of Team My Favorite Sheep - meets her approval.

I took it out to the barn first. I like to photograph in the barn because the lighting is really important if I'm trying to take a picture of a white on white sheep. If I'm out in bright sun, no matter how pretty the background, it's a complete wash out.

Strangely, the pictures in the barn, with the sheep in the background, didn't do much for me. I tried the hay stall. Inside the wool house. I liked the red and orange flowers in the rock planter out front and snapped a couple shots there. With a glance down the sidewalk, I realized exactly where she wanted to sit.



The Doone Valley Thyme.



With its delicate purple flowers.



I realize the light is still not perfect, but sometimes it's the thought that counts most.

Lorna Doone Buggy was one of my very favorite sheep. She was probably Miss Ewenice's favorite sheep as well. I hate to remember that horrible time, but I doubt I'll ever forget. I think the flowers blooming now are a beautiful tribute.

Two nights ago Hank was upset, barking all night long. I hate to hear a dog barking, but after the events of last summer realized I was going to have to learn to live with it. I was told it wasn't the same as the random neighbor dog yapping at the moonlight. That the sound was different. Low and almost soothing because you know when you hear your livestock guardian dog barking that they are on the job and working hard. Turns out it's true. Hank's barking doesn't bother me.

What did bother me though as my sleepy brain cleared was the realization that even though we now had an excellent guardian dog, that we had two pens of young sheep separated from the main flock...and Hank couldn't get to them. At the back of the barn. Closest to the coyotes. Who are most likely again feeding hungry pups this time of year. Last night the four lambs were locked securely inside the barn. The hard lesson was learned and I'm going to stop crying now and get back to something fun.



The Tour de Fleece is open to anyone. You do not have to commit to spin every day. That's just what I chose to do. You could challenge yourself to learn a new technique, learn to use a drop spindle, spin everything in your stash that's orange, spin a special sheep's wool into enough yarn to knit a fancy lace shawl, heck, even just learn to spin... It just has to be a challenge that fits you and your crazy life. It should be an honest challenge, but something that you'll enjoy working towards.

Several people have already signed up on the Ravelry site and I've enjoyed meeting the "new" folks and visiting with the "old" ;-). It's fun to hear what everyone's going to be working on. I'm going to figure out the photo posting dealy and hopefully people will post some pictures as the tour progresses.

Come join us! You'll have some fun, your spinning will improve and you might even win a miniature Miss Ewenice, surely one of everybody's favorite sheep.

I Had To

We love the stonework in front of the wool house, especially the huge rocks that make up the country sidewalk. There are spaces between some of the rocks - naturally - and we've played around with how to finish them out and decided to try planting a walkable ground cover to fill in the spaces, add some cool color and dress it up a little.



When I saw this at the nursery....I had to.



I'm not so sure how to "protect in winter" there between those rocks though and it's important that I do. Any suggestions?



I guess I could hire Iris to be a Plant Guardian Dog and sit on them ;-).



Inside the wool house - lots of wool washing happening...finally. I just love the set up and the drying racks...



...and being able to use the big table to work on painting projects between washes.

I hate the perspective issues of trying to take long pictures with too many lines and too many angles though. I swear it doesn't look like a Dr. Seuss house. Any suggestions on that?

To Serve And Protect

There are many options available to try to keep your livestock safe from predators. As the sleeping in the barn every night method is starting to get old (and isn't foolproof either), we've been desperately searching for our top choice, a good guardian dog.

Ideally, as the coyote(s) have come back within 50 yards of the barn at least twice now, we need a mature, ready to go to work dog (with big teeth!). We have not been able to find that. We feel pretty good with who we did find though.



Meet Hank (peeking out behind Buddy).

Hank is an eight month old Pyrenees/Maremma cross. He was born in a goat barn and has lived with those goats his whole life. He's not so sure about our sheep. Well, I should say he's not so sure of a few of our sheep. While he tries to be friendly, wagging his tail and kissing their noses, a few of our sheep have not returned the gesture. I think he appreciates his safety gate.



I have spent most of the day hanging out at the barn watching his every interaction. I'm impressed with his good humor towards sheep that try even my patience. I've also enjoyed watching our sheep interact with each other. I was not aware of what a jerk Peabody is and Crazy Esther might be old and feeble, but if she ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.



And I already knew how sweet Emily and her baby Caspar Belly (aka Spooky Tooth) are.



And dear old Miss Ewenice. Is there anyone who naps as beautifully? (I wish that gate bar wasn't framing the bottom :-/.) She was very depressed after she lost her baby girl. We all were. We still are.



But, as I watch Hank following (or trying to) his sheep out of the barn this evening, I feel a little hope for the future safety of our flock...and will appreciate his help.

That's Keebler and Graham Lamb in the doorway, by the way. I can't believe how big they are. Keebler can't believe I'm making him live with "sheep".

Friends And Flowers

I should tell you what the bees are up to and where those flowers were found and how much I have enjoyed our day lilies this year, but I have nothing to say. I am wordless. I am so tired - physically, mentally, emotionally.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers and hugs. I especially liked the idea of everyone giving their sheep (and cats and dogs and horses and chickens and family and friends...) an extra hug in honor of Lorna Doone-Buggy and everyone she touched.

Let's go do that. Every day.

And take a kleenex.

Even though none of them really care if you get snot on 'em.

An Unwelcome Visitor

Lorna Doone-Buggy is gone. I am a complete failure as a shepherd. I knew better. Remember the night I slept in the barn because I didn't want to leave the flock in the unsecured front field while the paint dried on the fences? That's the same field I had the doodle bug living in. With an old, crippled ewe to protect her (not that I was apparently even thinking about that).

She was the toughest, sweetest, happiest, most loving (even when I had to give her horrible shots that made her fall on the ground they hurt so bad) lamb and was such a joy to be around. She and I played in the barn aisleway last night - she was just starting to feel good enough to jump and run. I completely let her down. Any idiot could have kept her safe.

I am so sorry.

I am assuming it was a coyote, but can't say for sure. We've had some neighbor dog issues, but usually dogs take down an entire group and don't eat what they kill. Ewenice doesn't have a mark on her.

A Lover AND A Fighter

Poor little sweet Lorna Doone-Buggy. She has been so sick. Just when I think she's starting to look a little better, back down she slides. However, no matter how bad she feels, she's always had her chin up or her nose in the feed bucket (or tall clovers). Just the toughest little lamb I've ever seen.

Sunday morning I thought we were on a bad course. She was holding her head up and happy to see me, but breathing so gurgly, nose so snotty and not super interested in breakfast. With all the company here getting attached to her, I dreaded coming in for my own breakfast and having to tell everyone I thought she wasn't going to make it.

Her guardian angel must be working overtime. By evening she was up and tootling around and out grazing with Miss Ewenice and seems to be getting a little 'more betterer' every day. Maybe this 4th round of antibiotics is what she needed...or it might be the good care she's getting.



Ewenice has done such a good job with her adopted baby girl. Even during all the cool weather over the weekend, she only went out to graze in the early morning and late evening and never took little Doone-Buggy much past the little creek. I didn't think too much about it though until these last few days. It has really warmed back up again and look who's out in the heat of the midday sun this afternoon.



And look where they are!

Let me tell you (well, you can probably see ;-), nothing gets in the way of Ewenice eating. The fact that she limited her grazing until these last two days when her baby was feeling better really just amazes me. As most of our sheep spend the hottest part of the day in the shade, I'm not sure if Ewenice is just making up for lost time or if she knows her baby is finally able and needs to get out and eat lots of vitamin rich grass.

Either way, you'll never be able to convince me that animals aren't smart, don't feel, have compassion for others...

Thank you Miss Ewenice.

Big Babies

We are slammed busy trying to get the studio finished so we can move all my "stuff" out of the house and actually set up a bed in the spare bedroom (Tim's brothers and SIL's are coming for the weekend :-). Couple of quick notes:

• power is finally turned back on in the barn - this doesn't seem that exciting until you remember we have a barn skunk.

• the boys are not taking to the idea of weaning very well. Graham Lamb in particular is running the risk of deportation.

• Lorna Doone-Buggy is hanging in there. She worried me yesterday because she wasn't super interested in eating and just wanted to sit on my lap last night. However, when I got up to go get her nighttime food, she raced along behind me and even did a little popcorn jump. She and Miss Ewenice are out across the creek grazing this morning. She's tough! And aren't she and Ewenice just the cutest together?
  

Here's a short video (because the ba-ba's are small ;-) of the boys fighting for their spot at the "lamb bar". They always eat like this - leaning into each other - and if you try to spread them out, they fall back in. I finally gave up and just 'let 'em have at it".

Lorna Doone-Buggy

"Hi there! They told me my name is Lorna Doone-Buggy. Seems like sort of a silly name to me, but I guess it's okay. I've been really sick, but I'm feeling a little better tonight and I made it all the way down to the creek."



"It just looks like I'm a little lamb out in a big field all by myself. I'm really out here with Miss Ewenice. She's pretty nice, but sometimes she tries to eat my food. I have a little house I eat in and she can't fit in there. Well, her head can sort of fit, but her body is really, really big."



"She says she's never had a little girl lamb to take care of. I think she likes me. She calls me Baby Girl and lets me take naps with her. We went out to graze twice tonight and mom was really excited about that. I don't know what's so great about it, but okay."

Poor little Doone-Buggy has been battling pneumonia - too much stress and the nasty hot, humid weather sure hasn't helped. She's a tough little lamb though and on a couple occasions when she has been sleeping really sound and I feared the worst, she pops her head up and tells me she's okay.

Her name has a funny story behind it (as so many around here do). When Saint Tim was a kid, his Grandma Duchild gave all the boys plastic dune buggy toys. They took them up to the U.P. for vacation at their cousin's and cousin Craig started calling Grandma Duchild, Grandma Dunebuggy. I think the more they liked someone the more nicknames they earned.

I swear I didn't name Crazy Esther after Tim's other Grandma, Grandma Esther. They all seem to think that short, feisty sheep fits her though.

There's Always Room In Your Heart

For one more.

We have a new lamb. She came from the same farm as Ewen McTeagle, but they are not related. Probably a good thing, as there can only be one Ewen McTeagle ;-). She's a tiny little Tunis/Dorset cross. Cute as a button. So cute in fact that their guard dog puppies picked her out as a chew toy and wouldn't leave her alone. It was just a matter of time...and her shepherds love their babies as much as I do and they didn't want anything any worse to happen to her.

I quarantine everything that comes on the farm, but I felt bad that she didn't have anyone for company, so I built her a double fenced pen out where she could at least see the boys and Ewenice.



"I sure wish I could go out there and play with them."



"Please?"



You can little one, in a few more days.

We are, as yet, not set on a name for her. I think it needs to follow the Keebler/Graham Cracker...theme. Nilla Wafer and Ginger Snap have been tossed around. Any other suggestions?

As an interesting (at least to me) aside, when I googled Keebler cookies, it came up as Keebler Sunshine Products. That made me smile...and a little sad.