My Favorite Tree...Of The Week...Or All Time

The Crowing Hen and her tiny friend Blondie have been here for almost ten years.  There were originally two tiny hens and the two tinies hung out together and the Crowing Hen, now affectionately called "Yaya" because that's what the bantams sound like when they're talking to me bossing me around, was brave enough to mingle with the big hens.

The two tinies slept each night side by side on one of the beams just over the cart stall in the barn.  Yaya chose the Sheep Chicken's perch in the outside stall.  The big hens are locked securely in the coop.  I've always wished all the chickens would sleep in there, but the bantams have never wanted to do that.

Something happened one night and the two tiny hens moved from their normal perch to way up into the rafters for a few months.  They eventually moved back down and then the silver hen started having trouble getting up into the lower perch.  She let me help her for awhile and then one morning a year or so ago I found her dead.

Blondie continued to sleep over the cart stall for quite a few months and then one night she wasn't there.  I eventually found her sleeping in the rafters over the Easy Breezy stall.  I'm not sure what scared her over there, but she seemed okay with that spot and that's where she's slept for many months.

A month or so ago I found the Crowing Hen with a bare spot on her neck (!).  I'm not sure what happened, but I feel like something had tried to grab her, luckily unsuccessfully.  Because I knew that a. she was pretty comfortable with the big chicken and b. she was in a location I could easily get to, I started picking her up and locking her in the main coop at night.  She still makes me move her each night, but at least she's basically okay with it.

One night last week Blondie moved back over the cart.  There is a nest of fledging barn swallows near where she had been sleeping and I wondered if they'd told her to get lost.  The next night I found her in the tack room.  I made her a perch in there and hoped she'd move in there at night, but the following night I couldn't find her anywhere.

She did show up the next morning (whew!), but that night I again couldn't find her.  That went on for several days.  I tried to be as stealth as I could, watching her every move, trying to clue in to where she was going, but she kept eluding me.  The fifth morning she showed up looking very tired and cold. I really needed to get this figured out.

Tuesday night she walked into the Wool House and looked around, eyeing the loft.  I love this little chicken...but not that much ;-).  I'd seen her poking around a little with the big chickens recently, I think trying to talk herself into moving in to their secure coop, so I tried to stick her in their with them, but she was too scared.  I set up a small cage in the wash room like she'd slept in during the Polar Vortex and she settled right in.

Last night I propped the door open and hoped she'd go in there on her own.  As I walked back up to the barn after dinner I found her heading across the yard.  I stood there quietly, watching, thinking at least now I was going to find out where she'd been sleeping every night.  She headed for the big pine tree and just as she was going to make her big leap, I scooped her up.  

My first thought was how scared she must have been to move out of her long time barn home into the "wilds" and how scared she must have been out there huddled in a tree all night.  No wonder she looked exhausted.  

Then I thought about finding blind Rocky out there after the night he wandered out of the barn and got lost.  And Salt always sleeping under that tree and Ewenice and Renny and Kate and Tilly and sitting out there with bottle lamb after bottle lamb and who knows who else has sought shelter in and under that kind tree.

It's had a rough life.  The top has been ripped out of it time and again by wind and ice and lightning.  Because it's lost it's ability to grow up, it's grown out.  Way too far out.  We've tried pruning it back a few times, but I know it's days are numbered.  It maybe does as well because it's setting a bunch of pine cones this summer.  

I'm hoping I can harvest some seeds from these cones...but I mostly hope I don't need a replacement for a very long time.

My Favorite Sheep...Of The Week

Miss Ewenice

During the 2022 Tour de Fleece I spun quite a few samples of some of my oldest and dearest sheep.  The inspiration for that challenge came from finding a bit of PPPP's roving just before the Tour began and enjoying hanging out with her once again.  

After spinning her skein I decided it would be fun to make another Maggie Rabbit, but this time turn the rabbit into a sheep.  And instead of a sweet little cape, I'd make her a nice wool sweater with some cables or lace and change her paddock boots into wellies.  I'd use PPPP's yarn and it could be a tribute to one of my favorite sheep.

I finally got around to getting the project started this past week, but when I went looking for doll sized sweater patterns I found most called for yarn that was heavier than I'd spun.  Note to self, find a pattern and then spin the yarn.  

Not to worry though.  I can spin a new skein...but now I think I may have used the last of her roving :-(.  I don't remember finishing out the bag, but I can't find it if I didn't.  I did find some Miss Ewenice roving though.  She'd make a fun Maggie Rabbit/Sheep, too!  

I pulled out some roving, gave it a quick run through the drum carder to freshen it up a bit and then put it on Instagram with a little teaser, asking for guesses as to who I was getting ready to spin.  Turns out this is not the first time Ewenice was shared as a "guess who" post.  

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Trick or Treating with Ewen

The yarn turned out as pretty as Miss Ewenice and in honor of a grand old gal, Miss Ewenice is our sheep of the week.

Ewenice was the last sheep in a friend's handspinner flock and they didn't want her left all alone and asked if she could move here with our flock.  This was back in the very early days of the blog, March of 2007.  If sheep could live forever, she'd be 20 years old this year. Oh, if only sheep could live forever.

She didn't immediately take to our flock of mostly feral Jacobs and a couple of crazy Border Cheviots so she spent a good deal of time hanging out around the house with us.  She was  polite and well behaved and I don't remember her ever getting into any sort of trouble.

I know she took care of Ewen McTeagle when he was still pretty young and maybe that's how she integrated into the flock.  She babysat several bottle babies over the years, but she's most famous for taking the very best care of Renny.  

There are numerous Ewenice and Renny posts and I'm not going to link them all here.  If you don't know Renny's story, it starts out pretty horrible (heads up if you go looking back), but has a happy ending.  Miss Ewenice played a huge part in that happy ending.  Her ending, while heartbreaking, had a bit of a happy ending as well.

Interestingly/sadly, last night I didn't have the baby gate secured well enough and Rocky wandered out of the barn in the the middle of the night. I found him just before dawn, thankfully okay, standing right under that same tree.  Salt loved that tree as well.  Hopefully those good girls were keeping him company and I'd like to think they told him to stay put.

Sooooo, are you ready for me to knit another sweater?

An Interesting Development

We've long been fascinated by Maisie's watchful flock dog behavior.  I've always just chalked that up to growing up with Hank as her best friend.  I'd like to think he taught her everything she knows.  And maybe/probably that's true.

When she basically forced her way into Easy Breezy this winter I noticed that she was no longer guarding the back of the barn as much anymore.  I've pondered on that and maybe she feels ineffective behind the closed gate now or maybe feels more secure behind the gate...or maybe she just decided to retire.

After the coyote incident last week...

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...I've found Krista and Maggie sitting out back every night and/or early morning.  Now they have done this off and on for as long as they've been in the main flock, but up until now, not every night.  Krista is still a very devoted mother and as street smart as they come. I think they are out there with a purpose.

I took the above picture this morning.  It was actually still pitch dark, but the iPhone can draw in crazy amounts of light we can't see so I was able to enhance it to show Maggie sitting in Maisie's old spot with Maisie nearby.  

I love to watch the sheep and try to figure out who's doing what and why.  Hank and Salt were interesting as well.  Bea is super interesting to observe, but not in a peaceful flock sort of way ;-). Cats are cats...  

I think we may have a new flock guardian sheep.  Interestingly, she too is a very small white sheep.  And note that her big brother (nor any of the other boys) is not out there with her...as per usual ;-).

Amazing

When I was putting together the Hug A Sheep Day post last week I googled "hug a sheep day" to see what would be the best link to share...and couldn't get over how many links were posted to not only the daily calendar sites, but also from farms from all over the world!

I watched several and then found a video The Fiber Pusher posted from our farm party in 2019.  Grab a cup of coffee and some tissues and give it a watch.  It's so nice to see so many familiar faces and old friends.  

  

Oh those good old dogs and sheep.

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.

The 2022 Calendars

"Dis my calendar."

"Those are some pretty pictures!" (Thanks for the shameless plug, Bea :-D.)

And some snarky pictures ;-D.

And a couple more victory lap pictures 💕.

And some good short stories.

And much appreciation for everyone in our farm family, near and far.

Of course Ellie made the Lamb Camp calendar.

With some sweet snuggling siblings.

And some sweet snacking siblings.

And even super sweet Cheeto, who loved helping raise Short Round and Krista's lambs this spring.

* * * * *

I know it's late and many of you have already purchased your 2022 calendars, but we are going to go ahead and print a small run for anyone who would like to support the farm and spend the upcoming year with your favorite sheep, cats, dogs, horses...  

The Equinox Farm calendars are the same larger 12" x 12" format as last year and the Lamb Camp calendars remain the traditional 6" x 8" size.  Everyone enjoyed the little stories on the farm calendar last year, including me, so I've added them again this year as well.  I think they are sweet and fun.

The farm calendars are $18 and the Lamb Camps are $12.  The shipping...yikes :-/.  I haven't gotten any sample quotes, but I tried to send a small package of 20 Christmas cards to neighboring Lexington (30 minutes away) the other day and it was going to cost $10.65 and take 4 days to get there :-(.

So...for the local folks, if you are interested, we are going to offer pick up options at Tim's print shop in Corporate Center, just off New Circle Road and an on farm pick up option on Saturday, December 18th.  Fighting New Circle Road isn't much fun, but coming out to the farm and saying hi to the sheep might be a nice holiday break.  I'll post more details in a couple of days.

For the not local folks...I'm guessing the shipping is going to be $10.65 for most of the country and probably $15 or so for parts distant.  I still have some mailers left from last year, so I'll donate those to the cause and that will save you a dollar or so.  Sigh...

If you are interested in purchasing a calendar, just send me an email letting me know what you'd like and please provide your mailing address.  I will start shipping calendars on Monday (maybe Saturday if they get assembled in time) and will do my very best to get everything sent out quickly in case they are Christmas gifts.  

I will also include an invoice and return envelope in the mailer and you can stick a check back in the mail to me (preferred method) or we can usually figure out how to do an online payment method if we need to.  I'm going to try to get smarter/more tech-y in the new year.

* * * * *

The calendar is late going to print this year.  Another hard one in the books for sure, though once again I found comfort in looking back through the photos I'd collected over the year, many of which I knew at the time would be the last ones I'd take.

Having three dogs over the age of 15 was not for the faint of heart. Neither is trying to raise a puppy it turns out.  Bea only "keeps our feet warm" when she runs herself completely out of gas and has to rest and recharge.  She gets high points for entertainment though...most of the time, but I sure wish Comby was still here to bust her cat chasing chops.  Possum is far too polite.

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 have become such an important part of our farm family.  Your care and kindness is appreciated more than you can imagine.  Here's to a new year!

Strange Bedfellows - Updated

If you've been following along on Instagram then you are well aware of the unusual relationship Possum has with dogs.  Possum and Salt.  Possum and Kate.  So, so sweet...and then along comes the Bea-st.

Possum attempted to introduce herself that first day and Bea...was a naughty enthusiastic puppy and scared her...so she ran...which Bea thought was Big Fun and there were a couple days when I seriously toyed with returning Bea.  Everyone must get along here and especially must be kind to Possum who has taken such good care of two of my very best friends.

Early on Betsy popped Bea a couple of times and backed her off.  I think it never occurred to Possum to smack a dog and I had to resort to carrying a pop can full of rocks everywhere we went to either shake or throw at Bea whenever I saw any sign of cat worrying.  That got really old, really quickly.

Bea got a bit bigger and faster and even more excitable puppy-ish and decided to give Betsy another run and we are still working on that.  Interestingly though Bea pretty much stopped bothering Possum and now I frequently see them hanging out together in front of the barn.  I still don't think Possum really likes Bea, but there seems to be some sort of truce. 

(Warning - graphic story ahead)

I originally thought maybe Possum had just figured out if she didn't run, Bea wouldn't chase her.  But at the same time I started noticing that Possum was leaving little "gifts" on the Wool House porch, specifically on Bea's red blanket.  One afternoon when Bea got exceptionally quiet, I finally found her in the garage eating on a teenage size rabbit (!).  

I wish we didn't need a barn cat, but we do.  We would never use poisons because of the dangers to other animals like owls and have not had great luck with traps.   Possum has cleaned up the barn and runs a tight ship.  I still worry about the three little chickens, but they are pretty good at staying out of her way.  The bunny was heartbreaking.  

It's hard not to make a connection with the "gifts" and the end of Bea chasing Possum.  The rabbit almost the same size as Bea?  Was is a gift...or a warning... 

It's a good thing she's cute!

Just after I published this post, I walked outside and took this picture.  Awww, aren't they cute?  And then an hour later had to holler at Bea for chasing Possum.  I'm not quite sure she's cute enough... ;-).

A Gift From The Way Back Machine

I was deep diving yesterday, looking for an old file someone needed and I stumbled across a picture of my friend Pam and her sheep...and a big white flock dog.  It didn't really look like Salt, but thinking the time frame would have been right, I had to ask.  It wasn't her, but she sent me these pictures.  

I wish the Way Back Machine could give us more than just pictures...but the pictures are nice :-).

The Month End

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I'm not really sure why I take all these pictures.  I mean, the sunrises are beautiful, but do I need to document all of them?  Or pictures of the Cheeto and Willard.  They all look mostly the same, honestly.  Possum has so many bed pictures I had to pick only a few favorites to keep the video from being even longer. 

The lambs at least grow and change and I like the series of pictures of me petting Christopher, Maggie coming over to see why I'd be talking to any other lamb but her and then turning to the camera as if in disbelief before curling up in the now empty spot after she told Christopher to get lost.  Christopher talking to Lancelot is cute as well.

I probably have taken a hundred pictures of Salt in the driveway.  I can't even begin to count Kate and Tilly pictures over the years.  If I need a good laugh, I love to go back and look at Maisie pictures or that crazy video of Liddy getting stuck in the shearing chute.  I love to get prompts that takes me to an old picture of Buddy or Comby or Hank or Keebler or Lila or...

This morning one of my favorite Instagram follows @springcoyoteranch posted

"Shepherds love to capture a “perfect” moment even if it’s for nobody else to see. There’s a certain feeling of peace you get looking at the sheep. Soaking in all the details of a scene…sheep grazing contentedly, the sun rising or setting over them, mothers and lambs, a favorite ewe gazing back at you in a knowing way. For a fleeting moment all of your hard work is manifest in pure joy and satisfaction. Looking back at old photos, I catch that feeling again for just a little bit."

I love looking back at these old photos. There is a lot I want to remember this every month.

I Didn't Get A Frog Today...Yet

The first morning without Salt, I found a "gifted" dead frog on the house porch.  I was sad about that because I love frogs, but didn't really think much more about it.  Yesterday morning I found another dead frog on the Wool House porch.  As I sat on the porch this morning I heard the tell tale sounds of "Hey, I have a fresh kill for you.  Come get it. Murrmeow..."

Full disclosure, Possum did bring me a dead mole a couple weeks ago, so it may just be a new phase she's in...but I more wonder if she had been bringing stuff to Salt every morning...

Immortal

I wish the last picture I'd taken of Salt had been of her and Possum, but Possum was oddly not around like normal this morning.  I think she knew.  

She had to have known Salt was in trouble in the early hours of the morning.  I got there at 6:00.  She'd been sleeping peacefully at the night check.  I always talked about putting a game camera on the porch so I could see what time she got up and came to the house each morning.  I think she must have tried to get up around 4:30 or 5:00.  

I got her back on her feet and we slowly walked out to the driveway and stood together and watched the sun rise.  Neither of us had much to say.  I think we all knew.  

Salt

2005-June 8, 2021

May

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Ba-roo!

Last week was a bit of a blur between out of town company, in town company, unwanted company, and, oh, it got hot...which is also an unwanted guest who never pays attention to the pineapple at the foot of the bed :-/.

The Evening with the Sheep was just about perfect and we had super fun guests including some folks who'd traveled quite a few hours to come to the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival and visit the farm.  It was nice to talk sheep and wool and see Auntie Reg and Miss B working the farm shop.  It felt almost like we'd gotten the band back together :-).

Monday afternoon brought an unwanted guest to the farm...a coyote hunting in the front field (!).  Luckily I had the ATV handy and I raced after it "barking" as best I could and chased it off the farm.  I locked up the sheep and stayed on high alert, but didn't see anything on Tuesday.  Wednesday afternoon, two different coyotes came through the front field and I once again did my best Hank impressions and chased them away.  I've not seen anything since.

There could be several scenarios at play here.  They've figured out Hank is gone and are getting bold, a neighbor has done some clearing and disturbed their home habitat or another neighbor has terminally cleared the coyotes Hank spent years training to stay away and new untrained coyotes have flooded in the now open territory.  It could very well be all of the above.

I don't really want to get into a long discussion about how we should or should not handle this situation and why we have not brought in a new guardian dog...  These are very complicated situations and situations we are considering very carefully.  Just know that we are working hard to keep the sheep and lambs safe and our biggest concern is probably the chickens.  What I do want to tell is an interesting story about Salt.  

At 16 years old, Salt is in no way able or expected to intensely guard a flock of sheep even on a small farm.  She is very frail and her hearing is gone, but she still occasionally walks down to patrol the creek and make her presence known and her vision and sense of smell is pretty strong.  If she sees or smells  something amiss, she has a wonderful deep "Ba-roo!" that echoes through the farm and that alone is  still quite helpful...and comforting.  

Salt smelled trouble the other evening.  The sheep were all out doing a last bit of grazing before I locked them up for the night.  There were sheep in the lower paddock, both sides of the wet weather creek and back behind the arena.  I was standing at the gate by the barn watching everyone and she came up beside me and asked to go in.

She walked through the gate and stopped in front of the horse stalls looking to the back of the farm, her nose in the air.  She carefully watched for about a minute and I could see her nose working and then she released the first "Ba-roo!"  

It sounded like her normal "Ba-roo!" which is a sort of a down turning sound, if that makes sense.  The sheep continued grazing.  The second "Ba-roo!" kind of rose at the end...and every single sheep immediately came racing back to the barn.

Hank must have had different barks as well because, like Salt, sometimes he'd bark and the sheep would stay put and sometimes he'd sound an alarm and call them all in.  I hated that I could never tell the difference.  When there was trouble he'd bark constantly until he felt the situation had been handled.  Salt's single "Ba-roo!" gives me more time to think.  I hope there are some coyotes out there who are doing some thinking, too.

Oh, look!  Here's a flashback where you can hear both dogs!  

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April

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What a crazy, but beautiful month! 

April Snow

The snow was mostly gone by noon, but it was sure pretty while it lasted.

   

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