Assisted Living

Getting old can be tough whether you're human or a four legged critter.  Your teeth can give you trouble (or jump ship altogether), arthritis makes it painful to get around, it's hard to keep your weight up, your eyesight may fail and even your toenails get thick and hard to cut!  Hopefully you live where someone cares and tries to help make old age less of a hardship.

We offer "assisted living" for the oldest flock members. (Thecrazysheeplady in KY has Del Boca Vista for her geriatric friends).  If you are getting to an age where the other sheep push you around or you just need more time and better hay in the feeder you get moved here.  We even divided it further into two smaller groups because Pickles is a bully who punches anyone she can is assertive.  She's in a pen with girls that are bigger and don't take any guff,

Pickles, Fiesta, Kahlua and Gilly

The adjacent pen houses Dollar, India, Bunny, Ruby......

"I have teefers, they just wobble some."

And Bug.

"I have teefers and a good appetite!"

With the passing of Drambui and Alexandria, Bug has recently picked up the unwanted title of 'most needy old ewe' by becoming quite arthritic in her front legs and having trouble getting around.  (Kind of like being the oldest man in the world -you don't really want the title but you don't want to give it up either!!!)    She's now on anti-inflammatories and we're hoping for a boost in her ability to get around without hobbling. 

And Kittin is still in kitty assisted living in the wool shop.  She's fat and happy and impaired to the point that it's not safe to let her try to handle the rigors of being an outside cat.  But with the help of Aunt Julie's newest catnip toy she's trying to manage.  ;-)

Spring (I Wish!) Cleaning

Lambing season is fast approaching.  Our first possible due date is March 22 (really the 24th, but I always build in a couple of days in case someone didn't read the book and decides to do the deed early) and a few "must do" tasks have to be tackled.  One big job is cleaning out the barn.  We normally get a January thaw and do it then but that didn't happen this year.  The bedding pack is dry and clean but it's getting ridiculously deep.  Walking in the pens is like being in a bouncy house and the bottoms of some gates are buried and they can't be swung.  Once lambs are on the ground it will be next to impossible to move groups around so the pens have to be cleaned now.

For this Herculean task we rely on the old Skidsteer (circa 1974) which is reasonably trusty so long as you pay attention to its quirks.  There is some pitchfork and scraper work too but the bulk of the job is done with hydraulics.  Breakdowns are problematic at any time but when a part fails on this machine it becomes an exercise in creativity to find a source of replacements and you can't be halfway through this job and have it quit.  Lately the rectifier (charges the battery while running)  has been failing and Andy started searching for a new one.  The local parts dealer couldn't even locate the necessary book to look in at first and had to call us back.  He found a part number of what we need but said he couldn't get it.  That wasn't totally unexpected but it was worth a try.  On the next call to an engine repair place we know got a laugh and the guy said he hadn't worked on Wisconsin engines in at least 6 years, but knew someone who might.  So we called that person - a Mennonite fellow in PA - and not only did he know what we needed, he knew that the part number we were given was wrong - that number is for a newer version of the part we need.  Andy said he could pay by credit card to hurry the transaction along but the man said "we don't mess with that plastic #*%&# " and the bill would come in the mail with the part - just send a check.  It does give you the warm fuzzies to know that there are good, honest people out there who expect that you too are good and honest.  And they do seem to be farm people......

We penned all the sheep in the other half of the barn.  They were a little crowded but it wasn't going to be for long.  You can see evidence of another job that needs doing asap - changing coats up to the next sizes.

The lambs in particular were very interested in watching Andy go back and forth from the barn to the bunk.

The older sheep weren't much interested as they've seen it plenty of times.

Pickles

Pretty

Crumbles

Bunny.  "I could tell you a thing or two about what goes on.  You don't get to be 12 without seeing stuff."

Remember Bunny, what happens in the barn stays in the barn!

Fog Magic

Fog plus below freezing temperatures yield some very pretty effects.  I wish it had been sunny!  It would have been dazzling.

"Boy, it was cold last night!  My ears and nose are froze!"

The farm bell was easy to read, like a rubbing off a head stone.

"Downs & Co.    Seneca Falls, NY"

Instead of plates or flakes the frost grew in crunchy, crispy little chunks.

The euonymus really got coated.

Every twig, wire, edge and surface had a delicate fringe of frost.  It was curious how the frost grew - each little stray fiber of baler twine was coated, but the twine itself wasn't encased.

Sharp edges or bumps grew frost but flat surfaces didn't so much.

"What do you think she's doing?"       "Really, I have no idea."

Nugget and Pickles  - "Take our picture!  Here, we'll stand reeeeaally close - that's bound to help."

Mickey, former bottle lamb 

A warmer and much more pet-able "frosted" sheep nose!

A Gem of a Day

Tuesday's weather was a real gift at this time of year.  We reached the mid 70s with a stiff wind and bright sun.  Knowing we probably won't see another like it this year made it all the more worthy of appreciation. 

The bulk of the flock had a grand day outside.  The breeding groups ( rams were put with their groups Monday) are in the barn but as we're only breeding 37 ewes this fall it leaves the largest proportion free to continue pasturing.  We opened the farthest pasture to them one last time and they stayed down there a long time before trooping back up the hill to get a drink and have an afternoon siesta.

Some chose to sit in the shade of the barn and trees (not that there was much shade from the trees - it was more a philosophical statement on the part of the sheep) and others settled down in the full sun.  'Melted' might be a better word, at least for Velvet.

Bacardi, with Tahiti behind her.

 

Pickles, with Ida to the left.

 



 

Snowflake, almost alseep with her eyes open.

 



 

Clunk.  No sense pretending...

 



 

Snubby, dozing........

 



Daisy must have been elected for guard duty.  You hardly ever see everyone down and sleeping.  Usually at least one ewe is up and half way alert.

Angel sat like this for a couple of minutes.  I've seen some other 'overly large' sheep doing this occasionally, clearly thinking "I don't really want to hoist myself up but I'm so full it's not really comfortable lying here, either."  What a dilemma.

But some kids just don't want to go down for a nap.  These two are telling each other stories.

While the sheep were enjoying an leisurely afternoon Andy was putting a tire back on one of the tractors.  The valve stem had leaked over the winter and the calcium chloride the tractor tires are loaded with corroded a big chunk of the metal rim.  He found a metal shop that could weld in a metal patch - no small feat since the area had multiple convex and concave planes all bent into an arc - and he picked it up yesterday.  The newly painted area is the repair.

Once the rim was mounted back in place he had to drill a new hole for the valve stem to come through, but it was such a nice day to work outside the task wasn't unpleasant.

A stiff wind kept the flag snapping.

Even the barn spiders were hard at work.  We leave a nightlight on in the barn and there are always webs right around it.  A 24 hour diner!

This is an especially pretty one.

Of course, if you're a senior citizen you don't have to work as hard and are allowed a few extra kitty kibbles now and then so it pays to stay handy by, like Natasha.

"I didn't get old by being dumb."

 

"Did somebody say something about kibble?"

 

Clem isn't that old.  He's the guy that checks the breakroom for doughnuts four times before lunch.

 

"I heard that!"

 

It's in your employee files, too.  Just so you know.