Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Weather forecast ...

Rain...rain...rain...rain...rain...rain...rain.....OMG, I think the Ark is up and running !!!

I am tired of the rain, the sheep are tired of the rain, the dogs in the kennel are tired of the rain, and the house girls are tired of the rain.

Now, I know we need rain to help the spring flowers/bulbs/trees grow and it will/would be nice to get some rain this summer so the hay/feed grains/other veggies can grow ...BUT ... do we have to get All Of The Summers Rain In One DAY ?????

I hope to shear everyone the end of the month and as wet as they are now, if it stopped raining right this minute and didn't rain until after April 1st, I might, just might have the sheep dried out enough to shear ( but I sure wouldn't hold my breath on it then ).

On another side of farm life, Candi ( ValleView Candida = Underhill Ferguson x Shandrew Pekin ) had her baby this morning during the deluge. It's ( I haven't ventured out of the house to check the new baby's sex yet ) black with sugar lips and the appearence of light rings around the eyes. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts this little one is gonna be a grey kat mollet like its mom and granddad. I just hope its a girl ( so far the boys are winning ).

I still have over 15 girls to deliver and I'm crossing my fingers that I will get at least 1 baby with spots ( Dani was the only spotted baby from last year ).

Well, it's time to put on the hip waders and swim out to the car and get to town for my allergy prescription - it's soooo wonderful to have hay fever that lasts 24/7/365. I wouldn't know how to handle being able to breathe without taking meds ( but I'd love to try ). Yeah, it's one of my delusional days. * sigh *

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Was walking thru the bedroom this past weekend and, of course, Chloe was present to help me ( I might get lost making my way from the sofa to the bathroom and back again - me thinks the Girl-Pup thinks MOM is loosing it ?!! )

Anywho, she was out of sight for a couple of seconds ( and without Stylle around to help keep tract of her - THIS can be a dangerous situation, as she is in the middle of THE TERRIBLE TWOS - and yes, they are as bad with her as with any human child I've ever seen - it just ain't pretty ), and knowing Chloe as I do I called her name.

Well, she popped around the corner of the bed and made a single bark as if to say " WHAT ?!!! " ( in a very exassperated tone like MOM I AM RIGHT HERE - WHAT DO YOU WANT - not the best tone to be speaking to you mother with unless you have an overwhelming desire to get the crap slapped straight out of you !!! ) and just looked at me. I just looked at her and thought " well, it was easy to figure out what she was saying ".

Right now, Chloe is glaring out the front window at a pair of squirrels digging for walnuts. This is not tolerated in HER front yard !!!!- she barks at the squirrels and then runs up to me " telling " me about these horrible creatures in her front yard and then will run back and forth between the window and me barking until I get up and confirm that , yes there are squirrels out front, at which time she lays down in front of the window and fusses at them under her breath.

Sometimes, it's amazing what kids ( human or canine ) will say.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Want to have a little laugh ???

I found this website in my email box this morning and took the test offered. It was hilarious.
Give it a try ...


www.dogster.com/quizzes.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Still no pics - if this computer and camera don't make nice soon ...

Saturday, in the middle of a major snow storm, Pekin ( one of my original Shetland ewes ) decided it was time to have her babies. Great timing Peke !!!

She had a black ewe lamb that didn't make it ( and it wasn't because Peke isn't a good mom - you actually couldn't ask for a better mom than Pekin )- I found her under an old downed tree limb cold and stiff with quite a bit of a mucousy discharge from her nose and a very nice dark grey/almost black katmoget ram lamb. This little guy is soooo full of himself he " prances " instead of walks. And if being the color he is isn't enough, he has a black spot over his left hip - cool dude.

Desparately need to get this computer/camera situation fixed BEFORE the rest of the lambs are born ( and before I throw the combo out the window !!! )

Started spinning the dyed roving from the other day and ended up making groups of 3 sets of roving ( bright, medium,and light ) and spinning them together into a nice balanced 3-ply yarn. Had to dye 2 more 50-gram balls of roving to make an even 4 groups but that's ok - my hands were just starting to get back to their natural color and now they are red/orange/yellow again. But what's the fun in dyeing if you can't dye yourself in the process ???

Better go have ANOTHER discussion with the computer and camera and see if we can't get this problem fixed ( the threat of being bodily thrown from the nice warm house might be enough incentive to get things fixed ). Hopefully, will have some pics soon.

Friday, March 07, 2008

I had some pictures of the winter storm warning ( aka snow storm ) going on outside the back door but my computer and the camera decided they didn't want to play nice together, so no pictures today.

It started snowing ( that real fine stuff ) at about 815 this am and now ( it's 1129 am 3/7/08 ) the snow is coming down faster out of the north with a wind that bites to the bone.

I went out to let the kennel dogs out to run ( before I froze ) and have about 1.5 - 2 inches of snow now. The labs loved it - to the point it was hard to get Vinnie back into the kennel ( actually, he thinks that when he's allowed out , he's to stay out as long as he wants - WRONG ) but Maggie came bouncing in with out any problem.

After I came back in the house, Chloe ( aka Girl-Pup ) was pleading to go outside and she won. I couldn't get her to hold still long enough to put her sweater on, so she was out for about 20 minutes running as fast as she could. She visited the kennel dogs and the sheep ( unfriendly, tho they were ) and found all kinds of sticks to carry around. It's amazing how much she loves the snow - she runs around like a 6-month-old puppy in the snow. After bringing her back inside and taking her collar off ( she isn't allowed outside without it being on - gotta have some way of keeping track of her ), she got a drink of water and piled up on the sofa next to Stylle and now, both of them are sound asleep.

Had a job interview yesterday with a local hospital for a weekend option position in the ICU and they called this morning asking if I could come in next Tues for a second interview. Hopefully, I will know in a few days if I got the job. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I plan on baking some bread this afternoon. My favorite recipe is for " oatmeal toasting and sandwich bread " from the back of the King Arthur's bread flour bag. It's a strong bread, in that it will hold up to any type of food you want to put on it ( and NOT collapse like the store bought bread does ). You can't taste the oatmeal ( for those who don't like oatmeal ) but it's a nice substantial bread and I usually make 1 loaf a week. BUT today, instead of letting it bake in the bread machine ( I have carpal tunnel bad enough, that if I knead the dough, my hands fall asleep for the biggest part of the day. And I love to knead dough. ). I'm gonna bake it in the oven.
The girls love this bread,too, and will walk into the kitchen with their noses up in the air smelling it and when I cut into it, they are at my elbows hoping I drop the whole loaf for them to inhale ( like THAT'S gonna happen - I'd fight them tooth and nail for this bread !!! ).

Since I'm home for the rest of the weekend ( I went to the grocery store and the feed store yesterday ) I might try some new recipes. Will see if i can get the camera and compouter play nice so I can put up some pictures of what I do.

Better go so I can get all this done. Just thinking about makuing bread is making me HUNGRY!!!

Monday, March 03, 2008

Well, it's official ( as of 2/24/08 ) - lambing season has started here. Linda, my black border Leicester ewe delivered a pair of twins - a white boy and a nice little feminine black ewe before I got home from work last Monday. Both babies were up and eating. I put everyone in the pasture and when I let them out to feed them ( they can't be in the backyard during the day because Girl-Pup has to go hunting for whatever ) , both babies were ok. After about 45 minutes in the catch pen for their night meal ( and me getting ready to go to work ), the white ram lamb was gone. Dissappeared. Vanished. Linda never cried for him or anything. Makes me think there was something wrong with him and probably a possum or raccoon got him.

Went to my favorite lys on Sat because she was having a sale on everything and I made out well. I spent $48.00 that normally would have run me $68.00 - not too bad for 10 skeins of yarn.

Decided that, since I lost my job last Fri ( don't ask - it ain't worth it ), that with my tax return I'd start selling hand-dyed/hand-spun Shetland yarns and rovings on Etsy. So now, I have 10 50 gram balls of white Shetland roving sitting on the island in the kitchen waiting to be dyed and spun and, possibly, knit into something. I have a ton ( ok, 20 lbs ) of white Shetland roving waiting to be made into beautiful wildly-colored roving and yarn - what fun!!! Y'all will have to stop by and check out the store when I get it up and running ( hopefully, within the next 4-6 weeks ). I'm really excited to be able to do this now because I've always wanted to have my own little wool business at home since I've had the sheep and now, I am in a position to do it ( and, yes, I am looking for another job to help pay the bills until things get going on Esty).

I have been out checking the ewes to see how things are going and one of my favorite ewes looks to be as big as a barn and ( for the 1st time ) I was able to see her baby lamb move ( and no, she is still in full fleece )!!! Lacie looks so uncomfortable right now and she still has about 2 1/2 weeks to go before her due date - I'm not real sure she's gonna last that long, her belly is almost touching the ground now.

Well, I hear Girl-Pup up and moving around -she and Stylle were stretched out on the couch a few minutes ago snoring ( they have such a rough life ) and since she's still considered a pup ( even at 2 years 5 months ) I don't trust her when she's up and out of my sight AND quiet - it's hard telling WHAT she's into. Better go and check things out.