There are somethings that come your way that you just have to share. This is one of them.
Seems no matter how good we eat..we're always eating good!
Enjoy your day!!
Can You Believe This..Two In One Day
Ricky & Holly’s Great Adventure
The other day we heard a song, “Sheep Go To Heaven…Goat’s Go To Hell”. Being the owners of both, we could definitely see how someone could come up with a song like this, however this morning our new Icelandic girls tried to make good on sheep going to heaven – sort of.
Yesterday marked the beginning of Ricky and Holly’s third week here. They have done very well, are hearty grazers, tolerate the other sheep and goat’s and they love us for “grain bucket”, you know. All has been right with the world. Anyone who has been to our farm knows that the fencing isn’t in real good shape and we have a fence fund that we use to add new sections. By 2020 we should have all new fencing so we can start all over again..I digress. Apparently, our new girls have been intensely working on the fence line trying to find a way out since they’ve been here and this morning they found the “magic hole” and off they went.
Usually when we’ve had escapee’s, it’s been the greener grass other side thing – not so with them. They were on a Monday morning stroll. Our neighbor called and said “your buddies are out” and shocked, I said “our sheep?”. She said they were on their way to her house. With Pj’s still on, out the door I ran. When I got to the clearing at the neighbors..no sheep. Hubby ran down to the barn to see who was missing, it was the Icelandic’s. He grabbed a bucket of grain and came up to join me. We looked all over the place for them. The fields on both sides of us, the field across the road, of course our fields..nothing. We checked around our neighbors outbuildings, still no sheep. Where the hell are they? At that moment, I looked over at the church and there grazing in front were our two girls.
You will have to visualize this because when livestock escapes, you don’t normally carry a camera not to mention, grain bucket makes them move quickly. This church is white clapboard, historic landmark that sits just downhill from us. It has the old cemetery to the side and a tall white steeple. You have no idea what a beautiful scene this was. Very spiritual..very serene. We enjoyed it for a moment and with one shake of the bucket it was back to reality. We got them back in the pasture, found the hole in the fence and repaired it.
At our farm, when the goats get out, they get into trouble and get arrested. The sheep go to church! I guess Ricky and Holly’s adventure just proved the song right..sheep must have a higher calling.
Alpaca Farm Farm Tours and More
It’s a beautiful morning. Grey, rainy and cooler temps. Love it! The late garden seems to be enjoying it too. I will probably can tomatoes this weekend. Those will be most definitely appreciated this winter.
This weekend, all over the country, is National Alpaca’s Farm Tour. Our friends, Lois & Ken Pocock of Shady Nook Alpacas here in Powhatan will be hosting farm visits. Also, our new friends Katy (you know her as Alpaca Farm Girl) & Stephen Spears in Fairhope, AL, will be participating too, so if you’re in their area, be sure to check out their farm. If you’re looking for something to do or are thinking about starting a small farm, it’s worth the trip out to your local Alpaca farm to see what it’s all about.
I thought in honor of these farm open houses I would share this website dedicated to handspinning. The site covers all fibers for spinning and even video’s. Never hurts to expand your fiber knowledge, even if you have no desire to learn how to spin. Oh, and by the way, if you don’t spin and would like to learn how, I am available to teach you. Did you like how I did that??
Well, I’m off to work. I haven’t milked the goats yet this morning. I thought in celebration of the rain, I’d let them sleep in this morning. Once I’m done with that and have made a batch of soap, I’ll be working on the grant proposal for our new endeavor on the farm. I can’t wait to share this with everyone but not yet. Don’t want to jinx it..don’t cha know.
A Hot Fall Day In Virginia
Our weather is so odd in Virginia. Last week it felt like Fall and this week, it’s summer again. The weather forecast for last week included several days of rain..we didn’t see a drop here. This week was suppose to be rainy too..nothing! Our late garden is not doing at all well and our first attempt at tobacco is just yellow. I will honestly be glad to be done with gardening this year.
I kind of like this photo that was taken at the Green Market last Thursday. I’m in the red shirt (just excuse all my fatness) with the obviously messed up hair cut. You never know what the back of your head looks like..I am not amused.
By the way there is a spinning wheel in front of me and no, neither of us work for Gander Mtn., but it is good advertising for them.
As everyone knows from my Monday post, hay cutting and bailing was going on around here and we took the opportunity to get a couple of Border Collie shots. It was almost dark so some of the shots are affected by the flash.
See those eyes? Now we know why the sheep say "yes sir"!
Katie and her kids
Katie is clearly bored with this whole operation and please just don’t look at her butt. She has some of the worst allergies. Gael is our smiling BC (nose spasms) and Roy is just good!
Well I need to stop killing time and get back to work. Until next time!
Quiet Peacefulness of the Country?
As I sit here trying to figure out what next for the day, it occurs to me that something is bothering me. I’m irritable, figity and in general getting in a bad mood. It’s noise! When you move to the country, peace and quiet are the two things that come to mind. You can hear the birds sing, you go hours without hearing a single sound of any kind and its just peaceful. You know what, that simply isn’t true. The thing that’s so funny about what I’m getting ready to write is I grew up in the country and as a child I can remember the deafening silence (especially as a teenager). Not a lot of traffic, no horns blowing, lawn mowers, weed wackers..there just wasn’t that much noise.
So far today, I’ve heard heavy equipment running..for hours. The farmer next door is cutting and putting up hay. Apparently this is not a process that is done sitting in the tractor but one that requires a person strutting around, swinging their arms and yelling! So what do you think happens when this occurs? That’s right, the dogs go nuts, the sheep and goats take off running for fear that their lives will surely end soon and I am jumping up and down like a “pogo” stick trying to see what the problem is. As if that isn’t bothersome enough, another neighbor (not a farmer, but son of the farmer) has just returned from a weekend of “truck pulling” (tractor truck style). So there’s the banging and clanging of pulling these trucks off the hauler. Well, he must not have done well because those trucks sound like they are on the fast track to explosion. All the while the neighbor and another dude are standing around yelling at each other at the top of their lungs because they can’t hear over the trucks idling. Keep in mind this neighbor shared his feelings about our dogs barking at the UPS driver all the time and how it just had to stop! The military has more than obviously changed their “day’s of thunder” helicopter flight pattern to go right over the house. Each time this has happened (of the 6 times) the windows shake and you guessed it..the dogs bark, then the sheep and goats take off running again..it’s an aerial assault don’t ya know.
So, what have we accomplished today? The dogs have exercised their vocal cords, the sheep and goats have run to the point of exhaustion, I have spent hours going from window to window, field to field just making sure that all of the commotion is what I think it is and not some predator ready to eat the flock or herd. Maybe I expect too much from country living but it would be nice to have a 30 minute stretch of time when my ears aren’t being abused. Oh my I really am in a bad mood. Sometimes we must vent and even rant a bit!
OK, that’s it, no more fussing. I’m off to make soap for the rest of the day!
The Shepherd's Life 