Animals
- A Visit With Gracie And The Girls
Afternoon in the sheep yard... When afternoon chores were finished,I delivered hay to the sheep for the evening and night. The weather forecast and the sky both told me that rain was coming,so I put their hay inside each of their houses. They immediately...
- Hello Sun!
By Sunday afternoon our almost-week-long rain event finally ended.We were ready to get out of the house...and so were the dogs! It seemed as good a time as any to tackle trimming feet.And so we stopped at the sheep yard, with Ritz in hand,and began the...
- Happy Spring!!!
Yesterday we enjoyed the calm before the storm.Sunny, mid-40's...delightful. All of the animals were out lying in the sun.It was a peaceful day on the farm...and one that could convince anyone that Spring was knocking on the door. And then it snowed....but...
- Of Mushrooms And Pigs
There is a craggy old apple tree in our orchard(a truly magical tree)that produces no more apples,and looks sort of scary. It is a tree that we will never chop down, however,because the soil above its roots is home to the elusive morel mushroom.Each...
- Wild And Wonderful Weekends
To you, reading this blog, it might seem like the everyday routine on the farmis awfully busy.And although you are right, it is busy....there is a sort of rhythm to the work.It is all very quiet, usually calm and completely peaceful tending to daily chores....
Animals
And We Do This....Why?
Most of the time I know with every fiber of my being why we keep this farm
and all of the work that goes along with it.
And then there are the occasional moments, as you watch your Hubbs
go diving across the sheep yard into the muddy (and sheep-poopy) ground
that I wonder...
"Are we crazy?"
We might be, but that's beside the point.
Every few weeks we have to do basic maintenance on the animals.
You see, feeding and cleaning up after the animals is the easy part.
It gets just a little dicey when we have to do the "extras".
"Extras" are those little things that we do less frequently,
like hoof-trimming and deworming, etc.
to which the animals are less accustomed.
I swear they know as soon as they see us that "something is up"!
They must be able to smell intent in the air...
because from that moment on, they are hyper-vigilant and completely non-trusting...
running away if we get anywhere close to them!
Yesterday was hoof-trimming day for the sheep.
Hoof trimming is a completely painless procedure...
much like clipping your nails is for you!
The trimming is never difficult.
The catching is another matter!
Again, the sheep know our intentions even before the trimmers are visible...
and they run, and they run, and they run!
Let me tell you...they may look fat with all of that fluffy wool, but they are FAST!
Catching them is impossible as they dodge and weave and scamper about...
so chasing them is wasted energy.
Instead, we have learned that fashioning a run from an old gate that we attach in the corner of their yard makes the catching much easier.
A little quick maneuvering and they are trapped in a corner
and completely accessible.
The actual hoof trimming is a breeze.
Hubbs sits each sheep on her butt and from that point on they are totally passive.
Snip, snip, snip...and their hooves are perfect once again.
"I really don't understand what all the fuss was about,"
says Hope after her pedicure is finished.
Meanwhile, Hubbs and I are covered in mud and exhausted!
Most of our weekend was cloudy, gray and gloomy.
I spent a little time on Saturday nosing around my favorite shop in the country.
Timeworn Treasures is a magical shop filled with swoony decorating accents, antiques,
eclectic clothing and accessories.
It is ME from the front door to the back.
I have found some wonderful antiques over the years inside this shop
including this old hardware store cabinet that I found last year.
Saturday I found this old iron scales.
And if you know me well, you know that I have a passion for scales...
and quite a collection of them!
Those cute little scales now sit in the middle of my kitchen island.
(They followed me home.)
- A Visit With Gracie And The Girls
Afternoon in the sheep yard... When afternoon chores were finished,I delivered hay to the sheep for the evening and night. The weather forecast and the sky both told me that rain was coming,so I put their hay inside each of their houses. They immediately...
- Hello Sun!
By Sunday afternoon our almost-week-long rain event finally ended.We were ready to get out of the house...and so were the dogs! It seemed as good a time as any to tackle trimming feet.And so we stopped at the sheep yard, with Ritz in hand,and began the...
- Happy Spring!!!
Yesterday we enjoyed the calm before the storm.Sunny, mid-40's...delightful. All of the animals were out lying in the sun.It was a peaceful day on the farm...and one that could convince anyone that Spring was knocking on the door. And then it snowed....but...
- Of Mushrooms And Pigs
There is a craggy old apple tree in our orchard(a truly magical tree)that produces no more apples,and looks sort of scary. It is a tree that we will never chop down, however,because the soil above its roots is home to the elusive morel mushroom.Each...
- Wild And Wonderful Weekends
To you, reading this blog, it might seem like the everyday routine on the farmis awfully busy.And although you are right, it is busy....there is a sort of rhythm to the work.It is all very quiet, usually calm and completely peaceful tending to daily chores....