I am beginning to worry about my girls not getting enough exercise in the last few weeks of their pregnancies, so decided that I had better clear some snow from their paddock so that they would get out of the barn and move about.
I have been putting some hay out in a corner of their paddock, so the girls have one, small area that they wander out to, but it's time for them to expand their environment.
Little Rosie discovered that she is light enough to walk on TOP of the crust of the snow! She was a great helper as I slowly shoveled a path....
"Follow me Mom! I'll show you where to shovel!"
"You're not going to stop HERE, are you Mom???? There's still a whole lot of snow out there!!"
Sorry girls, I'm tired. I'm starting to try to come out of my 'hibernation' but I'm only able to take baby steps. If I try to do too much, too quickly, I get scared and run back into my cave. I know that spending time outside, in the fresh air and sunshine, with my sheep was definitely good for me!
The boys always have to make their way through the snow to get at their hay ~ I'm not hauling it all the way out to THEIR barn! I did notice that they've learned to eat snow, though.....no tracks to indicate they've made the trek to their water heated water bucket. That's a first for my boys.
Bravo doesn't look like he's suffering TOO much....
Dream says.....
..."Rosie's not the only one who can stand on top of the snow! See, I'm not getting chubby!!"
What a dedicated shepherd! You know, they make treadmills for miniature horses; you could get one of those and put each sheep on it for 20 minutes a day.... Naw, the fresh air and sunshine is better for ALL of you. :-)
ReplyDeleteNancy-
ReplyDeleteI know you have too many sheep for this, but....I was so worried about my first pregnant ewe getting "enough" exercise, that I put her on the leash and walked her up and down our roadfront twice a day.
Shoveling paths for them? You've outdone me. I bow in the presence of greatness...(*grin*)
Hey, Guys...Take it easy on Nancy! There are more of us who shovel snow for their sheep. :) Oops...in trying to defend her friend, Nancy, Kathy has made a definite faux-pas by letting the cats out of their respective bags! For it seems that she, too, shovels snow for her sheep - even 4 ft. deep snow!
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Nancy! WoHoo!
And Rosie is so cute!
You are very dedicated!
ReplyDeleteRosie is so cute; always ready to help too. Well, Dream is very cute too!
Don't overdo it though!
So great to hear news from Bluff Country!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see pics of the girls and boys, and WOW, that pic of snowy trees in front of a hill!!! Nice.
Hi Nancy,
ReplyDeleteSo good to read about you and your sheep again!! I was wondering how all of you were faring in this excessive snow we've been having. Looks like just fine! Gorgeous photos! I love Rosie and Dream in their winter coats tapping around on top of the snow. The rams, too, are stunning in their winter coats.
Hey, I shovel snow for my fiber, too. Yesterday I started shoveling off the back deck (then I must confess Russ took over and finished--not because I couldn't--he spoils me...) Today, now that the deck is all dried off, we put up snow fence (Russ screwed it on the railings) per Joyce's instructions and I skirted Ambrose, the only huacaya alpaca fleece I had left to skirt and sort for length. It was downright pleasant all afternoon, but by 7 pm my fingers were numb and I finished that fleece in a BIG hurry! I got about three pounds of shorter fiber felting batts (1-2.5") from Ambrose and about 6 ounces of good fiber long enough to make into rovings (3").
It was nice in Dallas last weekend--we painted house the whole weekend for our son and his finance and met her parents-they painted, too--we all get along great. I lost my cell phone at the airport on the way back, though--darn--that's why I haven't called. I have a lot of travel in the next 2 weeks for work, but will be in touch soon after that.
When in April are the LAMBS arriving? It's so exciting! You are so dedicated to make sure your ewes get their excercise! Good job!!!
Nancy: I'm so happy to "see" you again! I missed you. I was so excited to see your blog updated. Now you have lambs to look forward to..and we all get to look forward to the pictures!
ReplyDeleteOK, Nancy! We're all starting to go into fetal positions since we haven't heard from you in a while...let's go..hup...off the couch...hup-two...there you go...that's it...
ReplyDeleteCan you tell we're all thinking of you?
And Skit says to say "mufd..-dsa'o23h", which I think means "Hello" but with a mouthful of cookies, it's hard to tell!
Thinking about you and wondering what's going on with your sheep.
ReplyDeleteHope you feel up to posting soon!