Taking pictures isn't always easy....

This is one of my favorite photographs. It has won photo contests and is featured in my "REAL sheep wear SHETLAND wool" calendars. It's nice when I have someone around to help with pictures. My stepson, Rich, loved to hold the tree branch down to give the ewes and lambs a treat. Great photo ops. Unfortunately, we had to send Richie back to California to live with his mother. Taking pictures doesn't work quite so well all by myself....

For these photos, I held the branch down with one hand while holding the camera out with the other...Somehow, it's just not the same...

You know those cute little pictures of Dream that I use as a 'tag line' on each of my posts? Well, they're getting MIGHTY hard to get. She's always either running at me or snuggled on my lap!

Dream says...."and you have a problem with that???"

A Beautiful Day in June...

The lambs are growing SO fast. One of their favorite games is "King of the Hill" ~ played on top of a plastic dog house that I dismantled.

I put the top on the ground and turn the bottom half upside down and the lambs jump from one "mountain" to the other...

Crescendo posing

Another favorite game is "tether ball". We tie a tennis ball and hang it from a branch in the tree. The lambs love to smack it around! Finale and Nestle were taking turns playing this afternoon...


Dream says..."I may NEVER grow up"!

There's no place like Home.....

This is my backyard and my favorite place to sit. The swing is perfectly positioned to give us hours of entertainment, watching the sheep (no ~ I do not have a life; nor do I want one!)

My little "Dream" usually comes up close to the fence to graze if I'm in the swing.

The peace & tranquility are shattered in favor of chaos give way to running feet and baa's of greeting when I enter the girls' paddock...

I got some nice pictures of ewes with their lambs over the weekend. This one's Kit Kat with her handsome ram lambs.

And this is Zaria with Crescendo and Finale.

Some of you may remember the sweet, angelic face of Flash Flood, shown here, snuggling with her daughter, "Lace".

Dream says..."I'LL show you a sweet, angelic face...!"

Weekend Update...

I've been neglecting my blog. Probably because I've been obsessively watching the Eagles' nest. Two of the Eaglets fledged, leaving only the baby in the nest. For one day, anyway. In spite of looking like he was going to take off at any minute, the littlest one, wisely, stayed behind. And he has now been rejoined by his siblings! I would never have thought the fledglings would have the flight skills necessary to maneuver back up, through the branches, to the nest, but both did! What a thrill it was to see all three babies back in the nest... ;-)

On the home front:

Sadie's doing well. It's been over a week since her surgery. Despite the vet's warning about the incision coming open, we've had no complications. Sadie has adjusted to her "hat" and the incision is healing very well. The stitches come out this coming Friday! Then, my girl and I are going for a WALK...

The lambs are growing like weeds! We're keeping an eye on the boys horns to see how they develop.


Alice's beautiful daughter "GLITTER" looks more and more like her dam everyday! She is SO sweet. I can't believe I sold her.... :-(


DREAM says...
"WISH and I are getting big too!"

A case of the "BIRD FLEW".....

I'm feeling SAD. Remember the web cam trained on the eagle's nest? I have a permanent link to it on my side bar. I've been watching the site since there were three eggs in it. I've seen the eggs hatch and watched as all three eaglets (against the odds) survived and grew.


Yesterday one of the babies flew from the nest. Hence, my case of the "bird flew". I'm surprised at how sad I feel that I'll never see that beautiful creature again. The nest looks so big. What a privilege it has been to be able to watch these majestic creatures grow and wittiness the incredible devotion the parent Eagles have shown in caring for their young.

Mom & Dad Eagle are still feeding the two remaining babies (and I'm sure their bigger sibling!). It will just be a matter of days before they all leave the nest.

Talk about "Empty Nest Syndrome".......

the BEST of intentions....

Sorry for not finishing the story of Dream's first halter lesson, yesterday. By the time I got home from work, I was too tired to play with my lambs, let along (alone???) write in my blog. I got off work EARLY today and am feeling MUCH better! In fact, I just came in from mowing what used to be the 'nursery' pasture. I'm getting it ready for next month when I'll use it for the lambs at weaning...

In the meantime: Yes, I did it. I finally put a halter on my spoiled little princess lovely, little "Dream". To make the experience less frightening for her, I also haltered her twin sister, "Wish" at the same time. Wish has already had her first lesson, so this was old hat for her. That's Dream with the turquoise halter (Wish's is black so hard to see).

I've found that it's less scary for the lambs if I let them free with the halters, at first. That gives them a few minutes to get used to the feel and drag it around and adjust to the rope "following them around". It seems to help. It also helps that my lambs are all "into" animal crackers when I start halter training. That makes life MUCH easier. If the lamb begins to balk at the halter, I can usually get them moving forward by offering them a 'cookie'.

Within 10 minutes, both girls are following the cookie leading nicely. I walk them around with frequent stops to pet and snuggle and an occasional cookie as a reward. About 15 minutes is long enough for the first lesson. After carefully removing the halter (so the lamb doesn't bolt) I give them each another cookie so they learn to stick around when the halter comes off. I always try to end each halter lesson on a positive note.

Dream says.....I don't know what all the fuss is about ~ I already follow her everywhere!

Guess who had her first Halter Lesson....?

Details tonight!

Halter Lessons continue...

Kokomo is somewhat less than thrilled with his first halter lesson...

Rhinestone Cowboy isn't so sure he's quite ready for this...

Rock Star (Rocky) is QUITE sure that this is NO way to treat a celebrity...

But only Hershey (one of Kit Kat's twins) had the good sense to bring in reinforcements...

First, there's Mom...

When Mom was unable to free him, Hershey called on his twin, brother: "Nestle"...

Nestle even brought in Kokomo to help!

Talk about brotherly love!

Hey, LOOK...she's got COOKIES!

DREAM says..."silly boys..."

Poor Sadie....

This poor, dear creature is my "Silly Sadie".




Sadie is (supposedly) a Treeing Walker Coon Hound. She is my sweetie. Unfortunately, Sadie had a growth on her front leg that had to be removed. Hence, the Elizabethan collar. Needless to say, Sadie is NOT a very happy dog...
Sadie just had her surgery yesterday and has to wear the collar for 2 weeks. None of us got much sleep last night. Sadie cried. She's getting two different kinds of pain pills but the vet said she'd be pretty sore for a couple of days. I'm just praying that the growth was not cancerous. But Sade and I have agreed on a course of action if it is. She's been there for me through a lot in my life. I'll be there for her. And I WON'T let her suffer...

DREAM SAYS...









"Did you notice that even the DOG is HST????"

'Tis the Season..... .............for HALTER LESSONS!

"FINALE" demonstrates the "first position" most lambs assume during their first halter lesson. Actually, he did quite well and didn't freak out until all the other lambs mobbed us looking for cookies!

Finale also mastered the "second position" very quickly... ;-)

Standing on all four feet is PROGRESS!

What's that??? You have COOKIES??????

I would rate halter lesson # 1 a complete success!

DREAM SAYS:
"she better not put one of those on ME!"