Burn, Baby BURN....

Not much excitement here in the Bluff Country. Which, now that I think about it, is just the way I LIKE it!! I've been burning the ditches so that I can use them for grazing this year. There will be NO wasted land at my place! This is my weekend to work so I've been trying to get as much done, in the mornings before getting ready for work, as I can. My Blisters have blisters!

I hope to finish burning the ditches and start putting up fences (I just use the step in posts ~ it's the only thing I can manage on my own!) today. I want to get my pastures subdivided so I can rotationally graze and give some of the more over grazed areas a rest.

I'm also working on an album with pictures of Kat Nap ~ Dream's beautiful, horned daughter. I should have that done and posted this weekend.

IF I have time today, I want to check into refinancing my home. I'm paying 6.8% interest and think I could reduce my house payment quite a bit if I refinance now...

Oh yeah.... I've got to start cleaning the barns too. AND burning the dried out, wasted hay, blowing around the pastures and paddocks. Plus, I bought a little, portable "greenhouse" that I want to put together and put my little starter pots of Impatience and Pumpkins that are sitting all over my kitchen counters in. (Was that a sentence?)? And, I bought a very pretty WIND CHIME that I'm going to hang out on the new barn! I'll take pictures of that!

Have a nice weekend everyone!!

DREAM says...
"Mom is SO excited about the grass finally starting to turn green. This is me when I was just a couple of weeks old. How cute am I?????

Happy Easter!"

WHAT was I Thinking???

This picture was taken one year ago, today.
April 8, 2008.

I loved those Angora goats.

But they were too much work for this already-spread-to-thin Shepherdess. Thank you Michelle, Becky and Melanie for pointing out the obvious to me.

I don't need any more animals! I can't afford any more animals. Just the thought of trimming those toes (or teeth!!) or tying them down to shear, or giving monthly shots to is enough to give me nightmares. So, I'll not be getting any Alpacas. I think I'll buy Triomphe's fleece though....(he's the white one, from Colorado).

Thank you for the reality check.

ALICE & DREAM
(photo taken 1 year ago)
say...

"Yes, THANK YOU ladies! For reminding Mom how much she loves the life she has right now ~ with US!!"

"Boy! We dodged a bullet THAT time!"

It was a Nice Morning in the Bluff Country...

I sat with the sheep for a while.

I picked up poop in the backyard and fed & watered all the animals.

Now, it's time to get ready for work.

I'm still thinking about getting a couple of Alpaca geldings...

DREAM says...

Tomorrow, Mom will share some pictures that she took of my beautiful daughter, Kat Nap! Don't worry about Mom ~ I'm giving her lots of hugs..."

What kind of a farmer cries over a chicken?

Modonna's gone. I knew something was wrong when I went into the barn. All the other chickens came but not Madonna. She's the one who always comes right up for me to pick her up. She's the only one who eats from my hand. Madonna can't fly. I have to take care of her. I failed. I found her. Dead. Something had killed her. I am so sorry, Madonna.

I guess I'm not a real farmer. I can't stop crying.
I went out and sat with the sheep. They all came up to "offer their condolences". Seriously. They each walked up and let me pet them for a moment and then walked off. Except Dream. She stood by me and put her muzzle against my cheek. She let me wrap my arms around her neck and cry into her fleece. She stood by me until it was time for me to come into the house.

What will I ever do when I lose my Dreamer....?

I have to get ready for work now.

We Were Supposed to Get a Blizzard...

But it missed us.

If we don't get some sunsine and GREEN soon, I may not be responsible for what I do...

Why, I got so stir crazy on Saturday that I went to an ALPACA show! (it was Karen B's fault)

Oh my! These are really sweet, beautiful creatures...

Their fleece is inredible! Super soft. Fine. Crimpy. It would be lovely blended with Shetland....

They have the most huggable necks!

This guy lives in Colorado. But he REALLY wants to come live in the Bluff Country.....

DREAM says...

"Those are the strangest sheep I have EVER seen! Pray for sunshine and green grass..."

For Eileen....The Eighth Annual ALICE WATCH...

OK. I admit it. This year probably doesn't really count. But ever since I got my Shetland sheep (in 2001), we've had an "Annual Alice Watch" ~ mainly because I was always worried sick about her at lambing time.

This year probably doesn't count because this year, for the first time since she was a yearling, Alice is not bred.

Alice has given me twins or triplets every year since I got her from John and Jane Eager of "Highland Hollow" Shetlands, in Wisconsin, in 2001. I decided to give my beautiful friend a year off after she had triplets two out of three years in a row!

So this year Alice will not have babies. However, she will have GRANDBABIES! I have bred Alice's beautiful, Emsket daughter, "Bluff Coutnry Destiny". Destiny is sired by a black & white, HST ram (Windswept Bravo) and is bred to a mioget & white, HST ram (Kimberwood Hunter) so I am praying for an HST granddaughter that I would keep forever!

So, even though I won't be fretting and worrying over Alice's impending delivery this year, you're more than welcome to join us for the "Alice ~ GRANDMA Watch"!!

;-)

DREAM says...

"Hey! You can watch ME not have babies too! Mom's got a three day weekend so she'll be doing lots of rooing ~ stay tuned for lots of photos...."

It is SO Dreary....

I have every light in the house turned on.
Thank God (and my BBG!) for my "Happy Light"!
I am really needing some Sunshine!!

So, I went out to the barn and took some pictures...
Right now, the brightest, most colorful thing at my place is
LUCCA
Isn't he awesome?

Since Katie recently sent me a "board payment" for her Rooster (Thank you, Sweetie!), I thought she might enjoy a few updated photos of her beautiful boy.
Now, I know that these next couple of pictures are out of focus, but I SO want to show Katie a picture of Lucca CROWING...

and these are the best I could get!

DREAM says...
..."COCK-A-DOODLE-DO!!!!!"
Ya gotta look closely but she IS back there....

Wathcing and Waiting...

It's not even CLOSE to lambing time in the Bluff Country. I didn't put Hunter in with his girls until December 8th, last year! Wow! I had to look up the date (thank goodness I have everything documented on blogger!) I was thinking we'd be lambing at the end of April ~ I'll be more like early May!! I normally put my breeding groups together on Thanksgiving weekend. I guess I won't have to worry about there being green grass for my late-term ewes and the new lambs.

BELLA LUNASo, we're not on the lookout for lambs, yet, in the Bluff Country. We ARE, however, on the lookout for SPRING.

We know it's out there somewhere...

There will be leaves and grass Any Day Now!

March is coming to the END.

DREAM says...

..."Don't worry, Mom, it'll be worth waiting for!"

No Longer in Her Mother's Shadow...BLUFF COUNTRY DESTINY

Born one of a set of triplets,
Destiny was quietly kept away from the other lambs and from ME (the shepherdess!) pretty much all of the time until I separated her from her dam so that I could put her in a breeding group this year.

Alice is pretty good about that ~ keeping her ewe lambs away from me so I can't make friends with them!

Destiny is two years old now and finally decided that I can be trusted!

She has found her niche in the flock and is maturing into a stunning ewe.

Destiny is sired by Windswept Bravo (black & white, HST) and I can't WAIT to see what she gives me for lambs next month....
Destiny is emsket and Hunter is also "modified"/HST, so I'm hoping for modified, HST lambs from Alice's beautiful daughter...

Can You See It???

Do you see the likeness?

Do you know who this is?

I think she looks SO much like her dam...

I can see it in the way she carries herself.

I love her Arrogance!

I thought her fleece was going to be Shaela but it's apparent now that she's actually Emsket (Dusky, bluish grey).

I'll finish this post, later today. I want to see who knows who this lovely ewe is. She is bred to Hunter for late-April lambs...