Hello Effurybody & effury Kitty! It's Caturday!

Hello Efurrybody!

Mummy finally got it together so I could give you a Caturday report!  Of course, these pictures were taken LAST Caturday - but she had been furry busy at The Salt Mines, as her work there has changed (again).  She keeps getting up and going there every weekday morning, so I guess she must like it.  I wish she'd say home with me. (Mummy here - nice thought little one, but it will be a few years) 

Seeing this picture of "da Boyz", just  reminded Mummy that she was going to tell you all about the sheepy girls spa day last month.  She says she'll try to do it later next week because she doesn't have any church work or guild work to do. 

I heard The Shepherd say that this will be the first year since he's had sheeps that there wouldn't be any lambs here - I guess getting things worked out so "the correct parties" could get together just didn't happen at the right time.  The nice thing is, that there is always next year.  But we will all miss seeing the little things bouncing around in the pastures. 

Look, up in the air - It's a bird, it's a plane -

No, it's Georgie up on the top of the barn again - he gets up there an acts like a vulture - can you see him next to that tree top? 

I heard Mummy say that she is staying home from church tomorrow so she can have tome time to herself.  She also has to get her Christmas presents for her sisters wrapped, as none of them will speak to her until she gets them sent off.  Heck, it's only almost Valentine's Day - what do they want anyhow??? 

We hope all of our friends in the Northeast part of the country are safe inside from storm Nemo and that the rest of you have a great week. 

Love, Your roving reporter, Gracie

Dang it Vern!

What happens when a ram gets bored. This is heavy duty hog panel wire - as you can see - it has a major boo-boo. . . What - Who, Me? Yeah, you, you big knucklehead. You see, Vern's "Play station" was broken (and who, might we ask, broke it??? - bashing through a 4" round post - busting it to smithereens) Well, he's all happy now - The Shepherd fixed it. This time using a 6 inch round post, set in cement - that ought to hold him for a while - Try as I might, I couldn't get a picture of him when he hit the ball, just the aftermath of it swinging... He kept running over to see what I was doing and if I was paying attention to him. Anyhow, this is how the game goes - His brother/buddy/wether Galloway runs up behind him, and smacks him in the backside - then takes off running with Vern in hot pursuit. Just before they get to the play station, Galloway veers off and BAM!, Vern bashes the ball into the middle pole. They will play this game for hours. Ok, so I'm exaggerating, maybe not for hours, but for 15 or 20 minutes at a time. Then they get all tuckered out and go sit under their ramada and chew some cud. Then they'll get up and do it all over again. Doesn't take much to entertain those boys...

Goofballs - A day in the Life...

Vern and Galloway are such a pair. When he gets bored, Galloway (the wether) will walk up behind his brother Vern (the ram), bop him in the butt and take off running.

Vern will chase him around the pasture, they will head for the "play station", Galloway will run off to the side and "BAM!" Vern will bash the ball - head on - in the play station - and then off they go again. They will do this time after time - until they get tired, and they'll go lie down next to each other, companionably chewing their cud.



"I like to tease Vern - it's the only way he ever gets any exercise!"

"I think The Shepherd feeds him too much - he is getting kind of porky".








"Watch who you're calling 'Porky' there buddy - I can whup your butt any time"











"Besides that, I'm not plump, I'm fluffy and this is my perfect Zen pose"

"Oommm"

The Scene of the Crime. . .

First, there are the discarded bits of twist wire...












then the broken clips that ended up in the bottom of the water bucket











and the serious bendey parts on the gate....
















And the "Doo, tee, doo, doo" - "Who me?" attitude of a certain couple of boys....









Not necessarily the crime of the century, but it has earned Vern the nick name of "Lizard Lips"

















When a couple of fellows who think they have been incarcerated in "the big house" suddenly meet you at the inside gate...













You know you have a Houdini in the pasture...




























Yup, Ole "Lizard Lips" is pretty lucky that The Shepherd REALLY like his fleece -

He'd be on his way to the land of little white packages in the freezer -

Our Dinner with Andre

It was a bright sunny day and I was just hanging out with my buddies - when this white pickup drives up into the yard.

"Anybody know who that is?" No one did - so we went back to eating.

Suddenly, Kendra, our shephardess and food lady came out and started talking to the man who got out of the truck. A lady got out too - they came over to admire us.



They looked at me and my brother - but the lady liked me best - she said even though he had a nice fleece, that my brother sounded like a foghorn. "I think we should take Andre," she said. "He has such a sweet face"

The next thing I knew, The Man is stuffing me in this PTU (Prisoner Transport Unit) "Help!" I cried out - the straw in the bottom of the PTU wasn't tasty at all - Yuck. "I think he needs a little bit of hay for his trip home" the lady said - and Kendra gave The Man some hay and he stuffed it in the PTU with me. I munched on some and said "Thank You" - sensing that The Man would be The Shepherd and the new food delivery man. They closed up the back of the truck and off we went.


It seemed like we drove and drove and then, I could hear all this clanking and banging. The Shepherd opened up the back window - "We just made the ferry" he said. I wondered what a "ferry" was.

You see, where I grew up would be a long drive for The Shepherd and the lady, but you can take a 25 minute ferry boat ride across the water from a town called Edmonds and go across to the place called "The Peninsula" where My Shepherdess lives. We were the last car on the ferry to go my new home -

When we got there, he took me out of the PTU and brushed all the straw out of my fluffy coat.

He took me out to a little pasture - "You'll be able to meet all your new friends here, Andre", he said,



Well, I must say, the grass here in this new place is very tasty.

I munched and munched - not paying any attention to the others in the pens around me.









"Who the heck is that?"

"He's kind of short, but very handsome..."

"Oh, Violet, you think all boys are handsome.
Do you suppose he's lonely in there?"







The boys didn't know what to make of this new fellow either.

What they didn't know was that The Shepherd had "Breeding Group" plans set up. Vern (the ram) and Galloway (his wethered brother) would get to be with Violet and Luna.




HB was already in with Jewel and Moni.
That left Cooper to be with Pearl and The Shepherd wanted to put a wether buddy in with him too - That's where Andre came in - The Shepherd is sad that Andre had to be wethered because he has wonderful confirmation but he had a "manly" problem that called for his "hoo-haw-ectomy"





Even though they are the same age, Andre is a little bit smaller - We think he'll catch up with Cooper quickly because, like any teenage boy, he hasn't stopped eating since he got here.

The Shepherd says that you and Cooper are getting along pretty well.

Welcome to your new home, Andre.

Fine Looking Fellows

Since they boys didn't get to go to the fair, I thought we'd strut their stuff for you this evening.

This is Cooper - His father is H.B., our HST ram - Cooper needs to find a new home.







He has one of the most unusual fleeces I've seen - the dark is short and crimpy - the white is long and wavy.

He is a really sweet fellow and is taking quickly to the halter training.







And he has splendid horns - They just keep getting wider and wider.











Vern actually is a little darker than this picture, but after shearing, he will be the silvery grey/brown that you can see in the part of his fleece below.








It is soft and crimpy like this all over. Vern will get his own set of girls this fall - coming up in only six short weeks. I can't believe that we are coming up on breeding time.

Does anyone know where the summer has gone?







By the way - anyone in need of some hops?

Just Shoot Me.....

These three little boys are looking longingly at







this .....

That's a LONG way when you are separated from your mommy for the first time.

The Mom's were unhappy -

The BOYS were REALLY unhappy -

It breaks my heart to hear them cry like that - I even went out last night before I went to bed and tried to bribe them to SHUT UP with some graham crackers...... Didn't work.

I hate weaning weekend.




"Oh, but we didn't know we'd each get our own bowl - maybe this isn't going to be so bad after all."

We'll see how long it takes for Galloway to get his squeaker back. Over the last 24 hours, he "Baaaaaaaa'ed" himself hoarse. Poor little guy.

I REALLY hate weaning weekend.

A visit from Dr. Amber

Dr. Amber came to visit last week. The Shepherd & I walked out to greet her. I was very polite, (even thought I was a little tired of being on a lead for a while while we waited for her to get here). She thought I was very handsome!








Everyone got shots and had their hooves and eyes and tails checked. The Shepherd was pleased and said that he thought she was "very thorough" and she had such nice things to say about the girls.






Dr. Amber thought my little boys were very cute too. But I heard a rumor that she gave one of them a "hoo-hooectomy" - that could explain why Galloway was walking a little stiff-legged after she left...








Don't look so horrified girls - you know your turn is coming.










It only hurts for a second.


















She's gone now, can we go back outside?

Got some catching up to do......

Ta Da - got the new camera to download to the computer. Not the easiest software to use, but, I guess I'll learn - you know that story about "old dogs and new tricks????

Meanwhile this shiny blue balloon heralds the arrival of Cooper - or as The Shepherd calls him "Hurricane Cooper" or HC for short.




The craziest thing is that The Shepherd went back to the pictures of the very first lambs we had born here - guess what they looked like???

Little black fuzzy guys with black & white spotted heads. Hmmm - the more things change, the more they stay the same.




And this two headed monster is Vern/Galloway - checking out the dirt on the other side of the fence. They are goofy little guys -








And here is Sinda posing in the sun for her latest portrait.

I made our reservations for our hotel room for Black Sheep tonight. Almost screwed up - I thought it was the LAST weekend in June - nope - it's the third weekend in June - Luckily I realized it before I made the reservations, etc. Now I have to remember to change my days off at work too. And start cleaning house so the house sitter won't think I'm such a slob...

And, then maybe...

Yesterday, I showed you how well H.B. does on a halter and a leash.



When The Shepherd switched the boy's pastures out last week, he decided to try Taylor out on halter and leash.







Taylor wasn't exactly what we would call "thrilled" by the whole experience - this is what we call his "dead sheep" imitation.

Does a pretty good one, doesn't he?






Needless to say, The Shepherd wasn't too thrilled either - so, back to moving sheep the old fashioned way.