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Trying Times

Friday, December 16th, 2011

It has taken much longer than I ever expected to get a new posting to the Ewe Turn. I will shoulder some of the blame; the balance has been out of my control. Originally I had planned to write when the breeding time for the ewes was over and everyone, ewes and rams, had returned to the barn. That has indeed happened, but quite some time ago.

On November 4th we brought everyone home from their breeding groups out on the pastures. It was an intentionally short period that the rams and ewes were together. Basically it was one complete heat cycle, plus an extra few days to allow for heats that were ending right at the beginning of breeding. In essence, the ewes had the opportunity to get bred within one complete heat cycle (17 days). Hopefully, it will mean that every ewe was bred within a period of about 25 days. In reality, we rarely get 100% bred in that time. What it will guarantee however is that five months later all of the lambs will be born within 25 days of each other. For aging shepherds that is a much more manageable schedule than a lambing period of say 50 days in length.

Rhett, Ulmer and Ukiah all appeared to do their jobs. By the 4th of November each of their ewes had been marked by the crayon the ram wears. As expected there were a couple of re-marks for the ewes that had been marked at the very beginning of the process. Short of using an ultrasound devise to find out if each ewe is pregnant, we now just have to wait for nearly five months for a definitive answer. We should get a better view when the flock is sheared in late February.

For quite a while all of the flock has been settled into their winter routine in the barn. Knowing that, one can be justified in wondering why there has been no Ewe Turn news from the farm for so long. The tale has three chapters, none of which are directly connected with each other, but all of which have prevented me from doing much writing.

Let’s start with chapter one: Web site redesign. It had been our long term plan to spend part of the fall re-designing and tweaking our web site (something that needed to be done for quite a long time). In early November we were making good progress. By then perhaps a quarter of the pages had been re-worked and re-published. Unbeknownst to us at the same time major changes were having to be made to our internet service provider. It is a long classic tale of big corporate takeovers messing up successful little operations. The details need not be covered here, except to say that for a couple of weeks our website essentially did not exist. If during that time anyone tried to visit our website, including this blog, they would have found little or nothing. Happily the difficulties are being overcome. We are now able to blog again and we can continue with the make-over of the rest of the website. Thanks to all who have inquired about our absence.

Life tends to get in the way of many things, which brings us to chapter two. Despite the problems of the website, we still would have been prevented from a normal routine. It is easy to forget that health issues are always present with us and the sheep. Sometimes the most distracting issues are the most unexpected. Over a three week period in late November and early December we were confronted with a problem with Appaloosa, one of the ewe lambs that we had decided to retain for breeding. She developed swelling in both of her eyes. The vets were called and the thought was that she had some sort of unusual infection/irritation. We treated it with twice daily applications of a fancy eye ointment. The problem improved briefly and then returned along with a goiter-like swelling under her chin. This called for another visit from Paul, the vet. This time while examining Appaloosa we also found a small swelling on her throat. It was hoped that it was an infection, the location of which was causing some restriction of the blood flow back from above the swelling. In a sense it was causing edema.

We then started a course of antibiotics and cortisone. Over a week’s time there was momentary improvement with a quick return to and worsening of the previous state. It became evident that the swelling on her neck was growing rapidly. We asked Paul to return a week later, as we all feared at this time that the swelling was a tumor of some sort. It was now restricting her breathing. It was agreed that we would have Appaloosa put down. Paul performed a necropsy afterward. The size of the tumor was astonishing. It was perhaps 3 to 4 pounds in weight and 7 inches long and 4 inches around, completely encircling her esophagus. Paul had never seen such a tumor in a sheep, nor had we. We send tissue samples to the State of Wisconsin Veterinary Lab. The result indicated that the tumor was a very aggressive Lymphoma.

Aside from her death, the saddest part of Appaloosa’s tale was that throughout all the time that we were trying to treat her with numerous shots and application of ointments Appaloosa never seemed to become more fearful of us. She remained friendly to the end, as if she was aware that all this attention was somehow meant for her good. Because of her patience she will be missed even more.

On to the final chapter of this tale. I related in the previous posting to the Ewe Turn that we had experienced a significant power failure in October. Since this was the third major power outage we have had this year, we finally made the major decision to have a back-up electrical generator installed. The last six weeks has been the ongoing saga of having to deal with a number of contractors and services (most notable being our local utility provider). Just about the time that the web site was restored, final installation of the generator took place, resulting in, yes, a few more temporary outages. The problem was compound by the fact that we decided to have the power cable from the road buried underground. This entailed going under Clark Lake Road and all the way to where the power had always gone underground from the meters to the house and barn.

Only the first of many crews on site

We took the extra step because the old power cable went right through the large maple tree at the end of our driveway. It was a cable ready to be downed anytime with the next strong wind storm. The finale of the job last week involved the near simultaneous presence of the electrical contractor, the excavators, the natural gas company and the utility provider. To add to the chaos the township building inspector arrived to peek over everyone’s shoulder without giving the impression that we knew what he was looking at. It was the proverbial Chinese fire drill! At least we now are assured a backup power supply. I need to do some landscaping to repair holes dug in the lawn. That will have to wait until spring. Oh…did I also relate that I have to take down the old power pole? (It seems that we “own it”!)

Posted in Bed & Breakfast, Sheep, What's New | No Comments »

October Alterations

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Now that October has finally departed, it is safe to comment on the changes that it brought to us. October is always our “transfer” month. The Gallery closes for the year in mid-month. The Bed and Breakfast closes up a week later. The pastures are nearly always depleted enough that the sheep have to return to winter quarters in or near the barn where they depend on the hay stored in the barn for winter. As always the sheep also are divided into small breeding groups early in the month. Those ewes that we decide should be placed with a ram remain on the few remnants of pasture until early November, when breeding is also called to a halt. It would be easy to say that that summarizes the last month, but it would do it an injustice.

For me, having newly returned from Denmark in late September, getting back into the daily routine is always a bit difficult. However, the calendar will not pause for me. As such we were all back up to our routines by the beginning of October. The timely rains of late October extended our grazing period a little. On the 5th of October the entire flock grazed the last western corner of the 3rd pasture. Shirley took time to visit with us on one of those last days in #3.

oct-shirley

It was a time and a place for all to enjoy. Fall weather had arrived and trees were turning color in their usual dramatic fashion. This is how the flock appeared on pasture that day.

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The unusually hot and dry late summer appeared to have an influence on when the trees turned color. On this early day in October the ashes were in full color, while the maples, birch and our few beeches were still mostly green. The following week however dramatically changed appearances. We experienced a few days with extremely high winds out of the northwest, the worst day of which featured gusts of up to 60 miles per hour. Especially in the northern half of the county the damage was dramatic. At the farm we have a number of ash which toppled in the wetland on our western edge. In addition, the top of an large old maple came down in our 4th pasture. Considering the strength of the winds, the loss of that maple was not totally unexpected; it has had more than its share of dead or dying wood for many years. Luckily, no sheep were in the pasture when it came down and it obligingly avoided crashing onto a fence line. We were without power for more than 22 hours. We were lucky; many friends were without electricity for up to three days. Had our outage lasted much longer we would have had greater problems, the most significant of which is a lack of water for the sheep. Lastly all of the lovely yellows and purples of the ash trees were blown away.

In the week following the storm there were numerous branches to clean up, which only complicated setting up the pastures for breeding groups. We did manage to get the rams and ewes together when we had planned. This year we are only trying to breed 34 ewes, which is a significant drop from the last few years’ numbers. One the 11th, Ulmer, Ukiah and Rhett each joined the selected ewes. Much to his displeasure, our other adult ram, Vermicelli got the role of backup. It appears that his talents will not be put to work this year. The three ram lambs, Axel, Andrew and Aries also stayed in the barn. Unlike Vermicelli, one gets the impression that they really do not fathom what they are missing.

As is often the case with October, the sheep have been greeted by a diversity of weather, some quite pleasant and some down right cold and wet. As now seems to be the trend, we have not experienced a truly hard freeze in October. The most dramatic effect of this changing climate is that we have yet to experience frozen water lines and the need to manually transport water out to the three pastures. We have only two more nights to go before breeding is called to a halt. It appears that we may avoid snow and frozen water lines for the first time.

Some of the more pleasant days have begun with heavy ground fog. That is always a visual treat when going out to the breeding groups with their grain at dawn.

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For the final couple of weeks of the month the maples and beeches took center stage with their color show. The final act has been from the birches and especially from the aspen. This view is of Rhett and his group of girls in #4 with the aspen in full display.

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Not to be outdone, Ukiah and his harem had a dramatic backdrop from the last of the maples in between #2 and #3.

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It is now a week later and nearly every leaf is on the ground. We are now transporting hay to the three breeding groups and in another two days they will all return to the barn. We have given the ewes one complete heat cycle plus a couple of extra days with the rams. Everyone of the 34 ewes have been marked by the rams. The only question that remains is whether each breeding was a success. To learn the results of this month’s activity will require a return to the Ewe Turn in about five months.

Posted in Farm, Sheep, What's New | 1 Comment »

Contrasts and Similarities

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

I am back at Whitefish Bay Farm. Very few probably knew that I was gone. There were some exceptions: a few neighbors who did not see me doing chores; the sheep who were totally dependent upon Gretchen for pasture and food in the barn; Pussa, who lacked a breakfast companion and a lap upon which to sit; and Gretchen who had to deliver me to the airport and subsequently fetch me there. For the rest who did not know of my absence, I was in Denmark. As has become my custom, I travel to Denmark every other year. The trip constitutes my major vacation and only significant time away from the farm. It is an opportunity to visit friends and adoptive family. It is also my only chance to listen to and speak Danish. In a sense, it is like going to language camp. During the first few days there, my ears are not well tuned to the language and my mind does not want to function, except in English, consciously translating individual words here and there. That is an especially frustrating time, knowing that much of the language is locked somewhere in my head but the keys have been misplaced. Before the end of the twelve days I know that I am again thinking “på dansk”, albeit in a much simpler mode than years gone by.

When I left the farm, conditions were extremely dry. Pastures were turning brown and our gardens cried out for more watering. With the exception of Pasture #3 the sheep had grazed every other pasture that we could get them to and none of those pastures had regrown at all. In short, we were rapidly running out of fresh green food for the sheep. We had six large square bales of hay left over from the previous year. I set up the bales so that the sheep could feed upon them three at a time. Past experience taught us that three bales would last from three to four days. Once all six bales were consumed the flock would begin rotating through Pasture #3. The responsibility for assessing hay supplies, moving fences and feeding the sheep at night were totally Gretchen’s.

beech-knuthedlund

The contrast in Denmark was startling. The country had already experienced the second wettest summer ever recorded and the rain was continuing into the fall and my vacation. The words wet, green and lush best described what I found there. If you wished to grow mushrooms or snails, conditions were ideal. If you wish to combine grain crops or mow grass, conditions were a quagmire.

mushroom-dollerup

As I tend to do, I kept my eyes open for flocks of sheep. What I saw was that life was often not very pleasant for lots of extremely wet sheep.

sheep-thorning

At least toward the end of my travels the sun decided to come out for a few days. It permitted me to spend a day hiking the caulk cliffs of Møns Klint and another full day looking at and learning about the beautiful ships at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde. Much of the rest of my time in Denmark was spent dressed in rain gear outside or in drier conditions indoors, primarily in museums. Early in the trip I was extremely pleased to discover that a very dear friend from many years past had an exhibition of natural dying of wool and silk using wild mushrooms (Svampfarvning) at the Silkeborg Museum. The colors she achieves are breathtaking. If you happen to be in Silkeborg now and into early October, it is exciting to experience Kirsten Kielmann’s exhibit.

Kirsten's mushroom dyed yarn

Scarves from Kirsten's mushroom dyed yarn

Communication has changed so dramatically since I lived in Denmark in 1965-66. At that time, it took ten days for a letter to get from Denmark to the US. Phone calls could only be made by scheduling them a day or two ahead of time. Now with a cellphone I am able to talk with Gretchen every day that I am in Denmark. It was because of that communication that I was pleased to learn that after I had been gone a week that it began to rain here at home. In eight days we received over 4 inches of much needed moisture! Before the rain began, Gretchen and a friend, Sandy, spent a couple of intense days dying lots of wool yarn. They lacked Kirsten’s mushrooms, but instead got wonderful results using amaranth, madder, marigold blossoms, indigo and birch bark.

Gretchen's natural dyed yarn

I have been home now long enough that the effects of traveling for nearly 24 hours are finally wearing off. It is wonderful to see how green things have become here. The contrast with many of the trees that are already turning to their fall colors is dramatic. I already miss my family and friends in my adoptive home, but it is extremely good to be back to my real home with the flock, Pussa and especially Gretchen.

Posted in Farm, Fiber Projects, What's New | 1 Comment »

Searching for Green

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

A number of folks have asked about the large drifts of snow from our big storm of the last week of March and whether they have since melted away. The good news is that over about a two week period the snow had slowly disappeared. In fact, for a couple of days Mother Nature acted as if she would finally bless us with spring weather. Silly of us to think that! It was not to last for long. We have now had two additional heavy, wet snows. Now have not equaled the last March storm, but the ground has turned white again and again. As soon as one had melted it was replaced by the next. This was the scene that greeted us yesterday morning.

Where is the pasture?

Temperatures have not aided in rapid thawing and melting so somewhere below all that white stuff there may be green grass, but it is certainly difficult to find. We are thankful that we do not need to do any spring planting. There has been virtually no field work done by any of the farmers in the county. Once the snow is gone the fields still need to dry out. We can fuss a lot, but we are blessed to not be faced with the destruction of earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, wildfires and war.

The sheep are eager to get out. We can sense it. We still have a good supply of hay stored in the barn, so it would seem that the entire flock is faced with the same menu for a few more weeks. The vegetable garden is also still white. Underneath the snow is a pile of composted sheep manure waiting to be worked into the soil. For the moment we will just have to look at the seedlings on our plant table and imagine them in summer glory. This bunch of tomatoes, peppers, egg plants and artichokes still have a long way to go. Right now they will have to satisfy our search for green!

seeds-4-20-11

Posted in Farm, General, Sheep, What's New | 1 Comment »

Happy Birthdays, good days and not so good

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

It seems as though I started to write this entry just a few days ago. My intention was to wish Hope a Happy Birthday and have the greeting prepared ahead of time, so that on March 8th we could publicly celebrate Hope’s 15th birthday. We managed an “in-barn” party, but that was it. Now it is three weeks later! The public celebration is a bit delayed. For those of you not into sheep longevity, I should point out that 15 years is a substantial age. Hope is still going strong. She may be a bit smaller than she was at an earlier age and a bit slower. Nonetheless, she still is the “official hay tester”, sampling every slab of hay before it is delivered to a feeder somewhere in the barn. For her services she receives an extra helping of grain each day (just don’t tell the rest of the flock, it is just our secret).

Hope at 15+ years

The reason for trying to celebrate Hope’s birthday on time was that it preceded, by a day, the scheduled arrival of this year’s first lambs. Scheduling is not something at which sheep excel however. This year the first lamb arrived on March 7th. Unfortunately the first birth was not one of those expected, but rather a ewe lamb premature by at least seven days. Her mom, Whosits, did a good job with the lamb, especially considering that she was a first time mother. The two of them plugged along well enough, but it also became obvious that the lamb (who we dubbed “Atagirl”) was not functioning normally. At 19 days of age she died quietly. It took Whosits at least two days to stop searching for her.

Once Whosits had lambed, we had a day for Hope’s celebration. The next day the proverbial flood gates opened. Since the 9th of March the flock has experienced births everyday, except two, and it is now the 29th of March. As I write we have seen 83 lambs born and we await the last five pregnant ewes, who are due sometime before the 3rd of April. We have had seen some some beautiful lambs born and the vast majority of the moms have done wonderful jobs, especially considering that nearly half of them are first timers. We have had three ewes who were initially befuddled by their lambs’ births and, as a result, did not wish to accept one or all of their offspring. Usually a day or two spent restrained in a stantion is enough to let them calm down and recognize that they are indeed mothers with responsibilities. Two of the three ewes recognized their erring ways and now are truly devoted to their lambs. One mom has proven to be a dead beat. The result is a bottle lamb, Azalea, for the shepherds to care for. She joined a duo of bottle lambs, both of whom were already being bottled because of 1) a milk problem with one mom and 2) a mom who could not count to two and did not make sure her second lamb got enough to drink.

Group nap time for lambs

We have also experienced some minor health problems with a couple of ewes, problems which seem to be resolved. Trudi however has had major difficulties since she gave birth to twins. She delivered while standing (which is not that unusual). However, as time passed we realized that she was not lying down (at all!). Initially we suspected a case of mastitis, but that proved not to be the case. Eventually we had one of our vets look at her. He too was befuddled. We could only surmise an internal injury or infection that made it painful for her to lie down. It was not until 9 days after her delivery date that she finally laid down. Whether this was the result of the medication she received or whether it was due to sheer fatigue we do not know. Now we are working from the other extreme, i.e. a ewe who gets up only briefly. Luckily, Trudi has retained a good appetite and thirst. Everyday now she seems to be doing a bit better. It is a slow recovery, but we are hopeful.

It seems to be a year with most of the births occurring in early morning (i.e. around 2 AM). Fatigue is becoming a factor for the two of us. It does not help that we, like Hope, are a bit older than when we first helped with lambing 21 years ago. And by the way I believe that I failed to mention our “little weather event”.

By the first day of spring (the 20th) we had seen the arrival of Robins and Redwings. Sandhill Cranes were flying up the peninsula and flocks of Tundra Swans ferried in from the southeast. It was also warmer, all good signs of spring. Two days later we experienced the “classic” late winter/early spring snow storm, which proved to be extreme. Sixteen inches of heavy, wet snow pushed along by winds gusting out of the east from Lake Michigan at up to 40 miles per hour. We were effectively isolated for three days. The short walk of just one hundred feet or so between the house and the barn was an adventure, especially at 3 AM. When it was over the storm left us with monster snow drifts all over the farm, one of the largest of which ran the entire length of the barn and was at its highest at least 4 to 5 feet.

Impassable snow drift on west side of barn

Between dealing with the sheep and lambing and the depth of the snow it took us three days to clear our way to the road. Normally when we experience these late storms the warmer weather quickly returns. This weather pattern is different. We seem to be in a time warp: temperatures are as cold or colder than they were in February. It will be a long while before the remains of this storm have melted.

Detour around and through the drift to the barn

The storm and subsequent cold have sapped our energies more than normal. The sheep are getting the care they need, but other tasks have been slowed. For example, Gretchen is still skirting and sorting fleeces. (Fear not faithful fleece customers, we still hope to have them ready for sale by mid-April.) Any hope of making spring repairs to fences and getting pastures ready remain buried in snow. But we have had many birthdays to cheer us, especially Hope’s. Happy Birthday Hope!!

Posted in Farm, Sheep, What's New | 4 Comments »

New Doo’s

Monday, February 28th, 2011

The rest of the girls and I have just been hanging out for quite a long time now. I figured that I better let the rest of the world know that we are just fine. Actually, I was planning on posting something about us sooner, but things got in the way.

First, the old shepherd guy got in the way. He had to let everyone know what a great pooper scooper he thought that he and his little machine were. What he did not tell you was the real reason that he added the extra patio behind the barn. It was so that we would have more room to spread out our deck chairs once it gets sunny.

Second, once I tried to get started writing something on the computer that Queso and I have set up, I realized that I was having problems seeing the key board: the wool on my forehead kept getting in the way. When you couple that problem with the logistics of typing with two feet that each have only two operational toes you can understand why I have not gotten much writing done recently. Some of us are less challenged with woolly faces. Queso was at least able to see well enough to take some photos to give you an idea of our predicament. This first shot is of Warp. She could barely see where she was going!

warp

A bunch of us (the more senior members of the flock) got together to discuss our predicament. This next photo is of Kassia and one of her daughters, Octavia participating in the conference.

k-o

It turned out that before we could really get organized, the old bearded guy and the nice lady pulled a fast one on us. The shearer showed up! We should have known that it was going to happen, since it always happens in February, before the pregnant girls start delivering their lambs. It is just that none of us with calendars could read them to know what month it was. Be that as it may, the shearer has come and gone and now we all can see well again. (We did get to meet a nice bunch of people who came to help with shearing. I believe that the real reason they come is to help keep the old shepherd from getting too grumpy with us over the two days of shearing.) Almost all of our wool is gone. Actually, it is in bags up in the hay mow. Each bag has one of our names in it. It is just sitting there waiting for the nice lady to prepare it for sale.

woolbags

There they are, all 127 of our fleeces.

So now we can communicate with the outside world without all of our visual limitations. The old shepherd is busy getting the barn ready for lambs and the nice lady spends much of her day in the basement of the house working on our fleeces. (At least that is what Pussa, the cat tells us. We have no other way of knowing, but it figures, since we have not seen much of the nice lady recently.)

At least we can hang out and socialize with each other. Here is Tessa discussing with Tempest the pending arrival of her lambs. A couple of sexy ladies if you ask me.

tessa-temp

We figure that lambing is not very far away. By my calculations the first lambs should begin arriving around March 9th. It behooves all of us to get some good night’s sleep before then, because things will be much more active at our level of the barn once that time arrives.

It is time for me to sign off. Queso was gracious enough to include my picture in her collection. Here is me in my new ‘doo. Bye for now…

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your friend, Nanoo Nanoo.

Posted in Fleeces & Wool, Sheep, What's New | 1 Comment »

Winter Reflections

Friday, December 24th, 2010

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It has been two years since we have been able to enjoy the early winter season without unexpected encumbrances. At this time last year about all I could do was to sit quietly and look out at the landscape while my right foot remained encased in a large boot, whose sole purpose was to aid in the recovery of a very severe sprain. Blessed by lots of help toward a good recovery I am no longer so constrained! Winter has us in its grasp, but we have no need to complain. To date we have experienced two major snow storms, the first of which was a significant blizzard. We missed the worst of that storm; all of our buildings are intact (unlike a number of barns in western Wisconsin that succumbed to the combined weight of snow and wind and which result in the loss of life to both farmers and livestock). The sheep remained dry and warm in the barn. With plenty of good hay to eat they did just fine. In the midst of the storm our crazy chickens (the ram’s co-residents of the barn for the winter) decided it was time to begin laying, six weeks after they began their annual molt.

We sat out the two days of the blizzard and successfully managed to slog our way to and from the barn. Once the winds subsided we could dig our way out to the road. The following morning dawned still, quiet and cold. We were blessed with a lovely hoarfrost: Mother Nature’s award for being able to survive her sometimes evil temperaments. Below is the scene that greeted us that morning looking out to the dunes to the east.

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We have had more snow since the blizzard. At least it has managed to soften the rough edges that the intermediate week left on the landscape. Yesterday we strapped on our snow shoes and trudged out to the back of the pastures in search of a Christmas tree. This year we selected a good sized Balsam fir growing between the pasture #3 and the large hay field. The area from which it came is a narrow patch of rough, rocky ground of poor fertility. It tends to be an area of deciduous hardwoods, but of late the firs and cedars are moving in. They are creating a more significant windbreak between the two fields. The result, in late spring, is an area of #3 sheltered from all but east winds. It is thus a spot that the Black Flies love and hence make life miserable for the sheep if they must graze there. When I have the chance I try to open up the woods for some air flow. Our Christmas tree was double as tall as we could use, but the space created by its absence should help let some breeze through. The top of the tree is now in the house awaiting decoration; the bottom half is temporary winter shelter for the birds near one of our feeders.

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The sheep await their Christmas apples this evening. It is a treat they eagerly anticipate, that we have on good authority. Pussa accompanies us to the barn for morning chores, checks to make sure all is in order and then returns to the house with us when we are done. She will sleep through the day awaiting the arrival of Christmas Eve. So, to family and friends, wherever the season may find you, we wish to send our Christmas greetings. As always we dream of a more peaceful world for the future.

And to family and friends i kære Danmark, vi ønkser glædelig jul og godt nyt år!

Posted in Farm, What's New | 2 Comments »

Breeding News

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

Once again the old shepherd guy has left the computer unattended. Consequently, we (i.e. Queso and I, Nanoo Nanoo) figured that we better get everyone up to date on the real goings on at the farm before the old guy finds out what we are up to.

In many ways fall has come early to the farm. Most of the deciduous trees turned to their fall colors ahead of schedule and have, by now, already dropped their leaves. From what we can see from the barn, there are still a few nice looking sugar maples and a couple of aspen. Nearly everything else is bare.

last-maple As yet it has not gotten too cold and therefore we have had no frozen water buckets and water lines to have the grumpy shepherd to worry over. Yet, despite all of the confusing weather we sheep still know it is fall. The rams get very testy with each other and when they do, they also get such a masculine odor. The shepherd and the nice lady think the rams stink, but what do they know? At least the two of them recognize that it is breeding season. As a result they have let the younger ewes join the rams in breeding groups scattered around the farm. It will be a couple more weeks before everyone is back together in the barn in the evenings.

Each year the shepherds decided who should be retired. This is now my second fall without being in a breeding group. I kind of miss not having a lamb to care for in the spring, but then it is also a lot of work. There are now quite a few of us on retirement in the barn during breeding. So we are having a grand old time being cared for in comfort. We also have this year’s 13 lambs with us. That keeps us young in outlook, even if we do not do some of the goofy things which lambs tend to do.

There are five breeding groups out on pasture. We have a pretty good idea of what is going on out there even without the shepherds telling us. Each group is close enough to the next that nearly all of them can pass along any news, which eventually makes it back to the barn. Rhett and his girls are closest to us. They get the best of everything: 1) the most handsome and sophisticated of the rams, 2) grazing on the lush pasture next to the road during the day, and 3) they get to come back into the newer wing of the barn overnight. The shepherd guy worries if they were out overnight so close to the road. Every evening Rhett and the girls bring us the latest news.

Next to Rhett’s group is Vermicelli and his goofy bunch of moorit girls. They are in pasture #4 (the place we know as the Rock Garden). We can converse with them in loud voices as they are still rather close. Unfortunately for them, they are in the pasture which always has the smallest amount of grass. The bearded guy has already taken them some baled hay as compensation.

Ukiah's group, with Stud Muffin's in the distance

Next in line is Ukiah. He is in the first and oldest pasture. Currently they are near the south end, but are slowly working their way north. It is always a nice pasture: lots to eat and it contains the apple trees! Usually during breeding there are lots of wind-fall apples out there. But, the word is that most of them fell so early that the deer, raccoons and porcupines have already cleaned them up. There is always one tree that ripens very late. Ukiah’s group is hoping that they get there soon. It is difficult to get any fire lit under the old shepherd; he keeps telling them that they need to finish grazing where they are before he will move them.

Beyond Ukiah’s group you will find Stud Muffin and his gals. They are in the second pasture; we call it Queen Anne’s Pasture because it always has so many Queen Anne’s Lace plants. Stud Muffin’s is about as far away as any of the groups. There are no sheep in that lush third pasture to the south. The shepherd guy fusses about it being too close to the cedar swamp where all the coyotes hang out.

Ulmer and his gals

The final group of ewes is with Ulmer. They are up on the high ground where the cherry orchard used to be. It is really good pasture up there, but it can get a bit unpleasant if the wind picks up and it is cold, since it is completely out in the open. We hear rumors that the grumpy old shepherd decided to put Ulmer in that pasture this year because the ground is smooth up there and it is more difficult to get your legs tangled up on a big rock. You have to realize that it was Ulmer who wacked the old shepherd last year during breeding. He still remembers that, I can guarantee!

Ulmer and the girls in "The Orchard"

So there they are, all the breeding groups. After nine days more than 60% of the girls have been marked by the crayons the rams wear. That should be a good sign as it hopefully means they are now bred. Now we just hope that the rest of them get the job done before the weather turns cold! We figured out that the Gallery is already closed for the year and that the Bed and Breakfast must also be closing soon. We had our last visit from all the nice visitors a couple of days ago and now there apparently are not going to be any more for a while. The nice lady was telling Queso that she was about to leave for SOAR, which stands for Spin Off Autumn Retreat. She hopes to learn a bunch of new things that she can do with our wool. She should have fun. She also hopes to meet up with a bunch of people who buy our fleeces each year. Queso asked her to say “hello” from all of us. I just hope that we can put up with the old grumpy guy for over a week. We will try to humor him, but who knows….

Posted in Farm, Fleeces & Wool, Sheep, What's New | 1 Comment »

Turning the Corner into Autumn

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

It hardly seems that over a month has passed since we witnessed the great Monarch butterfly spectacle. Within a week of the peak of their assembly, they had virtually disappeared, aided, I am sure, by more northerly winds and spurred on by falling temperatures. Since their departure we have experienced a continuation of the unusually heavy and steady flow of rain across Wisconsin. The first week of October brought especially heavy amounts of moisture. Luckily we were spared the serious flooding that much of the central and western portions of the state experienced. Interestingly, I am still seeing a few Monarchs every day, nearly always heading south. I suspect they are the late hatched brood, many of whom were mere caterpillars when the big exodus occurred five weeks ago.

Early morning grazing

The rain has kept the pastures green. It has been a phenomenal year to be a grazier. We finally gave up trying to cut and bale hay. This was in part due to the fact that the barn was nearly full, and partly due to the fact that with shortening hours of day light and continued downpours of rain, it was evermore difficult to get the hay to dry sufficiently to be able to bale it. However, the sheep took over for us. Since the second full week of September they have been grazing what is normally our hay field. They have made a dent in the excess amount of hay, but they will never finish the entire field. As it is, they (and they shepherd) now have an extremely long hike to make it out to pasture every morning. In two more days they will be on the northern edge of the field, just across the road from our neighbor, Pat. That distance will just about exhaust our supply of portable electric fence and posts. In addition it will be at the very edge of our permanent water supply which, even with extra hoses, is a long way to pump drinking water for them.

The rams are ready!

Aside from all the physical limitations, the calendar is also catching up with the flock. Next week the younger ewes will get divided into smaller groups and will get to meet and spend the early fall with the ram of their dreams. Breeding season is nearly upon us. The rams are definitely ready as is evident both from their behavior and their smell. Exciting times are soon to be upon all of us!

Despite the advance of the fall season, we have yet to experience a truly hard frost. We had one night in early October in which the vegetable garden was effectively “put to bed” for the season. We did have a hint that frost was to come, so that the last of the tomatoes, peppers, melons and squash were harvested the afternoon before. The annual flowers that are out in the open have also been frosted out, but nearly everything growing near the buildings has, to date, been spared. marigolds-1 Besides harvesting the vegetables, we also picked nearly all the marigold blossoms and sorted them into three different shades. The dye pot and dyer have since been busy. The result has been a growing collection of lovely shades of dark to light yellow skeins of yarn. It is also artichoke season; every meal of artichokes also produces enough dye stuff for a skein of light green yarn.

Gnome canopies

Thanks to the nearly constant high levels of moisture it has also been a season of tremendous numbers of wild mushrooms. A few days ago we took time off to walk through the Logan Creek Sanctuary (which is just a mile or so away). The volume of mushrooms was only made insignificant by their diversity. It was literally impossible to take a few steps before coming across another variety more beautiful or bizarre than the next. After an hour in the woods we began to expect a group of gnomes to appear amongst the fungi.

Gnome territory

Sadly, they remained too allusive for us to see. We need to consult with the sheep since we know they have regular contact with the gnomes. Perhaps next trip into the woods….

Gnomes in hiding

Posted in Farm, Fiber Projects, Sheep, What's New | 2 Comments »

Nanoo Nanoo’s News

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

Hello everyone! It is Nanoo Nanoo, the voice of reason, sanity and sheep. It has been a long, long time since I logged into the online world. To be honest, it has been just too hot and too humid for me to spend time trying to hack into the old bearded guy’s computer, just so that I could write something for you of the non-ovine world. The flock knows what is going on, so there is no reason to keep them informed with stuff they already know. At least the weather is now finally more comfortable. So I am back with all the news that is of importance! I am sure that you may be wondering what we sheep have been up to recently. So let me see if I can give it a shot.

Besides the weather being hot and humid, it has also rained an extraordinary amount here this summer. It has meant that there has been plenty of fresh green pasture for all of us to graze. For that we are forever thankful, because we remember all too well what a hot dry summer can do to our pastures. When that happens, not only does that mean that the old shepherd guy has to feed us baled hay in big feeders out on the pastures, but it means that the bearded guy can get exceedingly grumpy (not to mention depressed). With all the green grass he, at least, has been a lot easier to deal with. Every so often we do hear him grousing about how hard it has been to bale hay, but that seems to be as far as his complaints have been traveling.

heading-for-pasture

Here is a picture of us heading out to pasture in the early morning. You may notice a few black specks on the picture. Queso assures me that it is not dirt on the lens, but rather some of the multitude of barn swallows that share home with us each summer. They are always very excited when we go out in the morning since we always stir-up lots of bugs for them for their breakfast. The last of their second broods of young are just about all fledged. This nest, crammed full with six babies, took flight the morning after this picture was taken.

6-barnswallows

We were also quite excited because we had a flock of their Purple Martin cousins visit us for a few days a week or so ago. It would appear that they had finished raising their broods and were getting ready to move south. It is always nice to add their song to the morning chorus. We just wish they could have stayed around a bit longer!

From what we can gather the flock is pretty much at its over-wintering numbers (which amounts to about 130). We were sad to see a lot of our lambs depart, but at least most of them were headed to good new homes. Thirteen of the young ewes recently left for a place in southern Wisconsin and another eleven went all the way to western Montana. (In think that is a long ways off, but Queso and I have yet to figure it out. We do know it is not in the same direction as Denmark.) A couple of the older gals and a ram lamb, Zeus, also headed south to new homes.

Wendolyn waiting for company

The rest of us have kept busy entertaining and enlightening the humans who stay at the Bed and Breakfast. That can be exhausting. Just because they have finished their breakfasts, they think that we too should be finished with ours. They do not understand that sheep meals are a much more cultured experience, which needs to be drawn out and savored. But we try to put on a good show. It lets the nice lady show off our wool and heap us with praise. It also keeps the old bearded guy in good spirits. Lots of these folks end up taking pictures of all of us. We keep wishing that they might send us copies that we could share with the rest of you. We also try to avoid stepping on their toes, since we know that would not be good for public relations!

One of the other reasons I have not been online of late is that I have had to work at my job as editor of Baabaadoo Press. It seems that people who have been reading the old shepherd guy’s book have been letting him know that he had a bunch of typographical errors. So before he started blaming me for all of them, I figured that I had better give the book a “run through” again and make any necessary corrections. Hopefully I caught and corrected most of them. 320_8419887 I must admit that I was guilty of one boo-boo. I wrote about the “breaded” shepherd. But maybe that was intentional, on one of those days when we were thinking he might be better off breaded and fried. In any case, we got the corrections made. Hopefully Ruminations of a Grumpy Shepherd is now better reading for those sensitive to spelling and grammar. It is now safe to buy the book either soft-bound or hard-backed. So much for my “non-ovinish” plug!

Well there is green grass, clover and trefoil waiting for me so I must be off to pasture. It is, after all, lunch time!

Posted in Bed & Breakfast, Sheep, What's New | 4 Comments »

Ewe Turn