I woke up with a bit of a headache this morning. I'm thinking it's from the smokey smell that has permeated my house all night. There were some old rolls of hay out behind the barn that have needed to be gotten rid of (all moldy) and Greg finally got around to getting them burned yesterday.

The heat has backed off somewhat, dipping down to 68 on Tuesday...that was nice. But, it was back up to 90 again yesterday. It was fairly pleasant, though, as the humidity was low. And it cooled off fairly well overnight. I'd have probably slept quite nicely if it hadn't been for the choking smokey smell!

Today we are off to buy a freezer. We have been talking about buying one, and now that the apples are ready to be picked, we have decided to go for it! I told Greg there wasn't any point making applesauce if I had no freezer to keep it in!

That means my craft-closet-cleaning-out is gonna have to wait a little longer! I am really itching to get upstairs and get that all sorted out. I don't know where anything is. I had to teach VBS last week and I had a really tough time finding all my stuff. I still have boxes up there that have not been un-packed, so who knows what treasures I will find!

Yesterday the puppies got their baths and grooming (nail-clipping, ear-cleaning, etc.) They do so well. Milly did jump out of the tub once, but then she stayed in there with no problems after that. I was always so afraid to clip nails with other dogs we've had. I don't know why...but I do Milly and Sheba's and they do great. Another fear conquered!

I caught Zinnia yesterday to check her eyes. Very pale. I am perturbed. We have treated twice for parasites, just a week and a half ago with the powerful, jet-fuel stuff (Cydectin). I'm wondering if there is another reason for the lack of color. I hate to take more pellets to the vet for checking...it's not cheap. I also hate to give them more chemicals. I put ACV in their water yesterday and will get the rest of the stuff to make up a natural wormer today. Hopefully that will help. I want to get to the place where we can use the natural stuff all the time, and save the strong stuff for only when it's absolutely necessary.

I think I am finished now, with "catching up", although I may, from time-to-time, paste in some random adventures we have had previously on the farm.

I need to go and get the farrier to come out again. I noticed yesterday that Skipper and Gabby's hooves are looking a bit rough. And Gabby's have little "divots" in the front two hooves. I hope Gideon (Gideon Yoder, the Amishman who takes care of their hooves)can tell me what that is about.

Current events: More chickens and a visit to the vet.

Well, Monday was my birthday. Greg took me up to Des Moines and had lunch with his mom. We met her at Prairie Meadows where they had a very nice buffet. After that we stopped at Lowes. Greg bought fencing and I bought hand soap refills! Then on to Indianola to pick up two more Maran hens. We did stop at A&W for rootbeer! I said it was more like it was his birthday than mine...except for the rootbeer!
On our way home we went to look at a little Shetland pony to see if we wanted it for a pasture mate for Skipper. She had been a bit neglected with founder in one hoof. The rest of her hooves didn't look so hot, either. And she kept regurgitating water...the owner said it was pond water. The place had a bad smell, too. Not like a regular farm smell...just really yucky. We decided not to take her. I wanted to rescue her, but just am not ready to handle an animal with a lot of problems right now. I hope someone takes her in.
Yesterday we took the puppies to see the vet down in Trenton. They are finally old enough to have their rabies shots. I feel a lot better about letting them run around the property now that they've had that shot.
I also took some sheep poo along to have him check it for parasites. He said they had a very minor amount. I told him what I was using, but he suggested something else. So, we will be trying a new med. on them. It is a cattle pour-on that they have discovered works well as a sheep drench. I hope they'll take it as well as they did the other stuff.
Tomorrow I am to go to St. Joseph, MO for a weaver's guild meeting. It will be interesting to see what kinds of weaving people do. I am anxious to start learning!

Catching up on catching up: Sheba

I have recently realized that I forgot to write about Sheba! She is our second Old English Sheepdog puppy.
One morning Greg's mom called and said she had seen some Old English Sheepdog puppies for sale in the paper and they were half the price of what we had paid for Milly. I said that I wasn't interested in another dog right now, as I was just getting ready to start Milly's obedience training, and she was finally starting to get the idea of housebreaking. I didn't feel I could handle another puppy, and didn't want to "start over" yet with housebreaking.
Well, when I told Greg about it, he thought getting another puppy was a great idea. He especially liked the thought of not having to pay so much for one. I was skeptical about the "cheap" price. But, after much "discussion", I finally agreed to go and see them. That was my first mistake!
We drove to Des Moines on Memorial Day to see the pups. They were all white-headed and so cute! There was only one little girl left, so I gave into my heartstrings, and we bought her. We named her Sheba Coconut Cupcake di Cavalli.
I knew immediately she was going to be tough to housebresak. She had never been outside, and had been kept in a pen where she could go on carpet in her bedding area. She did not just go on the floor, she wanted to go ON something. A rug, a pillow, a blanket, anything that might be laying on the floor, she would walk over to it and go right on it. She would go in her kennel at night, even go into it in the day time just to "use it". Not only that, but Milly even reverted back to going in the house again for a little while. I was so frustrated. I don't know how many times I regretted giving in and buying Sheba.
Milly had just started sleeping through the night most of the time, too. But once we got Sheba, that was over. And Milly had never needed to go out more than once per night. Sheba wanted out every couple of hours! I was not a happy camper about this.
They drove me crazy with their constant "playing". It seemed more like fighting to me. They would tear through the house, bowling over anything that got in their way. They knocked the fan over so many times that they broke one of the blades off. Then, if Milly was chewing on something, Sheba would lay next to her and bark...that high-pitched puppy bark! It got on my last nerve! I couldn't walk anywhere in the house without the two of them "herding" me! I was sure I was going to break a leg! And forget about training Milly! Sheba would cause such a ruckus while I was trying to work with Milly...it was just too distracting for her. Oh, and Sheba turned out to be a little Houdini escape-artist and a dare-devil!
Well, things have gotten better. Sheba actually was housebroken quicker than Milly was. Not before Milly was, but she didn't take as long to get the idea. Milly will now "sit" on command MOST of the time. They both come when called. Sheba will sit on command sometimes (if she thinks she's getting a treat). We are working on "stay" with Milly, but she doesn't have it down yet. They'll both go to their kennel on command (for a treat, of course). Sheba doesn't like the kennel, so she sometimes needs a bit more coaxing, but Milly will go in, sometimes even when she decides on her own that it is bedtime!
They still fight some, but will settle down or go outside if I tell them to "knock it off". Their bark has gotten deeper, so it is not quite as annoying as it was. They are not chewing things up as much now, so I can trust them alone a bit more. At one point they were trying to eat our house! They did a good job eating away the wood around the bottom of the front porch posts! Milly still likes to peel the paint off and chew on that, though.
We have started letting them run free around the farm now, since they will come when called. But, only when we are out there with them. That seems to get out a bit more of their energy so they do not tussle in the house as much. And they are getting acquainted with the other farm animals. The sheep are very curious about them, and the chickens don't run for cover like they used to when the dogs got near their fence.
Milly still likes to dig holes and eat mud, so her face is always dirty. The top of poor little Sheba's head is always dirty, too, since Milly is forever putting her dirty face on Sheba's head!
I still think I would be a lot farther along with Milly's training if we hadn't got another dog yet. But Sheba is so sweet and so cute, and I have fallen in love with her. I wouldn't give her up now for anything. And we'll get there. Sooner or later they will both be trained...and then it will be time to get a male!

Current events: End of July

I can't believe it is almost August. And I will be 49 next week! I don't feel 49, that's for sure. At least not in my spirit.
This was an interesting week. Gabby, the donkey, went ballistic and attacked Zinnia, the sheep. I didn't see it, but Greg did. He came into the house all upset. He was out there working on his chicken pen when he saw Gabby biting Zinnia. He had her on the ground and had a mouthful of her wool in the rump area. He was also stomping her with his front feet. The other sheep were all cowering against the fence, except for Solomon who was hunched down in the tall grass. Greg tried calling Gabby, but he didn't listen. He finally got him off of her by yelling at him and chasing him away. He said it was pretty horrifying to see and, if he'd have had a gun with him, he would have shot Gabby. He was convinced we needed to get rid of him.
I got him calmed down and we decided to keep Gabby away from the sheep for awhile. I told him that normally docile animals don't act like that unless there is something wrong, and, unfortunately they can't tell us what is wrong. So, Gabby is now in solitary confinement, at least until we figure out what his issue is. He is braying a lot more than usual, but other than that, he seems fine.
The sheep were giving him a wide berth for the next day or so, not even getting close to the fence that he was on the other side of. I checked out Zinnia and she seemed fine. Now they are walking along the fence with no apparent fear, and everyone seems back to normal.
I learned today that it is "rutting season" for donkeys and even geldings are affected by it. My uncle said his two geldings also attacked his goats, so he had to isolate them as well. I am glad we won't have to get rid of Gabby.
I re-did the sheep's bedding area yesterday. I cleaned it up real good, down to the dirt. Next I put limestone down, then I filled in some ruts and low spots with sand. On top of that I spread wood chips. They really seem to like it. This morning my body feels every bit of 49 years old, though! Ha-ha!
Today Greg went out and found some wild blackberries growing on the property. We were wondering if we had any. I guess I will be making some more pies! I hope I'll have enough to freeze some, as well as make some jam.

Catching up: Solomon and his 4 wives!

The next addition to our farm were, FINALLY, the Icelandic sheep.
We had been to west Arkansas to visit them on their farm and to get a quick lesson on how to handle them. We were only planning to get three (a ram and 2 ewes) and they had been pre-selected via email. It was our plan to get the three, have them breed in the fall, and then add two more pregnant ewes in the spring. But Greg thought maybe we should get 3 ewes, so Marilyn had selected two nice ones for us to chose from.We spent a couple of hours studying her operation and asking questions (I had a notebook with a couple of pages of questions...and jotted notes almost continuoulsy throughout the visit). I payed for the three I had selected and told her I would get back to her about the rest.
On our way home we discussed getting both of the ones she had shown us, and then not getting two pregnant ones in the spring. We were going to pay her to deliver them, so this would save us a second delivery fee (still no stock trailer here yet), plus, pregnant ewes would cost more, so we would save the money by buying non-pregnant ewes and then letting Solomon take care of that for free!
It was decided, so I sent her a check for the other two and waited for them to be delivered.
They arrived on Monday, June 14th. Marilyn had a look around our place, determined we had a good set-up, and then we unloaded the sheep into the barn. She brought some hay from home, plus some of her own mineral mix.
Over the next couple of days, we weaned them off their minerals onto ours, off their hay onto ours, and then started introducing them to our pastures. They did great. They got aquainted with the donkey (he chased them just a bit at first, but then he settled down), and they did fine together.
When Greg had first seen the sheep, he didn't like them at all. He thought they were ugly, even evil-looking, and he didn't like their horns. But as soon as they arrived, he would just watch them...and the very first day they were here, he said he thought they were kind-of cool. Then, after a couple more days, he said they were really growing on him and he actually thought they were kind-of pretty. Now he talks about growing our flock, buying more ewes, having several different flocks...he's so funny! I knew he'd love them.

Current events: More chickens and drenching sheep

This week we added 3 Americauna hens and 3 French hens, called Marans.The Marans lay a dark chocolate-brown egg and the Americaunas lay green eggs. The lady also threw in a free Bantam rooster and a dozen eggs! They are laying for us slowly and I think this heat has a lot to do with their lack of production. We have had a couple of brown eggs and three green ones, as well as a few banties in the last couple of days. Not too bad, but hopefully they will do better when the temps drop a bit.
We also had to drench the sheep. Wow! That was an experience! Last week we had tried to check their eyes and were only able to look at two. Both were very pale, so we figured they all needed to be treated. I wrote the previous owner and asked her advice on what to use and how much.
Then, off to the farm store to find the worm meds and buy big syringes to dose them up. We figured out our system (since the last time didn't go so well) of getting them into the chute where we could work with them. We did a couple of trial runs (sans sheep), and thought we had it all worked out.
The next morning we went out at 6 AM, got all ready, keeping the sheep waiting to be let out into the pasture to graze for the day while we did. Then we started trying to get them into the chute, one at a time. Greg held them by the horns while I got the meds into their mouths. They actually, once caught and held, took the meds very well. It seemed like, once they were focused on what was being put into their mouths, they forgot about fighting being held by the horns! And they swallowed the stuff right down...no spitting it out. Away they would go, when let out of the chute, licking and smacking their lips! Unfortunately, we were only able to drench three of the five as two of them slipped through our fingers and got out the exit door before we could get it closed.
We decided to wait until their afternoon rest to try to get the other two. In the afternoon we went back out to try again with Cocoa and Zuma. Zuma was actually quite easy. But Cocoa slipped out the space between the boards at the bottom of the chute! Fortunately she was still inside the pen, so we blocked that gap, got her back in and got 'er done!
We figured out where our weak spots were and a few things not to do the next time!
It really did make me feel like now I am a REAL shepherdess! The next time is gonna be so much easier! At least next time we will have half an idea what we are doing! I think the sheep will be happier about it, too!

Catching up: Gabby

Right after we got Skipper, we started looking for a donkey to act as a guardian for the sheep we were soon to get. Greg found one on Craig's list that sounded perfect for us. I called about him and the lady and I chatted for quite some time. She seemed very excited to have her donkey come to a farm like ours. I told her I would talk to Greg and get back to her. Well, he thought she wanted too much for him, so I called and told her, and that was that. I told Greg he needed to find me another donkey!
A few days later, the phone rang and the lady with the donkey was on the other end of the line. She said she REALLY believed our farm was the right place for her donkey. She wondered what we would pay for him. I talked to Greg and we made her an offer, which she accepted. We made arrangements over the next few days and several conversations to pick Gabby up.
On June 9th, my friend, Kristin, and I took off for Kansas (just outside St. Joseph, MO) in her pick-up truck with the livestock rails in place. We arrived there around 9 in the morning and started the process of getting Gabby loaded onto the truck. Well, he wasn't having any of it! He had never loaded on a ramp before, and he had no intention of doing it that day either! We tried bribery, we tried pulling, we tried pushing, we tried pulling and pushing...nothing! We would get him half way up the ramp, then he would jump off the side. We even got him half-way into the truck and he backed out before he could be tied in.
I say "we", but I mostly stood off to the side and let the owner and my horse-expert friend, Kristin, do all the work. I would run for bits of hay, or try to stand to the side and keep him from jumping off, but they were the ones actually handling the donkey. Kristin had the best luck of any of us, getting him in there. I really think, left to her own devices, she could have got him in there quicker. But, as it was, it took aver two hous to get him loaded...we did FINALLY get him loaded. And boy was he mad!
But, once we got moving, he settled right down and was fine. We even stopped at McDonalds for a little lunch on the way home. We sure got a lot of interested looks!
When we got home, Greg helped Kristin un-load him. He came off the truck a whole lot easier than he went on!
Gabby is just the sweetest donkey ever. He is 5 years old, broke to ride, and we just love him. He had a bit of experience around goats when he was younger, but it had been a long time. At first he wanted to chase the sheep a bit, but now he is pretty good with them. They don't pay him much mind, but he doesn't like to be separated from them. And don't dare give them a treat without giving him one! He will let you know.
When new people come to see him, he gives them a big old smile, and shows them all his teeth! It is so funny to watch. It's the only time he does it. And, once he has met you, he never does it again.
His bray is not overly loud, but he will really carry on if Greg doesn't get outside in the morning quick enough!
Our little granddaughter, Abbygail, is the only one so far to get to sit on him. I can't wait for the older grandkids to get to ride him.