Entering the Vortex

The near nation-wide "polar vortex" has hit Western New York, and we're ready (just in the nick of time!). Mike is out of town (Florida no less), but I really wanted to get the barn completely closed up for the predicted -30 to -40 degrees and 3 feet of snow over the next two days. All the animals fare the usual elements well with our open-door barn, but this is just too extreme.

So I put my father-in-law to work! Dave is a great farm hand, and I really appreciate him bundling up this afternoon and heading out to take care of sheep. I also really appreciate Jude (my mother-in-law) for staying warm inside with Kat so I could work!

He got the black plastic weather-proofing re-stretched, and then we hung some heavy tarps. I loaded the barn up with two full bales of hay so that tomorrow all I have to do is fill up the water buckets and get back in the house! A nice, fresh layer of straw went down, and the barn was ready.

However . . . . 

Some sheep aren't all that smart.

See the snow on their faces? See the open gate behind them? They simply refused to go inside. The goat just followed me back and forth, hence the distinct lack of snow.

Shetland sheep, in particular, are very difficult to direct. They don't herd. They follow. So I got their attention and walked in. However, the tarp was proving to be an insurmountable obstacle. 

Terrifying, isn't it?

This took forever, but they finally headed in.

And llamas are smarter. They'd been enjoying the barn the whole afternoon.

At this point, I tried to edge behind them to get to the gate and close it. Wasn't going to happen. They all turned, and ran out again. I finally left to go check the mail, then went through the pasture to the back of the barn. They were all in again, and I was able to close the gate from the outside.

Everyone was finally, permanently, in. Doesn't Starr (the llama to the left) look thrilled? "Who let the stupid sheep in?"

However, sweet little Violet had been munching away the whole time, happy as a piggy. Not all sheep are stupid.

Now that the barn is all snug and cozy, we're ready to wait out the storm. I think the older kids and I will watch "Day After Tomorrow" tonight. Seems appropriate!

Happy Holidays Catch-Up!

Merry Christmas (late!) and a Happy New Year! It seems I've skipped fall all together here on the blog. It was one heck of a season. I had 2 fiber festivals, a stint of being a single mom as Mike went to Australia on business (how jealous was I?!), a bedroom make-over (including new paint!), a great farm visit from some city kids, 5 field trips, 4 school holiday parties, a few trips to various farms in the area, a full week of slaughtering rams (we slaughtered and butchered all by ourselves--Mike and I were very proud farmers), a women's retreat over a weekend, 3 classes that I taught, 1 finalized pattern that I designed for a magazine (yay!), Thanksgiving and finally the flu . . . which turned into bronchitis . . . which created lingering asthma issues.

Which brings us to Christmas! My parents came into town from Texas and we had a great visit. I got a snazzy new camera, and I can't wait to show it off!

Check out the action shot of Rose eating her hay! I can't get over how crisp everything is.

Rose and Wyeth posed nicely for me to show off the beautiful sweater that they're currently growing for me. Won't their colors be splendid together in a colorwork sweater? ("Splendid"? Mike has Top Gear UK on right now while I type)

After feeding all the animals, Kat and I took a little walk in the woods. This was really a secret mission of mine to see if I could finally capture Kat on film (disk?) without blurs. It's a well-accepted fact in our family that there are no clean pictures of her. She never stops moving.

Mission accomplished! I caught her mid-air!!!

And then the mission was over and we headed home.

Looking forward to more camera fun!

Wyeth

Our last lamb of the season, Wyeth, is growing up to be quite the looker. I'm so sad that his paternity wasn't 100%, otherwise, he'd be my top pick for a herd sire. Love his color, love his frame, love his face. I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope that Waylon can produce a copy for next year!

EDIT: I just scrolled down and realized I've already bragged about Wyeth with this picture! Well, what can I say, I really, really like him :)

Teenagers . . . .

I have human teenagers, and believe me, they're no walk in the park, but the teenagers that are really frustrating me these days are of the wooly variety.

Sparkles, apparently, has had her fill of parenting despite the fact that her two teenage rams are still in desperate need of it. Hickory and Ash are continually jumping through the electric fence and taking jaunts around our yard. They really love the fallen apples in our side yard, but are not afraid to adventure all the way up to the front yard for some greener grass.

And they've started corrupting our two orphaned ewes, Violet and Lily. Poor girls, without a mother, did they ever stand a chance against these two good-looking guys?

The other moms, Peridot, June and EmmyLou have managed to keep tight reins on their children, so I'm not sure what's going on with Sparkles. Maybe it's because they're boys?

Hunter and Axel can quickly "herd" (aka chase with wreckless abandon) the lambs back into the fences, but because of these four, we've been pricing woven-wire fencing for all the fields. What a pain!

What a Summer!

It's been so busy . . . Matthew leaving for college, a wonderful trip to my parents' house in Texas, getting the shop filled with some much-needed inventory, and then off again to North Carolina to soak up some sun!

Thankfully, we have a nice, boring rest of August planned. I've been away from the blog for a while, so I'm going to ease back into the swing of things with this short post and a few farm pictures!

Hickory is standing guard as Sparkles, Buttercup, Peridot and Rose munch away.

Chicken, Wyeth, EmmyLou and Aspen tending the grass.

I think Wyeth is simply perfect!