Dog, dog, going to the dogs

It's time to start looking for a puppy. We want it to be warm enough that the puppy can start out sleeping in the barn. We want it to be an outside dog first and get to come in the house when it is cold outside. My Dad has been calling me every Friday for a few weeks with the puppy give-aways in the paper. We want a lab/something mix. Hopefully it will be good with sheep. Hopefully it won't chew everything in it's path (as Charlie did). We haven't actually gone to view any puppies yet because I know the kids will want to take away the first one that they pick up. Oh, I miss Charlie.

Exercise?

I think it is week one (again) of the exercise program. I know, the books all say that exercise should come first on your schedule, but life keeps happening! I have a friend who is training for various marathons, triathalons - he trains several hours every day. Obviously he is no longer working full time, the kids are out of the house, etc.

One day at a time. Off to treadmill and then weight lift.

Wool

I've been learning a lot about wool and the process of creating something from it after it's off the sheep. I've read about skirting a fleece, making a skirting table, washing and carding the wool and spinning it. Now to decide how much to invest in the various processes.

I talked to one of the ladies who owns a company called "The Woolly Girls." It was quite amazing that I found her. I couldn't find a listing in the telephone book so I called another shop in Langdon, ND. One of 'the girls' was shopping in that store at the time I called so we had a conversation about wool and processing.

I wish I had a lot more knowledge and a little more equipment (other than the raw wool). Mark isn't sure about this venture, but has offered to make a skirting table for me so that I can get some of the wool processed. I think I will send a fleece or two out for processing this year and then look at either buying coats for the sheep or making some coats to protect the wool. The wool obviously stays cleaner and needs less handling after shearing. I have read that it is possible to was the wool in the washing machine, but we just bought our machine last year and I'm not willing to give it up in case the experiment goes bad!

Stay tuned for updates!

Preparation Time

We are preparing for the sheep's arrival on Easter Sunday. It is supposed to be warm so transition day will be more pleasant than a day when snow is predicted. We need to set up the lambing pens as there are 15 "girls" scheduled to deliver. We also need to check the fence - there are some sagging areas. Serious consideration is being given to adding an electrified wire around the top of the current fence. Ginger, the pony, is also coming along for protection from coyotes. Since we don't have a dog, we have to take the threat of coyotes quite seriously. I need to check our stash of colustrum, antibiotics, stomach tube, rubber nipples, etc. I guess we should also get the scissors out as we aren't having the girls shorn before delivery. We have to clip wool tags from around the udder so the lambs get the right thing when they go to nurse! Mark needs to put the pump back in the outside well. We need to buy feed. Lots and lots to do.

Off-call

Ok, I'm officially "off-call" for the baby event. My friend had a 9 lb. 4 oz. baby girl yesterday. I remain a hospital girl even after being a part of the home birth. I arrived at their house about 3AM and the baby was born by 7AM. Mom had lots of back labor and was in agony for most of the four hours. Well, Mom and baby are doing well. The three older siblings are excited about their little sister. Congratulations.

Woody the Sheep

Here is the story of Woody, the sheep.

Every fall we cull the lambs, removing the male lambs. They "go away," probably to someone's freezer. Last fall Katelyn insisted that we had missed a male, but we could not find him so we believed we had all females. Winter came and went - the sheep were bred. Some were obviously great with child, but others had not "taken." One was a sheep that was very fleet of foot and an excellent jumper. She jumped like a deer, clearing every fence. To eliminate the problem, we put a dog collar on her, attached a piece of chain to the collar and attached a long piece of 2x4 wood to the chain. This provided enough of an obstacle that jumping was rather difficult. The sheep was then christened "Woody."

Lambing came and went. Woody did not have a lamb.

The sheep shearer came. The kids and I were on hand to assist with the process. Basically the procedure goes like this - all sheep are herded into the barn. The kids (Matthew and Katelyn) catch a ewe and drag her over the shearer. He then shears her like cutting a coat off, not like a boy's haircut. Following the shearing the fleece is gathered up and put into a bag (Alyssa's job). Katelyn also stood on hand to spray a disinfectant on the sheep where they get cut because the clippers are very sharp and there is usually a nick here and there.

We started with the first sheep. All went well. The second sheep caught was Woody. I removed her collar (with chain and wood) and turned her over to the shearer. The shearer starts on the underside (the belly) and works up to the neck. Well, the first cut was made and "OH NO, WOODY IS A BOY!" To quote Katelyn, "he shaved Woody's pee-er off!!!" Then, to add insult to injury, Katelyn began spraying disinfectant on the wounded area. Poor Woody. Grandpa was informed that Katelyn had, indeed, been correct about there being one male lamb left and how we had made this discovery.

Woody (the name not at all reflecting his male status, but rather the board around his neck) limped for about a week recovering from the trauma. He then proceeded to jump the fences with the board and chain. Perhaps showing us that no matter we would do, we couldn't keep him down! After about three weeks of this, Woody was sold to a neighbor of my Mom and Dad's. I guess he tastes quite good, but I just can't bring myself to accept the dinner invitation.

Taking care of business

Oh, am I a terrible blogger?! It's been two weeks since I've posted. Life has been super busy and the internet connection has been super slow - for some unexplained reason I've been logging in at 28.8. Don't even smile you broadband people. I've tried to get it here, but until then....

A happy belated birthday to my sister-in-law, Robin. Happy 11th birthday to Katelyn.

The snowstorm that was predicted seems to have dropped south and is hitting Minneapolis quite hard - sorry, but we are laughing here.

I am homebound today - Mark's little red Honda has a coolant line leaking somewhere. Hopefully it is an easy fix as he is determined that his little $100 car will make it to 200,000 miles. Only about 9,000 to go. Mark took my car to work so we are stuck at home - which is fine since the work here never seems to end.

The sheep are due to come to their spring/summer quarters on Easter. The temps should be high enough that the well that supplies their water will be thawed. I hate hauling 5 gallon buckets of water from the bathtub out to super thirsty sheep - especially when there are in excess of 20 sheep needing a drink.

In my next post I share with you the story of Woody the sheep. Many of you have heard the story before, but it always makes me smile.

Have a super weekend!

Water, water everywhere

With the warm weather and melting snow comes lots of cold, cold water. The kids have had to be warned to stay away from the culverts that funnel the water elsewhere. There is usually one tragic news story every year about a child who gets caught up in the water as it goes through the culvert and drowns. Horrible stories so I drill the dangers of the fast-flowing water for the children.

On-Call

I'm on-call for a birth this month. No, not for our sheep - that's April. I have a friend who chooses to have her babies at home with her family surrounding her. Well, this is baby #4 so there are three children who need someone to supervise them. This will be my second home birth - no, none of the first were mine. I'm a tried and true hospital girl. I was at the birth of friend's baby #3. I'm an epidural-loving girl, but respect the rights of others to make other choices. They are expecting a little girl. I'll let you know how it goes.

ND Expressions #2

The second expression to explore seems like a foreign language. OHFER. Pronounce it as written - ohfer. The useage is unique. An ohfer is generally used as an exclamation.

Examples: You did something unusually foolish. Your comment "ohfer stupid." A little girl has on a very attractive outfit - "ohfer cute." Someone has done a favor for you - "ohfer nice." There really are no end to the uses for this local expression.

Ohfer fun!

SPRING! Or a small taste

It was over 40 degrees today!!! Our snow disappears, yes! Don't worry though. I haven't put away the sleds, snowpants, mittens, winter coats, boots and all of the other fun stuff that comes with winter in ND. Quite frequently it appears that a centipede has shed it's shoes near our doorway. You see, there are shoes that are for "town", winter boots, mud/barn boots, play shoes and so much more. You would assume that living on the farm we would need less clothing, but sometimes more is necessary.

Coats are another good example. There are the church coats, town coats, barn coats, winter outside play coats fall coats and summer coats (you can always use a coat in ND - the evenings are quite cool).

OK, I've wandered once again. We had a sample of spring and are loving it. Tomorrow we hope to head to the Winter Show in Valley City.

What did you do this weekend?

We had a busy Sunday afternoon. The kids attended a birthday party at a bowling alley. The girls had never been bowling and it's been about 11 years since Matthew hit the lanes. Bowling alleys sure have changed since I was a regular bowler (WAY back when I was dating). There was no smoking, it was clean, there was a computer scoring - greatly appreciated since I never learned that skill, there was good lighting - gone were the dark, mysterious corners, there was no drinking - the bar was in a separate room. It was great.

After the bowling alley I shifted gears and went a baby shower for two ladies at church. Mark and the kids went over to some friends house to wait - for some reason they didn't want to come :). I thought it would be a low-key event. Wrong. We have some amazing hostesses in our church and the church basement was literally transformed. There were quite a few ladies present and the food was great. One of the women is having a home birth and I'm supposed to help with her kids at the birth. It will be the 2nd one I have attended. I'm a hospital girl, but am respectful of others wanting to be able to make other choices.

I finished the taxes. I had to do them on my Mom's computer as ours is 8 years old and won't support the tax preparation software. I think some of the return should go toward a new system. It's time.

Today I'm off to the dentist for a cleaning and to get a filling replaced. The kids love my dentist's office. The receptionist hands out handheld games (which we don't own) and the kids literally don't move for the entire time I'm in the chair.

That's all for now - time to hit the treadmill. So far so good!

Baa, baa black sheep, have you any wool?

I finally did it. I talked to a woman who lives north of us who spins, weaves, knits and does any number of things with fiber - not limited to wool. We had a great conversation and I learned a lot. I was frantically scribbling notes.

I learned that I have to skirt the fleeces after shearing. I might need to send the fleeces out to be cleaned, or do it myself. I also found that our sheep have a good kind of wool for spinners - it's tight and springy I guess.

I had no idea how much was involved in wool, but I am learning (thanks for the book John!). I am trying to find a magazine or really good book that would eliminate some of my foolish questions.

I am sure there is more to follow.