My ewe flock doth grow.

Three days ago, I helped my neighbor Carolyn, round up her Icelandic flock, I wormed them,  and we sorted out the lambs, ram lambs and rams to one pen, ewe lambs to another pen. A long but fun day, We stood looking at the ewe lambs - beautiful Icelandic lambs. Carolyn said "I won't be keeping any ewe lambs, so pick out a couple!"   I picked out 'Ashley' dam raised twin to my botle lamb 'Annie'. Ashley is black with the grey gene.......here she is (fuzzy pic)

Ashley's bottle lamb sister Annie

The second was a spotted lamb. 'Bon-Bon' is a spotted ewe black lamb with an extensive white spot. Her body is covered in white fleece, with big black patches around her eyes.......here she is

Yesterday Carolyn had me stop by to take pictures of the ewe lambs, ram lambs and adult ewes for sale. I am to put on the ads and handle the sales.   One of Badger faced ewe lambs stood out- a Badger face should have dark legs and belly.... Prissy is a badgerface wuth a large white spot making her legs and belly white......here she is.

Homebred ewe lamb Lollipop

Homebred Gem

And of course the ever flashy LRO Bling Sisters  Sugar and Spice

My adult ewes are all wormed. Adult ewes and ewe lambs are in the barnyard cleaning up the summer's growth. Ah they get some hay and corn too. Breeding season will began toward the end of October. 'Checkers' will breed my whole flock.......next Spring beautiful spotted lambs everywhere...........I can't wait!

"Success is waking up in the morning, whoever you are, wherever you are, however old or young, and bounding out of bed because there's something out there you love to do, that you believe in, that you're good at — something that's bigger than you are, and you can hardly wait to get at it again today."

Till later,

Jerry

A Fun Day!

Checkers!

 A few days ago, after we got our hay hauled, I helped my neighbor Carolyn get ready to catch her Icelandic flock for worming and sorting. In the barnyard, we put up cattle panels where the old netting fence was down, I pounded in T posts where the fence could be stretched back up.
Yesterday we got most of the flock in the barnyard.  Later in the day we would round up the remaining 7 lambs.  Carolyn handed me the worming syringe and marking crayon, as I caught and wormed. The rams and the ram lambs went out a separate door to the ram pen. Of the 35 ewes, we sorted out some fine ewes to be sold. Carolyn will try to trim down to 15. We penned up the ewe lambs- all to be sold as breeding stock. It took most of the day but we had fun doing it. Frequent rests and ongoing conversation.  My payment for helping was to be the spotted ram lamb I got home last week. "Checkers" whose grandmother was the famous "Saddleback" ewe. Checker's sire and dam are both are the result of AI with imported semen from Iceland.  At the end of the day,Carolyn said pick out a couple ewe lambs to take home.  In the ewe lamb pen was my bottle lamb "Annie's" grey twin sister and a spotted ewe lamb.  So "Ashley" and bandit eyed "Bon-Bon" came home. Wow  fancy Spring ewe lambs.  Pictures in next post

Today is an official day of rest. Now I know what sheep shearers must feel like after a long day. But its good to work hard, have a good sweat.  In the words of my Grandma "Working hard never killed anyone, slowly rotting in a chair will!"   My sister and I were raised to work and keep busy, to this day I have to watch a DVD in sections........pause go do something else for a while, come back and watch some more. Only now at age 75 will my mother watch a movie from start to finish in one seating.........sometimes! She still does a lot. Huge garden and lawn.

May your day be bright, and your load light!
Jerry

Fall is in the Air!

My neighbors, Lloyd and Carolyn, and I joined forces and got our winter hay. We hired a strong 21 yr old to help us! Man can Aaron stack hay! Lloyd transported the out-of-the-field loaded racks.......we stacked. I got 2 racks of beautiful 3rd cutting alfalfa/grass mix hay. it smells wonderful, my whole barn smells good. I got a little more than I need for the winter so we stacked some in the garage, yup I have room for the old pickup.  Since I can't drive, so 'old blue' see little action, unless my daughter takes it to town for me....a Menards or Fleet Farm trip.
Carolyn got one rack and three more yesterday

I put up a white fence around the yard onto the sheep fence I alaways wanted one,

So the white fence, made the brown deck look out of place.....so I slowly painted it all white......now the while place looks good! The white deck shows of the white house trim ect

Jerry

Blue Ameraucana Project

Not the best picture. But you get to see that my Blue Golden roo is throwing some nice blue pullets  The red is a blue splash...she carries 2 genes for blue all her future chicks wil be blue! These are the 3rd generation of my project. I got the muffs, beards, sky blue egg  now for the plumage......and its here!

Flash2 is sire of the pullets, the Red splash is out of one of his pullet and Flash2, A bit of close breeding

I have a outcross Blue Wheaton roo to go back on the pullets next Spring!  I will be hatching Gen #4. Its exciting....ya gotta be a chicken lover to understand!
Jerry

Oh a Toby Keith Video that explains Why I am single now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeBGuLK5Pgc

babes to ewes!

Well they are 4-5 months old and look fantastic! Great additions to
my flock. Soon to come Black and White spotted Icelandic ram lamb!
From friends Lloyd and Carolyn. They gave me a house warming gift
Lil' Orphan Annie.   She's huge now! Polled Icelandic 4 months old
 Annie weaned herself from the bottle at 60 days There was more
important stuff to eat--Lamb Pellets!

The Bling Sisters  twins Sugar and Spice Finn/Shetalnd 4 months old
Both parents spotted!  From Gail

Huge Gem  massive and heavy soft fleece Shetland 5 months old
Parents are Butte and Nugget Both Gail  breeding

And lastly uncooperative Lolly wants to look straight at me, no broad side photos of her!   Flashy Lollipop Shetland 5 months old  from Butte and Poppy 

I am a big softy at heart  There is grass out there, but I think its lost
its feed value.......Ah a good excuse to put the flock on half ration of
hay. Trsut me they love the idea! I have had sheep for most of 15 years
and they snooker me early every fall!

Till next time  "May the wind always be at your back, the road rise up to
meet you, may the sun shine upon you and until we meet again may the Lord
hold you in the palm of his hand"
Jerry

Some searches take years!

I bought my 5 acres of rolling hills, oak and chokecherry trees eight years ago next month. The property has an approach and a flat acre of knee high deer corn. The corn got scraped off with a skid loader and stakes set where the buildings would set. It was my brain kid working with a vision, the house goes up on the rise, later I would find out the rise was an old rock pile.....my manufactured home is not on frost piers but anchored to a $7,000 engineered concrete slab!
The farmstead took shape. I planted perrenial flower beds, pine grove to the west, shrubs and flowers along the barn, fenced my 4 acre pasture slowly with steel T posts and hog panel....I hadn't the strength to roll out sheep netting and stretch it......and then spend years every Spring tightening the woven wire.....so I used hog panels, set up a few a day then rested, pulled panels through prickly ash/buck brush......up and down the slopes. My years of hard work.....for my weakned state. [my soon to be ex-wife never ventured out to help, my cousins came to help, she stayed inside.'nough said]   I have to say my place looks great.
Fletcher "Three Oaks" was inspired by my mom who was helping stake out the buildings, in the background of the farm stead stand 3 massive oaks.........one to the west, one north and one east. For 8 years I have been searching for nice shade tree to sit under..........neighbors Lloyd and Carolyn- they sold me the 5 acres-- came by a month ago, Carolyn said I found your shade tree..dumbfounded I said "where" That massive oak west of your house and flower garden. All you have to do is move back the sheep fence,  The light dawned in the dark abyss! How simple.   I moved 80 feet of sheep fence--hog pnaels and T posts back 16 ft.....now I have "Liberty Oak". I picked the rock, mowed the tall grass........lawn. I planted shrubs along the fence...yes far enough away so my ewes can't prune them for me. Lloyd with his loader moved the rocks from around Liberty so it would be safe for my grandkids to swing from the new tire swing.  The rocks gone left a dirt patch so another flower bed was planted,,,lilies and hydrangea bushes......adding more next Spring as I divide up some older clumps in the other bed.  I bought a swing set. [ no one to veto my ideas, so I do as I like!]
Now way back when I was 12, we went to 4-H at a neighbor's farm. They had a white board fence around their barn yard. I was impressed and said to myself someday I am going to have a white fence. Well pricing on the fancy PCV fences are beyond the grasp of this frugal German.  So I studied on it. 10 foot sections of two 6 inch wide boards on 2x4 posts 42" high....with a 4 ft break between sections.....hmmmm and attached to the existing fence.  My fence by Liberty Oak........looks great - yes my opinion and everyone that sees it. So I bought for lumber to build more fence from my house to the barn along the existing fence--9 sections. It takes me longer than most as limited vision and my strength/energy allow, but I got the time and perseverance....

Jerry
Project pictures

A great video!

God made a Farmer. Turn your speakers up , click on the link below and listen to a tribute to all of us.
http://www.farms.com/FarmsPages/ExpertsBio/tabid/293/Default.aspx?NewsId=39092&authorid=190

 For two years in a row, we have had rain all summer long so everything is still green!The ewes are enjoying August green pastures without the deer flies. My fall flock is 8 adult ewes and 5 ewe lambs........a Black and white spotted polled Icelandic ram lamb will arrive from next door.  From grand son of the Icelandic ewe "Saddleback"  He has a balck saddle, balck eye patches and a gorgeous fleece.
 The hens are laying eggs in abundance--I havr plenty of fresh eggs. This year's incubator hatching yielded 53 Ameraucana chicks--3rd generation of homebred blue egg layers with blue feathers!  Now that some chicks are well started and feathered out, I am saving the blue feathered pullets.  One pullet is gold barred with blue tail! The plainer chicks are going to Carolyn my neighbor.

On Saturday my neighbors Lloyd and Carolyn took me along to Garfield Days......in our small town 3 miles away. Parade and an all town garage sales! I love to go find that one thing you didn't know you needed!  I got a year old push mower {I do the trimming around the shrubs a lawn service mows the lawn], a Maple glider rocker and glider foot stool marked $15 I offered $10 and got it!  One garage sale just outside of town had ready-to-lay pullets.......well I had to have some!  I bought 6 Cinnamon Queens,
raised by 10-12 year old kids, the hens are very tame. 

Silkies.........every where, My 2 Splash blue hens hatched and raised 15 chicks. The chicks were sired by a visiting Partridge roo---so I have black, blue, buff and blue partridge----brown with blue thoughout. A fun group, The hens are setting again crammed in one nest with 12 eggs. Time will tell any hatch, these chicks will be by my Splash blue roo,,,so they will be all Splash. Silkies are very tame, and I keep the colors mixed as its a "see what colors will hatch" flock

My eye sight is too poor for me to have a driver's license since my surgery 8 years ago. In truth, my soon-to-be ex-wife wouldn't take me places.  Rarely she would take me to WalMart, stay in the car and then I had to rush and I don't see that well!  I have lived as a half way shut in---my fault. I should have told someone.  In the last 3 months I have busy, fishing for the first time in 17 years, we caught bass...casting from shore. They fight and jump out of the water! yYu'd think you had a whale on your line! Community plays, circus, fairs, several family picnics, this weekend going to a concert by Monroe Crossing. I play Bingo most Sundays, my cousin and his wife pick me up..and I have made some new friends.  Daughter Jess has taken me on sheep buying trips. I get rides to town on the county bus service--shop at Walmart as long as I want, then call for a ride home, when I'm ready. Small things I know but big to me. Life is good. Don't worry about me. I have a big circle of friends and family  I am truly the lucky one! Living alone and I like it!  ~Do what I want, when I want or I do nothing at all~  Freedom

Jerry