York Fair

As always, I worked the Orchard booth at the York County Fair last weekend. I had to miss the BFL show in WI but I still haven't mastered the art of being 2 places at 1 time try as I might.

As Molly's mother, part of my duty at the fair is to attend the free country music shows after my shift and get autographs and pictures of the performers for Molly who can't be there. Tim says if I had a facebook, I'd have to list yelling at small children in my wool booth AND stalking performers as a hobby. Here's my latest victim...David Nail. Doesn't the look on his face say, "why do I have to put my arm around this old chick?" I'm sure Molly will photoshop me out of the picture. I can't wait til Molly can stalk for herself.

When friends were listening to the Beatles, I was into country music. My best friend Madeline got bamboozled into going to NYC to see Hank Williams JR.....I think, back when they wore lightning bolt suits and jazzed up western wear. Madeline was beautiful, blond and wanted to be a Rockette. When the show started the look on her face resembled that of David Nail in the picture..... "how did I get into this?" She never went with me again, but I appreciated her sacrifice that one time. Every beautiful girl needs a dorky friend to keep her humble, right? Sorry, Maddy.

RAMS IN PLACE

All the ewes were sorted and placed with their breeding ram last week! We should have babies on the ground by late January from the activity in the pastures. I am holding several ewes for AI with the semen purchased from rams selected by Jared on his trip to the UK. Altho apprehensive, I am excited about doing this procedure for the first time. I was really happy with the condition of my flock coming in from summer on pasture. All but 2 looked great! Worm resistance in the adult flock is very good. Some of the lambs have had problems but they usually gain resistance by age 1. No ewe lambs will be bred this year and I mean it this time!

Sheep for Sale BFL and Shetland

Here are a few BFL rams for sale. The dark one OR22 Kyle is sired by R1/Blackmoor ram. Nicely pearled fleece.


Y19 is sired by a natural colored Titus ram with an F2 dam CH V2. Y19 has very dark pigment and a wide nose. His fleece is very dirty from our dry hot summer but it looks awesome when wet. $250. each

I can send better pictures if interested. Can't get them to pose for me!

Home Again

After getting Molly moved in I had some R&R in Salt Lake with sheep friends I hadn't seen in years. We had started sheeping at the same time in PA. when our kids were small. They are from Brooklyn and I'm from NJ so farming and sheep were not something we knew much about. We laughed about lambing with open books on those cold nights in the barn and calling each other for HELP! Those poor sheep that survived our lack of skill will always be remembered with sympathy.

For 3 days we talked and laughed....lots. Chuck took us on a beautiful drive through the Wasatch on a road some would consider a goat path. It was so much fun that I could have stayed longer but wearing out my welcome was a concern. Beware tho.....I will be back!!! I'm thinking adoption maybe????

I returned home to a dead mouse hidden somewhere in the walls. (How can something so small smell so BIG?)and another dog!!!! She was in the road and when Tim stopped to get her to safety,she jumped in his truck. As luck would have it no one had advertized a lost dog and Tim's attached now so that makes 3 dogs.

My sheep were better than I left them thanks to Tim. Now, I have to get them all regrouped for breeding season. Still hot and dry with no grass in several pastures.

Tim Shepherds

My flock has been left in Tim's care while I enjoy the west. Something out here makes me feel comfortable but I miss my flock. Tim has decided that the Shetlands are "real sheep" while the Blues are divas. He calls the Shetlands wild but predictable. Ruben my yearling ram has already dotted Tim's legs with bruises from horns that curve to the perfect poking angle as he pushes his way in to eat. Gotta love him. That's his only fault. After feeding, the Shetlands dash out to pasture to get far away from the barn. The BFL lambs eat and then refuse to go out. As Tim chases they scatter in all directions but out. They want to linger and loaf in the cool barn for the morning. Tim finds their scattering behavior infuriating and wonders how I can love such a high strung breed. Easy......they are my beautiful flock while the Shetlands are comical and low maintenance.

Tim has managed to mow pasture weeds and clean the barnyard for me. I will return to a farm looking much better than the one I left. Thank you,Tim!

Molly storage locker is empty! All her possessions are again in a third floor bedroom. How many times have I told her I will not help her move again.....especially if she can't get ground floor. I'm too old for this!

We found a Celtic Fling in a local town to attend tonight. Looking forward to seeing how western Scots party. Hope they have lamb since the mountains around us have plenty of sheep.

The Cool Mountain Air....We're here

Arrived in Utah last evening. Woke up to a magnificent mountain morning. Like some people love the ocean, I love the mountains. The smell in the air invigorates me. Eastern humidity is forgotten and my air has lost its curl. I should have jogged my fat butt to this cafe instead, I drove the Yaris, blinded by the national collection of bugs on the windshield. We tried to scrub them off in Wyoming but only made visibility worse. At least we didn't collect an antelope.

Our 2100 mile trip was wonderful. First day...900 miles to Hannibal,MO. We had a great audio book that made the miles timeless. Guess we should have been reading Huck Finn to ready us for Hannibal. Beautiful old river town full of history with amusing Mark Twain quotes in every window. In search of a coffee shop I wandered to the levee at 6:30 AM while Molly slept. Only finding an open cafe for coffee could have made the morning better. AAHH Sunrise on the Mississippi. The lighthouse reminded me of Tim and how we would drive extra miles anywhere we went to visit one. Lacking time to write my name on the whitewashed fence by Becky Thatcher's house, we were off to our next stop. North Platt NE. What did I find crossing the Missouri into Nebraska???? A Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center that I'd missed! It was one of the best too. Could have spent hours there doing all the interactive centers but as Robert Frost said, "miles to go before we sleep" or something close to that. Molly had a lot of things to say but not as quotable. Not many stops after that but beautiful plains to watch fly by. We are listening to PEACE LIKE A RIVER, which takes place on the plains of North Dakota. Great book!!!!

Day 3 begins with a stop in Cheyenne at the restored territorial prison , former home of Butch Cassidy. Since PEACE LIKE A River alludes to Butch frequently, this stop was imperative. As prisons go, this one was pretty homey. Molly and I visited the Montana Territorial prison years ago and it was eerie and creepy. Molly shivers at the mere mention of the place. The exhibits in Wyoming were educational and invited us to spend more time than we expected .Just as we got going again there was a roadside historic site......a tree growing out of a rock in the Laramie Range. We laughed but it turned out to be a geologic and historic point of interest. Still listening to our audio book filled with wonderful vocabulary and images, Wyoming was behind us in a flash. A few cowboys later were were crossing the Utah line .Wyoming was more interesting and fun than we imagined with just a few stops. Just think, Molly graduates in December and we get to do this whole trip again.

Another Road Trip

Molly returns to Utah for her LAST semester tomorrow. She is a a bit apprehensive to return since summer was so much fun. Of course this also means that we will be driving the car back home for good in December. We've decided to find a new route to make this trip as interesting as possible. Route 80 is the most direct but it deals with Chicago traffic, Iowa floods, and the dreaded stretch of southwestern Wyoming west of Rawlings. I know, you geography buffs are asking.....What about Nebraska? Yup it's there between Iowa and Wyoming. Molly and I both enjoy the Nebraska part of I80. No dread there. Driving home in May we came across I70, which was fantastic. This trip we need some variety with new quirky sights to visit. When I drove to Estes Park 2 years ago by myself, I took the old route 36 from Indianapolis all the way to Denver. It was slower than an interstate but I met some great people along the way and even managed to dodge a tornado. It's the old pony express trail. That could be a fun route, if I remember to pack my ruby slippers. We've decided to just head west tomorrow and let the road dictate the route.

Getting the flock ready to leave for a week has been a 3 day challenge. Getting away from 103 sheep isn't easy! In the last 3 days I have handled every one of them to make sure Tim, my substitute shepherd, doesn't have anybody die on his watch. With everyone wormed and given" a good to go", I just need to write feeding instructions.