Monthly Archives February 2010

Cilantro’s Awesome Fleece

February 28, 2010 | 20 Comments

Cilantro is a handful. If you're a regular here, I'm not telling you anything you haven't heard before. Although he was wethered at an early age, he is just as combative as any ram. The bad boy of the big boys, we give him plenty of room. One of the things I like about shearing day is working closely with each animal. In the confines of the holding pen, there's no room for a ram to draw a bead on you. I enjoyed wrapping my arms around Cilantro's wooly head to extract him from the pen, and he didn't give
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Ready, Set, Shear!

February 27, 2010 | 9 Comments

I so look forward to shearing season, but two feet of snow two days before shearing nearly caused a major snafu this week. With shearing dates are booked months in advance, a shearer's dance card is pretty darn full at this time of year. If you're unprepared or if the sheep aren't dry, good luck trying to reschedule at the last minute. Tuesday night's storm dumped two feet of heavy, wet snow taking out the power lines for a day and half. On Wednesday, Mike and I melted pots snow over a burner and trucked it down to the flock.
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White Out

February 23, 2010 | 11 Comments

Holly took the hoggets for a stroll in the snow today – moving them to the big barn for their very big date with the shearer on Friday. Since fleeces need to be absolutely dry for shearing, we moved them as early as possible this morning to get them tucked into the most protected building before the storm really got cranking. Which it is right now. I can barely make out the barn from my window. It's suppose to storm all night and we could get as much as a foot here in the hills before it's over.
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Early Arrival

February 22, 2010 | 12 Comments

My game plan was to immerse myself in working on my book this weekend. And while I got quite a lot of that accomplished, a call from a neighbor Saturday morning put a different spin on the weekend. My neighbor Barbara (another Barbara; funny, there are three shepherds living here in the Patten, all Barbaras) had a newborn lamb in her kitchen when I arrived with my lamb emergency kit. Her eldest ewe surprised her with an early delivery of a seemingly healthy set of triplets on Friday night. Oddly enough, by Saturday morning one had died and another, a white
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Wild & Windy

February 19, 2010 | 4 Comments

The wind was fierce last night. When I arrived for evening chores I discovered a barn window had blown in and shattered on the floor. Glass everywhere, but not in the sheep pen. The barn makes all kinds of god-awful sounds on a windy night. Gusts force their way through every little chink and crevice. The sheep were spooked – probably the combo of the glass shattering and the constant thumps and rattles shaking the barn. It was quiet a bit before dawn, but then the wind picked up right where it left off for morning chores. Here are some
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Apologetic?

February 18, 2010 | 9 Comments

A quick follow up to yesterday's post. This morning Butch made amends for his fresh behavior earlier this week (much to Caitlyn's approval). Whatta sweet guy! copyright 2010. Barbara Parry. All rights reserved. Feel free to share a link to this site. Please do not take content or images from this site without explicit written permission. Thank you. photos by Michael Parry
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Peaceable Morning

February 17, 2010 | 7 Comments

It's been a week of cantankerous critters. On Monday Butch brandished his horns at me as I tugged the hay sled through the barn door. The Leicesters were sparring at dinner time. For the life of me I couldn't separate Deluth and Maia who were more intent on bashing the c*#! out of each other than eating. Several other ewes weighed in; others kept their distance. In the carriage barn, Cilantro took a cheap shot at Teaberry. Those two have been at each other off and on for days.Occasionally Parsley and Savory jump into the fray. It's hard to say
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Happy Hearts Day!!

February 14, 2010 | 16 Comments

Happy Hearts Day from your Valentines at Springdelle Farm! Llama Llove from: Crackerjack and Caitlyn. Hugs and kisses from: Butch & Gypsy Cocoa (with Io, Helios and Isis) "Be Mine" Issey: "je t'aime". Teaberry: "Hubba-hubba!"
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“Nor’easter”

February 11, 2010 | 8 Comments

Yesterday's much hyped nor'easter didn't amount to much After a mere dusting of 3 inches, I had the barn lots plowed out by mid morning. Late afternoon's sun reduced the snow to scattered patches. You won't catch me complaining about the lack of snow this winter. A sifting once a week freshens up the yards and then I can feed the sheep outdoors. With so many sheep in full fleece, there's not much elbow room at the feeders these days. Lengthening days means plenty of light for end-of-day chores. Here are some happy campers at dinner. Speaking of
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Daphne

February 9, 2010 | 25 Comments

Daphne, a little hung-over yesterday morning. In case you're wondering where I've been . . . It was a rough weekend. Although I'm miles behind in all departments, I dropped everything to deal with a sick dog. The good news: things are now looking up. Last week Daphne, my thirteen year old golden, suffered an extreme bout of intestinal trouble. By Saturday morning she was weak and standing on rubber legs. An expensive two-day stay at the Veterinary Emergency Hospital settled her tummy troubles. Concerned that her usual meds might create more gastric distress, they gave her a new drug for
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