Amidst yet another winter storm, I pulled up to the barn this morning to find Cilantro with his snout buried in the snow right up to his eyeballs. For reasons I do not completely understand, sheep like to eat snow. Sometimes they do it because they're thirsty, but the boys had a 40 gallon bucket of clean water in the barn. Maybe they're thinking, "hey,there's grass down there somewhere. If I can just get rid of this cold white stuff . . ." Maybe its a sign of boredom. It's their little secret. While snowy, today feels balmy compared to
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Saturday's storm dumped another 14 inches of fluffy white stuff on Patten Hill, making Sunday morning's commute to Webs to teach my handspinning workshop rather interesting. After getting the pickup truck with the snow plow hung up in the driveway and a heart-stopping sideways slide down a slick, unsanded town road, I finally managed to make it to interstate 91, which was slushy but otherwise okay. Knee-deep snow for a llama is chest deep for sheep and goats, but this doesn't seem to bother them. Like little bulldozers, they plow right through to keep up with me and the hay
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The post-holiday reality of winter has set in. Over the last four weeks we've experienced nearly every known form of precipitation interspersed with bouts of mind-numbing single digit temperatures and hellish winds. Yesterday brought the second ice storm of the new year, followed the new year's second snowfall. Welcome 2009. The reserves of hay we stockpiled last August are shrinking at a brisk pace, as we've been feeding a little extra during extreme cold snaps. From the lack of hoof prints in the yard (and the piles of droppings in the barn) I can tell the sheep are not venturing
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Wishing you health, love and laughter in the new year! Barb
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First off, thank you everyone for your words of concern and encouragement. It means a lot to hear from friends during difficult times. The skies were clear and the landscape crystalline the day after the ice storm. Chain saws provided the soundtrack for morning chores as every one on Patten Hill cut their way through the tangle of limbs littering yards and driveways. A curtain of ice cloaked the woodland in lace as the temperatures remained below freezing. We looked around and took stock of the damage. The pic below shows one of the impassable farm access roads. And this
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Last week's troubles seem minor compared to what we've been dealing with since Friday morning when an ice storm struck New England. I went to bed Thursday evening to the sound of frozen precipitation pelting the roof and windows. A phone call from our security company alerted us to a power outage down at the farm, sometime after 12:30 am.  I woke before daylight to what sounded like artillery fire but was the sound of large trees snapping and falling, one after another. The house was running on generator, so I was able to make a strong pot of coffee
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We're having a bit of a bad streak, mechanically speaking, both at the farm and at home. It's bad enough that we've had a week that's included single digit temperatures, negative-digit wind chill factors, sleet, rain, ice – but what really frosts me is when things stop working the way they're suppose to when you most need them. I'll say more about that in a minute. First, let me show you what happens when you carry treats and a camera in the same pocket  . . . If sharp-eyed Cocoa spies my hand reaching into my coat pocket, she's right
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I know twelve sets of eyes are watching me when I turn on the light and look out my bedroom window each morning. My cormo guys spend summer and fall grazing the field behind my house at the top of Patten hill. This arrangement maintains a safe distance between the rams and ladies down at the farm. It also saves Mike a lot of time on the rotary mower. All but two in the group are wethers, which makes them fairly companionable and easy going. We enjoy their company all summer long, just steps from the back door. They keep
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As I zipped around doing evening barn chores yesterday, I thought about my many reasons to be grateful. I am blessed with health and  wonderfully supportive family and friends. This year my family (who are rather spread out geographically) decided we would all do our own thing for Thanksgiving. Although I really miss seeing everyone, I am glad no one has a long drive, no one has to deal with airport agony and that we can all have a restful day.  I am thankful that I live on this beautiful patch of planet and that my life is graced with
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Wednesday morning Holly rounded up the lambs and ewes and grabbed the buckets of clean sheep coats. The gang is really putting on wool at this time of year and we had been noticing quite a few jackets with snug fits.  We're also transitioning now from pasture to hay feeding. There's still grass out there, but as the earth hardens with each frost it gets more and more difficult to set the stakes of our temporary electronet fencing into the ground. I've learned from past experience not to wait too long to take down the electronet. Mike and I once
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