Your kind thoughts have been much appreciated here this week. Our home feels very quiet without Mishka. Even though she was 11 years old and had been sick for a while, she was her fun-loving, sometimes mellow, sometimes nutty self almost right up to the end. I can't tell you how much we miss her.

A wintery blast of weather has forced some quick re-arranging of the barn and paddock space. This was the scene in the back of my Highlander yesterday morning. Cinder, Cognac and Bailey hitched a ride back down to the big barns where the whole flock will be wintering. My car gets used for myriad hauling purposes: groceries, golden retrievers, rolls of electric fence and sometimes, sheep.Yes, we have a livestock trailer, but we decided it wasn't worth hooking it up to move three animals. Funny how mellow they were about it.

This week marks the end of sheep courtship. Our rams, Cinder, Chai, Parsley and Teaberry, are now sharing a pen in the dairy barn. Although initially not too happy to part with the ladies, the boys seem pleased to see each other, after some initial shoving and shouldering. Guy stuff. To be on the safe side we'll keep them confined to a smaller pen until we're sure they are all getting along with one another. If ornery rams are given too much room, they can do a lot of damage to each other's skulls. It will be interesting to see what happens when we bring down the rest of the boys this weekend.

Thanks again for keeping us in your thoughts. Hope all is warm in your neck of the woods.