Sheep Shearing

It has been hot the past couple weeks.  Lucky for the sheep, we had the shearer come out and remove their fleeces.  They were not thrilled about the whole process, but did well once it was their turn.  It is amazing how quick the sheep are sheared.  It takes me over and hour to shave my dog. 

Tiptoe waited paitently for her turn.  She is such a sweet little ewe.

 

 

Their fleeces were a bit stickier then they should have been.  There are several reasons for this.  We are hoping that next years shearing turns out a bit better.  A couple of the girls were not smooth once sheared, but the others looked great. 

 Waiting to be skirted and washed and spun....oh boy!  I am clueless.  So, into the bags the fleece go, until we can get to picking off all the dirt, grass, and yuck.  Poor little Tintin was very confused about his "mama" laying out as a wool rug.

 Eli will make him feel better and take him to his real mama.

 

 Sheep shearing is becoming a lost trade.  If your children are interested in picking up a skill that will earn them extra cash as they get older, check out sheep shearing.  I am interested in learning myself, especially if we can start shearing our own. Maybe one of my children will learn with me.

A Twelve Year Old

Noah turned 12 today!  This sweet boy has grown and matured much this past year.  We are proud of him and the wise choices he has made.  The greatest decision he made this year though, was to become a Christian.  We are blessed to have him as our "brother" and child. I love watching him grow into a young man.

Our bright, analytical, creative thinker had great plans for his birthday.  Sometimes, plans change. He had a great back-up.  Bike riding with his family and a buddy, picnic, and ice cream was perfect on this beautiful Saturday.

It is a tradition that each of the children choose whatever they want as their birthday treat.  Typically, they want Ma to make a cake or pie.  This year, Noah chose prepackaged cupcakes.  Maybe he was feeling deprived, since we never have these.  He was surprised and well pleased.  Unfortunately, it was too windy for candles.

A cherry seed spitting contest was great entertainment. Daddy won!  But Noah was a close second.

 Before heading to the bike paths, Daddy worked a couple hours getting bikes repaired and in working order.  Since moving out to the country, we have not gone on bike rides, which is unfortunate, since there are great trails in our county.  The little boys ride bikes all the time, but usually on flat tires.  It was a special treat for Samuel to get an upgrade.  He got Hannah's old bike, with a new paint job.  He certainly could not ride a "girlie" bike with flowers.  He can go FAST on this bike with bigger wheels and air in the tires. 

 Eli got a bike upgrade too!  He also started riding all by himself for the first time. 

If there is cake, then ice cream must go along.  The day ended with a trip to the ice cream festival.  A day spent relaxing and enjoying each other was well needed after the hard work these past weeks. 



Lap Goats

I think I have figured my favorite animal around here. The goats! Oh my, they are so sweet and curious! They are very much like dogs, following us around and crying when we leave them. These girls have been here about seven weeks. Alice, the younger is old enough to start weaning from the bottle. This seems harder than weaning a baby. She alerts us every morning and evening that she is ready for her bottle. She cries like a baby. I think we will decrease the amount she gets each day, then just put water in her bottle for a few days. Hopefully, this will keep her satisfied as she is gradually weaned. 

Alice, "Please Samuel, let me sit on your lap."

"Awww...love"

Eliza Jane getting some Hannah love.

Oh, but Alice must have some too. Here she comes.

There she falls.

"Make room for me!"

Poor Eliza is getting smashed.

Eliza gets Hannah all to herself.

Pure love and a little hat chewing.



Birds Birds Birds

Chickens are about the easiest animal to care for.  Throw them some food, make sure they have water and a safe place to sleep and tada.....EGGS!  Ok, there is the occassional coop cleaning, but even that is useful in the garden. 

This is our forth summer living the good ole' country life.  One piece of advice offered to us over and over was, "Take it slow".  So, we did.  We started with a couple rabbits and a few birds, and gradually grew from there.  This year, we have had an explosion of animals, from sheep to birds and in between. We will get to all that another time.  Until then, let me introduce you to the birds:

 

 

Meet the laying hens. They are two years old. Twenty special gals provide eggs and great entertainment.  If you want to know where to find the "chicks" head on over to the pine shrubs.  They'll be there dust-bathing and basking in the sun.

Next, head on over to the chicken coop and meet our next generation little layers.  Five Reds.  Notice how they perch on the box.  They are very agile and light.  On the other hand, the Cornish Crosses sit on the ground and eat, eat, eat.  These "frankenbirds" are bred for fast growing.  Our job is to provide them yummy food, lots of water and fresh air and grass.  They will live a happy short life here in the chicken coop. Then fill our freezer for a year of backyard bird.

These little fellows are only a few days apart.  The meat bird is bigger, fatter, does not have a lot of feathers on it's stomach and has huge feet.  The little layer perches, runs around and chases bugs. Both are neat birds, and fun to raise.

We must include the natives.  This little finch crashed into the barn window and knocked herself silly.  It took her awhile to get her bearings, but she was soon back to doing what little birds do.  Meanwhile, we got to check her out and examine her beautiful feathers. This time of year, fledglings flap around all over the yard. The children feel it is their important job to protect them from kitties and dogs.

Last, but not least, we have the goslings.  Four Ebdem goslings will be raised as Hannah's 4H project.  We drove to Ridgeway Hatchery in LaRue.  It was a neat experience going into the old building seeing boxes of hatchlings everywhere.  We listened to the peeps and got to peek into some of the boxes.  Before leaving, the lovely ladies offered each of the children candy and allowed them to peek at a box full of pheasants.  It was a long drive, but well worth the bit of happy learning. I highly recommend Rideway Hatchery for all your hatchery needs :) http://ridgwayhatchery.com/

Say "cheese" little gosling.

Totally unrelated, Garder snakes are a fun find in the spring.  Just please do not put them down in the house. Ignore the hospital band around Samuel's wrist.  It is from speech therapy.