We had a nice long weekend! It was REALLY hot here, so we tried to take it easy around our homestead. Friday my dh was off, so we helped my Dad worm his sheep. Four hours later we headed off to a small Amish community not far from where we live. I was in search of a bread box, a wood cook stove, and anything else I found interesting. The only thing we ended up purchasing was a little sheep bib and blanket set for my cousin’s new baby girl. We did get to spend the day together, eat out, and had a really great time. We needed some time away together for sure. On our way home we stopped in at the County Fair. This weekend was the 4-H Fair, so we went to see the animals. Chickens, rabbits, sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were all in attendance. It was fun to look at the different breeds. We think we may have even located a Nubian breeder in our area. I fell in love with a little Nubian goat there, so my mom is hunting down the owners today. The price of lamb milk replacer just jumped $13 a bag here, so even if we can’t aquire a taste for goat’s milk we can use it to supplement bottle lambs. We are also trying to get our pastures under control without the use of a lot of chemicals, so a few goats will help with that problem also. Friday evening we even got to sit down and watch a movie, Fried Green Tomatoes.
Saturday morning was spent helping my dad vaccinate his lambs (are you seeing a pattern here?). Four hours later we went home to shower and cool off. We were too tired and it was too hot to do much around our farm by then. So, we ran to town real quick to buy honey from a little stand that sets up at the fair every year. They were out of the gallon containers, so I bought a small one to get me buy. In the afternoon our neighbors came down for a swim and invited us to dinner that evening. They made us a fabulous dinner, lamb chops and sweet corn on the grill and baked potatoes along with some veggie salads. It was really, really good! We have great neighbors.
Sunday we were up around 6:00 to get as much done as possible before it got too hot. My dh rehung all of our gates with new hinges so the problem of our sheep getting out into our front yard, herb garden, and garden would be resolved. Not sure my blue berrybush is going to recover from their last excursion out. Every potted plant was ripped out of it’s pot when we got home yesterday. I finally convinced my dh to let our sheep (and llama) into the backyard to graze instead of trying to keep up with the mowing back there. It is great grass and our pastures are getting a little bare due to lack of rain. He has also been trying to work with our blue heeler to be of some use when rounding up sheep. She’s a far cry from a natural, but hopefully with some training she will be of some help. As of right now, all she wants to do is give them kisses and lick their ears. Fuzzy didn’t mind the kisses!
She would also just kind of prefer they stay out of her way so she can play ball with her Dad.
We have a baby pool set up for the dogs to cool off in. Well, the sheep decided it was a stock tank and started drinking out of it. Ash ran over there as fast as she could and practically did a cannonball into it to get them to stop drinking all of her “pool water.” She panicked! What would she swim in if they drank it all?
We swam a little Sunday afternoon than retired indoors. I read (Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Techonology)and worked around the kitchen dehydrating some tomatoes and grapes while my dh watched tv. Do you see a confict of interest here? Ha! Ha!
Hope you all have a wonderful week!
A Simple Prairie Life 