Heat wave in January means short sleeve shirts and hard work!

With beautiful and sunny temperatures up in the 60's, K2 and I decided to take advantage of the winter dormant period to finally finish cleaning out this corner of the yard, which has been an impenetrable tick and snake infested jungle for years. I originally had K6, K7 and K8 start hacking into it with machetes back in August, then we had a community wood cut here in late October to cut up fallen trees. This time we wanted to complete the job and create a little park. The boys and I were joined by our two young church missionaries. We hacked, cut, snipped, sawed, raked, carried, hauled, dragged and burned tons of brush, branches, weeds, vines, canes, brambles, and tree trunks. Need to bring in a truck load of top soil after the next cold/wet spell, and then get grass seed started. Will look a lot different this Spring.

K2 has recently discovered the joys of using a chainsaw. He had to climb into this big old oak to cut out the giant vines which were 6 inches thick.

This oak was not previously visible from the road or the house due to the heavy growth of jungle. The top had broken off years ago, so we had some big logs to cut up. The tree is still alive and will provide plenty of shade for our little park. The sheep will probably spend more time here than I will.

Four new sheep arrive

Earlier in the week I found a rare craigslist ad for my breed of sheep - St Croix . I got them for a good price. K2 and I brought them home where the cats and dogs did a sniff check.

Having passed the new guy smell test, it was time to lure them out of the cool goat/sheep carrier (also found on craigslist for a good price). They wouldn't come out until we offered them some sweet grain.

This small group of a horned ram (very unusual for this breed) and three pregnant ewes is not as healthy and plump looking as my current ram Mutt and two ewes Snow White and Boo Boo. Don't think they got much TLC at their last home. Since they are new to our farm, and might have parasites or sickness, we will keep them in the 2 acre yard around the house and separate from other sheep and cows out in the pasture.

After a month or two of drinking our good pond water...

...and eating our good grass and hay (and a little sweet grain), combined with lots of exercise and fresh air, 

I have high hopes for them. Next year these three ewes and their soon-to-be-born daughters will be bred by Mutt and then we'll have lots of excellent sheep. Unfortunately, this little new guy ram (I had to buy him as part of a package deal) and any soon-to-be-born boys are headed for the freezer some day. We are currently working on names for these four. 

Big dog "Tex" arrives

Dandy (on left) is our 4 year old female English Shepherd. Her retired breeder GAVE us Tex, her 11 year old sire (father), on Tuesday! What an incredible gift and blessing. We drove an hour and a half to pick him up. He was worth the drive.

Tex (on left) is bigger than Dandy, but much more laid back. He easily adapted to all our other dogs, cats, cows and sheep (have not taken him into the chicken and goat paddock yet). He does not bark except at coyotes or other real threats. Rose (little Papillion on right) thinks she is a big dog and runs with Dandy. She also has been known to go after strangers (like Dandy)...she nipped the Internet installer's hand when he reached through to open our gate this week.

Besides the strong family resemblance, they both share a love of attention and having their ears scratched.

Its good to have two big dogs on the porch, in the yard, and in our lives again. We miss our old black Lab Lilly, so Tex is off to a good start at filling the hole.

Dandy likes to sample the sweet grain before we feed cows, goats and sheep.

You do not want to meet this tandem of teeth in the dark without one of the family nearby. Unless Dandy growls, you will never hear them coming.

Tex likes to fetch sticks and balls, and after watching for a few minutes, Dandy learned to play as well. Beautiful, big, friendly, loyal, smart, and protective...I think English Shepherds are the best all around family farm dog. I love them. The breeder still has Dandy's dam (mother) named Lilly, so we are hoping to get a pup or two out of her and Tex in the future. 

Time to refill my prescription

This little chocolate truffle pill is looking kind of lonely. I think I'll eat him and get a nice endomorphin(?) rush.

Too bad this size box of pills only lasts about three weeks during regular stress periods (includes sharing with good K boys).

Darn, K2 came along and ate the last one while I was typing!

Boys with bows, in the snow

It snowed a few inches last week, and for some reason it brought out the Robin Hood in K7 & K8. They grabbed their little bows and were soon having fun.

Another snow day!

I am now uploading photos to this blog from home! I don't have to wait until I drive to the big city. We had "Total Highspeed" wireless installed this afternoon. One picture only takes 39 seconds instead of over 20 minutes with Hell's Net satellite. Look for daily updates from now on:)

Want to see a picture of a slow rabbit?

During a cold rain storm two nights ago, our big dog must have gotten bored, or hungry for a midnight snack, because this is what we found on the front porch before turning the light off at bed time. Last week it was a squirrel.

Computer farmers (i.e addicts)

What do we do at the end of a long hard day of school and working on the farm? Go online for homework, news, games, research, and email before gathering for family scripture study and prayer, after which most of us read a little from our latest book.

Boys, chores, and sharp blades go well together.

K7 (wearing red) is in the lower left part of photo wielding an ax to cut out roots; K6 (wearing gray) is chopping thorny brambles out of ground with a hatchet; and K8 (wearing blue) is way up in the upper right hand corner of our 1 and 1/2 acre chicken & goat paddock swinging a machete to remove small saplings. I hope to have most of the wood and rocks out of this area by spring, so we can grow more grass than weeds...

if I can only get the hired help to stay focused and on task...

Look at what drifted over the farm...

A Bald Eagle! I'm in bird-watcher's heaven. I have had four eagle sightings in the past month - two while driving within the county, and two over the farm. One was while I was in my office working, and this big, magnificent creature glided slowly past my view out side my window, just above the tree tops. All I can say is Wow! I love it here. No, I did not take this photo as I was not lucky enough to have my camera handy...borrowed this pic from the internet, but it is pretty much exactly what I saw against a pale blue sky.

Stay tuned for next week's exciting update.

K2 is doing a few modifications and improvements inside the barn, so I'll have the latest exclusive pics next week. I am blogging only once a week when we make the 60 mile drive to the big city and I have access to free high speed wifi at the public library, Panera Bread shop, or Barnes and Noble book store.

The land of ice and snow!

Our boys and their cousins get occasional fun breaks a couple of times each week, usually from 3:00 to 4:30 when play ends and they head to their respective milking barns or other animal chores.

Oops! Who left my favorite brush in a bucket outside overnight?