Sheep Shuffle - 2010

My latest Sheep Shuffle Adventure starts Wednesday morning ... :-)

Prince Edward County ... to Thunder Bay for a drop off ... to Winnipeg for a drop off ... to Regina for a pick up ... back to Winnipeg for a drop off ... then home with a bunch of sheep for folks to pick up here at Willow Garden. Total driving time looks to be about 72 hours. My friend Doug is coming to be my co-driver and we are going to try to drive straight through ... sleep for a night ... then drive straight back. We'll see ... but Doug DID promise his wife that he'd be home for Sunday!

Meet My Newest Cows ... :-)

Above, is 12 year old Seven Oaks HoneyBun. She is a gem and will be staying ... :-)

This is HoneyBun's daughter, Amber Dawn Dazzle Dazzle. She will be going, along with Millie to live with Steve and Heidi.

Above is a HoneyBun granddaughter, Amber Dawn Ramona. She is staying here, and as soon as I get set up to milk ... she and I may have a date each morning and night for a while ... :-)

And finally, Ramona's calf, Sir Loin. Sir Loin will be staying here ... for a while ... and then visiting 'Uncle Ted' ... ;-)

They seem like a nice quiet group, happily chewing their cud in their new paddock ... :-)

New Boys!

Here are my new rams.

Above is the oldest Cormo boy ... from Jenny Setser. His name is Douglas.

This little guy is Bailley, just 10 weeks old and from Rachel Peck.

... and since I was almost driving right by her farm ... and so he'd have quarantine buddies ... I picked up DaVinci from Sara Scholtes.

Michigan Visit

This weekend, I am headed to Michigan for my annual Ram Import. I usually go at Michigan Fiber Festival time, but decided, for a variety of reasons, to make the trip earlier in the Summer.

I have purchased two registered Cormo rams ... one from Rachel Parker ... see Barry above ... and one from Jenny Setser (don't know his name) ... see below.
I am thankful to these two women for jumping through hoops to make this happen ... to Stephen Rouse, who once again became the 'host farm' so that I'd only need one import permit ... and to Char Epley for her time, and for convincing me what NOT to buy ... :-).

I couldn't do this from 10 hours away with out all of your help and support.

Birds Back Home ... from Disneyland

Well ... my 'birds' are back home. The roasters are sold and waiting for folks to come home from holidays. I'm going to keep a couple for myself, of course ... :-)
I still have lots of ducks left. They are about 4 to 5 pounds. The processing cost for the duck was over $13 per bird! There are lots available if anyone is interested. They average between $22 and $28 per bird.

Supper is coming ... :-)

So ... yesterday ... 25 meatbirds ... 13 ducks ... Pete and I ... headed for Picton and the bird's final visit to Disneyland.

The worst part was the 20 minute drive to Picton. We had lots of crates and the birds weren't crowded ( I WON'T do that) ... and they spent the night in air conditioning.

I felt good about 'the trip' ... but I also know that folks just visiting the County might have thought me one of the Beverly Hillbillies ... and they'd likely be right ... ;-)

Piper With Fleece

Some pictures of Piper in full fleece, taken in late February. It was a cloudy day. I lightened the top picture a lot, but not the bottom one.

WillowGarden Piper Laurie

I love this little girl. She is pretty tame, a yearling who was not bred, a smaller ewe due to genetics and not nutrition. She is a Dillon Based gulmoget without the side dusting and the wide chest strip.
I didn't notice until tonight that her rear end is weak. I expect that could be fixed by a correct ram, but I was disappointed.
In the picture above she has just feasted on a new pasture. It was also 34 degrees here today and this girl does NOT like the heat.
I thought that she had more britch than I like, but this looks reasonable for a yearling ... at least in my flock.

Her dam isHarmonyMarsh Ariel S28970. Her sire is V Creek Leo S26365.

I like this ewe a lot ... :-)

Life is good!

Cattle Staying

OK ... here is who I will have in my Dexter herd ...

1. Valean's Marjori ... a two year old ready to breed and my grand children love her, so she has to stay.
2. Petit Sabot Whiskers ... a late Fall 2009 short yearling.
3. Petit Sabot Winka ... another late Fall 2009 short yearling
4. Seven Oaks Honey Bun ... a 12 year old black cow out of some wonderful older genetics
5. Amber-Dawn Ramona ... a 5 year old black cow and a Honey Bun granddaughter ... she is coming with a 4 month old steer on her ... so she will still be in milk ... ;-)
6. Valean's Whoopi ... a black yearling out of a dun cow and a red bull

Pictures will follow someday ... :-).

I am pretty happy with the genetic diversity in this little herd ... and with the various ages. I expect that 6 or 7 cows may be my maximum ... so if I buy something ... then I'll need to sell something ... *sigh*.

Cattle Staying

On the top of the list of who is staying ... is Marjori. Marjori is a two year old ... and the hands down favourite of my grandchildren. So ... she stays for this round at least ... ;-)

Also ... Whiskers and Whinka who came from Quebec in April. There are pictures of them on my blog from back then.

I am also selling Millie to my dear friends Heidi and Steve ... along with a yearling half sister to Madge ... and a 5 year old cow named Razzle Dazzle.

Oh my, this sounds complicated.

In my next post I will tell you exactly who I am keeping ... but then ... there is this 19 year old cow about to calve ... and if it is a heifer ... I want it ... :-)

Cows Also Leaving

First up to leave on the truck with Amber is Chuck. Chuck is a great guy, and still destined for the freezer. Unfortunately, when he was banded, one testicle went back up inside and was missed. This means that he is sterile due to the body heat around that remaining testicle ... but that he acts like a bull. I will have a lot of younger heifers here who do not need to be hassled by him ... and the folks in Griffith will be able to keep him in an all 'boys' pen. This will be a good move for him.

Next to go is Madge. I like Madge, although she has a bit of an attitude. But, stupidly, I bred her to an un-registrable bull, so her calf cannot be registered. I'm too old to wait an extra year to get a registered calf out of her. The folks in Griffith want to milk, and Madge is a pretty milky Dexter.
The folks also wanted to buy Madge's daughter MARY (not Millie as this used to say as Millie is going to Heidi and Steve;-) ... and I said yes ... and I am a man who sticks by his word. It is hard to sell her though as I have watched her grow from an almost newborn ... into a magnificent young heifer. But ... I KNOW that she will have a good home.
So ... that is what is leaving. Next post, I'll tell you what is staying ... and coming ... :-)

Sad Heifer

Today, Amber came home. You may remember Amber. She is the beautiful polled Milking Shorthorn that came when I bought the old blue Milking Shorthorn nurse cow to feed T-Bone. She has been with her 'Mom' and 'brother' at my friend Doug's, but, she is headed to a new home in Griffith Ontario Tuesday evening ... so she needed to come home!
She takes my breath away, she is so beautiful! And I KNOW that she will be at about the best farm she could ever be at. So even as I sit here tonight and listen to her bawl for her 'family' ... I KNOW that she is headed for the best life she could ever have. I've tried to explain that to her all day. I'll try before bed to make her realize that ... LIFE IS GOOD!

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

I AM CANADIAN ... this has been around for a while, but it still makes me smile ... :-)

I Can't Resist Sharing This One!

In case you didn't know, you couldn't tell, or you haven't heard, if you're reading this right now on a computer, Bill, you're rich. If you have somewhere to go today, you're connected. And if there is anyone, anywhere, who for any reason knows where you are in this moment, you are loved.

Dang, you just keep acing time and space.

Big time,
The Universe