This and That ... Finally ... :-)

I'm never sure why it happens, but sometimes ... I just don't think that my life is exciting enough to blog about. That is NOT true. My life is really exciting. And if you are here, then you want to hear about it. So ... it is catch-up time.

My 16 assorted mostly rare or heritage hens are liking the longer days. About is the collection from today. Not a bad start when you figure that one of the 16 is 6 years old and 3 are 4! My neighbours and family seem pleased that 'the girls' are back at work ... :-)
I am in the midst of painting my Grandpa Flat. I was going to leave it all stark white and modern looking. It looked great ... but it didn't make me want to nestle in and fall asleep on the couch. So ... I decided to paint it all.

Luminary Yellow above ...
... Blueberry Bud ... and Terra Cotta (picture to follow).
I don't get to see Anna as often since she moved to Belleville with her parents, so ... I was thrilled when Kate called and asked if they could stop in for a couple of hours today while they waited for a Doctor's appointment.
Pete let Anna play with his cell phone ... so Anna was in HEAVEN ... and busy enough that she didn't touch the wet paint ... :-)

Lambs start in about 23 days ... hehehe

Will Visits Belleville

On Sunday, Will, the most beautiful little boy in the world, came with his Mom and Dad to visit Anna at her new house. By the time Grandpa got his camera out, Anna had gone for a MUCH needed nap. She was a BUSY girl over the weekend what with moving out of Grandpa's house and then into her own new house.
I digress ... Is Will not a beautiful little boy? I love him to BITS!
Sydney was not sure about the move, or all of the people in this strange place which is now her home.
Will found a way to settle her and help her relax ... hehehe
Obviously Syd was happy once the effects of the beer kicked in, as she 'reclined' on her Dad, Tim.

It was a FUN day. These folks will be happy in their new house. But ... I know that Anna will miss her Grandpa being in her basement.

Hmmm ... There IS a rather nice second floor sun porch on the back of the house. I wonder how many sheep I could keep in their back yard if I just moved in THERE. I'll bet that Anna would like it ... hehehe.

Babysitting

Pete and I offered to babysit Anna last night so that Kate and Tim could have a quality evening out. They move again this coming weekend so they will get busy at their new house ... and won't have Grandpa living in their basement.

Anna LOVES phones and was thrilled when Pete let her play with his cell phone! She didn't make TOO many long distance calls, but seemed to want to talk to Nan and Grumps. Pete was glad that she didn't make THAT call ... ;-)
Anna joined us for a before dinner drink. Stongbow, with its can that clicks when you squeeze it was her beverage of choice from the recycling bin ... hehehe.
She waited patiently while Grandpa got the Taco ingredients ready. Of course, hers was the very mild (no spice) version.
Anna enjoyed her supper. She became impatient waiting for adults to 'spoon' her food to her ... so ... she took things into her own hands ... hehehe

When Anna moves into her new house next weekend ... she WILL find the basement MUCH less interesting ... ;-)

Hangin' With the Flock

A few days ago, my friend Pete took some pictures while we were out with the sheep. Here are just a few of them.

The ewe above has unusual markings that I have only seen very rarely. I call her marking ... 'Snowslet'. The marking does fade though, so I am thankful for this picture to show such a fine example of it ... hehehe
Bob and Doug spend a LOT of their day with the flock. They are my LGCs (Livestock Guardian Cats). Above is Doug, showing off for the camera.
And here he is, above and below, discussing US politics and the Canadian budget with a couple of his ewe friends.
And this LARGE mostly brown mass would be me ... made even bigger than usual by my winter clothing ... surrounded by my pet helpers.
And of course, the biggest helper would be Nora pictured below. She seems to see her main responsibility as finding ... and disposing of ... as many 'poopsicles' as she can come across! She is VERY good at this! During 'poopsicle' season she does NOT get to kiss me good night ... *YUCK*
You ARE still loved Nora ... :-)

Sylvia ... I'll miss you ... a lot

Great Plains Sylvia was born in 1999 ... in South Dakota. She was a Greyling daughter . She was registered as 'Fawn', and even though she was Ag, she truly was 'fawn'. Many/most of her lambs were modified colours.

In her life-time, she moved from South Dakota to Alberta, Canada for a while. She eventually settled here in Ontario, in 2005. Lots of change for any sheep, but she always settled in well.

Today she left me. Likely it was old age. But more likely it was something more. In her last days she had 'pinkness' in her urine. She had been slow for a few days ... then had trouble getting up and was moved into the feed room ... then couldn't stand. Throughout it all, she ate well ... drank lots of fluids ... chewed her cud ... baaaad at me every time she saw me ... enjoyed Bob and Doug sitting with her under the heat lamp ... and made me smile with her Sylvia-ness.

On my third sheep check today, for night feeding, she had slipped away. Interestingly, both of her daughters that I have retained in my flock were within a few feet of the feed room waiting for me. I know that they knew what had happened and wanted to be there with me. Some of my other older girls were there as well.

Sylvia will be missed. But ... she was loved and she knew it. She was loved by this shepherd ... and by Carol, who was her first shepherd.

Thank you Sylvia. I'll miss you.

New Ewes!

Above is WillowGarden Crush, out of Underhill Thelonius Monk and WillowGarden Cameroon (SheltrgPines Justinian X FirthofFifth Masala Chai). He went to spend the rest of the winter with my friends John and Lynn Lathagne, at Canterbury Farm. They had beautiful ewes ready and waiting for him!
While I was there, two ewes just sort of ended up in my truck! WillowGarden Sundae (above and below) was a tiny, newborn lamb when she left my farm with her dam in 2007. She is out of WillowGarden Lima and Woolly Susan.
Lima was a VERY dark grey katmoget who had an AWESOME fleece, but was scurred. Since I now understand about polled genetics, I am very sorry that I culled him because of those horns. They weren't 'bad horns' ... they were scurs. I'm hoping to use this ewe in a breeding program to reintroduced polled Shetlands into the Ontario flock. To me, this is an important aspect of breed conservation! Reintroducing polled genetics is as import as reintroducing modified colours was ... or katmoget pattern, or gulmoget pattern ... or spotted lines of Shetlands. It is part of conserving the breed.
The other ewe that ended up in my truck was Canterburye Bebe. Bebe is out of WillowGarden Basil and WillowGarden Sage. In her pedigree are several rams that carried polled genetics ... WillowGarden Jacob, WillowGarden Duke Ellington, SheltrgPines Kracken, Dailley Kismet, and Dailley Thalia.
Both ewes were put in with North Wind Holiday. He took a near immediate liking to Sundae!

Next year, both ewes will be in my 'polled' breeding group.