That Darn Ram!!!

See this ram...his wide majestic horns...perfect curl...oh, and the symmetry!!! His name is Cully...I know kind of a bad name for a herd sire. (a cull animal is one that you basically take out of your breeding flock because they don't measure up for one reason or another). But, he came to us with that name...and since I don't like to change their names if they come to us with one already...well, he's stuck with Cully. But, it might have been a bad idea... he might be living up to his name. (Naw...I couldn't really cull him...look at that face...)

Well, I'm wondering...with a horn spread like that and that curl that could quite easily get hooked up in the cattle panel fencing... how does he manage to continually "squeeze through" a 6-inch opening, at most, in between the fences???

After several days of this, I finally figured out how he was getting out...and still can't believe he didn't get his horns hung up in the cattle panel!!

Boy, did he have fun with it though! It was getting to the point that I think he was getting out just to prove that he could. I would pass by the kitchen window and step back for a double take. And, there would be Mr. Cully almost posing, as if to say "what's wrong with this picture? I know you're a smart shepherd...come on, you can figure it out!" I would trudge out to the rams' pen with my wire and pliers and rewire and rewire...often scratching my head. I was beginning to think he was jumping over the fence.

Or, like the one morning when he decided not to wait patiently for his hay...I was in the barn grabbing his bale and when I looked up there he was at the barn door!! Lucky, for me the tips of his curling horns make great handles!!

And, Jacob tells the story of the day he was sent out to catch Cully, again. And, Cully had high-tailed it to the little catch pen in the barn and was waiting inside, as if to say, "nananana...I beat you!"

Well, we are hoping for some very fine lambs from Cully in the next couple of weeks...we just hope they don't get orneriness from their sire!

Good to Be Together

Sunday was a big day! Gabriella came for a short weekend! She's so beautiful! Oh, did I mention Anya & Zoltan came with her ;) Here's some pictures from Sunday

Milly and Tilly Go To Church

...and so did Hood & Holstein! Who are they? They're 4 of our new lambs! And, they went to church on Sunday. They were part of the sermon...titled BAAA! Yeah, they livened things up a little! (Not that your sermons need a lift, Pastor Jen... if you happen to be reading ;) )

The first picture is Jillian with Tilly & Milly, they were only a few days old then. They went to early service and Milly actually got to go "on stage". Tilly was just there for company. But, when they got home and reunited with their mama Tilly ran up to her and "hit the udder" really hard. Now this is a normal thing lambs do, they sort of "peck" at the udder to get the milk down I guess. Anyway, it made me wonder if this could be where the term "hit the bottle" comes from? And then it made me wonder if church is that stressful to sheep!?

You can see by the second picture just how ornery these two ram lambs are. They really needed to go to church! I call that picture "The Grass is Always Greener..." Hood is the lamb in the back with a black hood. Holstein is his little brother in front with 'holstein' spots. Very original names, don't you think? I named them myself :)

Rain, Rain, Go Away

... And come back in July and August! Let's just say, I'm not adapting to this farming thing at all! We're planning to plant our new fields for hay and pasture. We have the seed, but we just can't get out there to plant because it's too wet. I know if summer is going to be anything like the last two years, when I was praying for rain to keep the pastures nice and lush, then that's when I would like the rain, please. Brian says "wait 'til it comes to cutting and baling the hay, you'll be a basketcase!" It's all about timing! Ugghh... I like things cut and dry (no pun intended)...on this day we will cut the hay and then two days later we will bale it. This would be my idea of doing it! Not, watch the weather & then hope it cooperates! Farming the land seems a bit overrated to me... how has man done this for all of these years!

This reminds me of my newest passion... grass. It goes hand in hand with sheep, really. We'll be driving down the highway and I'll be admiring the grass growing in the median! "Hmmm... the sheep would love that grass!" Oh and the dandelions... oh, how they love dandelions... and they're good for them, too! This time of year I spend alot of time watching the grass grow... literally! My sheep do, too. I'll try and get a picture up of one of the sheep watching the grass grow from their drylot ...I know what they're dreaming about tonight!

Better yet... here's a sheep happy to be out on pasture:

Grandbaby pictures!

Everyone has been asking for pictures of the new grandbaby. So here She is...
Gabriella Elizabeth born April 15, 2009
8lbs and 12oz; 21 inches long

Here she is with Mommy, Anya...

And, Great Grandma Heuer...

and, with her new Aunt...

And, here's the new Grandma...


And, my favorite... Daddy's Girl already!

Spring flowers

Brian and I went back to the woods yesterday, and the wildflowers are blooming!

The Sweet William was everywhere, but we also found some Dutchmen's Britches and at least 4 others. We were looking for Red Trilium, but no luck. The Red Trilium is "our flower". A few years ago, when I was a freshman in high school I had to do a wildflower collection for biology class. And, Brian brought me a Red Trilium for my project! Isn't he sweet!

Well of course, I didn't have my camera with me yesterday, so I took some pictures with my cell phone. They're not the best but I had to share.

Who'd Of Thunk?

Well, once again, I find myself scratching my head and saying, "wow, how'd I get here?" I'm officially a blogger. Who'd of thunk it!?

Just like last week when I became a Grandma at the barely-grown-up age of 40! I don't even know what I want to be when I grow up! If someone would have told me at 23 years old that I would be a Grandma at 40... I'd of laughed 'til I peed my pants! Who'd of thunk!?

And, how about 2 years ago June when I became a "shepherd" or more accurately a "sheep-haver"! Who would have ever imagined that! I remember those 4H sheep we had when I was a kid...stupid sheep! I can't believe just last week I was crawling around on my knees in the muckiest, muddiest, poo-filled muck trying to help a ewe deliver her lamb! Really...who'd of thunk it?!

And, 7 years ago when I spent Christmas in Kazakhstan... now think back to that shy girl I was 20 some years ago! How did I become a world traveler and at such a scary time! Wow, who'd of thunk?!

And, what about homeschooling! I didn't know what homeschooling was and I certainly wasn't patient enough for that once I'd heard of it! My kids would be so proud to see their English teacher writing "who'd of thunk" all over the place! But, really...who would have ever imagined this is what my life would be like?