Sleep tight

Worried

I didn't sleep at all Tuesday night during the thunder storm and rain. I had turned Pennelope out that evening with the goats, on the backside of the barn, and with Kay, the Pyrenees. I could just imagine Kay barking at Pennelope, who would be trying to get in the barn and out of the storm, and all the goats running to the top of the hill, to escape the horse monster. The goats, and the dog, on that side of the pasture have never been pastured with a mini horse and usually won't go near the barn when a horse can be smelled. I ran to the barn early the next morning to find everyone sound asleep, even Kay.

Spring

I am enjoying this spring weather, not ready for summer. The gradual shift is much easier on the animals, and me, than the years where we go from winter to summer. We have had plenty of rain, and hopefully it won't stop completely like it did last May. Grass is growing in the pastures and the barn is very low on hay, again a gradual shift from hay to grass is good for the sheep's stomach, too rich grass can cause stomach upsets, scours and bloating. The bred ewes and does are starting to bag up, the new protein rich grass helps with that, and should start dropping lambs and kids the end of April. Still much to do to prepare before then. The lambing and kidding barn has to be scraped down, limed and fresh straw scattered on the floor before they can begin. They need a clean environment to come into a dirty world. Most will be born outside on the pasture, which is cleaned by the sun and rain, but some will be born in the barn, possibly during the night. You can never kill all the germs that grow in a barn, but the lime will help and the sheep and lambs will enjoy sleeping on the fresh straw.

Weekend

My favorite girl spent the weekend and we spent some time with our favorite girl horse, Pennelope. We tried picking her hooves Sunday afternoon, but she decided to set back on her rope and turned a flip, after we got her up and untied her, she was willing to stand there and let me pick and Magi brush her hooves. Pennelope has been very easy to train and work with, you might say wants to please. She did not start off living at such a nice home, but since she came here, life has been easy. A little too easy, as she is now on a diet. A very easy keeper and a small and short package, does not need lush grass, so we have to let her graze for a short time then bring her into the barn for the rest of the day. Life is good for the pony.

Perfect afternoon

A perfect afternoon yesterday gave way to a nasty morning today. It felt like a southwesterly wind was blowing, perfect for outside work. I had several dye pots going on the stove, I threw some silk scarves in the dye pot first, which left a lot of dye still to be absorbed. So I threw in some wool fleece, then a handful of handspun yarn that was on the table and not wet, still more dye, so I threw in some silk top. Many shades and fibers emerged that will make interesting roving for spinning or felting projects. But the fun part was enjoying the dye process. I never know what will come out of that dye pot, nothing is measured or repeated, even the same fleece from the same animal is different from shearing to shearing. Keeps life interesting.

Time

Where is all the time I used to have? I'm ready to chunk every gadget I have. I want my time back. All gadgets require upkeep, and they suck up all your time. It's part of the rat race. We have to work around the clock to buy gadgets that consume our time. What if we woke up one morning and they were all gone. I remember when I was young and gadgetless, I had plenty of time to dream about the gadgets I wanted. Now, even the grandkids have no time. It's time to do something about it.

Not a Zebra

This is Pennelope, the mini horses winter coat. You can see she was prepared for a cold winter, she was right, and she has not shedded all that hair just yet, and there is a reason, there will be more cold weather. Forget the ground hog, you can trust a horse that is raised outdoors. My Papa always forecasted the winter by looking at the coat of his horses. A horse that was used everyday for plowing or hauling. A horse that was well cared for, because she provided for the family. That groundhog has a hole to bury in, so how accurate can he be?

Change

The woods have changed from gray to many shades of pink, red, white and greens. A lovely sight.While I was waiting for the rain to let up, I watched a very sad documentary called earthlings.com. It is a shame how we treat animals and each other. The whole planet is a wreck. It's really about greed. One thing we can do to change things is to stop buying from big business and buy locally from small farms and humanely treated animals. Visit the small family farm that grows what you buy. You can tell if the animals are cared for, fed well and kept in a clean, natural environment. Are those sheep, goats, chickens, cows happy? That means proper care is given at shearing, processing and even death. All those things contribute to a top quality product. All the extra care and feeding the best grain and hay, good shelter and plenty of pasture so everyone has space to rest, cost more than factory farming, so the price of their product will be higher. You CAN you tell the difference in farm fresh and so can your body.