golden days are gone

Looks like our fall is over, it has been the mildest, prettiest  and longest I can remember. Cleaned out the shearing barn yesterday so the younger kids and does and lambs could get in out of the cold rain and frost. They have a barn on the hill pasture but refuse to sleep there, instead  they prefer to just hang outside the gate of the shearing barn waiting to be let in. So after a couple of months I gave in and opened the gate. Goats are stuborn. Extreme weather can take a toll on the young kids, older goats have more fat on them and can usually make it. Sometimes you have to be their parent and make them come in out of the weather.

Shenandoah and Virginia

There are two new guard dogs patrolling the pastures, Maremma pups, Shenandoah and Virginia. Only eight weeks old they are already checking out the perimeter. For some strange reason my sheep and goats are more afraid of a tiny dog than a large dog. Same goes for small children, if it's tiny they run, especially if it has on a hooded coat. It was a long trip to northern Virginia and home again, but these puppies came from working dogs imported from Italy. When looking for a good livestock guardian it is very important that they come from working dogs raised with sheep and goats, not a kennel or a pet. I switched from Great Pyrenees to Maremma because the Maremma is smaller, meaning less hip and leg problems as the dogs age. And the fact that these dogs have not been in this country long enough to be spoiled. These pups are required to live with the sheep and goats not on the back porch.

Plaid Friday

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. And I don't fall for black Friday. Don't ruin my holiday with shopping. If I did shop I would follow the smart folks that created Plaid Friday. Buying products made or grown locally will help keep jobs in your town, state or country. It may be a small business but it is somebody's business you are helping stay afloat. Imagine if we buy only products grown or produced in this country. They can be hard to find. But how many jobs could we grow or create. It sounds like a good idea to me, wonder why no one else thought of it. And while I'm on it, how can something like say a bale of cotton is put on a barge to China, ( a barge gets about one mile per 4 gallons of fuel), is made into a shirt, (with buttons that fall off when you take it out of the plastic sleeve) or a pair of pants, ( that have the pockets sewn shut), then gets put back on a barge and makes that many thousands of miles trip back to the USA, how can it sell for $9.99? You better buy 2 or 3 because once you wash it, it will never fit again.

Feels like Thanksgiving

This fall has been the best I can remember in a long while. The weather has been great and the trees did have a lot of color in spite of the drought. To top it off Evan got his first buck and doe providing us with some of the best deer meat ever. I just don't feel like you can have fall and Thanksgiving without fresh meat. I eat fresh vegetables and fruits from the garden all summer, but come fall I want fresh meat, and I prefer deer. You can't buy anything this good and nothing could be better for you.

A different view

It has never happened to me before, in all the years of dealing with bucks in rut. There are 2 different breeding herds, with space between them. I let the outer pasture herd into the barn to eat grain, then ran them back out to pasture, as their were 2 does in that herd in heat. Bucks will fight through fences and tear them down if they come face to face. I thought everything was okay, I went into the dominant buck's pasture. I herd a stampede coming, I saw him out the corner of my eye, but it was fast. He hit me with all he had, I managed to climb over the fence, as he was still eyeing me, I lay on the barn floor, there was no feeling in my right leg for about 30 minutes, then I got up and hobbled about the rest of the morning. After all the morning chores I went to the house and checked my leg. It is twice as big as my left leg, looks like a whole pork tenderloin is strapped to it. The good thing is he didn't hit full force on my knee or bone. The best thing to do is stay off it, which means on my back looking up at the ceiling, I can't take that. The buck will be featured in a middle eastern stew by Saturday.

Are you gonna kiss me or not

The bucks are in with the does and this yearling buck is trying to figure out what to do. Ruben, son of Ruby, has the best handle of any fleece on a buck that I have. He has a lot of hair, very consistant from head to toe, no kemp, very fine fleece, not dark, just a creamy light red. I gave him five does and maybe he will settle down and go to work. Scott the two year old buck in with the larger band of does, has gotten very aggressive and downright serious about his does. Seems all of Ruben's does are coming in heat first and Scott is having a hard time waiting on his girls. I hope the fences hold him for the next weeks.

I get by with a little help from my friends

Lately I have had a few friends to help out with farm chores, fiber processing, marketing, and buying fiber to keep the local fiber farm afloat.  And I appreciate it. Now I'm one of those independent sorts that finds it hard to accept any help, since most of the time I work alone and I just go ahead and do what needs done when it needs done. I can't wait until someone has time to help. Sheep and goats need to be dewormed regular, shorn when the wool is ready, fed on a schedule, barns need cleaned, and all the fiber needs washed, dyed, picked and carded. After all that is done it is time to start again.