Steps Backward, Steps Forward

Jul 18, 2024

Hello dear readers!

Welcome new folks! And a special shout out to my newest paid subscriber Jeanie M! I am grateful for your support!

I am so sorry for missing last week. Life around here got really busy, and time got away from me. Before I knew it, it was a whole new week.

Sadly, we lost two sweet, beautiful ewes over the weekend. Little Miss Zorro, and Miss Gwen. They both appear to have bloated, and we are wracking our brains here to figure out why. All the sheep are eating the exact same thing, pasture grass and a touch of hay. Nobody broke into the grain room in the barn and gorged themselves. The only thing that was different on Friday night is we put in a new mineral block. The same exact mineral block they get twice a month.

Everyone was fine when they went in Friday evening, and both were gone Saturday morning.

It seems to point at the mineral block as the culprit. The block was removed Saturday morning from their feeder. We use the blocks since they are easier to find locally. Loose, sheep specific, mineral is almost impossible to locate within a 100-mile radius. Everything is geared towards cows and horses.

I say sheep specific as sheep do not do well with a lot of copper in their system. They need some thru the year to keep their body functioning correctly. Copper does build up and become toxic to them over time if they eat cow or horse quantities in the minerals.

Miss Lucy had a set back also. She started to not use that back leg again, even though the abscess didn’t reappear. Our vet recommended another round of antibiotics and suspects it may be a bit in the bone now. After a few days of this, she is walking and eating better again. She appears to be gaining weight again also. My poor old gal, she just starting to catch a break. She loves her banana every morning. I sneak her pills into it, and she just chows it down. She is back to chasing me around the yard looking for cookie treats.

Last week also brought me a call from my hay supplier. She had bales ready to go and what did I need. I was able to get 20 bales. Each bale weights 1500 pounds. While I’m glad to get that much so far, it will not be enough to get us thru the winter. I’ll need to get an additional 10-15 to get thru. Prices went up again also. Ugh.

Fingers crossed I have a good show at the end of August to be able to get that much more hay. Also, fingers crossed that there will be that much hay left on the market at that time. Getting that close to fall usually means hay is very hard to find.

If you are so inclined to help me with this year’s hay purchase, I would be grateful. I have a go fund me still running from last year. Thank you for any and all of your help!

Save Our Sheep! Thank You!

Shout out to my son and his friend Steve for doing all the hauling for me. Steve has much more experience driving trailers around than I do. Not to mention I was working and not able to go to start with. There are still 4 bales left to pick up, and that might, hopefully, happen on Sunday.

My shoulders and back are killing me after driving the tractor to get the bales off the trailer. 71-year-old tractors don’t have power steering, and 1500 pounds hanging off the front end doesn’t swing well and makes me use muscles that don’t normally get that much of a workout.

I have 7 fleeces ready to go for the August show and hope to get another 3-5 done before then. I’m going thru my craft books to figure out which I can part with. I also fired up my sourdough so I will have starter ready for sale.

I figured out my sleeping arrangements and hope I came up with a good option. I’m using a single person tent in the bed of my pickup, with several camp cot pads and sleeping bag. Not exactly a 5 star hotel, but I think I will be comfortable enough for a few nights. It will give me enough room to stretch out and some privacy for dressing. Hoping I can get a space up against the curb, so I don’t have to bring a step stool to get into the bed of the truck! That tailgate is higher than my butt.

Laurette, who is graciously allowing me to share her booth space, and I are working out our dinner menus. I have a small portable gas grill and there will be steaks one night so far. The folks who run the show provide breakfast, and there will be food vendors there as well. I’m bring sandwich makings and other snacky stuff for myself. Plus, cookies, it’s always good to have those to barter (bribe?? LOL) people with!

All in all, I am looking forward to going. This is my vacation for the year, and I hope to make the most of it. This is not a feeling I’ve had for the past almost 3 years.

Check out these critters that crossed my game camera this past Saturday morning. Those are 3 bobcat kittens. Mom must have been out of the shot. They are small enough to still be with mom. Also means there is a male cat someplace in a 20-mile radius. I hope mom explains our agreement. They leave sheep my alone; I leave them alone.

I’ve been told that bobcats generally don’t go after sheep. My concern is that mom will use my sheep for the kits as a hunting lesson. I don’t have any lambs out there, thankfully. Miss Lucy is always by the house, so she’s not the slow one of the herd that can’t get away from them.

Some of the other critters I’m seeing are a few turkeys, a pretty deer doe, and a good sized spike buck deer. Both deer are of the mule deer variety.

I was messing around with my new open fire cooking area this week and laid out the fire irons and tripod to see how it would all fit. I’m still searching around for the remaining fire irons. I’m missing one corner post and the other 4 bar pieces. As it is, I could use it too cook with now. Coffee might be in order on Saturday morning.