Loose sheep!

[altivo]

Oh well, no Trail of History this year either looks like. Gary is wrapped up in a school assignment that has grown rather large and unwieldy. He did barn chores this morning but has been busy with this project ever since and shows no sign of nearing completion. I hope he doesn't stay up all night with it because that never works out well. Tomorrow afternoon some of the folks who are supplying data for him and who will inherit the finished maps and brochure are coming here for dinner to look at his draft version.

It's OK, though. The weather is pretty chilly and I certainly have plenty to keep busy with here myself.

While getting hay for Tess this morning, I walked across a folded tarp in the arena and a big orange cat came squirting out from under it. We've seen him around out there for a while now, and he seems to be considering taking over Ricky Too's place as chief mouse arrestor for the hay storage. Gary calls him Ricky Three because their coloration is so similar, but this one is younger and less battle scarred. He's also not as fat but definitely healthy looking.

This afternoon I saw a slate colored junco (also called a "snowbird") outside the dining room window. These little birds usually show up here only in winter and disappear shortly after the spring thaw. Many people swear that they fly in with the first snow, hence the nickname. So far I've only seen one, but often they will outnumber any other bird species here when the snow is on the ground.

Originally the forecast called for a low of 24F overnight (brrr!) but no snow. Now they've revised it upward to 30F. We're really well above 40F still, so I'm resisting the temptation to fire up the woodstove for purely psychological reasons. ;p

About 5:30 Gary looked out the window and said "There's a sheep in the horse paddock." I looked and said "No, there isn't." I was right, at least when I looked, but it turned out that the sheep were standing between their own fence and the paddock fence. Fortunately it was supper time anyway so they came running right into their pen in the barn when Gary rattled the sheep chow container. It was clear that they had pushed down one whole side of their fence and walked over it. My fault, I forgot to turn the zapper on this morning. The youngest ewe, Jeannie, is apparently coming into season, and one of the wethers who still thinks he's a ram (Dodge) was aggressively chasing her around. That's probably what started the fence collapse.

And that's the news from Fuzzy Bear Farm, where the sheep are noisy and the horses are nosy and the cats are all above average, each and every one...

Comments

[rustitobuck.livejournal.com]

I had to look up "wether" even though I had an idea. Ow.

In a lot of ways, glad I'm still a "ram" as it were.

Yeah, I get your last line too.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem to be ouchy for them, actually. (Which is good or I'd really be unable to keep sheep.) Male sheep become very aggressive toward each other at times and can do a lot of damage unless neutered. Another species that has been so domesticated, like the turkey, that they can't survive in the wild yet they aren't fully adapted to living in close quarters either.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

... Thanks for the update Altivo Overo Keillor. :p

[argos (from livejournal.com)]

*jingles keys*

I'm headed down to Wisted's Not-So-Super Market to pick up a few last minute things for dinner. Ya need anything?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

And that makes my initials "AOK". *considers a name change to make it official.*

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Of course the horses are nosey :D

Hmm a Ginger tom, that must be Agent 65b :)