Wagging Their Tails behind Them?

~"Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep and can't tell where to find them. Leave them alone and they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them." . "Do I look like Little Bo Peep to you? Goodness, such a fuss and ruckus about tails ? Who needs a tail anyway? I don't! " says Delilah.

~"Then up she took her little crook, determined to find them; She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed, for they'd left their tails behind them." Goth ( above ), ever proud of himself and knowing he is fully entitled to respect and admiration...says " I have a perfect tail! Short and covering a very important part of my anatomy. After all, who wants flies messing around in some very sensitive areas. They might lay eggs there and cause all sorts of distress that might distract me from pursuing my beloved ewes and ramming fences! I am perfectly pleased with my short tail!" ( he is looking a little pudgy here , I think) ~Here is a Jacob lamb with her tail still intact. There is a very tight rubber band on her tail, about 3 inches down from her spine, and it is cutting off circulation to the rest of her tail. It will wither and drop off. Sounds awful, but is necessary as far as I am concerned. " The tail in Jacobs is long, round and woolly reaching to the knees if un-docked.( you can see that this lamb's tail is even longer) Most people prefer to dock for the sake of cleanliness. Although Jacobs are fairly good at lifting their tails up, if they happen to get soiled--especially at lambing time or in the spring when the grass is lush and green-they can get heavy with dung tags. An owner would have to witness fly strike only once in their life to be convinced of the necessity of tail docking." Ingrid Painter JACOB SHEEP IN AMERICA

~" It happened one day, as Bo Peep did stray into a meadow hard by, there she espied their tails side by side, All hung on a tree to dry." Nursery Rhyme (above: lamb tails that have fallen off)

~Here is the posterior of Black Bart. He has a long tail. His tail has not been docked. The shearer needed to shear him to the end of his tail. Black Bart is an easy keeper and he says"My tail is quite beautiful, and I love the curls that grow out as my wool grows. Any cleanliness is your duty as a shepherdess to take care of. Just don't be expecting me to volunteer to stand still while you do that, or make it easy in any way for you to catch me!" You might have noticed I tend towards tail docking in my sheep. Like any other topic, this can be controversial and I have read up on this, and seen the sheep of people who feel strongly that a sheep should not have it's tail docked. I respect their right to do as they wish, but I will continue to dock the tails of my sheep because there are hot and awful summers when flies are pretty pesky and sheep have wool. Wool does not shed like hair on a dog's tail will. The woolly tails of sheep get woollier and manure clings like sticky tar to it. Flies LOVE this gunk. They spread the word and before you know it, you have a thriving fly community in a very unhappy sheep's tail! And that's my sheep tale about tails today. My sheep do have tails wagging behind them, but they are SMALL tails! Blessings: sheep, lambs, sunny spring days to watch lambs play

Storm Watch !

~Cedar Pond was peaceful and Christmas card pretty today.~

~BUT....the weather stations are sending out dire warnings and predictions of a monster storm.The sheep seem unconcerned.But the forecast is for sustained winds of 40 to 50 miles per hour with gusts of up to 80 miles per hour for our little region of the Pacific Northwest. ~Goth the Destroyer, with his cool mask, is only concerned he get his share of soda crackers. But I am very concerned. I am even a little fearful. Talk about Deja-vu, storm 2006, which I was NOT going to talk about anymore. These are the conditions that led up to our tarp covered and tree toppled demise 2 years ago, except that now there are ice laden trees to topple..... ~The ducks are so happy to run free from their pen in the morning. Snow and ice...well, they do fine even if they do skid on the ice covered pond.They do spend a lot of time sitting on their delicate feet to keep them warm and prevent frost bite. They are not worried, I keep them well fed and protected from predators. ~The call ducks are so pretty as they fly into the pond, or onto the ice. They often circle the house in flight and I feel so special when they fly beside me as I carry the bucket of food to their pen for the nightly feed and lock up. ~Thorin and Bombadil too, are not worried. They are competing with each other here for the soda cracker treats. They know they will get their alfalfa and they also have ........

~A fine shelter for goats.You can see Thorin peeking out from the upper story of the goat house and Bombadil is below, at the hay feeder.~

~The Labs are not concerned at all. They are the perfectly equipped for cold , wet weather. They are really concerned with who will get the tennis ball I am about to throw to them. The weather is of no concern. They know the dog food will be dished out in the morning as usual, and they will sleep by the wood stove in the evening. No worries or cares, except...who will get the tennis ball first ?

~Black Bart is not concerned about the weather. He has a fine wool coat to keep him warm. He too knows the alfalfa will be served up every day. He plays with the other young sheep in the crisp weather. ~

~This is my view to a dark day, but a pretty day outside. The wood stove is keeping us warm. The pantry and fridge are filled with good things to eat and drink. But we did cancel our family Christmas party and Hubby's special event because of the very, very bad road conditions and the family party tomorrow night would be in the midst of a raging wind storm that would have precious people going home through forests that will most likely be dropping trees on the roads and highways. Dodging trees on icy roads with power outages..no, a party can be re- scheduled , and so it will be. ~Poor Hubby is stuck trying to help me not be afraid of the remaining trees hanging over and around us. I have a book on tape, and batteries to listen to it when the power goes out. I am sure the power will go out. We always lose power in the storms. So, I might not be blogging for awhile because we will shut down our computer before the storm hits. ~"Praise the Lord from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind , fulfilling His word; Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars; Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged fowl; Kings of the earth and all peoples;" Psalm 148:7-11

Company's Coming, Listen up !

~~~Gather round all you critters . Important company is coming to visit with us for a few days. They are important because we love them, however, they are nice city people and there are just some things they will not appreciate...so listen up !~~~Sienna...you are our problem barker. The excessive barking must cease ! Their bedroom window is closest to you and the morning barking until you get fed is forbidden. You know you always get fed, but come on, the barking is annoying....please ? ~~~Black Bart, likewise. Just because you hear people stirring indoors does not mean you must begin baaing and bellowing...and had I known your cute little lamb body would house a baa that sounds like you have a permanent foghorn installed and sounding off anytime you think you might be hungry, why, I might have had second thoughts about bringing you home...well, I would still have brought you home, but I WOULD have thought a bit more about it. Anyway, just chill for a few days, please ? ~~~Vandal, you too can be considerate...you're fat enough and well fed enough. You won't starve and be overlooked if you choose to NOT baa loudly when Sienna hears Bart baa and bellow, because then Sienna knows Bart is baaing because he hears us, and it is her cue breakfast might be on the way....which gets the ducks quacking loudly, and in unison, which causes the chickens to squawk because they too are hungry, which causes the rest of the flock to baa, which causes the other dogs to bark.....oh my goodness, my poor , kind, city relatives. ~~~And Miss Marple, Aunt Sandi is allergic to you. So, do NOT single her out to follow, sit on her lap, lay on their bed...hey, don't narrow your eyes at me like that Missy! Listen up....and above all, NO MORE.... ~~~rows of dead mice and guts all over the front door mat ! I appreciate your hard work, and prolific vermin kills, but even though Uncle Larry and Aunt Sandi are retired medical professionals......they will not appreciate your bounty ! ~~~Welcome Uncle Larry and Aunt Sandi ! We are ALL excited about your visit, and love you. Even if we're a bit noisy and messy.

~~~Here's to family, and friendship, and the blessing of the two being the same with my Uncle and Aunt from California. Now I just need to keep the house warm enough so they are comfortable and will want to come back !~~~