Sheep Shearing Time~ Valentine Surprise !

It is shearing time for my flock of Jacob sheep.I have them sheared, feet clipped, vaccinated, and if they are not pregnant, wormed at this time.Here is Thora, enduring the indignity of being turned onto her back for the process.

My sheep shearers are a father/daughter duo, and also our good friends, Dirt * and one of his 4 daughters, Bet*.

This is Tilda, she is 2 months shy of her 1 year birthday and a very small Jacob sheep lamb.

My oldest grandson & I love her. She is petite, very feminine looking, and over all an appealing sheep. She has 4 horns, and if she can refrain from head-butting her sister sheep, she might have a beautiful and well balanced set. She gets feisty about where she wants to sleep and if any other sheep are in HER place she takes them on paying no mind to extreme size differences, forgetting she is one of the smallest sheep in my flock.

Bet does a very fine job of shearing. Since Bet showed sheep for many years in 4H she tries to shear so as to preserve the fleece for those of us who process our wool for spinning.

Timmy, my wethered lamb is being sheared.Did I just spot something surprising? No Way !

Look at this! Can you believe it? I am trying to be careful how I word these pictures because so much comes to mind....

..so I'll leave it at this, Happy Valentine's Day!

I am linking up to a Valentine's Day Farm Blog-Hop, please join me!

Valentine's Day Boost My Blog Party *
&
 Self-Sufficient Home Acres * 

Spot on Friends

~A peaceful and pretty scene, the reflection of the sheep on the pond. These are Dirt and Lanny's sheep, and this can be seen from their dining room window. Just beautiful! Dirt and Lanny , our family, and a few others were able to share time together this weekend in fellowship with others from a bit farther away. Our common and uniting bond is our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Dirt and Lanny and their daughters served up a very tasty brunch for quite a few people and of course we had a great visit while we enjoyed the scenery and seconds and thirds of the meal.

~Dirt and Lanny listening to discussion, in the home of the Wingmaster and his family.I have been reflecting on how many years we have known each other and how intertwined our lives have become. Our family has known them since before their last two daughters were born. They have contributed to the enrichment, support and encouragement of our family in ways we can never fully express. You all must have at least one friend in your life you can say the same about? ~ We have been blessed by many such friends,and family.But even if your life is more solitary, or you believe you do not have friends you can count on, you always have Jesus, really..you do! "Jesus said, " You are My friends if you do what I command you....I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. " John 15:14, 15

"A man of many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24

Oh How the Mighty Are Humbled, ( Goth gets fleeced)

~Yoo hoo, Goth! Time to get a hair cut! Even big bad boys need haircuts once in awhile.~

~Hubby and I cornered Goth, and using his horns as handles, walked him to the shed for Dirt to shear him and the rest of the flock that were not sheared in January. And of course, it was cold and rainy today, so there are some pitifully naked sheep huddling together under the heat lamp tonight. In the picture above, Hubby is holding Goth's horn while Dirt starts shearing. ~Dirt is almost done with Goth here, but look at Goth's horns wrapped around Dirt's waist. Dirt made a comment about forgetting his Flak Jacket today...... ~Here is another picture of Goth's horns tucked up against my Hubby. The horns are very pointy and hard and can cause a lot of damage with just a turn of the ram's head. Dirt knows what he is doing though and to my knowledge has not been hurt by any of my Jacob sheep while shearing them.

~Look at all the wool from Goth! He had quite a nice and plentiful fleece, not any more!~

~Anna , Bet and Lanny came along to visit while we skirted the fleeces . Anna is holding one of the lambs while it's momma is being sheared. Aren't they all 3 cute? ( Anna is the most sensibly dressed for the weather.~

~Oh how the mighty is humbled...and naked! And probably cold tonight.~

~" It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Andrew J. Holmes

" Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!" declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:1

Shearing Spotted Sheep

~Hey, no, not HAY, I said "hey", girls....come on into the shed to get your wool done.A little clip and your coats will be like new...awww, come on in, please ? "In levying taxes and in shearing sheep it is well to stop when you get down to the skin." Austin O'Malley

~Dirt is here to shear 5 of my ewes who are due to lamb sometime soon, at least according to what my very own eyes spied them doing with Goth, January and February are the months my lambs should be arriving. Yes, it is cold, but they can take it!~"It is the duty of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not skin them." Tiberius

~Dirt sheared 5 ewes and gave them their overeaters' shots. He sheared 5 of my sheep in an hour, it would have taken me all day to shear one. As he finished taking the fleece (wool) off a sheep, his daughter Bet and I would skirt the fleece. That is, we would take or pick out of the wool all the undesirable things, mats, clumps of manure, hay, etc., and then I would bag the fleece to be washed and dyed later. ~Oh the indignity of it all ! Naomi has her head right in a sensitive area of Dirt's anatomy. You can just imagine the uncomfortable position Dirt finds himself in when he shears Goth. Although, the ewes have some mighty pointed horns and they are sharp. Dirt has not been harmed by my sheep that I am aware of and he has been shearing my flock for quite a few years now. ~My naked flock of Jacob Sheep! I was glad to find that under all their wool they were in good shape, not too thin, not too fat. The ewes all have begun to udder up, which means their udders are filling with the colostrum and milk for their lambs. My poor naked girls, they are huddled under the heat lamp I hung for them.

~"He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth." Isaiah 53:7

~Blessings: sheep, wool, Dirt: friend AND shearer, Bet ~

Storm 2006:Friendship,Gift From the Heart

~Storm of 2006~~This was the front of our Christmas cards that winter. I think it was very considerate of the tree removal company to decorate their truck for me. The tree service came out the next day after the storm and after surveying the damage, set on a time the NEXT day to remove the tree. We were very grateful to be so high on the list, as all tree removal companies in the Pacific Northwest were overworked and had long, long waiting lists of people needing their services. I will tell you, Mac's Tree Service of Yelm, WA is the greatest, and amazingly did not break the skylight windows while removing the 2 trees stuck in, around and outside the windows.

~The first morning after the storm , Hubby's younger brother came over with the biggest blue tarp I had ever seen this side of a circus tent! He actually owned this tarp. In the still very windy and wet and cold weather, he and Hubby wired that tarp over the roof, and I mean, it covered the roof, and even the tree on the roof. This really saved our home and contents, because it pretty much stormed on and off for months after . I could not watch them on the roof, for worry about their safety! Thank-you David, very much!( picture above is of Hubby's brother David and his wife Margie with our granddaughters ) ~Here below is Dirt and Lanny, see It's The Dirt . Dirt and Lanny were over right away with their own personal work crew. I cannot begin to tell you how much work and self-sacrifice was evidenced by this family. Although they did not have any trees on their home, they had numerous trees down all around their home. Plus, this was Christmas time. We were supposed to be in the thick of Christmas shopping and buying and baking ( you can bake even without power ). And hey, they had a generator so could have even been watching the Christmas specials on T.V. But nope, they came over with a chain saw, work gloves, and worked and worked until all the trees fallen all over our property were cut up and the big chunks of wood were hauled ( by them ) to a spot by the garage. We also had an enormous bon-fire burning the debris."A friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else." Len Wein

~Dirt and Lanny's daughter Bet, Paddle In The Pond . Bet works as hard, or harder than many young men now a days. She too was hauling debris, huge branches, and worked non-stop til the job was done." It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they WILL help us." Epicures

~Here is Dirt and Lanny's other daughter, Anna Colleen, Terriers and Tabbies.

Anna hauled a lot of tree parts, wood, and debris also. You cannot ever put a price on the value of friends like these. The word 'priceless' is pretty much overused I think and somehow that negates the true value of the word...PRICELESS !

~Our son-in-law Tom, A.Joy At Home, came over with his chain saw and work gloves, and immediately began working. He and our daughter and grand kids had just the night of the raging storm, moved out of the tent they were living in( and had lived in for months) into the not quite finished new home being built on their property because the storm was wreaking havoc on their tent / home. This was literally in the nick of time because their tent was destroyed and they would have been injured or worse had they toughed it out in the tent. But here was Tom, helping us when there was a great deal to do at their home, and storm damage to clean up. ~"May God give you....for every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile, for every care a promise and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, for every sigh a sweet song and an answer for each prayer." Irish Blessing God gave us so much that year, and into the next, these friends and family have been there in very difficult times and our family and friends have been so kind as to surround us with prayers and encouragement. These are the TRUE GIFTS of GOD, and because of His Son, these people are who and what they are.....kind, forgiving, self sacrificing..... ~Our home today, in the snow. Look, no holes in the roof !We do still have a lot of landscaping to re-do. We had hundreds of Hostas and our landscaping was designed for shade, now we have full sun all around our home. New plants and trees, new buildings,new adventures in life. Thank-you dear friends and family and the many who brought us containers of water and meals and encouragement and prayers !

~Consider it all joy , my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." James 1:2 and " Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. ."James 1:17

Spot On Someone Who Made A Difference

~This post will be a bit heavy on the Labrador retriever pictures, but there is a reason.~ Beatrix

~A friend of ours died this past week. Dale Tibbits, DVM. Since we have lived out here our lives have been intertwined with Dr. Tibbits' . He was our vetrinarian, he was an employer of our sons and nephew for a few years. He was the landlord of our dear friends, Dirt and Lanny ( It's The Dirt, in sidebar ) But really, he was so much more than that. Mabel (below) is our black Lab. ~Dale Tibbits was almost always seen with one, two, or many more black Labs. Dale was an avid hunter and field trial dog trainer and competitor. We would see his truck all around the area , Labs in their carrier, or often we would see Dale training them in his ponds and fields, or Ft.Lewis range land.When our sons and nephew were younger Dale would take them along for help. ~Dale made a difference in our sons' lives. A good difference!

~Here is Sienna, Mabels' sister, and mother to our dogs Beatrix and Willow. Now the little stinker has a litter of Vizsla / Labs. She is a good Mom. When she surprised us this past weekend with puppies I had made a mental note to myself to call Dale when we got back from the coast to have him dew-claw the pups and dock their tails. Dale did this for us in his home office, and usually we or the Vick girls were called into action to hold the puppies while he clipped and stitched. (Sienna is a Yellow Lab, yellow Labs can be anywhere from white, to yellow, to fox red, as Sienna is) ~When we called our daughter this weekend to see how the animals were doing she told us the animals were fine, but she had some bad news. Dale Tibbits was dead. You know, it is hard to imagine someone as alive, someone who fully enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest, as dead. ~This is Willow(below), Sienna's daughter, Mabel's niece, Beatrix' sister, half sister to litter in the kitchen right now. Sienna and Beatrix had their dew- claws removed by Dale. Sienna also had a hunting accident repaired by Dale. ~Dale is someone who if you know him, you will always remember him. Whenever we are gathered with anyone who remotely knows Dale Tibbits there are the 'Dale stories'. Believe me, the 'Dale Stories' will be told to grandchildren of our grandchildren. I think his funeral will be full of people remembering their 'Dale Stories'. Dale was interesting, funny, and I believe he is what one calls an 'eccentric', in the true sense of the word. ~This is our oldest dog, Misty(below). She is blind now. About 7 years ago she had her last litter of puppies. She was having trouble and could not pass a puppy. Dale told me to bring her in. While he munched on cookies he checked her out. Yes, Dale munched a lot on snacks. After a while, he had X-rays taken and they showed a very, very, large puppy stuck in the birth canal. Instead of rushing to C-section, Dale did a little bit of manipulating, and waiting. He waited awhile, and after more manipulating, the puppy came out...ALIVE ! And you know, two more came out fine, then Dale had me take her home where the rest of the puppies were born alive and well. I know had I taken her anywhere else she would have had a C-section. Thank-you Dale ! ~Here is Hawk(below), Hubby's Vizsla, father of the litter of puppies. (sly dog) Hawk somehow managed to slice a large hole in the top of his front right leg, just below the chest.I could see the muscle wall, a lot of blood.... You have to see how thin the skin is and how little there is to stitch together on the slender foreleg of a Vizsla to appreciate what Dale did. Hawk sliced his leg open while Hubby was away on business, on a weekend. Fortunately Dale was home, which is just across the highway from us. I rushed Hawk over to Dales' and he had Bet, one of Dirt and Lanny's daughters help , and we held Hawk while Dale stitched. He predicted problems with such a delicate area, but you know, Dale did a great job and Hawk healed fine. He still has a large scar there, but the skin held together. ~I could go on and on about what Dale has done over the years for our animals...I will leave the "Dale Stories' for other times and gatherings. Dale was killed in an ATV accident while hunting with friends in Montana. All who know Dale even a little will know Dale was having a great time until the end....hunting, friends, ATV's, Montana.....Dale leaves behind his beautiful wife of many, many years. He leaves behind grown children, and grandchildren. Friends, colleagues. People who have benefited from his generosity. Dirt and Lanny and their children live next door to Dale and his wife, they will miss him terribly. Their daughters don't know life there without Dale, his dogs, his antics and ideas. Life around here will be a bit less interesting without Dale. ~One thing we do know about Dale though, Dale loved Jesus ! This is what Dale held to be true:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16 We'll meet in Heaven. I hope Labrador Retrievers romp there !