Goth-Gawking

I took this picture late this afternoon. It is my old ram Goth who spent a week of his life almost every year at the Western Washington State Fair in the Animals of the World barn . Our exhibit was directly across the aisle from the zebras, zee-donks, yaks, and reindeer. Many thousands of people saw him and stared at him over the years and I watched hundreds of people photograph him.

Now that we've relocated to the other side of the mountains Goth is retired and enjoying life in a pasture situated in front of our new home. The gravel road that fronts our property is actually a well traveled road between our home and the hills and mountains across the road. Often I discover a vehicle parked in front of our place and see , yes, people gawking at Goth ! Goth still attracts attention even in his old age. ( Goth is 13 years old.) I hope he lives for many more years, I am quite fond of this old ram.

Time To Watch The Animals In The Snow

We've had snow here at Laughing Dove Farm since the last week of November. It is beautiful outside , especially as I view the winter-scape from indoors while sipping hot coffee. The birds in the picture above are sitting in branches just outside one of our living room windows. The cats seem to think this is just for them and occupy the window sill during daylight hours to watch the birds flitting from the branches to the bird feeders, bird bath and back again.

Luna, our 9 month old Lab puppy loves watching birds too, all birds. She is watching a Pileated Woodpecker  in our woods and would have followed the large and very loud bird if we'd not had her on a leash.

Whimsy, my German Shepherd has appointed herself Luna's best protector and playmate. Luna and Whimsy love the snow. Our below freezing temps and deep snow don't seem to affect them. Luna loves to roll around in the snow too.

My Sebastopol Geese appear to have such bright white feathers until the snow shows up the geese in bright whiteness. The geese too, do not seem to be bothered by the snow except for the lack of a continual supply of water for their bathing and drinking.

Every day I have to haul huge buckets of hot water out to the goose troughs. As soon as I pour hot water over the troughs full of ice the geese hop into their ice bath to drink ,bathe and play until they exhaust the small amount of water I am able to supply for the day.

Goth ( center of picture), my 12 year old Jacob Sheep ram and the rest of my flock of sheep are wearing their wool coats. The snow and cold don't bother them either.

Goth is having the best time of his entire life now. He has never had so much room to roam and on Laughing Dove Farm he has acres ! Since Goth has been a very good ram ( mostly ) I am happy to keep him in his old age. I am hoping he lives many more years and dies peacefully chewing a mouth full of sweet fresh grass. ( Goth is shown here with some of my flock, most of them are his children or grandchildren.)

My sheep heading back to the barn. The snow is much deeper now, the grass is a foot under the snow.

 Our old goat Thorin and Goth side by side.

We love our new home and the knee-deep snow too. The temperature has been below zero most nights and today it warmed up to 7 degrees above zero . The hardest part of so much snow has been doing my farm chores. I have a hard time walking in the deep snow while carrying buckets of grain and water and armloads of hay. Today we bought snowshoes for me so tomorrow's chore time should be a little bit easier. This is going to help even more if we get the predicted snow ( 1 to 4 inches) this weekend.

Our new home is snug and warm, the scenery all around us is so beautiful I sometimes can scarce take in that this is our home ! We've begun a few of the things we need to do to make this place work for us but because we're retired now we're taking our time. Time to gaze out the windows while sipping coffee or tea. Time to laugh at the silly things our animals do.Time to watch the animals play in the snow. Time to walk in the woods, play with our grandchildren. Time to go fishing and camping as soon as the weather permits EVEN IF there is a huge 'to-do' list attached to the fridge. That nagging 'to-do' list has been around as long as we've been married, I expect it to be here as long as we're alive. Time to be... simply be.

Eight Ladies Waiting ~ Countdown Begins !

 The first lambs of 2016 were born yesterday.

 Twins ! Bide-a-wee Buttercup gave birth to twin lambs, a boy (ram) and a girl (ewe). Buttercup is 11 years old. The lambs' sire is Cedar Pond's Goth, also 11 years old.

 Have I mentioned before how much I love this time of the year ? Lambing time ?

Now there are only eight ladies waiting and just look at this bunch of plump ladies. I suspect there is at least one more set of twins to be born any day now. Sassafras is also 11 years old ,she is the ewe in the foreground and spent breeding season with Buttercup and Goth. Sassafras may very well be the next ewe to have lambs Oh I am sooooooooo excited !

Bath Time For Goth ( A Jacob Sheep )

 Baaa huh ? Bath ? For me ? I had a bath last year before the State Fair. I don't need another bath...

 .... oh, I guess I'm going to the fair again this year.

 Does this mean I get to eat all the alfalfa hay I desire, snack on soda crackers and apples, and watch thousands of people walk by ? Some of those people are pretty funny looking and a lot of them take my picture.

O.K. then , off to the fair we'll go ! I hope my friends are there. I love the yaks, watusi cattle, zebras and turkeys . Those little donkeys are pretty cute too and they make a loud funny noise. Do you think any of the reindeer will be back ? I loved that little reindeer. ME : " Yes, we'll be off to the fair and most of your friends will be back. Many of my friends will too ! "

Goth got his bath and looks like the black and white sheep he is instead of a brown and beige sheep. If you're in the area please visit us at the Washington State Fair in the Animals Of The World exhibit  from September 11 thru September 15 in Puyallup, WA. Goth will be in my exhibit along with 3 more Jacob Sheep from my flock. We're looking forward to our time there and maybe we'll see you at The Puyallup Fair !

Ummm, how's this for a striking pose ?

Spring & Loving All the Joy It Brings

 Last night a new lamb was born here on Cedar Pond, making the total thus far ~ one ram ( boy ) lamb and 4 ewe ( girl) lambs. This is last night's newborn, a lilac ewe from Cedar Pond's Brigida and Shadow Mountain's Landon-Tonkin. I am holding her just before my husband banded her tail to shorten it. I am also hopeful I will love her horn-set. She was a very healthy little ewe lamb, up and looking for her mama's milk within the hour of her birth. This is what I love about my Jacob Sheep, they are an old breed , a primitive breed, a survivor breed !

 Ella has laid 9 eggs thus far and seems to be ready to settle down and sit on her eggs. Jim fixed a gate on the goose pen and we will fence off the small goose-yard for the duration of Ella's incubation of her eggs. Fella has already begun to protect the nest site , a good sign things are going according to God's design and plan for making more baby geese. ( The green were laid by the ducks Ella & Fella hatched last year and raised as their own lil' babes.)

 Hellebores, one of our first blooming plants here, and loved ( bee-loved ) by our bees. The hellebores are covered with our honeybees seeking nectar and pollen at a time of the year both are scarce.

Lambs, new lambs. Something I never tire of, a joy and sight that brings me to tears for the joy. I know the day is coming soon I will not be breeding sheep but I put off that thought because the joy of keeping sheep, the joy of new lambs...well, it brings me joy that cannot be described except that the joy makes me cry. ( Happy crying, so don't worry. ) This is Gudrid and her new lamb, a lilac Jacob Sheep ewe. Gudrid is shown here nursing her lamb .Yes, the Gudrid mentioned in my last post.  Gudrid is a first-time mama and I love everything about her breeding. She is the daughter of Bide-a-wee Buttercup and Cedar Pond's Goth. She looks in physical appearance very much like Goth's mama , Cedar Pond's Tiara. I am so happy with the lambs from both parents and their amazing heritage I am planning on keeping this little lilac ewe lamb no matter what. Besides, a first time mama who tends her lamb so well will pass on this exceptional quality to her daughters.

March is here, spring is here, new lambs are here, new baby chicks are here, joy is here !

Western Washington Fair 2014 ( Puyallup Fair )

This year's state fair has come and gone in a whirlwind of activity and busyness that still has my head spinning. I could not have enjoyed the time there without the help of 2 of my grandchildren and my husband. The Western Washington Fair formerly known as The Puyallup Fair is one of the biggest state fairs in the nation. Literally thousands of people passed by my exhibit in the 'Animals Of The World ' barn and my husband and oldest grandson were often answering questions regarding my Jacob sheep , giving me a break.

We set up our exhibit the day before the fair opened. It takes planning and preparation to set up a fair exhibit, and also packing for the whole week I and my grandchildren will be camping at the fair. Here is my husband standing next to my ram pen. Yes, my ram ( not my husband ) is dangerous.

My ram's name is Goth , here is part of my display. The rugs shown were crafted by me using the wool of my sheep. You can also see a Jacob sheep skull and hide on the wall.

We cart the blue "walls' in too, giving the display a border and a place to hang up info regarding the breed of sheep.

This is the back of the display. Usually my exhibit is placed in the middle of the big barn so we created the walls as a way to also define the space visually.This also gives us a little bit of privacy since we are open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. for five days and nights. With record breaking attendance at the fair this year we often had so many people passing though our barn there was no room for us to get out of our exhibit. At least there was an interesting animal to view pretty much everywhere in the barn for those stuck walking at a snail's pace because of the crowd. ( That is one of my granddaughters above. She was a big help this year )

Goth doesn't seem to mind the crowds and must have had his picture snapped thousands of times over the years. He does play with the big rubber ball while at the fair, and enjoys soda crackers and apples as frequent treats for being good.

A partial view of  the aisles filled with people. This is what Saturday & Sunday look like until after 7:00 p.m. A non-stop flow of people viewing the animals . We are very happy and honored to be able to exhibit our sheep here and love answering questions about them , and we do get a lot of questions !

The table in front of my exhibit contains wool, horns, things made from the fiber of my sheep. All hands-on for the public.

All's quiet before the barn is open to the public. We get there at least an hour before they're open so we can clean the animal's stalls , feed & water them, and prepare for the day.

The sheep on the other side of my display. I keep the ram separate from the girl sheep & their lambs. Yes, the girl Jacob Sheep have horns too.

My best help comes from our oldest grandson. I really don't think I could do this anymore without him, so thank-you C.T. ! This was a great year at the fair and we're hoping to be asked back again next year.

Ram Tough, Ram Destructive

I happened to be looking out an upstairs window one morning last week while I sipped my first cup of coffee.I heard a loud "THWUNK" and saw the tall stump of an old cottonwood tree sway. Then I saw my ram Goth take aim and run full force into the stump again and topple it! Goth examines his handiwork. ( Head work?) The other cottonwood stump still stands, but for how long? The two cottonwood trees towered over our property when we first moved here. We built a ram pen around them and years of my rams ramming them and chewing away their bark killed the trees. ( They are cottonwoods, we did not care ) Even though the trees are dead and the stumps have begun to rot, I could not have pushed them over with a sledge hammer, or even a car without causing damage to the car . So you can see, the power of a ram is mighty.Now the tall stumps of the trees are finally being pushed down by the mighty force of a ram.

"ram, n. 1. An instrument or device for driving, forcing, or crushing by heavy blows or thrusts. " Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary I think the pens the zoos build for rhinos would be perfect for Goth.

Horns Aplenty!

This is Cedar Pond's Valkyrie. Valkyrie has 5 horns. Click on the picture and the enlargement will confirm this. She is a very average Jacob sheep. Jacob sheep have anywhere from 2 to 6 horns. They do not naturally lose their horns. The horns grow throughout the life of the sheep. This is Cedar Pond Naomi's daughter, as of yet un-named. She too has 5 horns but it is hard to tell. Her horns on the right side of her face ( your left ) number 3. Her far right horn is really 2 horns that have fused together as she and her horns have grown. This little lamb was a late spring lamb. She is tiny, plump, but tiny. I have not decided on a name for her yet . She has 6 horns. It is hard to see, but each side of her head there are 3 horns squished together. I am curious as to how the horns will fuse and finally appear. Maybe 'Medusa' would be a good name for her? Goth is the father of all the lambs I pictured above. His 4 horns are pretty impressive and he seems to be handing down his impressive and many horned attributes to his offspring. His mother had 5 very big strong horns too.

"The Jacob, being a polycerate ( many horned ) breed can carry any number of horns." Ingrid Painter~ Jacob Sheep In America