Herding

Hattie is herding the sheep into the barn at night. She is really good. I just send her out and she figures out the strategy. If one splits off from the group she brings him back in. She's smooth and confident. Just wonderful to watch. I don't have to do anything but block the sheep from overshooting the barn door. I wish we had twenty more acres to play with. Bob is talking about putting up more fencing to have more pasture areas now that we know Hattie can move the sheep about.

Mudballs

 The sheep are here! We headed out to Snohomish early yesterday morning taking the Edmonds-Kingston ferry and tackling the I-5. They've had a lot of rain in Snohomish this winter. A LOT. We drove in to the farm and saw a flock of mud caked sheep in a giant mud pit surrounding a muddy lake. We were told an irrigation ditch has been backed up causing the field to flood. Not to worry though, our sheep had been washed and were now in a huge barn living on a raised floor of hay bales.

I was speechless when I saw my boys. You arrive with an image in your mind of fluffy critters you'll be able to hug; the reality was quite different: they were Mudballs. Even after washing. Well, they are hair sheep and shedding so all this ugly hair will soon be gone, but we still had to help wrestle the stinky things into the back of the pickup. We'd been advised to bring rain gear for the operation and pulled off the loading easily enough with Michelle's help and went on our way after chatting awhile.

The sheep watched trees and cars and ocean race by for the next couple hours and did pretty well for their first ride. Getting them out of the truck was a bit tricky though. Bob had to climb in with all the piss-wet straw and poop to shove each one out into the pen.

The first one managed to squeeze out the gate under the truck but Hattie turned him around and herded him back into the pen from the other side of the truck. It was chaos for a while with terrified sheep and excited dogs and a couple of clueless people trying to gain control. I wanted to leave them alone to calm down and explore their new home but Bob thought they needed to be shown where water and hay were. He tried to get them into the shelter but they ended up wedged in a corner of the pen and protected by a couple large evergreen trees. They weren't moving. He wanted to try using Hattie to get them out but they were not cooperating. Hattie finally flushed one out but in frustration gripped the poor thing by the neck until it stopped in the shed. After that Hattie was put outside the pen. Bob climbed through the trees and pushed them out of their corner but they were still having nothing to do with him. We left them to figure things out themselves.

Within a few hours they were cautiously entering the barn, eating hay from the hay bags and drinking from the water bucket. This morning I opened the gate and let them into the pasture where they've been romping and eating all day. They are a delight to watch, even covered with mud.

Our muddy boys

Bob working on fence

The shed

Hattie wanting sheep, settling for frisbee

Tux, probably remembering the desert big horn sheep in AZ

It's warming up a little and I'm getting back into clay.

More Sheep Shed

It's mostly done at this point. We used stained cedar fencing for windbreak walls. The front will stay open, facing south, and the open part of the east wall where the pallets are will be blocked by hay bales so the sheep should stay cozy inside. Bob's going to build a few shelves for storage and as of now we're going to try hanging hay in string bags in the east corner. If the bags don't work it will be pretty simple to build a hay rack there. The sheep don't need grain but will need loose minerals and possibly baking soda. And of course a tank of water outside. Hopefully we'll get some good weather in the next couple weeks to make the drive out to Snohomish for the animals.

Tux has taken a liking to the pasture and pen

Neat little man gate to pasture at side of shed

View from pasture, Bob is pretty proud of the sliding door

Hay bales get stacked here

Silly ducks 

Hattie and the Sheep Shed

After numerous delays we finally have a roof on the shed. You can see there was a bit of snow last night and we are mighty tired of this winter weather. Next step is putting a few windbreak walls on the shed and the door to the pasture, then we'll be ready to bring our boys home. 

Bye-bye sweet polluter

We turned in the Jetta for the VW diesel buyback this week so we're down to one vehicle until the Chevy Bolt arrives in April, if GM delivers as promised. 

Work on the sheep digs continues. The posts are up for the loafing shed/pole barn and we hooked up the pasture with irrigation water. 

It's not looking like much at the moment, but here is a shot of the future night pen and sheep shed, behind my studio....

The gate into the night pen....

And here is the new water pump....

Weather is still cold and wet but I hope we're past the freezing temperatures. 

Nosework and Fencing

Hattie passed the odor recognition tests for birch, anise and clove Saturday. She was fast and spot on. Made me proud. With ORTs out of the way she can start earning titles, but I'm planning to take a break from nosework for a while to work on the yard and get things ready for sheep. 

On the sheep preps, wood posts were put in for the small night pen and perimeter fence. The pen is going behind my studio/shed (top 2 pics). Bottom pic shows the main pasture posts. The fencing will be five feet, one foot higher than the existing fence, to discourage coyotes. A deer was killed in the pasture a few months ago, and last night when I was putting the ducks in their house for the night there was a tremendous screeching and growling down at the ranch. It sounded like Raven, the cow dog, was fighting a coyote. What a ruckus! I haven't seen Raven today. She's a stout dog but I hope she's OK. Coyotes are definitely going to be a problem so I want the night pen really secure.

Weather and sheep plans

The scene this morning, and snowing again this afternoon. Everyone keeps saying this is a very unusual winter but I'm afraid these wacky weather patterns are going to be the new norm.

We went over pasture plans with a fencer today and decided on a pole barn structure that will straddle the fence so that half will be in the secure night pen and half overhang the pasture providing a place for shade, dry hay storage, hay feeders, and protection from wind and rain in both areas. The night pen will be located in the corner of the yard behind my studio/shed and will open into the pasture north of the fenced yard. There's also a good area on the southwest corner of the property, out front and to the side of the house, but that will be an option we'll decide on later. We might just get temporary fencing that can be easily moved for other grazing areas and pass on field fencing there. 

Frozen Pots update

Disappointment! When my frozen pots thawed the reptilian texture was completely gone.  Here they are leather hard, trimmed and decorated with no sign of the texture.

Tulips carved and painted with white porcelain slip on stoneware pot. 

White porcelain slip texture experiment on stoneware plate.

Hattie with a favorite toy.

Sapphire, Amber and Ruby (peeking over the bench)

Crazy Dog Lady

I've officially joined the ranks of crazy dog ladies, closely related to crazy horse ladies. I put a down payment on five yearling Katahdin wethers and have two months to get fencing up, loafing shed built,  feeders, etc. The chocolate and spotted boys in the photo are mine along with three whites. Hattie will be in charge of their daily routine, adding to her duck responsibilities. She'll be a happy dog. Is there anything I won't do for my border collie? I had a choice between these Katahdins or Black-bellied Barbados, two breeds of hair sheep. The Kats have dog experience and are less skittish than Barbs, so the Kats won out. We are looking forward to bringing these boys home.

Frozen Pots

There was another hard freeze last night and the duck pool is a big ice cube. A few warm days last week lured me back into the mud room but unfortunately my clay hadn't dried before this latest cold snap hit. I found my pots covered with an unusual texture this morning. I have no idea how this will play out after they thaw and are trimmed. It might be very interesting.

Then there is Hattie. She's a wild thing with her toys, flinging them by the rope while spinning in circles and circling around me. It's like a dance performance. When she does it with the Jolly ball on a long rope it's a real show.

Spinning like a top, only one rear paw stationary, the rest of her a blur....

Hooper's Day

 Remembering Hooper today, her indomitable sunny spirit and drive.  I miss you girl.  💕