animal kingdom / DAILY FARM LIFE / RAISING SHEEP

A shearing and a washing

Alt Summit is behind me. I sent off my contribution to the Be Out There ebook, and now my gaze it set squarely on the upcoming 4-H fair. The days are ticking by and these lambs need some serious attention. 

For several weeks I’ve been trying to arrange to have the mamas sheared, but finally in desperation called my sister for a shearing bail-out. So last weekend, she loaded up her kids and made the two-hour trek to Woodlawn to tackle the task of shearing our sheep. 

 

Originally, we had planned to just shear the big girls. They were desperate for a haircut and the situation was getting out of control (not to mention hot)!. 

So we got out the metal sheep stand, hitched up Penny first, plugged in the fan, the clippers and got to work. Shearing these sheep was an amazing task. About four swipes into the project my sister looked at me and said, “I’ve never done anything like this.” (I’m pretty sure she meant such long-haired, dirty sheep. She’s sheared plenty of times.). “I may have bitten off more than I can chew.” But little by little and with lots of helpers, she got the job done. Three pairs of electric clippers, two pairs of scissors, three garbags bags of wool, and lots of greasy sweat later–the two mamas were done. 

When we put them back in the pen together,…..

Alt Summit is behind me. I sent off my contribution to the Be Out There ebook, and now my gaze it set squarely on the upcoming 4-H fair. The days are ticking by and these lambs need some serious attention. 

For several weeks I’ve been trying to arrange to have the mamas sheared, but finally in desperation called my sister for a shearing bail-out. So last weekend, she loaded up her kids and made the two-hour trek to Woodlawn to tackle the task of shearing our sheep. 

 

Originally, we had planned to just shear the big girls. They were desperate for a haircut and the situation was getting out of control (not to mention hot)!. 

So we got out the metal sheep stand, hitched up Penny first, plugged in the fan, the clippers and got to work. Shearing these sheep was an amazing task. About four swipes into the project my sister looked at me and said, “I’ve never done anything like this.” (I’m pretty sure she meant such long-haired, dirty sheep. She’s sheared plenty of times.). “I may have bitten off more than I can chew.” But little by little and with lots of helpers, she got the job done. Three pairs of electric clippers, two pairs of scissors, three garbags bags of wool, and lots of greasy sweat later–the two mamas were done. 

When we put them back in the pen together, they stared and stomped at each other like strangers. But eventually settled down and looked like a much happier pair. 

Feeling restored after a quick lunch (or exhausted and deranged), we decided to take on the job of shearing the baby lambs, too. Everyone got sheared, wool was collected for some future 4-H projects I’ll tell you about later, and we dragged our sticky bodies straight to the cold spring-fed pool at my grandparents’ farm. Best. Feeling. Ever.

The County Fair is just a few weeks away. Our baby lambs are pretty small by showing standards since they were born in early spring, but we’ll still show up and see how things go. I’m determined that we’ll be a small but mighty presence at the fair. They may be small but darn it, they’ll at least be clean and well-behaved. 

From now until the fair comes we will be taking lots of walks (and runs) and working with them on how to set up and stand properly in the show ring. 

Today we started with baths, a quick way to get them used to being handled. But despite being pretty comfortable around us, these baby lambs have inherited a strong stubborn streak. 

I washed the kids, too.

After their washing, I told the girls we were going to walk the lambs to the end of the lane, then let them run home to the barn. About twenty mintues and five paces (or in the lambs’ case–leaps) forward, we modified our goal, a wee bit. “Let’s just get to the shady patch right there (um, about twenty feet in front of us) and then we’ll let them run. ” Day one of halter-breaking successful? Not so much. But accomplished? Most definitely. 

There’s always tomorrow. Or possibly tonight, too. 

2 Comments
family / MOTHERHOOD / out and about

June 24. To camp

We’re down a kid.

Early this morning Emma went off for a week of 4-H camp. Her third year, but her first year at *intermediate* camp. Big stuff. More freedom. Choosing her “workshops and crafts”. A dance. I’ll be curious to hear which of the rumors that have been swirling through these girls’ minds, flopped on beds late at night, are true. And which are the talk of junior campers longing for the big time. 

She leaves me with hugs, but totally ready to go. I comfort myself by saying it’s a sign that I’ve done a good job. Her ability to hug and walk away with confidence and excitement. No nerves. No worries. I tell myself her ability to “be fine” without me, has nothing whatsoever to do with me. 

Dan dropped her off this year. And then called me on his way to work. She forgot a few things. Could we drop them off before lunch. 

So we pile in the car, swing through the store for the forgotten things. Tuck a few extra dollars for the snack bar, some postage stamps, that thing she forgot, in a polka dotted envelope and scribble her name on the front. 

We arrive on the strike of noon. It’s quiet. So we just leave her things inside.

As we’re pulling away from the mess hall, we hear singing in the woods. Top of their lungs, loud as they can singing. I pull out slowly, hoping we’ll get one quick glimpse of her before leaving. She rounds the corner, sees our car and waves. Her sisters point and shout that they’ve spotted her in the crowd, like she’s some fox we’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse of as it slips across the road. I roll down my window and she runs over. Her hair in fancy braids. Braids that weren’t done by me. She looks beautiful. And old. 

I tell her where we left her things and she races off to get back in line with her tribe. 

And we slip out the gravel road. 

And Birdy cries. And doesn’t understand why we’ve left her. And wants to go back. Wants to be with her.

And I just nod my head. 

We’re down a kid.

Early this morning Emma went off for a week of 4-H camp. Her third year, but her first year at *intermediate* camp. Big stuff. More freedom. Choosing her “workshops and crafts”. A dance. I’ll be curious to hear which of the rumors that have been swirling through these girls’ minds, flopped on beds late at night, are true. And which are the talk of junior campers longing for the big time. 

She leaves me with hugs, but totally ready to go. I comfort myself by saying it’s a sign that I’ve done a good job. Her ability to hug and walk away with confidence and excitement. No nerves. No worries. I tell myself her ability to “be fine” without me, has nothing whatsoever to do with me. 

Dan dropped her off this year. And then called me on his way to work. She forgot a few things. Could we drop them off before lunch. 

So we pile in the car, swing through the store for the forgotten things. Tuck a few extra dollars for the snack bar, some postage stamps, that thing she forgot, in a polka dotted envelope and scribble her name on the front. 

We arrive on the strike of noon. It’s quiet. So we just leave her things inside.

As we’re pulling away from the mess hall, we hear singing in the woods. Top of their lungs, loud as they can singing. I pull out slowly, hoping we’ll get one quick glimpse of her before leaving. She rounds the corner, sees our car and waves. Her sisters point and shout that they’ve spotted her in the crowd, like she’s some fox we’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse of as it slips across the road. I roll down my window and she runs over. Her hair in fancy braids. Braids that weren’t done by me. She looks beautiful. And old. 

I tell her where we left her things and she races off to get back in line with her tribe. 

And we slip out the gravel road. 

And Birdy cries. And doesn’t understand why we’ve left her. And wants to go back. Wants to be with her.

And I just nod my head. 

5 Comments
celebrations / children and nature

Help me and BeOutThere write an e-book!

I’m writing to you from New York City tonight, thankful that I decided to throw the laptop in my bag at the very last minute. I have one more exciting thing that I want to share with all of you.

I’ve been asked to partner with The Motherhood and National Wildlife Federation’s Be Out There to help publish an e-book on summer activities that will encourage kids and families to get outdoors. I’ve been a Founding Mother for Be Out There for several years and love being part of that program. Though I feel like being in the outdoors comes pretty naturally for my kids (and when it doesn’t, I simply kick them out of the house), I have always felt strongly about the importance of outside play, and giving children a knowledge and appreciation for the natural world.

Each of the authors contributing to the book were given a topic and I have to admit, mine kind of cracks me up. Ask me how I encourage my kids to get outside and I have answers. Ask me ideas for teaching them their natural history, I have answers. But ask me about outdoor parties, and I’m a bit of a slacker. Yes, we eat outside on the back porch for most summer dinners. Yes, when it gets too hot, we break out the hose and go crazy. But parties? Hmmm.

So I’ll be stretching my party-planning muscles during the next few days. Rounding up ideas for fun ways to take events like birthday parties, holidays and family reunions into the big wide open. I’ll be taking some of my favorite outdoor activities and tweaking them to make them party crowd-friendly.

But this is where you come in!

One of the things I love about this book is that it is as much about my thoughts, as it is about yours! Crowd-sourced, even! If you have a favorite activity, idea, experience, pinterest pin, or even saw something cool online, share it with me here. Have a photo of your own? Shoot me an email and maybe we’ll include it in the book (with credit, of course!). I’d love to hear your ideas, because I know you people are creative and fun and will help get my own creative juices flowing!

So let’s hear it, what are some of your favorite ideas for taking parties, celebrations, even a small dinner party with your kids, into the outdoors?

7 Comments