'Tis the Season

     Fleece on Earth!   Good Wool to Ewe!!                        And a Happy Ewe Year!


From all the cats, dogs, cattle, and people at High Ridge Farm.

Dolly (not the sheep), the robot

One of the best birthday presents I have ever received.................and it is a vacuum cleaner.     Leave it to a husband to give a wife a vacuum cleaner as a gift.    BUT, I couldn't be more excited.     It is a robot!!!    WOW!    It cleans by itself.    

So far the dogs just looked at it funny and then went on their merry ways.    The two cats were much more upset by the thing that moved and made noise.    They will get  used to it.

It really works without my help.    I just have to redirect it when it gets stuck somewhere.   Does this make me part of the 21st century even though I am not welded to my cell phone and seldom even have it when I need it?   I don't care; I love Dolly.

Hug a Sheep Day

October 27 is Hug a Sheep Day.    The girls are looking forward to it.     They are especially hoping it will be a warm, clear, sunny day.   They sure do like to be hugged.    Stop on over and hug a sheep with me.

This time of year

These are the ewes that are left at our farm.    There are three adults and four lambs from this year.    All have polled genetics.    The three adults will be bred this year, and the four lambs will just have to wait another year.    They are in their new pasture behind the house and right in front of the rams pasture.    It was lawn a few days ago, but it is good grass that I can water every night to save on the small amount of hay that we have for them.    The trees, in their glory, provide a fine background for this idyllic scene.

This totally expresses my joy in this season of the year.   As the song says............"Who could ask for anything more?"

Well-behaved dogs and lamb

This is Beaver and Lady.    Up until last week, I did not let Lady run loose.     One time of her taking off on me was more than enough.     Last week I decided that Beaver was able to handle keeping her from running off.    I hooked their leashes together and off they went.    It took until this week for her to really go out from me, but they both come running back when I call them.    Good dogs!!!!

This is them on their "wait" command.    They have learned that real well, and it really helps when we are walking for many different reasons.


This is Molly B.    She is the lamb that I got from Garrett this summer.     When she came here I put her in one of my jugs which were still set up from lambing.     She went "bonkers".    She looked like a dirt bike because it seemed that she was running up on the sides of the panels because she was so scared when I would come into the shed.     Poor thing, she had been pulled out of the pasture with her mom, carried in a trailer to my house and then housed in a tiny pen with no one to play with.     I let her out with the others soon afterwards because I couldn't stand to see her so terrified when I would come into view.     After that, she was fine with the group, but I could only catch her when I cornered her and grabbed her.     Well..................since then, she has been getting a little better and letting me touch her nose sometimes when I would bring apples to the pasture.      Last week, out of a clear blue sky, we became friends.     I went out to sit with the sheep one afternoon, and she came up to me, let me touch her, and scratch her all over, and then proceeded to lie at my feet.    She even stayed there when I slid down to sit on the ground.     She has stayed that way, and I can't do anything but shake my head in wonderment.      Now I have four lovely ladies who are totally friendly to add to my small flock.     Sure is fun to go out and sit with them.    Good lamb!

Split a Tractor???

He said he had to split the tractor to fix the PTO.     I had no idea what he meant by that.     It has taken him days to get to this point.    Now I can see why.     The reason for the split was the pin that was broken as shown in the second picture.     Guess this wouldn't be a problem if we had "newer" tractors, but we don't.

 You can see the jacks and the plates he is using to hold up the front of the tractor.    Another jack holds up the back part.    What skills this man has!!

Now we can use this tractor to run the silo filler to put our corn in the silo to help feed the cows we have left.    (Don't call this a hobby farm)

My poor doggie

Poor Scooter had to go to the vet today to have a teeth cleaning and two extractions.    While he was there, he had to get groomed.   His groomer has been very ill and not working, so he was in real tough shape.   Besides that he has been blowing his coat for some time now.     He went in a full coated tri rough collie........................and came out like this.

Yes, he is still  under the weather, but it almost made me cry when I first set eyes on him.    I can't believe he is the same dog.     I sure hope he feels better with those two bad teeth gone.   He is crying some now, but he just got up on the couch, and maybe he will get some rest.

Sheepie Reward

The two older girls got a reward tonight because they managed to walk all the way over to the backyard of the school house.   (Well, Juni B walked part of the way.)  The yard has not been mowed, so they got to "earn their keep".    Neither one of them was unwilling to do their job.   And, when Juni B's halter fell off on the way back, she just followed along like a lamb.    Halter training is going quite well.

AA or Apple Abundance

When we moved here nine years ago, there were two trees in the yard.   There had been three, but one bit the dust.  One, just outside our bedroom window, was an apple tree.    It produced abundantly on a semi-annual basis.    Usually the apples sat and provided  food for the bees and deer and other critters.

This year to supplement our poor hay harvest, since we are in the drought area, I decided to gather the apples and feed them to the sheep.     I had done this on a sporadic basis in other  years, but never regularly. 

This is today's harvest.   It has been like this for several days now.    They are all windfalls, but the sheep don't mind.  The blue bucket contains some that are big enough to peel and cook up for applesauce.  The apples are not fit for eating, but the sauce is passable.   Since I like chunky, it means peeling, coring, and slicing before cooking, but it is well worth the trouble to have applesauce that I made any time of year.    I just fill plastic jars and put it in the freezer.

This is the tree.    You can tell that it has never had any attention and is terribly overgrown.   But I have a hard time overlooking something that is free and useable.

As you can see in the close up, the apples really should be picked off the tree instead of off the ground.   Maybe we will get that done when my new "toy" arrives.    I "bit the bullet" and ordered an apple peeler.   My number "1" apple peeler person will not be much help this year because of the arthritis in his thumb joints.     Maybe next year..........he hopes to get them fixed this winter.

This is just a brag........    This is the flower on my orchid plant.    I was totally shocked to find it there a couple of weeks ago.    Todd gave it to me, and I couldn't throw it away while it was alive.   As you can see the cats have snacked on parts of it, and I had just about given up hope that it would ever bloom.     It is a spindly ugly plant, but the bloom is awesome.    You just never know!

First Time Ever Sale

This is the first time I have ever advertised lambs for sale.    It is also the first time that I  have had someone around who knows something about Shetlands to give me advice.     Garrett Ramsey was here on one of his flying transportation trips to bring me a ewe lamb.    While he was here he gave me his opinion on my measly little lamb crop.     He  was not unhappy with them and said I could probably sell them.    Since I have four ewes and two rams, I would be happy to sell one ewe lamb and the two rams.    Here they are:

 This is High Ridge Godiva -  twin ewe lamb.    (Wintertime Baillelys X Bluff Country Casino Royale)    I think Garrett said she was moorit.   The flash from the camera made her look lighter colored.     She and her twin were named Godiva and Coco because one looked like semi-sweet chocolate and the other milk chocolate.

 This is unnamed black and white ram lamb and his twin brother in the background.  (Wintertime Bailleys X High Ridge Nutmeg)  

This is unnamed moorit and white twin ram lamb.     (Wintertime Bailleys X High Ridge Nutmeg)
(only three white feet)

The boys are 5 weeks old now, and Garrett thought they would both be scurred.  They  get their polled gene from their dad who is polled and their flashy appearance from their mom who is katmoget with spots.

If you have any interest in any of these three lambs, let me know.     The price will be right since this is my first offering, and I would be thrilled to sell any of them as registered Shetlands.

All my thanks to Garrett Ramsey for his assistance with my itty bitty flock and for his addition to my "breeding program"   -----   small as it may be and for selling us Little Beaver, our wonderful black and white Cardigan Welsh corgi.

Three cogris and a new friend

 Garrett stopped by on one of his transportation runs.     He was delivering this puppy to Indiana.

Zippy was happy to meet someone that looked like him.

The whole group ran around for a while and then decided to spend some time at rest in the only shade they have in their yard.    Of course the resident cat had to join them.

 The new lamb is not happy with her new home, but I hope she will grow to love us.   I think Garrett said she is from F1 Holly stock through her father.   She gets to meet our lambs who can run around outside of her pen.

We are not happy with the heat; neither are all the animals----- cows, sheep and dogs.

Meg's twins

 Last two lambs for this year.

Meg had twin ram lambs last night.    Thank heaven it was an uneventful birth.    I know she did not think so, but for me, if all goes well, it is uneventful.   The twins are not the same color, but I will have to look at the chart to see what I will call them.    They do not have horn buds, but I can feel something on the tops of their heads.    I guess I will have to see what develops.    They are quite flashy, and one is smaller than the other.     That's it for lambing at High Ridge.

Minnie Me

I think her name will be Minnie Me.    She is a carbon copy of her mom, hence mini me, with a new spelling to honor my maternal grandmother, the farm wife, Minnie Lauer.   I can't get enough of watching the two of them together.   Cleo is the most possessive of the three moms so far, and Minnie is on her like glue.   Of course, today, Minnie is more adventuresome, and Cleo is a little more lenient.  I guess my  excess interest in these lambs is tied to the fact that I haven't had lambs in some years, and the fact that only four of them were bred.

 I am not getting much done these days.   Oh, well, it is cold and rainy today and too wet to plant my few remaining plants.    The way it is going, I am beginning to wonder if we will still get another temperature below freezing.

Cleo's time has come.

Here is Cleo's shaela gulmoget ewe lamb.   She was born this noon.   Unfortunately her twin brother was stillborn.    I am more than thrilled with her.   Cleo feels the same.   Sorry her eye is closed.   I guess she is camera shy.    It won't be long if things continue along  -- that she will join the three other little girls in the pasture.

The other three are growing and racing around with many fancy leaping maneuvers included in the routine.   Two out of three of them are very friendly  --- bordering on pesky.    But........I love them that way.    Cleo's little one is unnamed, but I am working on keeping her friendly and easily handled.

Becky's girls must be very strong --- they reproduced themselves very well.    They gave me two beautiful lambs.

Meet Juni B

Well, Darla did a great job, too.    This is Juni B, her single ewe lamb from this morning.   She is good sized being a single -  weighs about 8 pounds.     My weighing mechanism is not "state of the art".   Beth, my friend who is visiting, helped, and between the two of us, the weight may be a bit inaccurate.    But Juni B is a might bigger than Toonces from Pia.    Juni B is the spittin image of her mother and super friendly just like her mom.

Thanks, Becky, for selling Darla to me.    She is a real precious ewe, and now she has a daughter at my house.  I am so happy to have a healthy ewe lamb delivered with no help from me.

Finally..........

Finally we have lambs at High Ridge.   Pia  had a set of ewe lambs yesterday.   They are a pound and a half different in weight, but both seem to be doing fine.    She did great for a new mother, since the whole thing was a total surprise to me.   Pia was my lamb who broke her leg when she was just months old.    Their dad is Bailey's, who Bubba resembles in color except for the stray white hairs on her head.   They are named Toonces and Bubba,  after our two cats that we had for nearly 20 years. 

 Darla is showing signs this morning of pre-labor, so maybe these two will have some playmates soon.

Bare Naked Ladies

There they are  --   my own version of Bare Naked Ladies, and I couldn't be happier.  They became bare naked yesterday, and everyone survived the whole situation.   AND.........everyone even got moved into their respective outside pens.    Four ladies and two gentlemen had been inside since breeding in December and January.    I decided to just leave them inside until after shearing, and it worked out OK.

This afternoon I had such a wonderful time.    The girls are allowed to go into the garage into a pen.   I opened up the pen to the other side of the garage where I set up my skirting table.    I had gates over the opening of the garage so there was lots of light.   The girls wandered around while I worked.    The four girls from the barn spent most of the time with me.     Becky's Darla was on me like three coats of paint.    Pia from Nancy was next.   What a peaceful restful afternoon, and we get to order a pizza for supper.    What more could I ask for?

And...yes;, that is my Christmas tree they are snacking on.   The tree seems as fresh as the day we bought it.     What are they doing to the trees these days?    I remember bare naked trees being taken out of the house after Christmas.    Different.

Finally here are the three entertainers.  Jake has his regular recliner back, and the kids think that they can sit there, too.  Jake is back at work since Valentine's Day,  one month at light duty, and two days, so far, of regular work.   It has been difficult for him since he is still in considerable pain. 

AND, the weather here is beyond belief.   You sweat if you work outside.    It seems we don't do anything in moderation here in Wisconsin..............only extremes!

Kitty Kamo

This is our version of "Caturday" one day early.    (I don't know how to spell our kitty's name.  ((update)) It is Kitsci)   It means 'little' in Hungarian.    Anyhow..........I had some old fleeces that had not been washed and were several years old.    I decided that the outside kitties could sleep warmly on the former back porch room that is now enclosed with plastic and used for storage of outside dog furniture.   I found this kitty on this chair just lying on a folded towel.   I decided to add a fleece and see if she would sleep in it.    She did, and she promptly disappeared because she matched the color of the fleece.    I am sure she was warmer that way because it has been her bed for several nights now.   We call it Kitty Kamo.

First Baby of 2012

It's a girl and her name is Sadie.    She wasn't planned, but here she is.    We knew she was coming and had her mom in the barn with another late baby and her mom.   She was up and nursing by the time I got into the barn this morning.     Happy me!  She got the small calf jacket, but she is bigger than I thought she was.    A regular black calf jacket will be replacing this red one soon.  

We are enjoying a week with Jake's mom and sister.    They came up to deliver a Staffordshire to Minneapolis for breeding.    They took the bitch up there yesterday, and we have the rest of the week to just do our thing.    It is great to have them to talk to for an extended period of time.    We only see them at holidays and special events.    The little school house has three dogs and two people filling it up this week.   It is serving it purpose quite well.   They also came and ran the farm and the "kennel" while we were at the hospital for the knees.    We really did not get to spend much time with them then.   This is a special time since Jake is not home like this normally.   It was nice that Sadie arrived this week.

I hope that Sadie's arrival is the first of many uneventful calf and lamb births at High Ridge this year.

New Year and Other Things

Here is all that is new at High Ridge Farm.    Jake's two new knees are well enough to have three Corgi's sitting on his lap.   When he first came home, he couldn't even handle Lady who is always first to get up on his lap.    Now Zippy spends the most time there, but he needs the chair lowered a little to make the jump.    Beaver is just happy to get up there once in a while.    I am just happy that we have made it three weeks today, and all is well.   I am handling all the barn duties, and Jake can operate the Bobcat since Saturday.    We are good to go now.    He is almost ready to drive the car and is doing his own physical therapy per Mayo clinic.  

Wisconsin weather has been odd, but today it is COLD just like is usually is.