Brockhaus Petting Zoo

The Brockhaus Petting Zoo, or, as otherwise known, more work for the farmer's wife.    There are five ram lambs and two calves, in the background.   This could also be titled, "Why there was so much noise on Tuesday night and Wednesday during the day".    Weaning took place, but everyone is doing better now.   Of these lambs, the four in the front are from our farm, and the one in the background is Casey from Kelly at OK Acres.    I have great plans of his adding some grey color next spring.   The two calves were abandoned by their mothers in the space of two days and became our bottle babies.    The two species just ignore each other.    They have an elaborate set-up in the garage to allow for different feeding for sheep and calves.   I think they have a pretty good deal going.

The lamb on the right is Campbell, and he may get to stay and be more than a companion for Casey.    Time will tell.

AAA---Alien Abduction Alert!!!

Poor Zippy said that he was abducted by aliens yesterday morning when we were at church.    He said  that when he regained consciousness, he was in this position-- behind bars in the kitchen.   Doesn't he look pathetic?

This barrier is set up specifically because of him since the cat food is on a shelf in the top left hand corner of the picture.    We have no idea how he gets into this position, so I guess the alien thing will have to be our story, too. 

 Although I had not planned on it, that corner of the kitchen is nice and clean now.    Everything got moved and changed.   I found an old wash stand that belonged to Jake's grandparents and filled all the drawers and shelves.   Jake moved the refrigerator, and things look much better now.    I wonder where the aliens will put Zippy the next time they visit...............

Green acres

 This post is just .....'how it is today'...... for my friend in Hungary who has not seen it for more than five years.  

 This is the view from the road.   Poppy and Virginia, yesterday's calf, are the closest cows on the hill.

This is just a field.  Jake has been through it once, but, like the rest of the farm, none of it is planted yet.   No corn this year just soy beans and alfalfa if all goes well.

 This is Holly and Vinnie in the middle of the shot.   He was born this morning early.  They weren't close enough to get good pictures.  He is still trying to figure just exactly where the "milk bar" is located.

 These are some of my girls and their lambs.   They are growing so fast.   My special friend, Coco,  is on the far right.

 These are two of my little lawn mowers.   Willie and Johnny, I think..    No trimming is needed around the sheep pasture.   When the lambs were real young,  they went in and out of the pasture on this side whenever they pleased.

 My handsome twins.   Campbell in front and Carrie to the left of him.   Their mom is to the left of Carrie and back some.

This is the 'forest' and the dog yard.   Grass needs mowing, for sure, but can't mow when it doesn't stop raining.    This afternoon might be a possibility, but I am off to my knitting group.   Maybe it will be dry enough for a little cutting before I go.

To Peti:   Hope the flooding of the Danube that you mentioned is less than expected.  Our big river has been quite well behaved this year even though we have gotten so much rain.

Finally.............a calf

It sure took long enough!    We have been waiting, not too patiently, for this calf to arrive.   Today she made her appearance.   She was just what I asked for..........healthy, female, and red.   Tonight we observed her nursing, so she is on her way in this new environment.   She will be named Virginia. Her mom is one of the cows that we brought up here when we came from Kenosha.   She isn't young, but she is productive and friendly.

Lambs are growing fat and sassy.   All the sheep look wonderful because all it does is rain which keeps their wool looking good.   Our weather is the exact opposite of last year.    Jake can't even get into the fields to do the planting because everything is so wet.  Best thing about it is that the grass in the pastures is growing like crazy.   We really are "green acres" right now.

Oh, goody!!! New hay!!!

There isn't enough fresh grass in my small pasture to make the girls happy, so they were real enthusiastic about a fresh bale of hay,   The lambs had never had hay this way, so they were excited, too, for the novelty of the experience.  Yes, they all got full of chaff, but they really didn't care.

Look carefully and you will see a white lamb in the bottom of the feeder.    Black gulmoget girl on left. 

These are five of the seven lambs.   Little girl, single, on the left.   Gulmoget twins-- moorit in the foreground and black at the feeder.    Solid moorit single and and one of the white twins.

Maybe the rain or snow tonight will clean them up.   Today it is winter again with lots of wind and spotty showers.    Once I even saw those tiny snow balls when I let the dogs in the house.    Next week we are supposed to have a day in the mid-eighty's.  Go  figure--------Wisconsin!

Carrie & Campbell

Sunday early afternoon brought the last two lambs.    They are Carrie and Campbell.    Carrie is a black gulmoget and Campbell is a moorit gulmoget.    I wish it was the other way around, but can't complain since at least one of them is a ewe lamb.

Here they are getting acquainted with the guy in the next cell.  It is probably Whalan since he is the most outgoing of the "W" twins.

Everyone has a name now.    Denver, moorit ram lamb,  Martina, white with brown spots ewe lamb, Johnny, black ram lamb, Carrie, black gulmoget ewe lamb,  Campbell, moorit gulmoget ram lamb, Whalan, white ram lamb, and Willie, white ram lamb.   It won't be long, and they will be makin' some powerful good music together.

Lambing, so far..............

Wheat had twin ram lambs last Saturday night.    

 Minnie had a single ewe lamb at 7:30 yesterday morning.

 This is a closer picture of my lone ewe lamb.   She is adorable.

 Juni B had a single black ram lamb. Johnny, about two hours later.

 Juni's mom, Darla had a single moorit ram lamb two hours after her daughter from last year.

Whalen and Willie really like basking in the rare sunlight in the front of the garage/lambing barn door.  I put the blanket down, and they promptly settled down for a nap.  I have one ewe yet to lamb.  She is Minnie's mom.  Maybe their line will give me all girls this year.

My herd is very small, so lambing is a real big deal here.   I was so shocked to have three ewes lamb yesterday morning.  The weather was not cooperative, but we managed.  They did most of the work to get them dried and fed and warmed.  Today they are jumping all over their jugs and keeping me from doing anything because I keep running out there to snuggle them.

Their names will reflect their mother's first initial and the names, first or last, of country singers.   Little girl and one boy are not yet named.    Some suggestions have been made, but they have been rejected by the shepherdess.   (All suggestions would be appreciated.  I don't do country music.)

March is here!!!

Here it is................our official photo for 2013.    They all look so sweet in the picture when they are not making a fuss about something.     They really do get along quite well.    They went for a walk a few days ago.   They remember all their commands when walking, but they were not happy when they did not  go out again the next day.   I will be so happy when we can get out every day. 

In the sheep shed:    I am happy to just have my nine poll carrying sheep.    I am hoping for the three mature ewes to lamb this spring.    We will be late, after May first.    I want to be able to go out to check for lambs in the night in my bed clothes.   No cold shepherdess or cold lambs.   I am not breeding for any particular time, so warm weather lambs are just fine here.  One thing I do know is that I will be looking for a new ram for next year.    I need one so that I can breed my lambs from last year.   Right now the next thing on the calendar is shearing and lamb fleeces.     Hooray!

In the house, Jake has had one of his thumbs fixed.    The thumb joint was bone on bone just like the shoulder and knees.   He is doing well having skipped the cast and just jumped to the splint after three weeks in a soft cast post surgery.   On March 25 he may begin being weaned off of the splint.    He does not have pain in the thumb now.    Next year he plans to have the other one fixed.    Then I think he will be done with the arthritis thing.

We have had much snow in February, but I am ready for spring.   I have done a lot of spinning during the winter and knitting also.    I have only knit shawls since they use up a great amount of wool.    I did make a cowl that I liked, also.    I don't spin or knit well, but I enjoy doing the shawls because they are simple to knit.    I have joined a small group that knits at a library on Thursday afternoons in a small town nearby.    It had been lots of fun and the source of many laughs and many new books to read and, best of all, new friends.

This is the first shawl.   It has kept me warm through some cold days this winter.    Since this one, there have been four others.    They are all different colors and have different edges.   The first two were three ply, and the rest are two ply.    Two ply is heavy enough, but I like my heavy one.  Beaver doesn't look particularly happy to be modeling the shawl, but he is still in the same position as I write this.   Guess it can't be too bad.

Everyone here at the farm will be very glad when spring gets here.

'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.