I just love this picture…..

Well, let me tell you a little story. Remember my car, Gunnar? The black Taurus wagon? The one that I never could get running right?

Yeah, that one. The one on the left.

Well, I sold him.

I just could never come up with the money to get him fixed, again, and I finally decided it was time to unlock my stupid obsession with this car and unblock a little bad “car”ma and just cut the cords of this bittersweet and bad relationship.

Sure, a non-running car is not exactly going to make you rich, but it did give me a little extra cash, cash to take care of bills, stock up the larder a bit, order stock for the holiday rush and buy a used second freezer for the farm.

But one thing I decided. I was going to do something for me. And for the girls… but really, mostly for me. I was going to set aside a small bit and I was going to get my flock back. It was one of the dreams I had for Windhaven, a small flock of Shetland sheep…. and it just needed to be. And I found a wonderful lady in Michigan, Deb, who needed to thin her herd a bit for the winter. She had just too many mouths to feed on her budget. And she will have more on the way in the spring, so it just made sense for her to put the word out on Craigs that she needed a good home for a few of her little sheepies…

So, this slightly misty Monday morning, Jessy and I set out on a road trip to go and fetch a few for the farm. Maggie wanted to sleep in, and that was fine. I like being able to go out and about with one kid or the other sometimes, it’s nice to have a little time to be a pair and chat, laugh and plan. Jessy wanted to take pictures and just thought it would be fun. And it was.

It took a while, nearly 120 miles and a few hours travel. Once we got there, a pleasant little homestead farm, all neat and tidy, with a wonderfully kind couple who ran the place and a bunch of Shetlands and kitties… oh yeah and bunnies! Angora bunnies! Seems to be a theme here… woolies and bun buns! Jessy was delighted to say the least and was snapping pictures of the very cute little barn kitties and we got a nice tour of the bunnery and the flock!

The sheep and the cats got along famously, and it was so sweet to see how the sheep were so friendly and in-tune with their shepherd parents! I knew it was going to be really hard to just single out a few, but we started to look through and learn who was who and which ones were available and all that. My budget was small, but they didn’t mind. I was hoping that I could get at least three, that seems to be a good number.

Deb knew my budget and she said to pick out 4! I was so thrilled… and I selected two yearling ewes, and two lambs, a little ewe lamb and a wether.. (A nuetered ram) I thought it would be cool to have a little wether with horns, just one of those things that would be kind of neat. I backed up old Blue and we got started catching and loading the little dickens. The lambs were about 4 months old, and I have to tell you, I think the dogs are bigger then they are! You can pick them up and hold the little guys in your arms like a baby! I got a little pair of twins, the lambs… so darling.

Well, I was coming back after taking the little boy lamb to the car and Deb says to me… would you like the third lamb? Free? With the others? I was floored… would I? Oh, do fish swim in the ocean??? She wanted him to go with his little lamb friends, they had all grown up together and well, he would be the only youngster in the flock. She thought it would be best. He was a month younger than the twins, another little wether. Oh boy, was I in heaven, all the way home! Haha…

Loaded up, I peeled Jessy away from her kitty camera safari and we hit the road. We stopped at Arby’s and got a little lunch in the car. It was so funny to see the expressions on other patrons as they did a double take at the station wagon loaded with sheepies! Haha… it always ended with a smile and we had a few good giggles over that.

On the way up, we had seen a really cool cider mill, one of those family orchards that clearly had developed into THE fall family destination with rides and trains and ponies and playground and several different sales areas for pies and cider and wine and crafts…. oh my! But one of the things we were really interested in was the mining sluice!!! Yes, a real water driven mining gold pan sluice for kids to search for rock and mineral treasures in their bags of dirt they could buy in the gift shop!

Jessy snooped and examined the whole situation, taking a bunch of pictures and marveling at their set up. We would like to consider doing something like that, here at the farm. For birthday parties and summer fun visits to the farm. An extension of our rock business. We already sell the enriched bags of treasure dirt, we just don’t have a water sluice!

Isn’t this a cool idea for a windchime? I’m thinking something like this in the back pasture, near the windchime tree! It would be so cooooool!

The flock took a little break from the driving to nosh on a little hay from the old homeplace. I am pretty sure this was their first big adventure from their birthplace, but they were handling it calmly and with ease. A few little baaaas here and there, but really calm and just looking around, watching the scenery, of course, smelling our hair and occasionally checking us out. I was totally surprised to find that everyone had followed my pre-flight suggestion of a piddle stop and NO ONE peed in the car!!! Yeah!!!! Blue just doesn’t need any more livestock piddling… let me tell you!

This little darling we are calling Molly. We decided to name the three lambs, Scottish names. So we have Molly, and Angus and Fergus. Angus is the dark carmel faced older lamb and Fergus is Molly’s white faced brother. The two yearling ewes are going to be Iris and Ivy. Mostly due to the fact that they look pretty similar and are sisters, if I remember correctly. Half sisters certainly. And I like the idea of naming my girls with plant names, in the same letter combo, so that I can always remember who came with whom. Like Lilly and Lilac. There IS a rhyme to my madness here….

Taking them back to the sheep shack was a little like that logic puzzle with the river, the farmer, the sheep, wolf and hen! After thoughtful consideration, we decided to take the twins first. I just love this photo of my dear daughters and their armful of little woolies! So Fergus and Molly went back to the shack. Jessy stayed and we went and got Angus, and left the two yearlings in the car, so nether would be upset. Angus was a bit tubbier, so Maggie and I took turns carrying him back to the shack! He was very happy to be with his little lamb buddies. And then Maggie and I went back for Iris and Ivy. We used our rope halters and it was the first time they had ever experienced such a thing. (So Deb had told me) And of course, being sheep, it was big time drama over such an outrage. They jumped from the car with a bit of a tug, and then promptly flopped on the ground in such diva acts of drama it was pretty funny. Having learned about sheep drama from before, we just waited a few moments until Iris lifted her head up and bit and said, “Oh hey, grass….” and was laying in the courtyard nibbling grass. Maggie was laughing and she lifted her up to nudge her along. Of course, she took about three steps and flopped down like she was in such terrible agony that no ewe had EVER endured! Ivy just refused to get up until I propped her up and got her to take a few steps.

Now, if it had been nice out, I might have just let them loose in the middle yard and brought out a lawn chair to watch. But I am getting smarter at all this. Confinement is not a bad thing. Not on the first day. Confinement establishes a home, safe base for new animals. Gives them a safe, smaller place to watch the goings on instead of running around amok and confused. So we just took our time in the lightly falling rain to give the diva ewes several encore performances after a few steps forward. You just gotta love sheep to appreciate this funny habit of theirs.

I considered carrying them until I realized that Ivy was a bit to heavy and wiggly for me. I did learn that standing behind her was much more effective and would gain me about 5 steps forward instead of 2 or 3. Maggie got Iris to the paddock first and once released, she was absolutely perfectly happy to walk around and check out the new digs. The babies really liked having their older sisters there to complete the whole flock.

I didn’t want them to be afraid of us, so I got the grain pan and put a handful of sweet feed in it. They were busy checking out the shack and nibbling on a flake of hay, but I went to the door and shook the pan a little and showed them all the sheep candy inside. They all eyed me with this look of uncertainty… the mamas had told them all about strangers with candy! But then little Fergus took a long look at me and then the grain and said, oh, she looks nice enough and he came right out and started to nibble from my hand. Next thing you know, Angus, the other lamb wether came out and took a bit. Pretty soon I had them all out, nibbling and accepting pats and little rubs under their chins. Were we best friends? No, far from it. But they were on the right path to learning that I wasn’t so bad. That was a great first step.

It was raining pretty hard by the time we were all done and the girls deserted me for dryer locations. The little sheepies all decided that the sheep shack was pretty darn cool, and were inside quick enough to lay in the straw and chew a little cud. Probably to chat among themselves about this new and weird predicament they were now in. Cody came over and watched some of the sheep show, and gave a little pony snort and walked off to his barn for shelter. He did like a handful of sweet feed with his evening hay, though, and was a sweet boy and nibbled my arm with his little love kisses. He’s an easy to please man. Warm, dry barn, a little grass hay and sweet feed, with a good scratching from his two leg gal, and he is one happy little pony boy. I love when he gives his last kiss and then goes over to his hay bed and lays down. He’s happy and content. I like that.

Soaking wet, tired from the long day and just a happy camper, I finally gave up the ghost and came inside to find Jessy brushing out Gwendolyn in the warm screen porch. And it hit me… I do believe her bunny is dang near as big as little Molly!!!! Maybe not as leggy, for sure, but arm hold mass… oh my! Haha… those little lambs are just so adorably teeny and cute as a button! Tomorrow we will be checking the fences like nuts for any little teeny spots for the twins to squeeze through!!! I know they can’t go into the courtyard because the stick fence has a few little gaps in it. And we need to make sure the garden gate is nice and secure. We had finally gotten it goat safe, but I think the little lambs MIGHT be able to squeeze through. So, they will be in the paddock until we get that secured first.

And since they were not on pasture at their first home, we will be only giving them a little time out to graze for a bit tomorrow, to give their bellies a chance to adjust. Sheep are a little touchy and it’s best to give them a chance to ease into new foods and surroundings. It’s supposed to be really nice out tomorrow, a little rain the early morning and then all the way up to 69 degrees! A heat wave! We would like to get a few things done before the girls grandparents come up for a visit on Friday! So we will probably let them out in the middle yard for a little look around and a bit of grazing. We will also be starting grain bucket training ASAP… I want to make sure they know how to come when they are called… even if the caller is a little tin pail of sweet feed!

Well, I wanted to share the day’s adventures with everyone… I am off to sleep and count new little sheepies in the Windhaven flock! Sweet dreams everyone!!!