Gideon overseeing Maggie fixing the courtyard fence. He is very inquisitive about what goes on here at the homestead. And Maggie doesn’t mind at all. We finally got our homemade latch to work nicely, so no more baling twine! haha… Another card done.

This is sweet Iris… she is my favorite ewe. She is very delicate and just shy, but once she likes you, she really likes you. She has really bonded with Gideon, they are very good pals. I think perhaps it’s because she is probably blind in one eye, it’s cloudy and you can wave your hand near it and she won’t flinch, like the other. I think she likes having a ram around to keep an eye out for her. (We named her Iris before we knew she was blind in that eye… she’s named after the flower, haha… weird huh?)


Part of the reason I love Shetland sheep, aside from their wonderful wool, is their sweet little personalities. They are a hardy, friendly little sheep. Like little Hobbit sheep! And Angus, our little whether, is becoming super friendly. All the boys in our flock are big doll babies and that is normal with the breed. Maggie is giving Angus his daily sheepie rub and tickle. He loves the attention and will let you go on forever if you want.

Mamma Noel cuts quite the noble expression in the sunlight. She is a funny ewe. She has this sort of reluctant leader thing that she does, but I think she secretly enjoys it. She has gotten a LOT friendly since we got Gideon, it’s almost like she can relax now that he’s here to protect the herd. She actually comes over to me and I kind of think she has FINALLY forgotten the whole wheelbarrow ride in the cold rain that brought her to Windhaven! haha…

I thought Gideon might be sick this weekend, because I noticed he was laying down in the sheep shack most of the day. It was kind of odd. But then I realized, he was COLD! haha.. We had a super cold couple days and it even snowed some… just flurries but it was super cold. And he had been sheared before he came to us! Poor Baby! When I called him, he came running, but after he got a little loving and a few animal crackers, he trotted back to his cozy little sheep shack to stay out of the cold wind! Smart boy!

I have to call and make an appointment for our sheep to be sheared soon. I can’t wait, it will be really cool. I have the number of a family that shears in our area, just not sure how much and when and all that. I’m terrible about phone calls, I’m not sure why, I just am! But I see them rubbing and itching and I know that they are ready! I’ll try not to put it off any longer!

We’re getting closer to having the sheep in the big barn all nice and properly. Jr. came down and fixed the big barn doors! One was really fading fast, but he managed to save it with some new cross bracing and some extra siding and such. He secured it so that it no longer opens, which is fine, because the other door is huge enough for our plans. It was in sad shape and this has probably gotten us a few more good years before it will need to be totally replaced. I can’t wait for the weather to get a little warmer so I can paint up the cross beams and stain the rest. I’m so thankful for Jr. and Julia, they are super awesome neighbors and friends! We are pretty resourceful, but there are sometimes just things that are a little hard for us, or we lack the right skills or equipment for, and when that happens, Jr. is our awesome pinch hitter!

The Great Pallet Wall of Windhaven is complete! And I think I have totally rid myself of pallet fever! They are very useful, but at the same time, they are heavy, bulky and sort of hard to work with when they are not very uniform. I suspect that when it is possible, we will probably dismantle this and use them for other things around the farm. But that might be a year or two, so until then, we will keep a good eye on it and utilize it well. We got over 150 feet of fence for about $40 and that included the gas for the trips and such. Problem is, they are a little well, wobbly in places. I probably need a couple more support posts, just to give it a little more strength. Maybe 3 or 4 more. And there are two pallets that little Fergus can fit through! Especially when he is sheared… so I’ll have to add some chicken wire or something to those and stop him from escaping. When he does, the herd gets all funny, because he can’t figure out how to get back and starts baaing.

The girls and I worked today to try and make the back pasture totally secure. We had thought they would stay inside the two sides that were thick with a hedgerow thicket, but the little worts had figured out two little spots to get out! And then we found another spot that we were worried over. So we bought a 150 foot roll of chicken wire, 4 feet tall. It was SUPER less than field fence. And what we did was weave it in and around all the brush and shrubs of the hedge. We stapled it to a few solid trees, and then used some tiewraps to secure it to heavy brush. And then we started to trim some of our trees that needed it and are dragging those big branches and limbs in front of the wire, but into the thicket in those three spots. We’re getting closer. We actually let the ponies out there this evening and sat and watched them. Cody could care less about leaving, but Domingo trotted the perimeter a time or two and was not very interested in trying to brave the raspberry brambles, hawthorne bushes and trees and the wild grape vine that is all entangling the hedge. Not to mention the ditch. I suspect the ponies will not even give it a try, but the sheep are a different story. They slowly graze closer and closer to the hedgerow and when trying to reach little tender shoots, they just sort of notice… “hey, I could fit under this if I wiggle and sort of bend funny….” yeah. And then what one does, they all do within 4.5 seconds. Now, the limbs will entangle those would-be wigglers and then if they get by those, then encounter the wire fence and it’s just no fun. I hope it will be enough.

If I had an extra couple grand laying around, I would be doing some serious fencing around here. Fencing is the one thing that is such a challenge with a small farm. If you want multiple rotational pastures, the cost of posts and fencing is just really high. We have about half of the place properly fenced now. Another portion is slightly hill-billy in nature and then some is just not fenced. We can’t really utilize the eastern back pasture yet, but that’s in the plans. And up front, we have two fairly large areas that really should be fenced and utilized since they are full of good green thick grass and I hate mowing when you have hooved eating machines! All in good time… hopefully within the month. We’ll see how that goes!

We managed to get the new dog yard door up and working… Jr. had to make it perfect for us, but Maggie and I got most the way done! It is SO much nicer now. They can not escape and that gives us a lovely bit of peace of mind. And that old screen door was SUPER UBER nasty! We have two others that we want to replace with real nice old wooden screen doors, but that is on the list still. We didn’t go with a screen door on this one because the dogs are just super rough on screens. We’ll paint it up soon as the weather is a little warmer and it will be just perfect. It’s actually been nice to put the dogs outside for good lengths of time… even Evee is enjoying resting on some straw in her pathway area, watching the sheep and ponies and getting more comfortable with the collection of critters. Ratchet likes to sit in that green chair, it’s pretty funny actually. He doesn’t really like dirt apparently. I’d like to make him a little PVC resting platform because I think he would love that. Someday!

It looks a little weird right now, but our rock garden is starting to take shape. This is all the smaller rubble from the poultry barn rehab… it was the left overs from taking out those two side concrete tables that were pushing out the walls. Jeremy and his buddy Chris worked two long days to move all that rubble out, wheelbarrow load by load! This area at the end of the screenporch is very very shady and wet. And nothing really grows there but mud. And there is a big iron cover and this vent pipe from something called a grease pit. (It’s not really being used anymore but it’s too expensive to try and remove…) So… I got this idea. We are going to arrange the rubble in an artsy sweep, and then get a few nice bigger rock from our collections and the local stone yard that we visit often. And then we will also get some nice river rock, a bag or two at a time, and start to make some neat patterns and such. And we’ll find some neat garage sale artifacts in iron or steel to add to our little rock garden area. Maybe a few hostas here and there, a little greenery… and poof! Problem solved on many levels! No more mud pit, something to do with the rubble, and hide the grease pit cover and pipe with some cool farm artifact or something so people won’t walk into it anymore!!! Way cool…

Well, we had a nice peaceful weekend here, just sort of did a little work leisurely and mostly just got out and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It’s been a little cold here and there, but it’s not been raining cats and dogs either, so that is a real blessing! We managed to get one of our strawbale beds finished, planted with potatoes, onions and garlic and that was awesome! I have a bunch more to keep at, and will be trying to get those done over the next couple weeks. We’ve mostly got little jobs and projects at the moment, just trying to finish up a few needs and get the place super ready for the nice spring weather and summer to come! The bunnies are doing well, and so are most of the chickens and such! Just wonderful here… beautiful…