Hyrum's sheep

This big guy has a name. 

I must ask Hyrum

Several years ago, on my daily walks,  I came upon a special place. 

Maybe you will remember my telling you about a very special family.

https://ginaceramics.blogspot.com/2014/11/cairns.html

A family of 8 children,  all of them born at home, 

all of them home schooled. 

They built these cairns. 

They built them just because.

That was six years ago.  All have grown up.  All of them,  boys and girls alike,  have joined the Spring City Volunteer Fire Department and all of them are  certified EMT's. 

One of the children and now a handsome young man,  comes by and helps me for an hour a week. 

Hyrum also helps other locals, works in the local Cafe, and goes to college on top of that.  All this he does on his bicycle.  

Other family members are just as hard working. 

We work together. Hyrum is always finished before I am,  

On his own he begins a new chore. 

Hyrum works harder and more intelligently than 10 others.  

And why am I showing you these sheep?  

They are Hyrum's and I am taking care of them for a little while, 

long enough for them to eat the field bare. 

All I have to do is brake the ice every morning in their water trough. 

The sheep are doing me a favor.  They are grazing down the field next to the house.  Reducing the chance of the field catching on fire. 

Speaking of fire....

Happy Thanksgiving, 

Gina 

Are you staying warm?

They're warm.

They're wearing expensive fur coats. 

I'm leaving mine in the closet.

We are heading South of the Border, and soon. 

Have a great weekend my dear friends. 

Gina 

Snow, the Artificer.

Adds an extra bit of sparkle to my walks.

Everything gets a dusting of pearls, white satin and crystals.  

Remember the Builders of the cairns from last Summer?

here

Built by 8 talented brothers and sisters of one family?

Now their masterpiece is hiding under the snow, 
waiting for Spring to come so that they can shine once more.  

Clouds are gathering, more snow is coming.  

Just in time to sparkle and shine for the New Year.  

Thank you my dear friends for your friendship. 


Gina 

A Thousand sheep had disappeared

Lucky for the Owner 

All Thousand found their way into one of our pastures. 

Yesterday morning was very cold.  It was still dark.  The sheep were covered with snow when I found them. 
It was minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit this morning, that is minus 30 degrees Celsius.   

Their thick coats kept them warm. 

 I didn't want to get too close.  I didn't know if they had their big Australian sheepdogs with them.  The big ram already had his eyes one me even though it was still quite dark.  

The sheep were only a field away from our house.  We had gone for a walk with the dogs the day before and left one of the gates open.  They found the opening, and thank goodness, not the frozen pond.  

Later in the morning the sheep were moved to our northern pasture where they have more feed and will, in a couple of days, be loaded up into trucks and taken to Desert Country where they will winter over.  

Now everyone is happy. The sheep are safe.  The Farmer is relieved and I'm back in my warm house.  

Have a warm and cozy remainder of the week my dear Friends. 

Gina 

When the Barometer falls

So do the Lambs.

Sheep have been sheared.

Our Farmer friend watches each Yew carefully.

Most of his sheep will give birth in the next 2 weeks.

Some have come early.  Mostly triplets. 

Yews and their Lambs all wear the same red numbers for a little while.  Yews sometimes have to be convinced that they can take care of  twins and even triplets. 

A few years ago Mr G and I were asked to do the lambing for only one day.  It was hard work.  We're  not standing in line to sign up for the job.

This little fellow is very happy receiving a little extra care.  Our Farmer friend knows how to hold them just so.  They are perfectly comfortable being tucked under his arm with their little feet dangling in the air.

Soon they will all go up to the mountains where they will spend the summer 
in the high alpine meadows. 

Have a wonderful weekend my dear 
Blogging Friends,

Gina 

Down the country Lane

There sits a Country House at the end of a country lane

That changed our lives forever

At the beginning of this lane you will see many newly born lambs.  This one will spend the summer on the big mountain.  He wears red numbers on his back so he won't get lost.

 This is where I stop my bicycle...it is always shady and cool.

Next is the old Allred Farm.

I couldn't resist, the photo was a natural.

Farmer Allred has passed on.

Little Lambs are growing up in other places.

And at the end of the lane is the Crawforth  House. 

See the inset?  That is how I found it. 

In my years of working for my clients in the oil business, I spent many days checking mineral ownership records in county courthouses and I also spent many years traveling Highway 89.  A highway that begins in Canada and goes all the way to the Mexican border. 

The house had been empty for more than fifty years.  There were no doors or windows.  Sheep and livestock, pack rats, badgers and squirrels had taken the place over. Yet I still wanted this beautiful old stone house.  I could see the possibilities.  It had just the right amount of windows and the architecture was classic and clean. 

No matter how I pleaded and how I begged the man would not sell it. 

 So we bought a 100-year-old farmstead in the same town.  It had also been neglected. We spent our weekends in the country restoring the farm and lived in the big city during the week. 

Our property had a beautiful old barn and an acre for a large vegetable and flower garden.

In an empty lot, across the street stood an old log cabin.  I bought it for $500.

The sheep had lived in it.

But I wanted it, so we moved it over on a flatbed.

I wanted it for our guests.

We spent many weekends enjoying the country life. We worked hard and we played hard. 

And then one day, four years later, the Gentleman who owned the beautiful but abandoned old stone house, called to say that he was ready to sell it to me. 

We were still living in the big city during the week and didn't see how we could take on the task of restoring another farmstead.

Instead we told our friends that the house was now available. 

I had offered the Gentleman $20,000 he now only wanted $7,500.  One of our friends from the city decided to take on the formidable task.

Renovation Style Magazine, September 2001

Our friend Scott has completely restored the entire property, the main house, the carriage house and root cellar.

The beautiful old stone house has seen many happy occasions and one thing is for sure, the house found its rightful owner.

And when Scott had finished restoring his farm house, Farmer Allred came visiting, sitting on his tallest mule he took off his hat, placed it over his heart and he said

"I came a'calling" 

Now, that is not the end of the story.

Soon I will tell you the rest of the story.  How my saddle, made by the famous saddle maker, Jim Kelly of Cody Wyoming,  changed our lives once again.

Happy weekend to you my dear

Blogging Friends.

Gina

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

George, my little Toughie

I named him George, he needed a tough name.

I found George next to his dead mother. George had not been by his mother the day before.  No doubt he had tried to get nourishment from other yews. They had all rejected him, as it is in nature.

Now he was in trouble. On my morning walks I noticed his mother a few days earlier. She didn't look right. I made a mental note that she did not have a lamb, thankfully. BUT I WAS WRONG.

I recognized the brand but could not locate the Rancher. When I came home I asked Gene to get a ladder and a shovel. We were either going over or under the tall wire fence enclosure.  He was very dehydrated. I rubbed him down with water and forced him to drink a little. He did not move.

I have raised several bummers. Bummers are newly born lambs who have been rejected by their mothers or who have lost their mother during the birthing process. I know of a special formula. It consists mainly of molasses, salt, baking soda and warm water.

It had worked well in the past. However, little George was not improving. He is probably the only lamb that has been chauffeured to the Vet in a Mercedes. The Vet gave me lots of encouragement but that was all.

George smelling poppies, he must be getting better.

All Bummers go back into the barn for the night. 

George slowly improved.  Now I could feed him a special lamb formula, rich in nutrients. He spent his days at his beach house and his nights in the barn.  As soon as my Bummers get healthy and strong I give them back to the Farmers.  This one was hard to let go.

Have a great weekend my dear Blogging Friends.

Gina