Boys Will (no longer) Be Boys

NS Orion (Slammy), NS Pollux (Luxy), and Gunsmoke (Gunny)These are not happy boys this afternoon, in fact, they are not truly boys any longer. That is - their chances of ever being daddies are gone.... Yep, Russ, our vet, arrived at nine to do the dasterly deed. Dear friend Beth (thanks, woman) assisted Russ at the business end and I (wimp that I am) sat on the ground holding their heads. It was about 15 degrees in the barn and Russ was sorry that he said we could do it here. My original intent was to take them to the clinic but this worked out great. This picture was taken about three hours after the neutering and, as you can see, they are up and doing fine. A little subdued, but eating and doing their bodily functions like they should.

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While Russ was here, he did ultrasounds on the four girls. We think they are all pregnant but he drew blood on Sonata for a Progesterone reading cause he wasn't positive. If she is pregnant, she is due next September. The other three, Ariana, Lady Belita, and Celeste are due in June and July.

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Imagine four little cria running around here next year. I will probably bore you with tons of pictures and bragging.

New Pony?

Oh, my, a new adventure here. We are going to look at this Haflinger mare on Friday. Daisy Duke, 4 year old, quiet, 850 pounds, trail safe. Since we had to have Smitty's Haflinger, Thor, put down last summer, he has really been missing his own equine friend. I'm betting we will be bring this little girl home unless something is seriously not right.
I'm pretty excited because she has been ridden English and jumps. Oh, a dressage pony! How great would that be!
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Can't you just imagine how excited the granddaughters will be?

Rammin' Around This Morning

Whew! what a morning in the barn. When we finished with the poop scooping, husband asked for my help. Now you must realize, we are amateurs and have only had sheep since mid summer, and that I leave sheep business up to him. The help needed was to move the ram from one end of the barn in with the two ewes, leaving Danny, the whether, where he was - and - to move the two lambs who were in with the ewes to stay with Danny - BECAUSE it's breeding time! You would think this would be relatively simple, however, no one had ever had a halter on before.
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We caught Aries, the ram, and while Smitty held him I got his halter on. Actually, it wasn't that simple because it was on and off a few times for buckle adjustment while Smitty is bent over holding the guy. He doesn't get on his knees often because they are both artificial. That's Smitty's knees, not Aries. Now it's time to lead him about 150 yards. I pushed, Smitty pulled.
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OK, so now we are ready to move the lambs who actually look full grown and probably weigh about 60 pounds. Haltering goes great but they absolutely refuse to be led and we can't get ourselves into the push - pull positions because we are trying to move two. Well, Phoebe slips her halter, so now she's moving great but all over the indoor arena. I could just see Smitty thinking to hell with it, he grabs Maddy who I'm leading, and with considerable effort picks her up and deposits her in the pen with Danny, goes back into the arena, catches and picks up Phoebe and dumps her.
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I'm all anxious to go watch the breeding process but it's not really happening. Aries is making these cooing noises and doing a tongue thing in their faces but they are just running off.
Back in Danny's pen, he's terrified of these two little girls and when I left to come in, he was cowering in the corner.

Marianne's Yarn

I am always stunned when I'm out visiting folks on their blog and stumble across my name or some of my yarn. I found this picture this morning when I was visiting Marianne's blog. I hadn't visited in a while and, oh my, has she been making some lovely stuff. You know how some people you just feel connected to? well, that's my feelings with her. Well, plus she is sort of a farm girl, has horses, kids - the good things in life. And did I mention Marianne lives way over in the Netherlands?

Morning Barn Chores

This is the view from my kitchen this a.m. at 7:20 just before I bundled up to do barn chores. I am the luckiest woman in the world to be healthy and able to enjoy and contribute to my small part of the world. Just to be able to say "I'm off to do barn chores" makes me smile. Waiting for me with all their baaing, humming, and nickering are 4 horses (you can just sort of see Cord in the fence on the right), 11 alpacas, 3 kitties, and 6 BabyDoll sheep.
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I'm off to do barn chores. ☺

Present for Myself - Goddess Pendant

Look what just arrived in the mail..... I ordered it for myself. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's glass, created by Molly in Pennsylvania. It came with a lovely choker that fastens magnetically, just the ticket for these arithitic fingers. I love it so much that I just ordered two similar for the daughters as Christmas presents. (Feeling pretty safe 'cause I think they never read their Mom's blogging ramblings.)
Take a look at the lovelies in Molly's store now that I have my choices ordered. (heh, heh). Her shop is called M.SotherdenArtGlass.

Happy Thanksgiving

Our first snow on the way to do morning chores.