Ever had one of THOSE days??

So, we fixed the fencer and the fence - check!

Time to move the troops. Rams not in the breeding program this year moved to the newly fixed fenced area - check.

Last two breeding groups put together - check

Decided to leave the lambs with the older gals for now - check

Feed my 13 year old ewe, Heidi, her mash - check

Put things away, check gates, etc. - check

Find the entire ram flock not being used for breeding season in the driveway on the wrong side of the newly fixed fence - priceless

(and it only took 45 minutes to round them up and move them into the plan B pen!!!)

It's been 2 days since the pen mishap AND I'm happy to announce everyone is still exactly where I left them.

It's now turned cold out (-18c). Winter is here!! Happy breeding season!!

Warm day in the fall - time to get things done.

Everyone fed, even though they thought they were starving - check.

Gate fixed - check.

Fence rewired - check.

Fencer not working yet - check.

One out of 3 breeding groups put together - check.

Watching ewes act a beautiful, yet pathetic death scene because of a halter - priceless.

Winter in the fall!

We got socked with a snow storm yesterday, 10-12 inches of heavy wet fluffy snow! Roads were slick and with freezing rain later in the evening, people were staying put! I was supposed to go pick up my new ewe lamb and drop off a leased ram at Linda W's yesterday, but I cancelled because of the weather. Today I was supposed to go, but I awoke with the flu. Hopefully next weekend will be better weather.

Although the snow makes everything look so lovely and fresh, I was not quite finished with my fall chores. Today it is warmer, so some of the white stuff is melting, but not fast enough!

I have two new female llamas. The older gal will be bred to my white calico male llama, Bran. The younger may be going to a new home already! If not, I'll be working with her and hopefully training her to be a pack llama.

Maybe I can spin between coughing spells?! Happy Halloween!

Winter, then Fall, then Winter, then Fall again!!!!

The weather is crazy!! -8c has been the coldest so far, but brrrrrrrrrrr ... and still the fall clean up isn't complete. We've had some snow, but it mostly melted today.

We just had the flock vet come out for our annual Scrapie inventory and check. Other than one case of pink eye, one ram that misbehaved and our older ewe's body condition being a little low, all looks good.

I LOVE our flock vet, she's AWESOME!! She is so good with our animals, she even did our guard dog's, Bear, physical and vaccinations while she was here. Mostly because he doesn't not travel well and she scolded me a bit last time she was here. But, how many vets would do such a thing??

I found out that the vet was learning how to felt wool, so I gifted her 1/2 lb. carded Shetland wool from one of our butchered lambs. She gifted me with my very own felted wool lamb!!



So, during the vets visit we found that my dear Heidiwho is now 13 years young, is a bit thin. She is missing most of her teeth, with a few more ready to fall out. We've started her on alfalfa/beet/rolled oat mash and she LOVES it! I'm hoping to put enough weight on her before the weather gets colder. We are now best of friends. I open the feed barn door, she comes in and waits for her mash. It works out great this way so I can keep her pen mates away from her so she doesn't have to fight them for the yummy mixture. When she is done, she looks around, gets some scratches and then walks out. We give her her own little pile of hay that she happilies "gums"!

I'm posting some new pictures of my lambs on the sale blog site. (http://windygrangebreedstocksales.blogspot.com/)

This guy isn't for sale, but I wanted to show him off!

This is Windy Grange Bronte. I'm in love with his fleece. His dam, Fibre Works Fiat, has a more "primative" fleece. His sire, "Willie", has UK genetics and a very crimpy fleece. Bronte is sporting his dams longer fleece with a nice crimp that both dam and sire passed to him. YUM!

Other farm news - our llama, Bran, decided to go for a walk about the yard. He "escaped" and rather than chase him all over, we just let him wander about as long as he didn't head toward the road. Well, when he was done with his walk about, he returned to the gate of his pen and waited until we let him back in. Yay for well behaved llamas!!

What happened to fall?

Flurries yesterday and flurries again today. Cold, cold, cold!!! The vet and I cancelled her visit to inventory/check my flock for the Canadian Scrapie Program and rescheduled for next Wednesday. Come rain or shine - or flurries - we HAVE to get the inventory done.

I still haven't decided which ewe lambs are staying and which are being sold. I haven't decided which ram lambs are staying, which I'm watching until larger and which are being sold. The culls will be put onto grain and in a few months will meet Bob (the butcher). So much to do and so little time.

Did I mention it is cold out??

The inside cats are NOT impressed with the white stuff. I cannot say that I do not blame them. All I wanted was just one more week. ;0)

Hopefully pictures of the lambs and decisions this weekend. Until then, paperwork needs to be done.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends! mmmmmm ... Turkey!!!

Grey Ewe

This past spring I lost my beloved Beatrix to grain overload (bloat). She was a beautiful grey ewe, very shy but adorable. Today I decided to purchase a new grey ewe. Welcome to the Windy Grange Fibre Works Kallisto!

Now to go out and sort this years lambs and get better pictures posted. All this in the high winds that are being threatened by the not so beloved weathermen. Why can't they be wrong on things like high winds??? grrrr ....

Rain, rain, hot, hot ... see the crops grow!

First there was a drought. Then, it rained! and it rained and it rained and it rained ... Okay, it rained over a few weeks 3", but I cannot complain. Now it is hot, hot, hot - again, not complaining! The heat is making the crops grow AND the pastures too!

The pastures that the ewes came off of will be regrown in a few weeks!! The best part is that I have enough grass to put all my Shetlands on until the newer pastures grow back!! (yes, I told my husband he couldn't mow 1 acre of the lawn, but ... )

Last year at this time we were supplementing with hay and started full hay feeding by August 14th. I'm so hopeful that we will make it through to fall without digging into the hay. Speaking of hay, it's delivered and all but 117 bales are stacked in the hay sheds.

What a lovely site!! The ewes & lambs on new pasture!!

So, last year I purchased a Gotland/Finn/Shetland mixed lamb. By 6 months she was nearly the size of the mature Shetlands!! She's lovely and so is her fleece. So, I put my black katmoget ram on her and she had twin ewe lambs. One, a lovely black and the other black katmoget, but look at her, isn't she lovely!! I hope the colour of her fleece stays, what do you think??

Well, need to finish some portable fencing so the boys can have new pasture. Happy summer!

Lambs, ewes and rams ...

It is, afterall, a blog about a Shetland Sheep Farm! :)

I've listed several 2009 lambs and two mature ewes on my other blog (http://windygrangebreedstocksales.blogspot.com/) Take a look and let me know what you think about my lambs.

Windy Grange Farm is also pleased to have brought in a new mature ram, Nier Lakes Emmet S28304! He has Dailley genetics and has a slightly more primative fleece than my other rams. He and my ewes with a similar fleece should produce some lovely lambs.



I've sold off most of this years fleeces and realized I only saved myself ONE!! The few others are for teaching. I did purchase a few fleeces from the Olds Fibre Week Fleece Show and Sale, so I should have enough to keep me busy.

Tomorrow we move hay. I guess I should say, the boys move hay. Because of my lacerated & sutured hand, I'm unable to toss the small bales (and was strongly lectured by the ER doctor not to). So, I get to supervise and to BBQ for the hungry boys. Luckily, we have hay and it's from the producer I like to purchase from. His hay is some of the best in the area!! It always tests at the high ends for protein and other micro/macro nutrients!

Thursday I need to move the ewes and lambs. It's nearing time to seperate the older lambs, but that will have to wait until next week. This week? we are going camping!

Have a happy week.

Quick update ...

Lambing season has come and gone. 27 live lambs and one stillborn to 13 ewes. Since, we've been busy, busy, busy ...

We are in a drought again! I was sure we'd be feeding hay again next week, then the clouds opened up and blessed us with 3 inches of rain over the last week and a half!! Now for a little warmth and the pastures will be in good shape for the Shetlands!! Unfortunately, the hay crop is lacking so some farmers are scrambling to train or truck in hay from the East. I'm fortunate that our neighbour is our hay supplier. He normally bales (small squares) 9,000 but only baled 1,500 this year. Our hay is being picked up Wednesday, now I'm set for the winter - or earlier if need be.

I've also injured my hand. My husband has been after me to use leather gloves, but I so hate wearing any type of gloves when I work. What happen you ask?? Well, I was moving a ram into the trailer and he tried to scoot under the trailer door and, having him by the horns, my hands/arms went with him. I scooted him back under the door to load him into the trailer when I realized I was bleeding. So, in the trailer he goes, the doors get closed and I inform my friend it was time to go to the hospital for sutures.

I spent a week down at Olds College for Fibre Week. http://www.oldscollege.ca/programs/ContinuingEducation/trades-career-studies/fibreweek/index.htm While in Olds I was able to see Linda Wendelboe, who let me come to her farm to see her Shetlands. Thanks Linda! I had a wonderful time chatting, you farm is lovely. It was also great to see and pet a few Shetlands, I always start missing my gals so! I've finally learned to use my wheel properly, so as soon as the hand heals I'll be spinning to the hearts content! I purchased lots of toys, some fleeces and met some wonderful people. I cannot wait to go back next year.

More updates later, but I will leave you with a picture of my orphan ewe lambs. Aren't they lovely?? They are becoming extremely friendly, perhaps I should continue to work with them to be show Shetlands?? Now to find a show ... lol

We took the ewe lambs to a family gathering because I thought my nephews and niece would enjoy seeing and petting them. I found there were more children there, cousins children. The Shetland lambs were a HIT!! I'm still the coolest Auntie "ever"! As you see, they no longer fit in a box, so it's time to find a large dog carrier for them.

While at the family gathering at the lake cabin, a storm blew through. Huge chunks of hail pelted us! I ran in the house, looked out the window to see hail pelting the poor lambs!! My husband and I ran back out into the hail storm to save the poor things! They were very happy to be back in their "box" and out of the hail. When the storm was over, this is what was left.


The pen where the lambs were. Look at the size of that hail!!!

The Adventures of three chicks and a lamb ...

Two chicks were watering the sheep. One ram lamb had a icky looking eye. The two chicks decided to investigate and while one chick went to get antibiotics, the other chick decided to try to catch the lamb. When the chick with the antibiotics returned, the other chick had caught the lamb, but tripped and fell thus releasing the lamb. *sigh*

The two chicks run after the lamb, who hid by his mom and brothers. The two chicks corner the mom and lambs - Yay! Well, the mom escaped with one of the lambs, the other two decided to try to escape through the electric fence thus sending jolts through the one chick. One lamb escaped, but the injured lamb was captured and looked after. Unfortunately, the lamb had a HUGE cut on his eyelid needing stitches, on a Saturday evening - Oy!

So the two chicks put the lamb into the nursery and went to call the vet. She was pissy with the one chick, but agreed to come in but had to emphasize that she charged $100 just to meet at the office - in GP no less!!! *le sigh* So, the two chicks get ready to leave and the third chick decided to come along for the fun.

So, two chicks decide that the pregnant chick should NOT hold the lamb, he may kick her and she is, after all, pregnant! So, the three chicks get into the truck with the lamb and head to GP to see the vet.

Not far down the road the chick with the lambs says the lamb just pooped. "Are you sure?," ask the other two chicks, and she replies, "yes, they hit my foot and bounced off, I am sure." Just then, the pregnant chick opens the window in disgust and states that the smell is so horrid, "... pull over and get rid of the poo or I'm going to puke," so we did.

We giggled the rest of the trip to GP and we were nearly to the vets office this chick with the lamb states, "...my leg is feeling awfully warm, I think the lamb peed on me." "What did you do with the towel I gave you to wrap him in?" the chick in the drivers seat asked. "I think it moved when the lamb tried to kick me..." the chick with the lamb stated. The pregnant chick laughed.

We got to the vet office, in one piece I may add, and the chick in the drivers seat grabs the lamb and jets in to see the vet. The other two chicks join us in the vets office where the one chick says, "I hope you weren't intending to wear your green sweatshirt that was in the truck ..." The three chicks laugh, the vet looked confused.

Then the vet gives the three chicks instructions on the care of the lamb. You try putting ointment into the eye of a lamb that you can hardly catch!! Oh, and the "dye" in the eye of the lamb will not harm his cornea, it is meant for the eyes of sheep! It is, after all, a antiseptic and has a bit of dye in it so you can see that you got it in their eye!! Duh!

During the entire drive to the vet, all three chicks were discussing food. It was late, after all, and we hadn't eaten in a long time. I don't think the lamb was thrilled that we thought of going to the Greek restaurant and offerning him as food was such a nice thing. Meh.

The story ends with the vet fixing the lamb, the three chicks end up with pita's because everything else was closed and the lamb happily returns to his mommy!

Post Note: The lamb's eye is healing nicely and the nice vet used stitches that will dissolve! :0)

PSS ... After writing the Post Note, the said lamb had ripped the corner of his eye and has been back to the vet. She figures it will heal nicely this time and that he hasn't lost much of his eyelid. This time he wet upon my friend Lance! lol Oh, the adventures I have with my friends with my Shetlands!

Thus ends lambing season!!

Our last AI ewe, "Baker", has given us a handsome and large Grey Katmoget ram. He is the size of our one week olds!! Largest to be born on the farm for sure!

27 lambs on the ground with one stillborn. Three sets of triplets, two singles and the rest twins! What a year of lambs for the Windy Grange. We are so excited and pleased that things are going well.

Pictures later, but for now I can relax because lambing season for this year is finished!


Happy Spring!!

Lambing Season not quite finished

Spring has definitely arrived at the Windy Grange. We have 25 lambs on the ground and one ewe holding out for something ... we haven't figured what that something is yet. ;0)

Our oldest ewe gave us triplets, making that three sets this lambing season! One ewe had a single, it was her first year lambing, and all the others had twins.

We lost one beautiful jet black ewe, she was a stillborn and one of the triplets. Her brother and sister are pure white!! We are pleased with the lambs that are such a beautiful variety of colours. Moorit, dark brown, katmogets, black, white and spotted are the colours we have in abundance! One may turn from black to grey, her mom is shaela. I'm still working on the genetics of colour so each year is an experiment!!

Our rams have some great genetics, one being AI with UK genetics. Pictures will be posted soon. If interested in stock, take a look at the Windy Grange Stock Sale blog.

Happy Spring!

What happened???

What happened to spring, summer & fall? This is what we awoke to this morning:


The lambs think it's cool! The 5 ewes left to lamb don't think it is though. I hope they can wait until tomorrow when the temperatures will be warmer and really, waiting to the end of the week would be better because of all the mud that will arrive after the melt.

Words cannot describe ... happy day!

End of lambing - Phase I

Last in our first phase of lambing came these two lovely
ewe & ram twins! Their crimp is tight and they are a lovely
colour and confirmation. They were born Friday, May 8th.

Fibre Works Highwood X Whistlestop 0531 AI (Willie)


The lovely spring weather seems to be fighting with Father Winter,
they are predicting snow tonight. Not to fear, it will melt
by the afternoon. The rain/snow is welcomed as we have
been extremely dry for a few years now. Here's hoping
for better pastures this year.

16 lambs on the ground (10 ram/6 ewe lambs) from 8 ewes.

Lambing - Phase II should begin in a week or so ... 5 to go.

5 more in 18 hours!!

Wednesday night I knew that my ewe was in labour. 11:00 p.m. came and went and she was still in labour. I took a nap knowing that it would be in the wee hours when she delivered and I was right. Just before 2:00 a.m. I found these two jet black ram lambs just born! They got dried off and booted into the Nursery pen and they are all doing well.

Fibre Works Falerno X Whistlestop 0531 AI (Willie)

The goal with this pairing was to get a crimply jet black fleece
free of white fibres.

I came home from work yesterday, cooked supper then went to give the
ewes their "snack". It's light here until 10:00 p.m. none of the sheep know
why I don't give them more food. It's light afterall!! So, I've taken to
giving them their hay twice a day. This seems to be working well with
all the sheep. They are never without food and they are not
over conditioned! Anyhow, behold in the shelter there was
my Fiat with triplet ram lambs!!

I've been Fiat's pesonal massage therapist for the
past week and a half! I've been waiting for these lambs.


Fibre Works Fiat X Whistlestop 0531 AI (Willie)


14 lambs on the ground from 7 ewes with 6 left to go!!

and lambing continues ...

Today I came home and found these two lovely ram lambs.

Fibre Works Eureka X Fibre Works Isidor

9 lambs on the ground from 5 ewes, 8 more to go! Oh, and one ewe
is in active labour - I think. They fooled me before, but then again, I
have thought she would have lambed by now. She's nesting and I think
her water has broke. I'll go check again in a few minutes to see what I can see!!

Happy lambing!

More Lambs!

These two cuties (ewe and ram lamb) were actually a
set of triplets. I had to pull a black ewe lamb
who was already dead. They were born this afternoon.
Mom and "twins" are doing fine!

Fibre Works Fonteyn X Fibre Works Isidor

7 lambs on the ground, 9 more ewes to lamb.

Lambs!!

This was our first born ewe lamb (unnamed) of the season!
First timer is a delightful and
attentive mom.

Milehaus Clare X Fibre Works Isidor

Our first set of twins of the season. Yearling mom
is doing well keeping these very active ewe and ram lambs
(yet unnamed) in her site. They are loving the lamb games that started
in the nursery pen.

Fibre Works ISP X Willow Garden Rex Harrison

These cute ewe lamb twins (also unnamed) were born May 1st.

Fibre Works Easter X Whistlestop 0531 AI ("Willie")


10 more to go!!

It's a Girl!!

We've had the wierdest wintery weather today. How did I know we'd have our first lamb today?? ;)

Milehaus Clare (Fibre Works Isidor) delivered Windy Grange's very first lamb of the season!! She had a lovely white ewe. After getting the first time mom into a jug (apparently I have two ewes wanting to steal the poor little lamb) they are doing fine. Pictures tomorrow - I think the run has started.

Day 150

It's Day 150 since I put the breeding groups together and still no lambs. I know it will be soon, but the anticipation is KILLING me! Lambing season is like Christmas - you never know what is in that package until it's opened!!

There are definitely 2 different lambing dates since there was the fence failure with two of my four breeding groups. Only one ewe will deliver from the first grouping and, luckily, I saw her bred so I know which ram is the sire!!

Time for a lamb check.

Shearing - check; Lambing???

The shearer made it out today as promised and we have 25 skinner sheep!! Too bad it decided to be damp and drizzly, luckily we got all the sheep sheared prior to any drizzle.

I was getting things ready for lambing and noticed one of my ewes seperating herself from the rest and not eating quite as much. She's also put herself in the shelter facing the corner and chasing everyone else out. She paces a bit, then puts herself back into the corner of the shelter.

Lambing watch for her has begun!!! Better check my supplies asap!

Another Post !

This coming Friday is shearing day. I have two days to get things together and ready for the shearer. Luckily, my husband has decided not to go away this weekend and has now been recruited to help move sheep. I also have my girlfriend Susan and maybe another coming to help move the 25 ewes and rams in and out of the shearing barn. This will give the shearer less work, and after everything the shearer taught us from last year (i.e. no help, not as ready as he would have liked, me being intimidated by the rams, etc. - hey,we were new at this!!), he will be very pleased!!

For anyone in the area, if you want to help be here around 3:30 p.m. Friday and we will provide supper afterward!!

For Sale: 25 fleeces in a variety of colours. If you are looking for Shetland, I have 24 (and a few left from last year) and I also will have one lovely Shetland/Gotland/Finn mix fleece in a warm brown. I can provide pictures for anyone interested.

I am looking at AI for my Shetland/Gotland/Finn mix ewe(s). I have the chance to obtain some 75% Gotland straws for next breeding season. I have an appointment with my vet to see if she will be on board with the AI program. Without her, it will be useless to try!!

I also have 4 lambs in the freezer and another that needs to be butchered. Anyone interested in a lamb? How do you market your lamb??

The county coyote control man has collected his traps and has rid us of 5 or 6 coyotes. I hope this helps. If not, he will be called in again. Cross your fingers!

I haven't had any new pictures to post in a while, so I decided to allow my favorite barn cats to bless the end of my post. The love to love and to be loved! Spring has finally sprung in Northern Alberta Canada, so they are the perfect ending!

Our farm cats, Oliver and Twist!

That is all the news from the Windy Grange Farm - for now.

Spring storm

Just when things were just about melted, mother nature decided to remind us that we live in Northern Alberta. It was lovely this morning and then started to spit some rain. Now, the drizzle and rain has turned to HUGE flakes of snow. The rams do not look impressed, the ewes are hunkered down, except on ewe! Fibre Works Fiat is enjoying the snow and licking the flakes off of the gate. You'd think she was a lamb, but she's nearing 6 years old. Fun to watch, at least I have work inside to do to help keep my mind off of all the outside work that needs to be completed before lambing in 2 weeks.

No new pictures again. Soon!!

SPRING!!!

Spring has finally come to Northern Alberta!! The snow is melting, and there was A LOT of it!! The run off has decided to sit in two of the sheep pens, one of them is the lambing pen, so we've been pumping it out 12 hours a day.

Lambing date is April 27th which is coming quickly. But, as we all know, the lambs could come sooner (April 18th at the earliest I think). The ewes are bagging up, so things are going well. Since everyone has been posting about their lambs, I'm getting the need to see some on our farm!!

There's a bunch of work to do prior to lambing, so the next week will be BUSY!! That's what happens when one goes on holidays before lambing season.

Alright - back to work!

Spring has not sprung

Spring has not sprung, so they tell me. I'm in Palm Springs with my husband having a holiday before the fun of shearing and lambing begins.


I'm told there has been snow falling since we left. I feel a bit guilty leaving my girls the last 7 weeks of their pregnancy, but they are in great hands!! I'll be home before they realize I'm gone.

Shearing is going to be interesting, it may have to wait until after the snow goes. I don't have a large enough barn for all my fellas and gals to keep them dry. I'm sure the shearer won't be coming out in the snow either!! It's still early, things can change in two or three weeks!! Lambing isn't scheduled until the very end of April - beginning of May.

We've lost a llama last week, poor fella. The vet was out and said he most likely had a metabolic problem since he was a hybrid (llama/alpaca mix) or a twisted gut/intestine. Nothing contagious, but the poor thing died before he could be put down.

As you can see he had the most gorgeous wool!! I was so looking forward to spinning it and colour was so reddish brown it made me drool. Oh well, some things cannot be helped.

While the vet was out, he checked on the condition of some of the pregnant older ewes and they have good body condition, so yay!! This is important as it is only our second season of lambing and it's always good to know we're doing things right!

Everyone is teasing me with their postings of their lambs and I'm getting so very excited to see what my girls will have this year!! So cute and so wonderful! Shetlands are so addictive ...

Where's Spring??

Spring certainly has not sprung here in Northern Alberta, Canada!! We just finished another bout of -40c temperatures. When it did warm up, it snowed and blowed. Now, the weather is warming up, but the winds picked up (chinook blowing in??) and the weather promised wet snow the rest of the week. How I miss Spring in the Pacific West where I used to live. Palm Springs is on the schedule starting next week, it cannot come soon enough.

We have a short window of time to get out of the cold for a bit because lambing season (#2) starts the end of April. This year we have 13 ewes bred. I'm looking forward to seeing what surprises we get.

So, to make up for the lack of spring, I went out with the Shetlands (llamas and cats too) to take some new pictures. Here is some of the labours of our love!

This is all but 4 of our ewes. 13 of the 18 of them
are bred. 5 lambs were just too small and I think
I'm okay with not breeding the lambs anyhow.

This is my Shetland/Gotland/Finn ewe.
She was bred to Fibre Works Indiana Jones (Grey Katmoget)
in hopes to bring out some of the Gotland (Grey) colour.

This is Willie, he's the new ram to our farm. He was
brought in not only for the UK genetics but to
increase the quality of our fleeces and to
breed out the iset in our black fleeces.

With Willie is Windy Grange Aedan, isn't he handsome??

This is Willow Garden Anu, she's new to our
farm. I fell in love with her the moment I
saw her picture on Bill's blog. She is the friendliest gal ever! She is a beauty!

This is Fibre Works Eureka. She is a bit standoffish, but she will
come up for a treat once and a while. She is a regal soul and her eyes just pull you in.

This is Fibre Works Fontane and is our most vocal ewe.
She is friendly and produced triplets for us last year. I LOVE her smile!

Our farm cats, Oliver and Twist. They came from my husband's aunts home
where she nursed them from certain death.
My how they have grown and do they love LOVE!
Can you believe they are brothers???

Last but certainly not least (I took almost 100 pictures today)
this is the southern view from our house.
Just past the trees is a dug out and a mound of earth/grass.
Apparently, this mound is where the coyotes are staying at night.
I hope they do not think my Shetlands will be an easy meal.
I have a county worker from the coyote program here trying to catch they bold buggers.
My dog is sad as there are some traps out so he is in the pens with the sheep.
Llamas are dispersed with the flocks in case the coyotes try to enter the pens.
So far, there is no trace of the coyotes by the pens, but they are bold!
They have sniffed the traps, but not taken the bait.
Once the weather clears they county will put a man out back
and call the coyotes in and shoot them. He feels there could be a problem.
I'm glad I called them in!! We could never catch them,
but this man has nearly 30 years experience.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Winter is here and has hit hard! Lots of snow! I hear it is supposed to be the snowiest winter we've seen in a long time. The temperatures are cold, and yet, I still love it here!!!






Here is two pictures, one taken yesterday afternoon after about 6 inches of snow fell. The poor dog isn't sure what to do with the white stuff, although he LOVES to roll in it!!












The second picture is what we woke up to this morning. Yikes!! The dog really looked forelorn, rolling in the white stuff results in disappearing into it.










By the look at these clouds, I think there is more on the way!












The weatherman is promising snow for the next week! Yay us! Temperatures have been cold, we hit -40c, but they have been huvering around -28c to -24c.

The Shetlands are mighty hearty. Other than some cold feet (I've removed snow from between many a toe the past month!) they almost thrive on it. They are still active and greet me every morning.



Now to get the snowblower to start, it's being difficult, doesn't want to come out into the cold I think!! For now, I've walked paths to the water in all the pens. Shoveling is out, for now that motion is a killer to my already aching tendons/muscles in my arm and neck. Only 3 or 4 more months of winter!