Is It Really Over?

The next morning.

 

"Is Hug a Sheep Day really over?  I didn't get any cookies!"

Bullwinkle.  Everyone offered you cookies and you wouldn't eat them.  Even Aaron, who can do anything with wool and even got Burrnie to eat cookies a couple years ago, couldn't get you to do anything more than take a cookie...and then spit it on the ground.  I will give you lots of credit for being friendly though.  You boys did a good job.

"But we could still have some cookies today, though, right?  'Cause every day is a good day to give a sheep a cookie, right?"

"I  think we are just going to have to eat boring ole straw, Bullwinkle."

Kate's sure there might be some crumbs left.  And Baaxter knows she won't share.

"Did somebody say Burrnie?  Am I going to get some cookies, too?"

"I  think she's just taking pictures."

We've had some crazy Hug a Sheep Parties in the past, but this one really took the cake.  For almost the whole week leading up to the party, Tim was completely taken down by a kidney stone.  I realize that's probably TMI, but if I just said "Tim was at the ER three times over the last five days", it would have sounded much worse.  It was bad enough as it was.

Normal preparations that would have gone off seamlessly just couldn't happen.  The hopes that the nightmare was finally over late Friday night were dashed the next morning when it was obvious he needed to go back to Lexington once again.  There was no way to not do that.  There was no way to cancel the party.  Phone calls were made and within minutes help was on the way.

Friends and neighbors rallied together and the theme for the day was "We've got this!"  Tim was dispatched to the big city, animals were cared for, the barn tidied up, road signs put out, hugging pen assembled and filled, tables and chairs set out, cider iced down (it was 80 degrees!), questions answered, drop spindle and wheel spinning lessons given, cookies (but not too many :-) were fed and lots of pictures were taken...but none by me :-/.

I've seen a few pictures posted on the Ravelry page and Instagram.  I haven't had a chance to check Facebook yet.  If anyone else has posted them anywhere and would like to leave a comment with a link for others to see or if you'd be willing to email them to me to share...I would be so grateful.  In the meantime, here are just a few verbal highlights:

1.  Obviously, pulling the whole thing off was the biggest highlight.  A huge thank you to everyone!!!

2.  We pretty much picked who was going to be in the hugging pen by which sheep were near the gate at the time.  Somehow Woody and Murphy got left in the main flock.  This actually worked great as they both worked on everyone who came into the barn so many of the other sheep got cookies just like the party sheep.  Even Jester and Ford got cookies :-).

3.  Bullwinkle seemed to like visiting with everyone even if he didn't want to eat "contaminated" cookies.  When it got too hot to leave the sheep out front and we moved them over to the shade on the side of the barn, Bullwinkle stayed out in the driveway for a couple minutes to work the crowd hang out with his mom.  Just to be silly, I made a show of me feeding him cookies just to prove he did indeed like cookies :-D. 

4.  When we moved the sheep over to the shade, the entire flock became the hugging pen.  Daniel came up to someone and gave them a sheep hug.  He is just. so. sweet.  The link back to the "sheep hug" post is fun.  Wow, look at how young those sheep were.  How did everyone get so old :-/.

5.  Annabelly's yarn.  I love how someone (especially a new spinner) buys a fleece, processes it themselves, spins the yarn (especially well), brings it back to show me, comes to the farm and by the end of the day is a new old friend.  

Annabelly is the only Jacob we have that I thought I could probably catch out in the field for a hug and yarn picture.  Annabelly has become one of my favorite sheep over the years.  She's kind of a silly sheep and not the fanciest Jacob in the world (read, probably least fancy Jacob in the world ;-) and I've always thought she's kind of felt that she wasn't one of the cool kids.  

For someone to show up and say "Oh, she's beautiful!" and pose for a picture with her and really, really pretty yarn spun from her fleece...  Sheep are not dumb.  As I tricked her into letting me catch her, she tried hard to get away.  I told her why she was being singled out.  That she was special.  That this was a Big Deal.  She stopped and it was clear she understood.  Every mom wants their kid to be successful.  Thank you for making Annabelly feel really special :-).

6.  SO...when we moved the sheep to the shade and they all became the hugging pen...oh you know it.  Maisie.  I went out with everyone who wanted to go in and hug some sheep.  I did my best to keep an eye on the little darling, but even though she wasn't looking for trouble, there is something about her that draws everyone in.  One of the neighbors who knows quite well to "stay away from the sheep with the tail" would discreetly refocus my attention and I'd go intervene ;-). 

7.  We had a great group of spinners and knitters.  I kept trying to get over there to join in and kept getting drawn other directions.  When I finally brought my wheel out, it was almost "closing time".  A few folks stayed on so I could at least sit down and visit for awhile.  It had been a long week and that was a much needed treat.

8.  This post is probably getting too long.  As always, I got to visit with so many fun and interesting people.  And as usual, I missed visiting with too many folks as well.  I hate that :-/.  If you had questions or comments or missed getting a picture with your favorite sheep...please feel welcome to correspond with me or make an appointment to come back out.  

Remember - every day is a good day to hug a sheep!

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Here are a few pics and there is a link to follow in the comments below.  

Keep the pictures coming!

Murphy, Bullwinkle, Woody, Lila

B. Willard

Maisie Auntie Reg lived through getting her picture taken with Crazy Maisie :-D.

When you run out of cookies, the hugging is over ;-).

Okay - left to right.  How many can you name?

Renny, Clover Belly (mostly hidden) Andy, Billy Belly, Beanie Baby, Annabelly Burrnie, Heidi, Blossom, Baby Belly, PPPP, B. Willard in back, Levi, Maisie, Rebecca Boone, Keebs, Spud, Daniel, Allie, Buddy, Woolliam (nose) and I'm not sure who's in the very back by the gate, maybe Liddy?

Pumpkin With A P Party

There are three highlight of fall around here (besides just stupid summer being over ;-).  The first is the Kentucky Wool Festival the first full weekend of October.  The second is the neighborhood Pumpkin Party that falls on the Saturday about a week before Halloween.  This year was the 10th year!

I wish everyone lived in a neighborhood like ours.  I can't help but think that the world would be a kinder place.  I realize part of this is due to living in a farming community, but I do know farmers in other places that might know who's driving that truck, but not how old their kids are or that their mother has been sick or that the chili supper starts at 6:00 so the pumpkin carving will be in full swing by 7:00 :-).

I took my camera so that I could take pictures of the over 100 people that gathered to say grace, eat awesome chili (and everything that goes with it) and carve pumpkins.  My design (that I'd worked on in my head, but not on paper...again) ended up taking so long that by the time I finished, pretty much everyone else was finished, too.  I think Auntie Reg got some pictures though.

I once again carved a design on the outside without cutting any holes and scraped the inside as much as I could so the light would shine through.  I'd planned on carving Bullwinkle, but it turned out looking more like Liddy.  That's okay.  She'll always be my special girl...and she's sort of shaped like a pumpkin anyway ;-).

Get it?

A play on Charlotte's Web...in case you didn't get it ;-).

The third highlight of fall is the Punkin (without the extra P) Party to celebrate National Hug a Sheep Day.  This will be our 7th annual farm party!  I don't really remember now how Hug a Sheep Day got started, but the first year was fun so we've kept it going and it's been fun watching everyone join in, not just here, but around the world :-).  International Hug a Sheep Day!

The farm party here is this Saturday, the 29th, from 1:00 to 4:00.  Everyone is welcome to come out and enjoy the farm, the hopefully beautiful fall weather, the sheep (and cats and dogs and horses and chickens), and the great company.  We will also have some leftover pumpkins (with a P) if you'd like to carve a sheep pumpkin for yourself!

You may bring treats (vanilla wafers, saltines, corn chips, Cheerios) for the sheep if you'd like, but once again we will all need to do our very best to monitor how many treats everyone (especially the C.O.R.G.I.) is getting so no one ends up with a tummy ache or in a sugar coma.

We will have some of the most huggable sheep set up in front of the barn and you can meet and greet with most of your favorite sheep.  Most meaning Not Maisie.  Oh, I might set her up somewhere in a Hannibal Lecter cage, but as always when visiting the farm, stay away from the sheep with the tail haha.  She hates cookies anyway ;-).

Bullwinkle and Levi have been practicing for Trick or Treat, but on an interesting note, Bullwinkle may not be in the hugging pen this year.  We'll have to see how he does.  We've had several groups of visitors lately and he is, I guess, shy.  

He won't eat treats (that he dearly loves) from anyone but me and would rather go hide around the corner.  Levi, on the other hand, who I was sure was never going to tame down enough to approach strangers, has zero problem yelling "Tricks or Treats" and will be happy to mug you for cookies :-).

I'm hoping to actually join the group of spinners this year, so bring your wheel/spindle/current projects/show and tell...  Want to learn to spin or knit?  This is the perfect place to get started! Have questions about keeping sheep?  Bring 'em! Have questions about Livestock Guardian Dogs? Bring 'em.  Border collies?  Bring 'em.  Corgis?  The answer is always food.  Remember - Don't Feed The Corgi ;-).

If you have any questions or need directions, shoot me an email.  If you have the address and your GPS wants to send you off the interstate via US 32, don't fall for it!  I'm serious.  

We hope to see you Saturday!

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P.S. This has turned into an epistle, so I'm going to post the next winner (and answer the question) of the calendar giveaway in the post I'm planning for tomorrow.  This give everyone an extra day to enter both drawings!   Today is Integration Day for the two boys and the weather is gorgeous, so surely there will be some good pictures!

The Bellwether

The most frequently asked question we get from visitors to the farm is "Why does that sheep (Andy) wear a bell?"  

That's a very good question (they all are!).  I originally put bells on Petunia and Graham.  I picked Petunia because I knew she liked bling.  I picked Graham because, well, I had a feeling the bell might be a bit irritating to most sheep and if I was going to irritate one, it might as well be Graham.  Bless his heart, I think he loved it.

The bells started out just for fun.  I loved hearing the tinkling bells on sheep at a friend's farm. Turned out, having Graham belled was actually quite helpful because you could always hear where he was and usually quickly figure out what he was up to.  It wasn't uncommon to hear him out grazing in the middle of the night.  

One night I heard two bells and was surprised to find the whole flock out.  Up until that point, I'd believed the majority of the flock (aka everyone except Graham ;-) stayed in for the night. Without the bells, I might still think the kids were all safely tucked into bed each night.

Another reason I think the bells are helpful is the difference in sounds they make and what that might mean.  Tinkle tinkle tinkle - moving around grazing quietly.  RING RING RING - they are running.  Running could mean just racing back to the barn, but it could also mean something was chasing them.  We can hear them from the house...if it would just cool down enough that we could open the windows :-o.

I was sitting out on the porch this morning surrounded by fog.  I could see the martin house, but not much further.  One lone sheep was grazing down by the creek, Blossom.  Normally one sheep out by itself would be a red flag, but not Baba.  She frequently marches to her own drum.

Do you see her?

I was surprised though that no other sheep were headed down the hill to join her.  Seemed plenty light enough.  And then I heard it, Andy's bell.  Where was he...  I had to listen for a few seconds and then pegged him out in the lower small paddock.  They were out there and I just couldn't see them

 From Wikipedia: A bellwether is one that leads or indicates trends.  

The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram (a wether) leading his flock of sheep. The movements of the flock could be noted by hearing the bell before the flock was in sight.

You'll have to listen carefully, but it's there.  More towards the end, but I love hearing the doves and other birds waking up while I wait.  It's Andy, wearing Graham's bell.

Do you see them?

Interestingly, I'm not the only one listening for Andy's bell.  The other night I was walking in the front field with Bullwinkle, Kate, Tilly, Hank and Comby.  It was pretty dark and we were about halfway up the far hill when a group of late grazers (trying to beat the heat) meandered down to the creek.  Bullwinkle heard Andy's bell and took off running.  

Bullwinkle loves Andy and I think Andy considers him a funny kid brother.  They play fight at the water trough almost nightly.  Bullwinkle jumps on the wooden shade cover, which puts him right at Andy's level and they taunt each other and butt heads.  When he got down to Andy that night, he looked back at me excitedly, "Andy's here!  Look, Andy's here!"  

I wouldn't be surprised if Hank listened for the bells as well.

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Bullwinkle

"She took forty-leven pictures of dumb ole Mini Moose and only two of me and in the other one I had my eyes closed."

This isn't a terrible picture of Bullwinkle, but I do feel bad that I didn't have more to choose from.  Who knew that the only sheep I didn't get a couple of good pictures of yesterday would be the one I'd draw this morning.  

Bullwinkle's had a busy fall.  His wool got picked to blend with some dog hair and my friend who spun it did a fantastic job and it turned out really pretty.  The yarn is 60% Bullwinkle and 40% dog hair.  You need to blend wool into your dog hair yarn to cool it down.  Dog hair yarn is apparently so warm that you can barely wear it.

We picked Bullwinkle because he is a Rambouillet cross and has the finest crimped fleece in our flock and we thought it would be the best blending fleece for her project.  Fine wool sheep are never my first choice, but his mom died when he was a few days old and he needed a new mom so I brought him home.

Bullwinkle is eight years old now, but he's still one of my babies.  In fact, his nickname is Bebby Bebby.  He was a bratty little lamb and he's still a bit of a brat.  He's no longer able to jump on me...thankfully...but he didn't quit that until he got too old and fat.  Now he just sidles up to me and paws at me and I tell him to knock it off.  Boys...

Bullwinkle loves all treats and isn't afraid to bust his way through to the front of the pack to get what he wants.  I guess it's good to be a big fat brat ;-).

Howling At The...

The back story - I saw several sheep grazing out by the ponds the other morning.  Not many sheep out these days between the several days of snow and many days of rain.  Sheep out in the "wilds" was a treat!  I grabbed the camera.

As I was snapping some grazing pictures, a heron flew in just to the right and landed at the small pond, near the sheep.  I'm actually further away than it looks due to zooming in.  The sheep all startled as it landed, but immediately went back to eating.  Hank lost his mind though and called them all in.

"What?"

"We're coming!"

Just call Hershey Fabio ;-D

They were gettin' it!  Wish I'd thought to video it.

Liddy's not that fast.  She was just closer to the front ;-).

But Bullwinkle is!

And so is Levi the Squirrel aka Captain America (someone please remind me to tell that story!)

Look at those luscious locks, flowing in the wind :-D

"As long as we can still beat a Jacob sheep, we're doing okay."

Turns out it might not be so hard to outrun a Jacob sheep around here anymore.  More about that later as well.

Murphy crossing the bridge.  Baaxter and Hershey holding up.  I'll share a couple more of them later this week.  Those boys...

It was a fun series of pictures and I just laugh out loud every time I see them running like that.  Too bad Maisie wasn't out there, but Bullwinkle and Woody are almost as funny.  And Hershey and his big 'do.  But really, was a heron that big of a threat?

Nope.

Long before I could hear anything...

Notice that he's run down the hill to put himself in between his sheep and the "coyotes".  Guard dogs are just amazing.  I might wonder what he's thinking, but I never second guess him.

Guess Who WON'T Be Going To The Fiber Festival

Punkin's Patch is once again sponsoring the Hug a Sheep Booth at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival this weekend.  Spud, Hershey, Andy, Petunia, Woody and Murphy have agreed to be on the hugging list and we'll pick three or four to take over (probably depending on who we can trick into the trailer ;-) in the morning.  Of course Bullwinkle will be there, too.

In discussing who would go this year, Maisie's name came up and everyone fell over laughing.  The little darling...  We could bring her, but she'd have to be transported Hannibal Lector style to keep from turning it into a Get Punched In The Kneecap (And Probably Bit And Maybe Kicked As Well) By A Sheep Booth.  Sweet Hershey is a much better choice!

I think the booth looks nice.  I created several new items this spring that I'm pretty excited about including a new Mug Shot Mug, a special My Favorite Sheep tote bag with matching note cards and note pads and new Lamb Camp cards.  There will be several really nice fleeces, a small amount of roving, lots of Lamb Camp yarn, Punkin's Patch t-shirts...

The forecast is - big surprise for spring weather in Kentucky - not great for tonight and part of tomorrow (which is why we aren't bringing the sheep until tomorrow morning), but Sunday is supposed to be nice and it's already slacking up to the south of us, so maybe tomorrow won't be a wash out either.

Regardless, almost everything is under cover so the sheep shopping, sheep shearing, sheep spinning, sheep hugging... should be lots of fun.  There are even tents down the hill at the Bluegrass Classic Stockdog Trial with a handy shuttle going back and forth.  Speaking of sheep spinning, there are several workshops with openings if you are interested in learning something new!

Please come out and see us and hug a few of your favorite (wet ;-) sheep!

My Favorite Sheep...Of The Week

Since Bullwinkle shared the top picture with Tessa last the other week, I picked him for this last week's SOTW.  I'll hopefully be back on track now.

"I really wasn't in the mood for a photoshoot, but whatever, lady."

This was one of his first baby pictures.  He loved sleeping on the fleece dog beds.  

Or out in the grass with me :-). 

He was a complete grump about cats and hated Betsy for some reason, but did ally himself with, of all cats, Claire Bear.  She may have taught him to hate Betsy and that's why she liked him.  We used to call him her little henchman.  That's a pretty fun post.  I'd forgotten about Comby schooling on him :-).

He loved riding in the car, but his favorite thing in the whole world was riding in the Unit (UTV/side by side) and the faster the better.  He'd jump into anyone's Unit and one neighbor took him for rides.  Another about had a stroke because a sheep jumped into his brand new Unit.  I'd try to take him for a ride now, but I'm not sure he'd fit.

Bullwinkle was always very "helpful", especially on the Wool House porch.  I'd forgotten about locking him off the porch.  I can't remember what he kept getting into long after he should have been living in the barn.  His "educational" video about the Proper Use of a Skein Winder was a classic.

His wool is very soft and very springy.  His mom was one of the "Texas cross" sheep over at Final Frontier Farm.  I prefer spinning the coarser long wool crosses, but I really enjoy using his wool for needle felting.  The finer texture helps with creating details in faces... Everyone else would probably spin it.

Bullwinkle is always one of the last sheep to head out in the morning.  He usually stops to check in with me as he goes through the gate and any time something is going on - sheep checks, foot trimming, shearing, he likes to stand right next to me.  I'll always be his mom :-).

So...

I thought about titling this post "Saint Tim Saves Lamb Camp...Again" but since I hadn't shared "Saint Tim Saves Lamb Camp...The First Time" I figured there was too much back story needing to be caught up.  Suffice to say, a huge thank you to Saint Tim (twice) for making sure we could all enjoy adorable lamb pictures, now including Bullwinkle, this spring.

I was thinking I could title this something about "Sheep Dreams" (can I have a show of hands for Dianne to revive her beautiful blog? ;-) but again, there is more to the story than just sweet Bullwinkle taking a good nappy on/in my lap and having a big dream about something, probably More Babas.

I could title it "Goodbye Dear Henri" but that's not the whole story either.  The whole story is good sheep friends that get old and feeble, their sheep friends who understand and don't understand, and people who understand that sheep understand and don't understand.  Good husbands who borrow equipment from good neighbors so they can bury good sheep while sad shepherds sit in the yard with sweet babies while grass grows, the sun sets, birds settle in for the night and bunnies hop across the driveway while good dogs sit and watch, having understood that we are all here to take the best care of each other that we can.

If you turn up your volume you can hear a little talking :-).

Claire Bear's Little Henchman?

This is going to require some back story as well.  Betsy.  None of the cats like Betsy.  They never have.  In fact, after all these years, it's still a shock to see three of the four cats together on the porch and no one chasing Betsy, especially Claire Bear.

While in the past Betsy has gone out of her way to take care of baby lambs, she has no affinity for Bullwinkle.  Not even a curious passing glance.  Claire Bear (black cat you seldom see on the blog...or anywhere actually) has never had any affinity for any baby lambs...until Bullwinkle.

Heck, Claire Bear doesn't even seem to have any affinity for the porch on a normal day and here she is sharing a dog bed on the porch with Bullwinkle...while Betsy looks on...from Bullwinkle's actual bed.  Comby is wisely keeping out of the middle of what can only be called Crazytown.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Bullwinkle got up and gave Betsy a couple head butts.  Actual head butts, not "hey let's play" headbutts.  That was odd.  He did it again a day or so later. Yesterday he tried to pop Comby.   A sheep that doesn't like cats?!?

Comby isn't taking any guff off anyone, so before Bullwinkle could even make contact with him, Quick Draw had his dukes up...and I'm pretty sure Bullwinkle won't make that mistake twice ;-). Still, looking back at this picture...I'm kind of wondering if we have a little thug on our hands ;-o.

"Who ya callin' a thug, lady!"

"This is my mean face!  Claire Bear taught it to me."

I'm pretty sure anyone with pink ears and a cute freckly nose with a funny cowlick sending hair every which direction can't be a thug...unless he's gone over to the dark (black cat) side.  Nah, he's a sweetie.  And a good sport.  Especially if there are babas involved ;-).

Lamb Camp At The Fiber Festival - With A Giveaway

Bullwinkle wasn't the only lamb in the livestock tent this year.  Madeline Norman from Ballyhoo Fiber Emporium brought a 2 1/2 weeks old Shetland/Icelandic cross that completely stole the show. His own show as far as he was concerned ;-).  What a pistol!  

He was, at most, 10" tall and could jump out of pretty much any pen she built for him and then would run around shopping shoplifting and he has no idea how close he got to being shoplifted himself....except he wouldn't have stayed in my pen either ;-D.

Bullwinkle, on the other hand, was pretty much there because he had to be there.  

"Okay, this tag goes with this bag."

"And I think this basket needs to move over a bit."

"Okay, everything looks good.  Can we go home now?"  Yes, he's standing on Reg's chair.

"Why would anyone want to go home?  This place rocks!"

"Hmm, these Hug a Sheep stickers don't look anything like me!"

"Why, yes, I AM the cutest lamb here.  Thanks for coming to my party!"

"I don't really think I like parties."

"Yikes!  20 wasn't kidding when he said all the kids want to stick their fingers up your nose!"

"I'm okay as long as my mom is holding me."

Okay, one last shot of Seuss.  He IS pretty stinkin' cute...

But not as cute as 20!  

The best part of festivals is getting to visit with friends.  For anyone who doesn't know 20's story, that's his real mom!  While he enjoys living in Kentucky, he was sure happy to see Debbie (and Aunt Jenny :-D) and catch up on all the news from Georgia (and Canada!).

Debbie and Jenny were here competing at the Bluegrass Classic Stockdog Trial.  If you didn't go down and watch the dogs for a bit, you really missed out!  The Bluegrass is one of the big trials leading up to the National Finals and the competition is fierce and exciting to watch.  

Back in 2010 Serta was a sponsor of the National Finals and the top placing competitors won these huge Serta sheep.  20 is...wait for it...sheep number 20 ;-).  His sweater covers up his number, a big 20 on his side.  Debbie and her fabulous dog Huck gifted him to me...and the rest is history :-).

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So, let's have a little fun and just for fun!  Who was the cutest lamb in the livestock tent this year? Leave a comment with your vote (or votes ;-) and on Saturday we'll let 20 draw for some prizes.

Thanks Miss B, for all the funny Bullwinkle pictures!  He just looks grumpy...mostly ;-).