Rodeo at Outback Farm!

I had asked my friend Sarah if I could borrow her little Jersey heifer calf for awhile. Audrey is 6 months old now and needing to be on pasture. And I wanted a cow for awhile to eat what the sheep and alpacas won't.

So she called yesterday afternoon and said they were ready to bring her out. I figured it would take them 20 minutes to get here, a few minutes to unload her, then I would fix dinner.

Well, I should know by now that you do not make plans when it comes to animals!

This is my sheep and alpacas when they saw the trailer being backed down the driveway and heard the little cow baby mooing.

                                And yes, there is a calf in these fig bushes and 3 grown men.

I have this fence going across the driveway for when I move the sheep to the other side. It has a little place where the wire is all messed up. I had this thought that I should put something in front of it, but did not listen to me.

So we got the sheep to go to the far side so they wouldn't get out while we tried to get Audrey in. They were so good too! Stayed way up front.

And we let Audrey out of the trailer. And she took off through the little hole in the fence. Just as pretty as ya please.

That's when the rodeo started.

I called my friend Ron to come up and help lasso her, after about 20 minutes of chasing her all over the front yard. He and his wife Iasbelle came with a rope. He's got cows and horses, so I figured he could do this just fine.

 Not sure which video this is, but I took a few and this is not showing up for me.

It took another half hour to finally get Audrey caught and dragged across the yard from the fig bushes. 3 grown men, pulling and pushing this little 6 month old devil calf. It was SO funny!

And here she is, finally in the pasture she was supposed to be in a few hours before.

Misha was sounding the alarm and the sheep all huddled together. I had a cow with them a few years ago, so it's not like they'd ever seen a cow before. They are so weird.

Poor Audrey was so tired after, she laid down out there for the night.

This morning, she's doing great. And the sheep are still afraid of her. They'll be fine in a few days and she'll be a part of the flock. Isn't she beautiful?

                                                      And this is Audrey, herding them all.

                                                                  Hold 'em Audrey!

Never a dull moment around here. We had the 2 grand dogs for the weekend and Abby had come out to get them. I have to keep the chickens put up while they're here. They love chasing the chickens. So it was all nice and peaceful again. For a few minutes!

Really September now!

It is September now. And it has come in with some anger here. Woke up this morning and checked my phone to see if there were any messages. My daughter Abby had sent a message saying power was out in Flintstone. She lives on the same street as Mrs. T. Then a little later, another message saying it was back on.

I looked out the window and saw trees just about bent in half. Crazy rolling clouds moving fast. So got dressed, fixed a cup of coffee, took a few drinks of it, then ran out the door with the milk bucket.

Olga came out first. Got her settled in. Started milking. She lifted her right leg a few times. I can usually sense when it's going to happen and get the bucket out of the way. But the next time she got it. And I was almost done. Turned the whole thing over. Great, milk all over the floor now and the stanchion. So got her out, took the stanchion outside and hosed it off. Grabbed the broom and some more water and swept out loose hay with the milk on the floor. Got the stanchion back in. Grabbed Freya. Got what little milk she had and gave it to the cats. I've had the sheep out back with the goats, so haven't been able to let the goats out. So they have slowed down a lot. Which I am trying to get them to do, so I can go to once a day.

Then the sheep were acting crazy. So threw some alfalfa pellets and sunflower seeds in a bucket to feed them. Then later, I just let them back out to the front. There's lots of leaves and apples down that they were wanting. I opened the little side gate for the goats to go out to the "jungle".

Before I let them all out, I put hay in the racks. Little Galadriel came to me and just looked at me with her beautiful eyes. I felt her telling me to calm down. I named that sweetie right.

Yesterday, I tried to finish the bobbin of alpaca. I got tired. It's taking forever! So I started getting some wool ready for the next bobbin, to ply them both together. I want to make a sweater with this yarn. It's so pretty.

Then I realized how amazing it is that I have sheep and alpacas! Right here on my little farm. I can go out there any time just to pet them or talk to them. And get this amazing fiber from them! I just feel so blessed.

And this is so pretty to me. I love using the hand carders to make little rolags to spin. I finished that red basket up. I have 3 rolags of alpaca to spin, then on to the wool.

This is 14 sheep, 2 alpacas and 2 greedy goats at the trough this morning. Isn't that just so cool?

I also made some bug-off bars for a friend. Her boys love it and that's all they want on when they are outside. My studio smells good when I make things.

I'll have my 2 grand dogs this weekend. Daisy and Rousey, the Boxers. I love them. But my chickens will not have fun at all. Those dogs want to kill them!

August 31 (thought it was Sept. 1st)

Last night, on the way back down the mountain. It was quite foggy. But when I got down to the bottom, it was clear again. It's always sort of spooky driving through fog. I keep expecting to see some mystical creature go across the road, like a majestic buck with golden horns and glowing body. But didn't see any last night.

I wanted to start a group of other kindred spirits to meet together and spin or knit or weave or crochet. And talk and have fun, just being with other people who love doing what I love. So I met with a friend who lives on the mountain and has Finn sheep and a fiber studio. We decided on Wed. evenings up at her studio. Then when she can't be there, we'll have it down here at mine.

We started last night. We were the only ones. But it was nice, spinning with someone else. There are several more that will start next week. It will be so fun. And I'll have time with kindred spirits.

When I got home yesterday, I found this pile of clothes in the bathroom, right next to the almost empty clothes hamper. UGH! So I called my husband and grand daughter in there to ask why. My husband said he'd been working outside and his clothes were sweaty, so he put them there, on top of Kansas' clothes. They picked them all up.So fun right? I'm sure other people have this same problem.

This was my view a few days ago, when I finally went out and got in my new hammock. Oh my, it was so boring, just laying there, doing nothing. I started feeling guilty. Then I wished I had a book. And a sick to push myself with. The cicadas were very loud there. And the birds. The sheep looked spooked when the saw me in this big red thing. I laid there and took pictures of the trees. Really is amazing, just being there under such beautiful trees.

                                           Isn't this beautiful and peaceful? It really is nice.

And these 2 trunks are so big. Not sure what kind of trees these are. But I'll find out. I love them.