Category Archives: Uncategorized

My Spring Vacation–Part 1

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My husband is a teacher so we can plan a vacation during his spring break and before my son goes off to work on the USFS hotshot fire crew.  Chris held down the fort here  (with 12 lambs born) while we were gone.

Meet the Sheep was Saturday and I didn’t have time to prepare for this trip until Sunday.  We packed Sunday morning and headed south. The only plan we had was to get to Hoover Dam for a tour on Monday.

Driving on I-15 east of Tehachapi. We got to Las Vegas at midnight and spent the night there. The next morning we drove to Hoover Dam.

This is a view of the new bridge just below the dam. All the cross-country traffic used to have to follow a winding, tourist-packed road that crossed the dam. That must have been a nightmare for truck-drivers and anyone else that just wanted to get to where they were going.

Here is the dam from the bridge. We took a tour inside the dam. Hopefully some of my videos will come out well, but I haven’t even downloaded them to the computer yet.

After sleeping in the Explorer that night (note to self–get an air mattress. The 20 year old foam pad doesn’t work anymore) we spent the day at the Grand Canyon. My photography  left something to be desired, but it was just not possible for me to capture the Grand part of the Grand Canyon.  We chose the Kaibab trail and hiked about 3.5 miles into the canyon.

Another few miles would have taken us to the bottom but had not planned an overnight trip and didn’t think it would be smart to try it in a day.

If we had the help of mules we could have done it, although even the mules are making overnight stops in the bottom.

See that zig-zaggy trail going up the wall. That’s the last leg of the hike back up.

Leaving the canyon late in the day and looking west toward the setting sun.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Lambs!

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Here are the first lambs (except for the unexpected twins last month from a ewe that was bred when I got her).

Posting these photos makes me think of the contrast in my lambing set-up and that of other sheep farmers. My ewes have it pretty easy. When the weather is wet and cold and windy they are able to be in the barn.  My heart goes out to those farmers and their flocks who have to battle the elements. Yesterday I spent time in the driving rain cleaning out the ditches and diverting water away from the barn, but nothing was really that serious. When we had a dairy I always hated winter weather because it was just not possible to get all of the cows out of the mud and rain.  I’m hoping for  milder spring weather soon!

Lift kit for a computer

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If you’re a teen-age boy or anyone I guess who likes big trucks and car stuff then you’ll know what it means to lift a truck (as opposed to the way Superman does it). After a couple of weeks of tax preparation at my computer my back was bothering me. Having had two back surgeries because of sciatica I am very nervous when I have any issues with my back or hip. It’s the sitting that causes problems. A lot of times I’d rather be standing.  I said something about needing one of those fancy desks that rise when you push a button. Here’s my husband’s solution.

Hey, it works! I’m standing right now and I have a bar stool chair if I do want to sit.

Yesterday I went to a class sponsored by the Small Business Development Center. I am going to another tonight on Web Marketing. They offer a variety of classes and also have counseling services for business issues. I found out that there is even someone who will help me get Quickbooks cleaned up! I am so glad to have found this resource. I only hope that they aren’t wiped out by the state’s financial mess.

American Sheep Industry Convention

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I spent the last two days at the ASI Convention in Reno. I caught a ride with a couple of friends who also raise sheep. (See Flying Mule Blog in my links). I didn’t take too many photos and I can’t believe that I didn’t take a photo of the best part of the trip. That was the Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning sessions presented by Ranch Management Consultants. Dave Pratt is a gifted speaker (who happens to be my brother) and teaches a business school for ranchers. His classes and 6-day school are very intense, but so valuable. Every time I hear him speak I “get it” a little better.

I had my new video camera with me and found my self wandering in the nearly empty casino filming, but I didn’t take anything worth showing to anyone else. I did take a few still photos.

These are some magnificent Merino and Merino x Rambouillet rams, the only sheep in sight at the convention. The ranch also displayed some fine Merino fleeces. I wish that I could harvest a 20 lb fleece!

View from my desk on New Year’s Day

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I should modify the title of this post. This is the view to my left and behind me. The view to the right is SOMEBODY sitting in the recliner with a cat on his lap waiting for football.

This morning our non-landscaped front yard seems like a wildlife sanctuary. I’m taking photos from the comfort of my house through the windows. Those are female pheasants.

We support the fattest quail!

And behind me:

I didn’t see the whole Rose Bowl Parade, but these were my favorite entries of what I did see. That’s a Brahma-cross steer he’s riding. The rider looks like a kid on that big guy.

This was such a beautiful float honoring wild horses.

Amazing.

Christmas photos

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I had this idea to take photos of a sheep and my dog with a Santa hat. The sheep were in the pasture yesterday, but I thought we’d try the dog since Jackie was willing to help. It’s not that easy to get a good photo.

Rusty is  not looking very enthusiastic.

Ok. Now he’s obsessed with shadows on the ground. Let’s try again.

In the meantime, Jacki’s dog, Mobi,  cooperated a little better.

Rusty, Take 3. At least he doesn’t look too unhappy when he’s watching shadows.

This is the best we could do for that day. Maybe I’ll try a sheep.

 

Holiday Open House

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Does it bother you when people call an event the  “First Annual…”? Well, we had such a good time today, that I can say that we had our First Annual Holiday Open House. We WILL do it again. Two friends joined me with their wares. Jackie’s business is Jack’s Wool/Isabelle’s Items.

This is one of Jackie’s signature paw-print felted bowls and a felted sheep.

How about a felted hot-pad?

or felted ornaments?

Diane’s family are commercial bee-keepers. She has recently explored local marketing of their honey and beeswax products.

Diane had sage, wild-flower, and clover honey. We sampled them and there are definite differences in the flavors.

Jackie and Shelby taught visitors needle-felting throughout the day and everyone took home a needle-felted ornament.

One of the best things about the day is that my shop is clean and orderly.

Thanks to Jackie and Diane for helping me with that. It is such a relief to have that done. What a pleasant place with Christmas lights sparkling and Christmas music playing.  This was our big advertised day, but I plan to be open again next weekend even though Diane and Jackie won’t be here. I really love my shop and it’s a great place to spend the day!