Sheepherders
May 23, 2012 § Leave a comment
1904. Photo courtesy of http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com.
Sheep shearing
May 23, 2012 § Leave a comment
The sheep got sheared on Monday. Cella and Emmet recently acquired five wooly Dorset ewes, in addition to the two Icelandic ewes and their offspring, for us to have over at La Finca. The thick wool coats of the Dorsets are not helpful for enforcing electric fencing, and besides, it’s getting hot around here. So they called the shearer for a visit.
He clipped the ewes’ hooves as well.
Hm. Not comfortable looking. Hang in there, little lady. You’re almost done.
There! That must feel better.
A return to grazing
May 17, 2012 § Leave a comment
It’s happening. Slowly. Because some of us stand behind it. Those who have learned by experience and those who are convinced by others’ experiences combined with ecological evidence. It needs to happen.
Let’s get down to this business of replacing cornfields with pasture, instead of the other way around. Let’s be putting ruminants out on that pasture where they belong. Okay?
Remember when I went to visit my friend Mae Rose at the ranch where she’s working in Nebraska?
Here’s the article that came out of the experience: Learning Mob Grazing on the Nebraska Sandhills.
It has a few opinions in it. We are of the opinionated sort. But I hope you read, learn, think, and enjoy it just a little.
Herding dog
February 13, 2012 § Leave a comment
Meet Muñeca.
Muñeca is my friend Mae Rose’s canine companion at the ranch when she goes out to see to the sheep. The 8-month-old border collie could scarcely hold herself back as we approached the herd – though, good girl, she stayed with us on the four-wheeler until bid otherwise. This is the look she gets on her face: sheer determination. To her, sheep must be herded, and by golly, she is the one who should do it.
Want to see her at work?
That’s what I call progress
December 30, 2011 § 2 Comments
The needles have been clickety-clacking. This is a calmly happy thing, a new discovering of ability and possibility. There is something soothing in the repetitive motion, something satisfying in having a finished product make its way out, inch by inch, from your fingers.
Our culture has long looked humorously, even scornfully, at the grandmothers sitting in their cottage corners to knit or crochet. With a braided rug, a fireplace, and a cat. Probably also some cozy slippers.
Well now. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but . . . other than the cat (give me a big dog, please) that sounds just perfectly gorgeously pleasant. Warm, cozy, quietly artistic. And who can deny how beautiful yarn is, tucked into a basket, twisted and tied with ribbon?
If comfort and beauty are the things for the old souls, I am happy to be among them. Even in these last few months of my twenties. Finding such things along the path towards greater self-sufficiency and away from debt – that means progress to me.
Thanks to family members and also to Borrowed Pastures for the beautiful 100% wool and wool/alpaca blend yarns!
Kinds of Honey 