The time has come. The Gotland rams discovered their ewes on the other side of the fence. Upon letting the Gotland ewes out with the rest of my flock, they quickly caught the attention of the rams. Either I stand at the common fence and wave my arms and yell at the rams all day, or we come up with … Read More
Escorting the Rams to New Quarters This past weekend, we finally moved our Gotland rams, along with their Romney ram friend, to their winter quarters. We have used this area, which shares a common fence line with our ewes, for our Romney rams for years. Everyone knows the rules and knows which side of the fence they belong on. Only … Read More
For the first time in 23 years, our family celebrated Christmas with a vast ocean between us. Our oldest daughter attends graduate school in Germany, and spent her first Christmas away from home. Despite the distance between us, we spent the morning with her, opening gifts and sharing our family traditions as she introduced us to German Christmas customs. I … Read More
My college girl,Anna, modeling the Gotland shawl. For my Yarn Along and KCCO post this week, I have a feeling that you do not want to hear my progress report for my gansey sweater. It is filled with stress, mistakes, “unknitting” and “re-knitting”. So I will save that story for another time. (Just know that in the end….I did prevail!) Instead, I … Read More
Our First Hoof Trim This past November marked our tenth year as shepherds. When I think back over our ten years of living with sheep, we have learned much about shepherding, ourselves, and the natural rhythms of the life and death cycle. I vividly remember the first day we brought 3 sheep home in the back of a borrowed pick … Read More
