Time Out for Celebration

Ben and I finished the ram fencing on Friday. I blocked each entrance with cattle panels and ran a hose to the waterer. We plan to trench a line for water out there soon, so the hose can be eliminated.



Saturday was a day of both celebration of achievement and of things to come. We spent the day with Ben at Wright State University for freshman orientation where he will attend classes in the fall. He ran into a high school friend who is also majoring in engineering giving him someone to hook up with. We gave him a $27,000 challenge. If he earns at least a 2.5 GPA his first quarter (along with a few other criteria), he is eligible for a full Air Force ROTC scholarship . This will save him $27,000 in Stafford Loans upon graduation and guarantee him a job. Stay tuned!

Mid-day on Saturday, we attended Colton's graduation from his first Civil Air Patrol Encampment. It is similar to the ROTC field training I attended while in college, but it was only a week long. They were up at 0500 (5am) for PT (running & exercise) and then a full day of challenges, team work, and education. He earned enough daily points from room inspection, general knowledge, and drill and ceremony performance to put him in the top third of the 99 cadets. This earned him a ride on a KC-135 for an actual airborn refueling mission where they refuel an E-3 Airborne Radar in mid-air. He got to sit in the cockpit for a while (here's a link to a picture: http://picasaweb.google.com/ohioencampment/TrainingDay6#5351662153282721010 ) as well as go back to the refueling area. His dad and I haven't ever done that in our active duty military days. So that was very cool. He had a wonderful time and was just exuding excitement and enthusiasm with all his stories. He can't wait to go again next year with a goal to be on the cadet staff. Following graduation, we went outside for a Pass and Review (military parade). Colton is in the front row, 2nd from the right. To view their photo album of the week's events, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/ohioencampment


Over the weekend, Preston and I started a mini-remodel of the kitchen. I currently have a cooktop/oven unit. We also purchased (several years ago) a microwave/oven wall unit. Preston built me a cabinet for it and we were finally ready to install it in the kitchen. We rearranged some of the existing cabinets and were able to do this without un-installing the countertop. It's amazing what you find beneath cabinets in a 100+ year old farm house. We are not the only inhabitants. Some day I will tell you about Frank. Anyway, on a wall that used to have an 18" pantry and 42" of base & wall cabinets, we are replacing with the new oven unit and a 36" wide built-in pantry with a screen door. Last night, I framed the walls for the pantry and Preston installed the new cabinet and the oven unit. Here's the status as of last night.

I'm enjoying a Red Bellied Woodpecker cracking open peanut shells at my bird feeder while I work. Oh, he got one open and off he goes with a peanut in his mouth! The birds dropped some sunflower seeds around the feeder and they are starting to bloom. This is the view from my desk with the ram shelter in the background.

4 years of catching up to do

Ok, so I'm regretting that I didn't start this blog 4 years ago. At Preston's encouraging, I started a diary of sorts in a Word doc, but that only lasted about 6 weeks. I really enjoyed going back and reading the happenings back then, so I know what I write now I will treasure later, so here goes ... A day in the life of a shepherd on Quiet Thyme Farm.

You can see more of our farm at www.QuietThymeFarm.com

So here is life on the farm from the eyes of the shepherd, the wife, the mom...

My older son, Ben graduated from high school June 6th. I told him if he didn't have a job when school got out, he would have to help me with projects on the farm and the pay was going to be room and board.

So, I'm excited to say he doesn't have a job (shame on me!). So he has been helping me put up more fencing to make my shepherding easier, my sheep healthier and the grass mowed by sheep and not people.

One of my projects is to subdivide the ram pasture into quads. The total area is about 235' x 275'. Last year, they grazed the area down early in the summer, then we had a long drought that began mid-July. So the grass never had a chance to recover. In addition, without rotation, they battled parasites all summer long.

Their shelter is in the center of the pasture and each line of fence will end near the shelter. I'll block 3 entrances with cattle panels and allow them access to the one remaining. Then I'll rotate them every 2-3 weeks depending on how the grass is growing. It will make it easy and safe for me to go in and fill their minerals and rotate them. After they rotate out of a pasture, I'll be able to mow it to clear out anything they didn't eat. I can also spray the fence lines they won't be near with RoundUp to keep the fence lines clean.



So back to the job at hand. We started Monday, but actually began in the lower pasture where the ewes and lambs are right now. There is a shelter there that will be used for 2 of the lower pastures (7 & 8 - see map). We needed to move them to pasture 7, but had to put up an interior line of fence to give them access to pasture 7 and the shelter, but block them from pasture 8. So Ben and I marked posts by stretching a string where the fence would go and then marking about every 12' for a metal T-post. Then Ben began putting the posts in the a post. For some reason, he didn't wear gloves and had blisters by the time he was done.

Preston came home and helped us put up the fence. He taught Ben how to tie the fence to the stretcher, attach the ratchets to the stretcher and the tractor and ratchet the fence upright against the posts. Meanwhile, I am tying off the other end. We stretch the fence, then I tie it with the T-post clips and Preston & Ben tie off the other end.

We moved the girls easily. With sheep, you just open a gate and the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, so they run eagerly.

With the heat this week, Ben and I decided to get up early... ok, I decided to get up early. Ben wasn't excited, but it was better to work from 6:30-10:30am before it got too hot. So far, we have finished 3 of the 4 lines of fence and moved the rams into Quad B (see map).

I posted a map of the farm layout. This represents about 12 acres of our 30 acre property. The hay field is another 12 acres to the back. The two front pastures are divided by the creek and run the full 600 foot width of our property (less the driveway). These are not shown on the map.

Tomorrow, we will get up at 6am again to finish the ram pasture.