Sheep, Sleep, Beans, Sleep, Sheep, Sleep, Beans ...

It all caught up with me today and I actually took a nap ... I might do that twice a year. It has been an intense week. The days blurred together but one day this week, I picked 16 pounds of beans from the "big garden" out back and canned 14 quarts. Colton helped me with the snapping while I managed the other logistics of washing jars and beans. Colton filled the jars and into the canner they went. It took about 6 hours from the plant to the last popping lid. We are up to 33 quarts of beans.

Then yesterday, both boys helped me pick beans from the garden near the house. We picked about 30 pounds of beans! I just couldn't imagine canning all of them, so we did a quick rinse in the deep sink and put them in a large cooler for Preston to take to work and offer to everyone there. I haven't seen him yet this evening, so I don't know yet how many he is bringing home. I wonder if sheep like beans?

I made two sheep deliveries this week. Dudley, an adult wether, and Hannah's little black wethered ram lamb were loaded up Wednesday morning in the rain with the help of Ben. We were able to get the lamb in a large dog crate, but Dudley got to run "free range" in the bed of the truck.

I drove by myself to Beaver, OH ... about 80 miles southeast of here into the beautiful mountains of Ohio. The last 45 minutes was a continuous series of 30 mph S-curves. Even I was car sick when I got there and wondered if sheep got motion sickness. I arrived at Lynn's driveway and panicked when I saw that their dirt driveway with a 45 degree incline was completely washed out by the rain. I quickly called and told her I wasn't going to be able to get up the driveway in the truck. So she drove down in her car that has a hatchback. I will use Lynn's description of the trip as her husband gunned the car up the driveway:

Dudley "who is now sitting in my lap pooping away as I hang onto his horns for dear life as we bumpity bump and get air hauling ass up the grand canyon that is my driveway."

Now I was really car sick! We then had to walk (read drag) 175 pound-built-like-a-brick-house Dudley about 150 feet to the entrance of their fence down a rain-slicked hill and he wanted nothing to do with wherever it was we were taking him. Finally, success. We catch out breath and back down the "grand canyon" we go.

We slide the dog crate (good decision) into the car and Lynn sits back there to keep the crate from going airborn. Ditto on the trip back up. I decided to take the lamb out of the crate and walk him down the hill ... probably not the best choice in hind sight. The smaller the sheep, the more they can swing their body in violent opposition to what you are trying to accomplish. It had to be funny to watch, I'm sure. But I bet that crate would have just slid nicely down the hill.

Well at the sight of lush greenery, both sheep walked into their new home like it was nothing to get them there. They have a beautiful shaded hillside they now call home. One more bumpity bump down the hill, catch my breath, and wind my way out of the mountains in the pouring rain.

Well, that was so much fun, I decide to email Halle to see if she's ready for her sheep on short notice ... I figure since the truck is a mess, why not get it all done at once. Halle lives near Cleveland and bought several sheep from me last year. She arrived in a UHaul utility van that couldn't have had more than 10,000 miles on it. We loaded the sheep in the van and she headed home. I can only imagine what the next renters of the van thought!!

This time, she asked if I could meet her half way. So Ben helped me load up two of the ewe lambs, one of Delia's twins and Bianca's ewe. They had the run of the truck bed. We met at the McDonald's off I-71 at exit 151. When I read the comments: This Mc Donald's is in the middle of a corn field! I thought this would be perfect if they get loose! Fortunately, everything went smoothly, but I had to wonder what people were thinking as they went through the drive-thru! "Yikes, is that what's in my burger?!?" You could be so lucky!

Back home, after picking the 30 pounds of beans, I cleaned out the bed of the truck ... always fun! Ben and I dug a post hole with the auger on the tractor and assembled an H-brace for one of the final runs of fence out back. When Preston came home, we also put in another H-brace along the property line so we could create an opening for a small gate between us and our neighbors. We've had to either jump over barbed wire or drive nearly a mile! from their house to ours. Now it will be just a quick jaunt across the pasture.

Today everything hurts ... my wrist from one of Dudley's quick moves, my head from the 2x4 framed lid to the hay feeder that fell on my head, my knee from wrestling sheep I can only imagine, the poison ivy all over my arm, neck and sides, even my ears from a build up of fluid according to the doctor. Therefore you can appreciate my need for a nap today. I washed a fleece and fell asleep reading a book.

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.