winter...spring...winter...spr

OK, this is getting real old...Benny here, and smashed into the "barn" with 16 other freezing sheep. Two days ago we were out hunting knapweed and today we are shivering....oh, to be in Scotland...

Bonehead...if we were in Scotland, we would be soaking wet all the time, waiting for the midges to hatch !

And that would be worse than freezing to death here ? My stupendous fleece has a layer of ice on top.....THIS IS ABUSE !!

Benny ! get a grip...you couldn't freeze to death in 3 weeks with the layer of insulation you are packing around....

That doesn't mean I don't feel the bitter cold, Becca

Well, the weather did take a nasty turn, but this happens every spring, Haybrain....you aren't the Memory Sheep (see Three Bags Full...a marvelous read) I know, but it will be warm enough to wish we were sheared in a few weeks...

Oh NO ! They are going to do that to us again ??? The indignity of it...flattened by force, stripped of one's wonderful fleece, hooves cut to the quick, needles poked into the body, icky stuff in the mouth...

If you mean taking off your "spectacular" fleece so you can grow another one, getting a hoof trim, vaccination and wormer, then yes, that is what will happen...what is it you don't get about being a sheep, Benny ?? And for you, it is probably the comment the shearer always makes about your ....hmmmm...very large size....

That is true...he sounds insulting, and he never comments on my truly incredible fleece....

Bennyboy - he is a cattle rancher - he doesn't DO fleece except to get it off the sheep safely and without cutting you...he is a keeper...

Oh good...something to look forward to...flattened by force, insulted about my perfect form, hooves sliced to the quick.....

Ice...ack !!!

A superior wether could die out here !! There is ice everywhere...it snows a ton, then it melts and freezes, and then....
And then you have to be careful that Benny doesn't run over you on his way to the feeder...I haven't noticed that you have missed any meals...

But this is weather that we usually see when we can smell spring, and I don't think spring is very close....

Did the Crone move out and leave the Big Guy alone with us ?? I haven't seen her in weeks !! I didn't see a truck...did they ship her ?? She is getting on in years....

Benny....she came out and changed the bedding just a week or so ago.....the Big Guy comes out to feed and check water while she is washing fleece and dyeing wool, and beading yarn, and...we see a lot more of her in the spring.

Well, I suppose that if they have left Amy and Sophie to retire and grow fleece here, they probably will keep the Crone...but she doesn't grow much fleece ???

They keep her pretty closely shorn...maybe she gets lice....

Ack ! Is that contagious ??? My wonderful fleece, lice ridden, then probably mites, then mange, then....

No Dummy...people lice are only on people and sheep lice on sheep....looks like shearing her regularly is working...you don't see her scratching on posts, do you ??

I don't see her at all ! and that's how this started, Becca....


The dogs say she is here and fine....Sadie wouldn't lie to us..

That is true...Sadie loves us and we actually see her !


Benny here, waiting for spring...or more food

Sigh...winter

Well, it was too good to be true...its winter. Feet of snow, freezing winds, no shelter, not enough hay....

Benny ! The shepherds bring food out twice a day, and the Crone cleaned the barn floor and put down new bedding !

Becca...you know I have a delicate constitution and I need more reassurance than this if I am to grow my spectacular fleece....

You could have chosen to be born back home...In Scotland...where you would be wandering the highlands looking for food all winter...instead you chose Crosspatch and a warm barn and shepherds that love you, and WiFi and your own laptop...and

And a ewe that reads over my shoulder when I type private things...

get a grip, Chunko...there are no secrets in the barn and you are writing a BLOG...enough for privacy already....you want to be read and collect sympathy from all over the globe..
It is a snowy cold winter, though...I'll give you that....and they cut us off from stripping pine trees. I heard the Crone say that all this snow means lots of fresh grass in the spring...

If we live that long and don't starve....

Didn't I help Little Fern get that gate open and give you a shot at the bag of grain they had stashed ??? Didn't you have one huge belly ache for 2 days ??? What else can I do ?

Well, a little consideration for my finely wired being would help...you peasant types are sooo rude...

Benny...it was the peasants that figured out the gate latch...

Oh. yeah.

Happy new Year from Benny who hopes to survive the famine...

No Winter !!

Oh, a happy Benny here ! It is mid November and there is no snow, the pasture is still growing a little, it has rained and rained.... if they won't bring in food, we will survive on our own ! We are SHEEP and hear us roar !

Alfalfa brain...what is that sound that brings you running ...well, waddling....every morning and night ? The sound of pellets being poured into feeders, eh ?

But hay is real food...this is just dessert !

Chunko - didn't you hear them say that they are feeding pellets this year to keep hay stuff out of our fleeces ? You, with the truly spectacular fleece, should have been listening instead of talking to yourself as usual.

But Becca, I feel scared when there isn't any hay someplace...unless of course winter never comes. Wow ! What if winter doesn't come this year !!!

Roller Boy...winter always comes..it just comes a bit later than it used to and isn't usually quite as cold as it used to be. Besides, the shepherds were measuring the old shed to see how much hay they could have to keep your digestive system, marvel that it is, working.

Well, they had better get a lot....do you see how those lambs are growing ? They always look "so cute" when they are little and then they start pushing me out of the feeder...

Benny, nothing could push you out of a feeder once you have planted yourself there. You got so fat on apples this fall that only Raven shares a feeder with you because he can't push you away. Life is good, Big Guy, and they keep us fed, scratched, out of the wind, fresh water, you name it. And speaking of lambs, Fergus is still the most wonderful lamb every born. Do you see how they chuckle when they see him and say he looks exactly like a Teddy Bear ?

Well, then he certainly doesn't look like you if he is so cute...

Benny, I'm stunned ! When we were lambs together at Crosspatch you said I was beautiful ! Was that because I had claimed the end of the feeder you wanted ?

Well, no Becca - you are still beautiful - black legs and face, soft grey wool, alert look....but you fawn over that kid of yours so much that I feel left out.

Aw, Barrel Body....you are still the sheep that I got here with and you still have the most spectacular fleece...

(well, until the shear Fergus...)

A very long time

Benny here, and it has been a long summer without wifi in the barn. Then the mother board on my laptop failed and it takes the shepherds FOREVER to get anything fixed..

Benny, that isn't fair...the Crone spent the whole summer taking care of people in the hospital and old Aunt Fern in the pasture.

Becca has a point - sometimes we were lucky to get fed !

But, Aunt Fern has become a cloud sheep, and all the people seem to be doing OK. And last week, the shepherds were clearly getting ready to abandon us yet again.

Haybrain, they were taking your totally spectacular wool to a show - do you whine about everything ?

Do you see big bales of hay around here anywhere ? Winter is coming and we could starve without hay - they just don't think ahead !

Chunko, they are feeding pellets this winter...I heard them say that the lambs and Bob got so much hay in their fleece last winter that they won't do round bales again. So the pellets are stacked in the barn...you like pellets, Benny !

Oh ...well, that is usually barely enough food, but it may do to sustain my incredible fleece. And as long as the apples last, I will regain the healthy weight I dropped during the recent summer famine ....Where are they, Becca ?

In Oregon at their favorite fiber show and with some of the kids that we see in the summer sometimes. And you really do cut a more striking figure without all that fat rolling around on you.

Becca never has appreciated the fine figure I am with adequate reserves - but she didn't gain enough weight with the world's most superior lamb (just ask her) to even tell she was pregnant.

He really is the most handsome and intelligent sheep here except me, of course, and his wool...it will be the talk of all the fiber artists and.......

Benny here, slowly inching away from Becca....

Lambs ???

Ok .we weren't going to lamb this year, right ? I heard the shepherds explain that to lots of people...too many sheep, not enough space.

Now, I, the wisest of wethers, thought this to be very prudent.....too many sheep means not enough food. Some one needs to be thinking about the practical things instead of standing around cooing "oh - they are SOOO cute ! " No lambs;more food. It works....

Then the crone goes away again...visiting her herd sire or something....and Amy isn't looking too comfortable. She goes into the barn one night and plop - a lamb. Then lick lick lick....wait 20 minutes...PLOP - another lamb. Lick lick lick......

The flock is giggling - wait until the shepherd sees this and sure enough the Big Guy comes out to haul water and he comes into the small pasture, closes the gate and stares......the little white ram lamb is standing in the door looking at him and then says to Amy...is THAT a shepherd ??

Yes, Dear .....the shepherd in question is still standing there with a blank look on his face - and then he comes into the barn and sees Fiona, the tiny black ewe lamb. The he says ...Amy ...you have babies !

Duh. And they say I'm dense....

You are a bit dense, Alfalfa Head....

Becca - what ever will they do ? They said we have too many shepp....what will happen to the babies ... ? Or OMG...what will they do with us ??

They'll figure it out, O Great Barrel.....the babies are safe and they love us..they are smart for humans..

But Becca, they didn't want lambs and now we've got lambs and......oh, aren't they SWEET !!
Look at her climb on her Mom !

Snowbound !!

People have been asking where I am...my public wants to hear from me...

Well the WiFi in the barn has been down AGAIN - my tech support is a disaster ! And the laptop doesn't work well when my delicate hooves are packed with snow.

Snow we have - not much food and it is 2 miles from the barn to find it. Except for my sheeply determination, I could have died this winter. It snows all winter and stays on the ground, then they park the bale miles away and say "They could really use some exercise."

We have spotted the Crone, but mostly the Big Guy Shepherd is with us. He fills water buckets and stirs hay bales and scratches backs and butts and then dodges Raven. What is it with retired rams ? The BG comes out to be sure we have enough food and Butthead tries to knock him down.

Becca says we haven't had a winter like this since before we were lambed. I asked her how she knew that if she hadn't been lambed yet ?

because I listen to the people, Blockhead...they say this much snow has been missing for 11-12 years.

Well, it can stay missing as far as I'm concerned - oh to be home in Scotland...

Benny ! Get a grip ...back in Scotland where it rains all winter and you forage for yourself until spring ?

They don't bring you food every day ??? No wonder the British Empire faded - they starved their sheep ??

It depends on where you li........oh, never mind Benny - it's really complicated and you aren't listening anyway - you are headed back out to the bale.

And she was right...the thought disturbed me so much I had to go see if the food was still there....