Green And White - No, It's Not The Saskatchewan Roughriders

May 29, 2010 - you would think that summer is upon us - but not here. We woke up to snow on the ground. Chris may have to dig his long underwear out again - I had packed them away for the season. This is a country where it can snow every month of the year- what a thing to put on a tourist brochure.

It would be a good day to sell lambs today - they would be 5-10 pounds more due to their wet fleeces. Poor buggers didn't know what hit them.



This is my flower garden - finished planting yesterday. You can see the roses, and the johny jump-ups I put out - really, they are there. The timing was impeccable.
I am supposed to start driving for the Slash J Trial and the Big One today - I shall be packing everything from shorts to my Carthart. I probably should think about my winter boots as well. Maybe I will find a dog sled too - I'll be travelling with 12 dogs.

Sheep Tails

We have been lucky and have found a place where there is plenty of grass for my sheep. I had shorn the Scottish Blackface, and I still have to shear the new ones I had bought. (Truth be known, I have only shorn one sheep before, and that was a vet call - the problem was a ram who couldn't get up - after I removed 3.5 years of wool off of him, he bounded straight up - yes, I am a miracle worker!)

There are many benefits to having sheep. First, you don't have to use a lawn mower. Second, you don't have to buy sheep manure like many do to improve their soil - these guys do it naturally. Much better stepping in it rather than the steer manure.

There is a chain link fence which keeps all of the sheep in, and any coyotes out. They would have to scale the fence to get in. It is like the Kingston Penitentiary-however, there are no day passes granted here. If you use the gopher holes, you have a pretty fair golfcourse though.
This is the warden of the pen. I call her Jenny - not a very unique name, since she is a jenny.
She's a nice jackass - as jackasses go. Funny, someone said that about me the other day as well. I believe it was Chris that said it. Jackass.

Babysitters

Babysitters are often underrated. Around this place, a good babysitter is worth alot -she saves time and money.

This is Maggie the Milkcow. She came from a Hutterite colony. She didn't know what she was getting into when she walked onto our place.

When she landed in, she instantly became Mother Maggie.

Calf #842's own mother went tits up (literally - she rolled on her back and bloated).

Then there are the two other calves she looks after - Linus with the broken jaw and Lulu- the calf whose cow didn't claim her. (We will find you cow, and you will become hamburger!)

Of course, on the other side, is famous Grandma Gertie. In the week she has been here, I think she has packed on 30 pounds. She was the deal at a $1.00 at the Olds Auction Market.

Her job is to keep tabs on the bottle babies - which are growing quite nicely. One more bag of milk replacer, and that will be the end of feeding these voracious monsters. My teats have been worn out by these sucking machines. I will have to replace them for the next group.
We'll have to empty the freezer out in awhile - in a few months it will be full of lambchops and veal cutlets.
You didn't think they would be pets did you??

The Paxton Valley Weekend

Jill Brodie and I loaded up and left for the Paxton Valley Sheep Dog Trial on Friday, and got to our destination ready for the next day (not without almost running out of gas - we got to Revelstoke with 3 litres of gas left-I think I may have added a few more grey hair on Jill's head). Being how the long weekend in May, it had decided to rainy and cold, but that didn't damper our spirits. We got to stay in a lovely little log cabin, in which we were it's first guests. The wood stove was toasty warm.

This is Lee Lumb running one of her nursery dogs. I had run Creed in the nursery, and was happy with him - he wouldn't take his flank the first day, so I walked off with him (after reminding him what a flank was) and then did better the next day. I was worried Fly was going to show her age, but she did well in my mind - was quite zippy in the shedding ring, so I think we can do another season. She got 81 on the first day, and 74 (without a shed) on the second day. Gin was - how you say - CRAP the first day - she ran through the bridle. I was able to set with her the second day, and that allowed me to have a better run on Sunday - 4th with a 85. The big winner was Carol Nelson and Jess. She had a 92 on Sunday, and that allowed her to get the top overall.

We headed off for home directly after the trial - and saw an antique shop. Well, I couldn't resist a deal, and ended up buying a rocking chair. Jill also bought some treasures, and packed the truck to the hilt. Unfortunately, that meant there was no room for Jill.


We strapped both Jill and the chair to the roof, and set out for home. The Beiseker Hillbillies were bound for Alberta.

We left the next morning from Armstrong - after buying my cheese with all my winnings (you cannot leave BC without buying cheese in my mind). The travel home was good until we passed Golden, BC. We ended up going 5-10 KM per hour for about 3 hours due to construction at Banff. Since there was the holidayers returning home, there was a very LOONNNGGG line of cars trying to merge. I had thought there was someone trying to go to a garage sale, but I was mistaken. It was a really fun weekend, and Holly and her crew did a great job. Now I am going to get ready to go to North Dakota to do the Slash J and the Big One trials. I gave cheese to Chris so he won't be too upset for my going away again.