The one picture is our new Marino Ram. His name is Alganon. a 2 yr. old Marino and is going to be our main breeding ram. He has a good record of throwing lambs with his coloring and multiple lambs per ewe, mostly triplets and an occasional set of quads.
The other picture is of the Herd Guardian LLama. The herd is HIS and he isn’t afraid to let everyone know it. He belongs to a neighbor. That is Alganon standing behind him. It was cute to watch the llama as we were trying to get pictures. He tried to position himself between the sheep and us.
He will be coming to his new home in about a week or week and a half after he get his Ramly chorses done.
More later
Cindy
February 27th, 2007
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For the City Folk that have never actually seen a Road Runner, here is a couple poor pictures of one. I had to take the picture from inside the house so I didn’t scare him. The dogs were barking at him from the other end of the fence area, and he was a little preoccupied.
Most of us can relate to the Road Runner and Wiley coyote. BEEP BEEP. I was a little surpirsed the first time I seen a Runner sitting on a fence post. I thought they were ground dwellers. Oh well, remember, I am a city girl?
Oh well, this is proof they do exist, and they do get off the ground.
Cindy
February 26th, 2007
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We made Dusty a happy camper yestereday. We got his 60′ diameter round pen done.
Phew what a job. Hauling around 12 and 16′ steel tubular panels trying to make them conform to a circle. Didn’t do to badly though, only had to adjust about 6′ on the last panel by moving the others around a bit.
Then we turned Dusty out in it. Oh did he enjoy that. First he investigated his new surroundings, then trotted around a bit then got “stupid”. He bucked and kicked and galloped around like an idiot.
It probably felt pretty good to him to be able to run and stretch a bit. He was pretty restricted in his 24×50′ arena that he has been in for the last 10 mos.
So that is one medium sized project off the list. The weather was super for working outside yesterday and seeing what the weather is today, I’m glad we got it done yesterday.
I’ll get some pics of the round pen and get them posted as soon as the weather warms up a bit more.
We also got some pictures of the new Marion Ram that will be the newest addition to our small flock of 3. Will get them posted as soon as I get them transfered to computer.
Cindy
February 25th, 2007
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I went to bed last night with the anticipation of lots of snow, so they lied. Eventually I will get the weather pattens figured out in this country of valleys and mountains. We had a few squalls go through, but the ground never got covered. Oh well, still a couple more storms lined up for first of next week.
The wind was blowing to much to get outside and do anything, it was out of the NE and cold.
Oh, and we bought a new Ram today for our little girls. I hope they appreciated it 
It is a full blooded Mario Ram. We should get him in another 2 weeks, seems he is a little busy right now. Last year he threw 2 singles, 2 sets of twins and a bunch of triplets. So we have some high expectations for him. He is 2 yrs old so he should be good for a number of years. We will try to get a couple Ewe bummers this spring to even out our flock and be able to prevent inbreeding. Some will be sent to market later this fall anyway.
I will get a picture of him up as soon as we get one. We are going to see him tomorrow. Maybe I can get some pics tomorrow and post them.
Until then,
Cindy
February 23rd, 2007
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Well, so much for getting anything done outside in the next few days, darn it.  Wind has been blowing like a banchie all day and going to get worse tonight with gusts to 60 MPH. In the mountains, that is some nasty wind, especially in the passes.
It is SW now 20-30 and we are going to get between 4-12 inches of snow between 2am Friday morning and 5pm tomorrow night.
Storm prep work is done, firewood, extra feed for Dusty and a full water bucket, and the shovel placed outside the barn door so I can shovel a path for the door to swing. He is set.
Now we just wait. They are already talking about the next one due in here next Tuesday and it is bigger than this one, OH Thrill, Thrill. Our local weather man has a scale of 1-5 for storm severity. This one is a solid 3. Avalanche warnings are all over the state on ungroomed slopes of more than a 30 degree grade. Groomed ski slopes are ok for now.
I love it though. Snow out here is beautiful. You can watch it accumulate. Then you can watch it leave. Somehow though, I don’t think this will be in a big hurry to leave, which is fine. We have nowhere we have to be for the next few days so let it SNOW.
See you tomorrow
Cindy
February 22nd, 2007
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We are currently pricing chicks. That is Nest on the to do list. A hen house or chicken coop. I guess after Bev and I built the addition on our old house, we should be able to handle a coop. (or so it says here in very fine print)
We are going to start out small, with the minumum required from the shipper, well maybe not the minumum which is 25. I guess we decided on 50. It will be what they call a Straight Run, or unsexed chicks. They estimate a ratio of 60%males to 40% females. By going with 50, we will end up with the amount of layers we want and the first bird that crows in the morning will be in the freezer by night.
Will keep you posted on this project also. I think I could get into this farming thing. It’s going to be fun. Mom has always wanted chickens but we never really had the room for them. Now we do and we are going to do it for her.
We are looking at coop designs now, and have it narrowed down to 2. Ease of collecting eggs is going to be the clincher. I don’t especially care for the frontal approach without protective gear.Â
Cindy
February 20th, 2007
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Well, as far as this day being a lost cause, I was right. The wind shifted to the NE and dropped about 3 inches of snow almost as fast as we watched. It started with sleet that turned the ground partially white, followed by a heavy steady snow. Even lost the satellite internet connection for about an hour during the heaviest snow.
Oh well, I didn’t really feel up to working outside anyway. I am still pretty sore from what we did yesterday. They are calling for more heavy weather for Wednesday, and the weekend. Supposed to be sunny tomorrow though, maybe will get something accomplished tomorrow.
Cindy
February 19th, 2007
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Well,,,,looks like its going to be a clouds/rainy day. Rare occurance out this way, but welcome anyway. The sun is trying to peek thru but having trouble. Lots of black clouds around our side of the mountains. It’s about 50 degrees, but there is a pretty stiff southwest wind keeping it a little cool.
Most of our “Crowned Sparrows” have started to migrate so the bird feeders are pretty quiet except for a few of our variety of Morning Doves. Humming birds are due in here in about a month, so feeders are getting out and ready to go.
I talked to the “Gentleman” farmer that I worked for last summer. He is still on track with his 4 acre garden. Planning on strawberries and rasberries to start with, sounds like about an acre each. No idea what he is planning to do with that much fruit.
Both the fields he is planning on planting were hay fields last year, so there is going to be a lot of “prep” work to be done before they can be planted. Should be educational though.
We are also getting our “Vermiculture” area ready. That is going to be a fun project. Very inexpensive project to get going, and keep. Possibility of good returns in a couple years. As with all farm projects, going to start small and expand as we get experience and see what it takes to preserve the beds during next winter. It’s also a project that doesn’t take a lot of constant care or looking after.
Catch you all tomorrow
Cindy
February 19th, 2007
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Yesterday we went to visit our little girls that are visiting our neighbors Ram. All indications are the older youngster should be having a family long about July. The little Marino (little black one) may have to wait another year.
Yesterday we started modifying the Lambs living quarters. Since they have learned how to climb the 32″ fence, we had to move up to the 48″ to keep them contained and not going back to visit with Dusty.
Modifying consisted of taking down an existing fence line and bringing it around the corner of the existing 32″ fence and digging/driving T Posts to attach it to. We left the 32″ fence in place. We got about 1/2 done yesterday and left the truck and comealong attacked. That was how we stretched the fencing.
Today we finished up as much as we could. We drove/dug some more posts, made the opening for the gate, and called it done for now. The wind started blowing and it got pretty chilly out there in the middle of the field.
We will be bringing the girls home in about another 3 weeks, and shouldn’t have to worry about them doing a walk about now.
Our project list seems to be growing instead of shrinking. There are a couple priorities though, and they are real close to the major side of the list. The rest are just on the list to get done as we can.
More tomorrow
February 18th, 2007
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Well, I guess it’s time to get back to that question. Ho Hum.
Since we seen our first “chippy” this morning happily eating under one of the birdfeeders, I guess that cinches it. Chippies it is.
Last summer we tried to create a garden. “Tried” being the operative word there.
We tilled, fertilized, fed, watered and planted some corn. Oh how they enjoyed that. The war was on.
I’d plant, and they would dig up almost as fast. We had even put up a chicken wire type barrier. All that did was make them work a little smarter.
Off to the internet for help solving the problem. OH OH not much help,,,get the books out. Moth balls/crystals. Ahh, that we have. HEHEHE as I sprinkle them around the outside of wire. Thinking I outsmarted them, I rested easy that night.
Next morning I did my normal garden check,,,,, 
They did it again. I was thinking drastic thoughts by now. (Get the .22 out.) But they are cute. OK, next thought as I am replanting some more corn kernals. HAHA, Idea!!!
I go into the house and get about a dozen clear plastic 12 oz. cups. Cut a hole in the center of the bottom. Dig out my 1/8″ dowels and put them thru the bottom of cup and stick the other end in the ground, very effectively covering the newly planted corn kernals. I check them for stability, they are fine, and the holes in bottom are tight enough that the cup won’t slide up.
I do the garden check next morning, chuckling to myself. OH NO!!! The little critters dug under the cup and swipped the kernal. Oh Great, now what. I’m out of ideas now. Never having had to deal with this problem, I didn’t have many to start with.
The book has some great ideas, guess I’m going to have to employ some of them.
About now he is trying to figure out where all his bushes went that were there last year. Chuckle,,,they are gone. Only the stumps remain. Along with the “gone” bushes are all the hiddy holes and escape routes they used on a regular basis.
I’m not going to go into the suggestions in the book right now, but may do it later. There are enough for a post of their own.
Cindy
February 16th, 2007
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I thought for a change of pace I would show a couple pictures that indicate Spring is “just down the road”.
These pictures are from a neighbors farm.
The kids pictured above are twins. You will notice one has big ears, and one that has very short ears. Momma has the short ears.
Cindy
February 15th, 2007
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The first thing I noticed out here is that everything is “just down the road”. It doesn’t matter if it is 1/2 mile or 10, it’s still just down the road. That is where Spring is at the moment. It is currently 60 degrees with a light breeze blowing and a bit cloudy. I should be outside doing something constructive……….
With Spring looming, it reminds me of last year. We have a little critter out here called a Chizzler. They are cousins to Praire Dogs. They are cute but a real pain in the yard.
We could track them across the entire front yard as they tunnled and surfaced, then tunnled and surfaced again. Every morning we had no less than 3 “mounds” of dirt across the yard.
We would fill them in, and they were back in another place the next morning. We argued with them all summer. You have to understand about growing nice lawns out here. It’s called “turf”. We are trying the old fashion way, growing it. We are a long distance from having a lush lawn. Sigh!
Anyhow, we managed to eliminate one of the critters, and waited for more to surface. Gee, no more mounds, no more holes, Humm, could we have been so lucky to have only one? Gee, guess so. No more mounds of dirt. Super. Now for this spring.
Continuing with last year. We expected to wage war on them again. Wrong, never seen a one. Man that was great. Now we can work on the grass.
Wait a second, what was that little brown thing that just tore across the drive. NOOOO! A chipmonk. And the war was on. Since the chipmonks moved in, the chizzlers have stayed out. Humm, lets see now, which is the lesser of 2 evils. Have to think on that one and finish this in the next post.
Cindy
February 10th, 2007
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I am still trying to get this new program figured out. There is a way to put pictures in the way you want them. Right now, its sorta like they go where they want and how they want. So I have a little work to do on that front. Trust me, you will know when I get it figured out. I have loads of pictures I’d like to post. But not being a programmer, there is a learning curve to get around and I’m not quit there yet.
Cindy
February 7th, 2007
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This was one of those “not much happening” days.
Spent the day in St. George. It was 70 degrees and people were out mowing GREEN lawns. What’s wrong with that picture on the 6th of February? St. George is about an hour south of Beryl. Temperature in Beryl today was in the mid 50’s.
It’s supposed to be warm for the next few days, time to start working outside. With the lambs “visiting” the neighbors, this is the time to redo their fencing. Since they have gotten bigger, 32″ fence just isn’t tall enough. They just climb it. So guess I will work on that tomorrow. Maybe I will play with Dusty a little if it gets warm tomorrow.
See you tomorrow
Cindy
February 6th, 2007
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Another thing I am having a hard time catching on to is the seasons out here. Last April we had our one “measurable” amount of snow, 10″. Most of it was gone by the middle of the afternoon.
In May, about the 2nd week, we bought 5 tomato plants and got them in the ground. Not even a week later we had a heavy frost and killed all 5 of the tomato plants. The end of May we tried again with 5. We had more heavy frosts after that. But this time we listened to the weather and covered them when it was due to get cold. We only lost 4 of them this time.
Finally we decided to wait for a few weeks. Long about the 2-3 week of June we tried again. They didn’t die, but it was pretty late to get red tomatoes. So much for our first growing season.
I decided that was why there were so many Visqueen type green houses around here. DUH!!!
Everyone in the valley is commenting on the length of the cold weather this year. It is supposedly the longest cold spell in a number of years. Guess we didn’t know how good we had it last winter. The winter garb never got off the hangers last year. This year they never got put back on the hangers. At most last year it was sweat shirts or hooded sweat shirts.
Today, the temperature was 38 degrees at 8:30am. Really rather nice with no wind blowing. A northeast wind out here is the same as it was in Ohio. COLD. With virtually no humidity, mid 30’s is pretty mild. Humidity out here usually runs between 10 and 17. Ohio has never seen 17 humidity.
In Ohio, the grass is some shade of green all winter and really gets green in the spring. Grass out here gets brown and stays brown way into the spring. Not very pretty at all. Oh well, guess we are still in the learning process.
Catch y’all later
Cindy
February 5th, 2007
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I guess this is an example of not naming our animals. These handsome guys are Wooly and Paco. They are a Polypay breed.
These are the 2 little boy wannabe’s that were bought a few months ago, and were picked up yesterday to fullfill their destiny. Sigh. That leaves the two little girls alone and heart broken.
The girls were fed this morning about 9:30. We started to leave the house and noticed they were both outside their pen, headed for Dusty. Dusty was prancing and bucking in his pen as they approached.
The girls seen the truck and turned around and ran back towards their pen. We put them back where they belonged and went on our way.
About an hour later we came back and they were out again. Only this time they were back with Dusty, nose to nose. Again they seen the truck and came running towards the truck.
We pulled into the driveway and went into the house. Mom said look. We looked outside and both the girls were just outside the back door. Oh well, we got a good laugh about that and went out to get them. We put them on a leash and walked them to the neighbors, which is about 1/2 mile away.
Our neighbor has a small flock of sheep with a mature Ram. The girls are going to visit for about 4 weeks. Hopefully, if the older one isn’t already with lamb, she will be. Gestation is 5 months. So long about July maybe our little herd will increase by one or two.
More later.
Cindy
February 4th, 2007
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Meet Marino, the Little Black Sheep of the Family 
Marino is about a year old and is also called a Bummer. Sometime in my life, I heard the first rule of living on a farm and having farm animals is that you don’t name them. Cut me some slack here. I am new to this farming thing. Marino is actually the breed of sheep, so we didn’t really name her.
Marino’s are a smaller breed of sheep than the rest of the family in the picture on the right. They are known for multiple births and being able to raise more than one lamb successfully. Marino’s can have 1-6 lambs per lambing. That’s a fast way to increase the size of a flock in a hurry.
Hopefully Marino will have at least one lamb this spring. I’m not holding my breath though. She is still pretty young, but there is a possibility. If she does lamb this spring, you can bet there will be some pictures posted as this will be the first births on our “farm”. Marino’s are also known for their “Fine” wool and are sought after for various uses.
More on the rest of the “family” in my next post.
Cindy
February 2nd, 2007
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This post is going to be about Dusty. 
Dusty is almost a 2 yr. old Thoroughbred gelding. He was born in May of 2005. He orginally came to visit us in June 2006, and he came to live with us in July. He had not been handled when we got him. He didn’t want to be touched or handled. He had never had a halter on or his feet trimmed.
About a month after coming to live with us, he had his first trip to the Vets. Oh, was he an unhappy camper.
We got him to the Vets, and sedated to be gelded. The farrier was also there to take care of his feet. This was all done right in the trailer. Oh, and he got a halter put on while he was still sedated. The farrier and vet also checked his right front leg that is a little deformed. They were both of the opinion that he would be fine to ride as trail horse or pleasure riding but no hard work like rodeo riding or barrels etc. That was fine with me, as I knew about his leg when we took him.
I decided he would be a “project” horse. A project horse is one that needs to be worked with, and broke to ride if possible. Since my horse breaking knowledge is a little lacking, it was going to really be a project.
It will be another year before he can be ridden anyway, so I have the time to get this done. Really there is no time frame to getting him rideable. When we are ready, it will happen. Until then, we will keep working together and learning manners, and getting him used to things he normally doesn’t see, or hear.
He decided he really likes to be brushed, so he gets brushed a lot. He also likes to bite and kick, but we are working on those bad habits all the time.
Maybe this spring we will get him a pasture mate so he won’t be alone, just not sure what kind of company to get him yet, maybe a mule. Mules make good pasture mates for horses, or we may get another horse. He has a very high play drive and playing with him is always an adventure.
As soon as I get a good picture of him, I will get it posted.
More about Dusty later
Cindy
February 1st, 2007
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