7/12/2006

JULY IS GOOD !

July has brought many blessing to the flock so far. After a very tense time of limited hay to feed out, we now have some lovely first cut to supplement the feeding. I was only allowing the sheep to graze a few hours a day on our pastures to help preserve the limited grazing. We were able to move half the flock over to a nearby pasture with an abundance of grass. The sheep agreeably and earnestly started in on their project and will be there for as long as possible, perhaps through October.

In the meantime, we were blessed with a beautiful llama. "Chennille" is a 9 year old female and is here at our farm bonding with the purebred Leicester Longwool flock. She is tolerating me handling her and is building her confidence to cross the stream to go out to the pasture with the flock. I believe she will be able to overcome her fears and join the flock soon.

I’m also taking an online Sheep Management course designed by the Pipestone Vets in Minnesota. I plan to continue with the course work and also attend lambing in the winter as well as a summer management intensive next year.

I’m weaving and washing wool and preparing for two more fiber shows this year.