Friday, September 30, 2011

Chickens with bloomers



 I love, love, love blue cochins, but they certainly don't pull their own weight in the egg laying department.  So, when I placed my layer chick order in June, I sprinkled in a few bantam blue cochins, and some d'uccles that I simply adore to just see in my coop.  Both breeds are calm, sweet little chickens.
The standard sized Blue cochins are my very favorite, but I will settle for the little version for now, it isn't as hard on my checkbook to feed them this way, 4 bags of chicken feed a week is killing me right now.
I also got indulgent and threw in 6 Blue red laced Wyandottes, I already had some silver laced Wyandottes, and I really like their temperament as well.  I always am careful to house chickens with similar personalities, it stops me from being attacked by aggressive roosters and the coop is a much happier place for everyone.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Some newbie sheep

I am a hopeless case......I got to move 2 rams to new homes a few weeks ago and transported them to WSWF to deliver them to their new owners.  I took 8 sheep to Jefferson, 7 were in the show, 1 went home with Kim Nickoli of Kimberwood Farm and one went home with Garrett Ramsay of Ramsay Farms.  I, on the other hand, can't simply be happy with finding my sheep good homes, I have to bring even more sheep home than I took with me to the show!!!  
Here are 2 of the girls that I brought home with me.....both are ewe lambs.  I also leased an older ewe and purchased/traded for another 4 yr old ewe.  I'll talk more about them when I get their pictures.  

I bought my first little girl the second she hit the sales list from Juliann Budde of Lil Country Acres, she's out of her ram, Saturday Night, so as a nod to John Travolta, she is now Lil County Disco!  Juliann is kind enough to let me name the sheep I purchase from her.  Thanks Jules.
Killian's face.....Salina in the background. 
My other ewe lamb was a trade with Garrett......my ram Cadillac for his gray kat ewe lamb.  His naming theme this year is beer names, so she is named Killian.  
Lil Country Disco 

White Pine Killian

R to L: Killian, Disco and Salina (Salcional's 2011 ewe lamb)
They are currently penned up in an attempt to settle them down, and so far, we are making progress.  Disco will not quite take grain from my hand yet, but she will stand 12" from me and eat from a bucket and the other two will eat right out of my hand now. 

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Say hello to my little friend.....

Here she is........my new camera that I have been patiently waiting to buy until the funds and a humungo sale came along.  My patience has paid off since I got this considerably less than I thought I was going to have to spend.  She's a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH22 a member of the point and shoot family and I love it!!!!  NO more blurry close up shots of fleece, no more blurry shots when I use the zoom.  Thank you Michelle for pointing me in the direction of this great line of cameras.  I didn't get the exact model that you did, but I'm very happy so far.  I can't wait to see what kind of shots I get in the daylight.  (grin)  
I went out last night to get a few shots of my sheep, and of coarse, it was already dark.  But, I will not let that stop me from taking pictures of my sheep!!!  Heck no.  Here's a few shots of one of two rams that I have for sale yet.  He is for sale, but if he doesn't sell, I'm keeping him anyway.  
Sawyer's butt-the hair on the end of his tail is wonky , but he has a  wonderful fluke tail. 


Side shot of Sawyer.   Keep in mind that it's dark outside and
his cooperation was minimal 

Sawyer's horns-clearing nicely on the sides, they've begun to
angle away from his face already.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A day of reflection

I am a blessed woman.....I know I've said that before, but it has never been more apparent to me than right now.  I found out last night that good friend of mine has an inoperable brain tumor and I'm going to lose her.  I've known this gal for years and I've never had any clue she was fighting cancer the entire time.  She told me last night and I just need to process the information, I don't think I've gotten that done yet.
I'm left with questions.........
What is important to me?  How many people do I love that I haven't spent time with lately?  How does this sort of thing happen to people that only give of themselves?  What is it about the "C" word that strikes terror in our hearts?  Why aren't we doing more to prevent toxins in our water, air and our food?  Why, why, why?

I have a friend that just lost his 14 yr old daughter to cancer last month, his only child.  What words do I have that comforts a man that loses that much?  We have an aunt that is a dear, sweet woman and she was just diagnosed with breast cancer.  I lost my aunt to cancer a couple years ago, my point here is that everyone is touched by this disease.
 
Our ability to face all of this with strength and love is what makes me take notice.  We are made of strong stuff, and our capacity to love is only deepened when faced with this sort of trial.  I am in awe of my friend and her strength, it has humbled me and made me proud to call her my friend.

I am BLESSED, and I thank the Lord that he will be there to take this journey with my friend, my aunt that is going to fight this and win, my aunt that lost her battle, my friend that lost his daughter and when I had to fight my own battle with this disease.


That which angers us, controls us.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

MSSBA Show results


2011 MSSBA Annual Show ~ Results
Youth Showmanship
1st Clayton Mahlkuch ~ AlabamaYoung Handler Award
2ndElexis Eisenhower ~ Leon
3rd Clara Snow ~ Sommarang Ivy
4th Gavin Snow ~ Sommarang Isaac
5th Tori Gygi ~ S'more Samba
Senior Ram
1st  Lori Stephenson ~ FirthofFifth Avyt
2ndJuliann Budde ~ Windy Acres Hickory
3rd Andy Fulks ~ Boston Lake Jchen
4th Corinne Rasso ~ Sommarang Gilroy
5th Garrett Ramsay ~ WhitePine Levi
Yearling Ram
1st Meghan Namaste ~ Wintertime Grasshopper
2ndLori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Hackett
3rd Garrett Ramsay ~ WhitePine Flo Rida
4th Tori Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Gunpowder
5th Andrew Tobey ~ Tobeys Sampson
Ram Lamb
1st Theresa Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Velour
2ndTori Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Tarlatan
3rd Theresa Gygi ~ Dungaree Dungaree
4th Garrett Ramsay ~ WhitePine Miro
5th Lori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Innis
6th Lori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Ian
Pair of Ram Lambs
1st Tori Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Tarlatan, UnderTheSon Cendal
2ndLori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Ian, Sommarang Innis
3rd Garrett Ramsay ~ Nesse's Monster Mash & Nastro Azuro
4th Kelly K Bartels ~  OK Acres Cadillac and OK Acres Sawyer
5th Maegan Snow and family ~ Sommarang Isaac, Sommarang Ivar
Champion Ram:   Firth of Fifth Avyt, Owner- Lori Stephenson
Reserve Champion Ram:  Under the Son Velour, Owner- Theresa Gygi
Senior Ewe
1st Kelly K Bartels ~ SheltrgPines Salicional
2ndKaren Valley ~ Winter Sky Marrakech
3rd Theresa Gygi & Tori Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Tralee
4th Maegan Snow and family ~ Sommarang Elise
5th Lori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Farrah
Yearling Ewe
1st Theresa Gygi ~ UndertheSon White Lilac
2ndTori Gygi  ~ S'More Samba
3rd Theresa Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Assam
4th Garrett Ramsay ~ WhitePine Nivea
5th Andy Fulks ~ WhitePine Regina Spektor
Ewe Lamb
1st Andy Fulks ~ Fulks Family Sophia
2ndMeghan Namaste ~ Wintertime Vanity Fair 
3rd Corinne Rasso ~ Crosswinds Athena
4th Kelly K Bartels ~ OK Acres Vienna
5th Theresa Gygi & Tori Gygi ~ UnderTheSon Sateen
6th Kim Nikolai ~ Kimberwood Magic
Pair of Ewe Lambs
1st Lori Stephenson ~ Idelle,Irene
2ndMaegan Snow and family ~ Isla, Ingrid
3rd Kelly K Bartels ~ OK Acres Vienna and OK Acres Seneca
4th Garrett Ramsay~White Pines Saigons Special and WP Saku
5th Penny Becker~Tia and Kahlua
Champion Ewe:  SheltrgPines Salicional, Owner Kelly K Bartels
Reserve Champion Ewe:  Winter Sky Marrakech , Owner Karen Valley
Dam & Daughter
1stKaren Valley ~ Mandalay,Marrakech
Best Small Flock
1stKelly K Bartels ~ OK Acres Cadillac, ewe-OK Acres Vienna, ewe-Sheltering Pines Salicional
Best Fleece on Hoof
1st Karen Valley ~ Winter Sky Mandalay 
2ndMeghan Namaste ~ Wintertime Vanity Fair 
3rd Theresa Gygi & Tori Gygi ~ Velour
4th Lori Stephenson ~ Sommarang Irene
Supreme Champion SheltrgPines Salicional   Owner Kelly Bartels 
Supreme Res Champion Firth of Fifth Avyt  Owner Lori Stephenson
I know there are a few missing sheep names, so if you read this and can fill in the blanks, please let me know so I can get the correct names for each sheep that placed.  




That which angers us, controls us.

Mike and I

Mike and I
Mike and I at Nick and Emily's wedding

Raised beds & chickens coops

Raised beds & chickens coops
Can't wait for this stuff to actually be food....