This is what happens…

Posted by kenleighacres on March 20, 2014
Posted in: Farm Life, Funny, Jacob Sheep, Photography, sheep. Tagged: , , , , . 4 Comments

when your cell phone is left out in the pasture!

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Funny sheep selfies!

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I always knew that Tonka was a character, but he really let his personality show in these photos!

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He must have been looking for boogers in this one 😉  You are good buddy!

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Logan is a more serious boy and was trying out different faces, looks like this is his menacing stare down.

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That is a much better look for you, Logan!

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For as mischievous as the Jacobs can be, there weren’t many photos of them, just my boy, Dreamer.

You may be wondering how I was able to get my phone back from these attention seeking sheep…

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that would be, Miss Kate.

Poor girl looks a little out of sorts with all of the silliness going on at the farm today.  Border Collies like to have everything in an orderly fashion and sheep taking selfies isn’t very orderly 😉

Woolly Wonders in the Eugene Magazine!

Posted by kenleighacres on March 1, 2014
Posted in: Farm Life, Felting, Jacob Sheep, Photography, sheep. Tagged: , , , , , . 5 Comments

Our farm and sheep are in the Eugene Magazine!

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I am so excited to finally share this project!  A neighbor has been intrigued by our sheep and approached us with the idea of writing an article for a local magazine.  We have been working together for over a year and it is so fun to see it in print!

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Here is a photo of him taking photos of the rams last April.  I love the resulting photo that he captured of the big boys for the layout in the magazine.

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His writing style captured the whimsical nature of our sheep and I am just thrilled with the article as a whole.

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It is very weird to open a magazine and see a picture of myself…I really would have preferred it to just have photos of our sheep 😉

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Working on one of my Felt Pups.

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The last paragraph is my favorite 🙂

You can find retail locations for the Eugene Magazine on their website.

Snow Sheep!

Posted by kenleighacres on February 7, 2014
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep, Snow. Tagged: , , . 4 Comments

Oh goodie…we have snow again!  Can you hear the sarcasm there 😉

I have discovered that I am a ‘one snowfall per winter’ kind of a person.  Taking photos always puts a smile on my face though, so I headed out.

I do love the beauty and quiet that snow brings!

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Tonka looks ridiculously cute with his snow beard.

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My buddy, Dreamer, asking for his breakfast.

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Reno was sporting his winter jacket.

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Chrome is growing up to be a handsome boy.  Love those striped horns!

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The always photogenic, Mac.

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The yearling girls were recently moved outside because of their behavior in the barn with the new babies.  They thought it was fun to have someone smaller to pick on.  I bet they are rethinking their actions now!  They have a shelter, but have chosen to stay out in the snow…I think they are trying to make me feel bad 😉

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The mamas and babies are enjoying the snowy day in the barn.  I am so thankful we have such a great place for all of the babies!

…and we have a winner!

Posted by kenleighacres on January 28, 2014
Posted in: Felting, Jacob Sheep, Lambing. Tagged: , , . 2 Comments

I really thought Canby was going to be first…but Mollala snuck past her and had this adorable little girl!

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Not too long after, Canby had a big boy.

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Both of them are lilacs and sired by Chrome.

Since they were so close, I have decided to give out two prizes!

The 1st prize goes to Laurie Wirthlin for choosing Mollala.

The 2nd prize goes to Toni Sergent for choosing Canby.

Laurie and Toni, please contact me at kenleighacres@yahoo.com

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From all of the lambs and the Felt Pups…thanks for playing along with us!

To keep up with all of the lambs, you can visit our website – www.kenleigh-acres.com

Well under way…

Posted by kenleighacres on January 27, 2014
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . 32 Comments

With 19 lambs on the ground, we are in the full swing of lambing now.

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The first time mamas are doing a fabulous job!

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My son is thrilled with his lambs.

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We have been enjoying some lovely weather!  This is Susannah and her lamb, Magique.

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She is such a serious lamb.

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Scout has the exact opposite type of personality…she is silly, silly, silly 😉

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I love the interactions between moms and babies.

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…and of course it wouldn’t be lambing time without babies calling for their mamas!

Up to this point, all of the girls have had their lambs on or close to their due date.  How did I know what their due date was???  We used marking paint on the rams during the breeding season.  I would do my rounds in the morning, take a note as to which ewes were bred the previous day and write their name in my calendar.  I then calculated 149 days (average gestation for our Jacob Sheep) and mark that date in my calendar.   It has allowed me to take a little bit of the stress out of lambing time.  A lot less wondering and waiting.  It has been GREAT!

Unfortunately, I took a week off and took a road trip with a friend and attended the Jacob Sheep Breeders Annual Meeting in Missouri during breeding season.  My husband did an AWESOME job of holding down the fort, but he didn’t write down the dates like I do…I admit, I am a bit of a type A 😉  So, we now have a week of lambing with 6 girls that look close, but no dates written down.  I thought it would be fun to have a little contest and have you join me in my guessing game.

*** I wrote this blogpost last night and am now revising it because 4 new lambs greeted me in the barn this morning 🙂 ***

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Ailsa had a set of ram lambs.

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Liberty had a couple of lilac ewe lambs…

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such a good way to start the day 🙂

So, there are 4 options now, they are….

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Mollala

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Canby

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Avalon…biggest girl of the season

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and Legacy

Now to make it totally fair for the people who don’t know what to look for, I am including photos that don’t hold very many clues.

To enter, leave a comment on who you think will be first to go.

Want to know what I am giving away…

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One of these little guys…your choice.  I made them while creating my felting kits and would love to have them bring a smile to someone’s face.  Feel free to comment here or on my Facebook page.

From silly to serious

Posted by kenleighacres on January 19, 2014
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Pansy came here as a lamb from my friend, Joan, at Mud Ranch Jacobs.  She is a grand-daughter of one of my favorite girls, Infiniti.

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Pansy’s personality slowly started to emerge and she began making me laugh with her silly sense of humor.

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How can you not laugh at her when she gives you this look while eating at the feeder in this silly fashion???

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Even after they slowly tore my feeder apart, she still chose to eat with half of her body in the only panel left.

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She prefers to get in Kate’s face…

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even when it means leaving the rest of the flock to do so.

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She slowly, but surely, became one of my pocket sheep.  Here she is with Folly.  They both love their morning scratches.

With her silly personality, I wasn’t sure how she was going to take to motherhood.  She is 1 of our 8 first timers to lamb this year.

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She lambed yesterday afternoon and took right to it, in a very serious way.  Silly Pansy has been replaced by Serious Pansy.

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She no longer wants me to pet her…she has a serious job!

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She checks on Milo…

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takes a few steps…

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and then checks on him some more.

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He is a good sport about all of the smothering attention 😉

I love the different personalities in our flock and  am thrilled with how Pansy has taken to her lamb.

Making me proud!

Posted by kenleighacres on January 14, 2014
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep. Tagged: , , , , . 3 Comments

Having sheep is so much more than just having livestock in the pasture.  They bring peace and joy and have provided many life lessons for all of us.  Being a good shepherd, includes:

–  Developing a close, intimate relationship with them so that they know your voice and trust you.

 –  Understanding the needs of the sheep better than they do.

–  Working to provide protection and security.

–  Comforts sheep when they are hurt or fearful.

–  Lead them to fresh pastures.

–  Gets deep satisfaction from seeing that sheep are contented, well-fed, and safe.

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Nothing makes me more proud than heading into the barn to find our son, calmly and gently, moving the sheep out for feeding time.  He didn’t know I was watching him and it brought a smile to my face to see him quietly talking to the girls as he ushered them out.

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While I was putting hay in the feeders, he was giving Delight the attention she was craving.  It looks like she will be the next to lamb.  The look on her face says it all…she was thoroughly enjoying the scratches and sweet talks.

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After spending time with Delight, he worked his way down the lamb pens and said ‘hi’ to everyone.  He spent the most time with this little girl.  Scout has become friendly and he will soon have another one begging for chest scratches.

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They make a pretty cute pair 🙂

I love this time of year and the bond we are creating with the help of our little spotted sheep.

Just like that…

Posted by kenleighacres on January 11, 2014
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep. Tagged: , , , . 2 Comments

We went from 1 lamb to 6!

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At this time yesterday, Legend was still the only lamb….not that he was really minding it 😉

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Sublimity lambed yesterday afternoon with 2 ewe lambs.

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First born was Caprice.

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Second born was Scout.  So stinkin’ cute!!!

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Their sire is Reno.  This is the third time doing this cross and it continues to put a smile on my face.

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Susannah was very close behind with a ewe lamb of her own.  Her sire is Mac, this was also a repeat breeding.

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I love her long eye lashes and cute little smirk.

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This morning I was greeted by Flirt’s two ram lambs.  This is Whistler.

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He was a sleepy boy.

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This is his brother, Asher.  They are also sired by Mac.

Azera and Delight look like they are lining up and getting ready!

Attention Grabbing Floozie

Posted by kenleighacres on January 6, 2014
Posted in: Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 2 Comments

If that title doesn’t grab you, I don’t know what will 😉

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My friend has dubbed my ewe, Infiniti, an attention grabbing floozie.  I have to admit…the title does kind of fit.

In August, she was the first ewe to be bred, the same day we turned the rams in.  This wasn’t much of a surprise because she has been the first to lamb the last couple of years.   Unfortunately, she was then rebred by the clean-up ram.  I was looking forward to the resulting lamb of the first cross, so I was disappointed.

Since she was rebred (supposedly), this meant our first lambs would be due January 10th.  Well, you can imagine my shock to find this little guy…

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Looks like she was bred by the first guy!  Just her way of grabbing more attention 🙂

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Welcome ‘Legend’!  Such a handsome guy with a beautiful lamb fleece.

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Infiniti is such a good mama!

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He will soon be joined by a bunch of lambs later this week!

Whimsy

Posted by kenleighacres on January 2, 2014
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep. Tagged: , , , , , . 4 Comments

whim·sy 

1.  Endearing quaintness or oddity: the quality of being slightly odd or playfully humorous, especially in an endearing way.

2.  Impulsive notion: an idea that has no immediately obvious reason to exist.

Whimsy is going to be our naming theme for our 2014 Lambs.

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I think our sheep fall under this category very well 🙂

I have always loved the word ‘whimsy’ and it has been an integral part of my Felt Pups.

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I want them to bring a smile everywhere they go.

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I think you would agree that this little pup and his toy are oozing ‘whimsy’.

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…as well as this little guy from last year.

Our first lambs for 2014 are due at the end of next week and I have been compiling a list of whimsical names.  Naming the lambs is one of my favorite parts of lambing season and I am looking forward to doling out the names this year!

A few of my favorite girl names – Bellamy, Ophelia, Tallulah, and Reverie.  Golly and Lolly may go to girls that are staying here to complete our collection of Holly, Dolly, and Folly 😉

Some of my favorite boy names on the list are – Whistler, Rhys, Lincoln, and Griffin.  I’m sure I will know Hobbledehoy as soon as he is born!

Hopefully new lamb photos soon!