High flying fun

Posted by kenleighacres on August 25, 2010
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 4 Comments

The Motocross crazy people guys were at the fair again this year.  Having a six-year-old boy that loves motorcycles, means we watched most of their shows.  Even though I think they are a little intense, I stood there in awe with my mouth opened for almost every show.

Here is an example of what they do…

what is below them you ask…CONCRETE!  In addition to a lot of concrete there is also an RV!

They go up this little ramp and jump over the truck and land on another ramp on the other side.  The space is incredibly small for all of the big action.

AMAZING!

INCREDIBLE!

and yes, a little CRAZY!

They did 3 shows a day and I never got bored watching them.

This is what he thought of getting their autographs 🙂

Luckily, he is still happy with the more mild vehicles!

Friends and fun at the Fair!

Posted by kenleighacres on August 24, 2010
Posted in: Jacob Sheep. Tagged: , . 5 Comments

We have spent the last 6 days at the Lane County Fair – showing sheep, hanging out with friends, and having fun!

My son showed his lamb in 4 different classes, all by himself!  Here he is in the 10 and under showmanship class.  He did a great job – I can’t believe how grown-up he looks.

He was a very serious showman 🙂

He made a lot of new friends – here he is getting a few showmanship pointers before the show.

He also showed in the Noble Wheeler Youth class.  All of the entrants bred, own, and show their sheep.

In the Jacob classes, we had help from both of my sisters.  He was very happy when his lamb, Precious, was awarded Reserve Champion.

He was cracking us up in the last class of the day.  He was asking us if our feet were killing us.  He told us that his feet were dog tired 🙂  Such problems for a six-year-old.

I love this picture – his lamb truly is ‘precious’.  I could lie to you and tell you that he was whispering sweet things to her, but he was also asking her if her feet were killing her!

The sheep barn is full of girls – responsible, respectful girls – they were great with him and one of his favorite parts of the fair was playing cards with them in the mornings.

Cousin, Gracie Anne, was also there on show day – such a smiley girl.

We had a large display area that answered a lot of questions.

My favorite part of our decorations were the valances that I resurrected.  My mom made these 14-15 years ago when I was showing in 4-H.  They have been hanging in our barn and after a good washing they were good as new!  I hung signs that answered a lot of the most common questions asked about Jacob sheep.

Very few people knew what our sheep were and they had a LOT of questions.  The most common one was whether or not it was normal for them to have 4-horns. 

Patchwork Abraham was very popular.

Almost as popular as the baby pigs 😉 

Chickens, Ducks, and Quail – oh my!

Posted by kenleighacres on August 15, 2010
Posted in: Chickens, Ducks. Tagged: , , , , , . 3 Comments

Our baby chicks are now 4 months old. 

They don’t look like babies anymore!

We bought a variety of breeds – Lakenvelders, Silver Spangled Hamburgs, Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, and Cukoo Marans.  We decided to keep the Blue Laced Red Wyandottes (BLRW) and the Cukoo Marans, mainly because of temperment.  The Hamburgs and Lakenvelders were very flighty.  The BLRW and Marans fit in nicely with our little banty and Rhode Island Red.

I LOVE the BLRW!

The pattern on their feathers is so pretty.  They are docile and laid-back….

unfortunately, 3 of the 4 looked like this – yep roosters.  I knew there was a good chance I would get a couple roosters because they are only sold as straight run (not sexed).  I was really disappointed to see that 3 of them were roosters.  I decided to keep one of the roosters and my brother took the other two.  I should have had crowing try outs before I decided which one to keep – this guy sounds terrible!!!  I hope he gets better with practice 🙂

Too bad he can’t crow as good as he can dance.

The baby ducks are also growing up and starting to fly everywhere. 

They were all supposed to be mallards, but as you can see in this picture, they are not all the same size.  We have 3 GIANTS!  They are the same color, but have to be a cross between a mallard and a much bigger duck. 

They have the run of the property and since the pond has dried up, they have made themselves at home going wherever they choose.  If we are late bringing dinner, they come looking for us and almost came in the garage one night.  Ducks are so entertaining 🙂

This is one of my favorite summertime sights – little covey of quail and their babies.  This picture was taken from the floor of our garage – the door was open a couple inches and it was the perfect place to get close.  They are very flighty.

Dad was watching closely for any danger.    

A little visit to Rocking Dog Ranch

Posted by kenleighacres on August 9, 2010
Posted in: Border Collie, Dogs, family, Farm Life, Herding. Tagged: , , . 8 Comments

This morning we loaded a few dogs in the car and headed up I5 to visit our good friend, Lora.  It was time for Rose to visit some other sheep and I was looking for some guidance on the best way to start her.  I also think it is good for my son to work with someone other than his mom with his dog 🙂  It helps that he adores Lora!

The dog…

the sheep…

and the beauty…

that is herding!

It was so funny listening to my son while Lora was working with Rose – ‘Lora is the best trainer’ and ‘Look at how fabulous Rose is’ and ‘We should come here every week’ and ‘I can’t believe how good she is doing’.  He cracks me up!

After Rose, Gypsy had a go. 

Gypsy is a daughter of Nell, my second favorite border collie, right behind my Katie girl.

Here is Nell telling the Cheviots to ‘move’ 🙂

Before we left, Nell brought the sheep up to the barn so I could see the new ram – Sam.  He is mostly Blueface and is from Tammy’s farm.

In fact, we visited him when he was a baby.  He has grown up a lot!

A good morning with good friends!

Benton County Fair

Posted by kenleighacres on August 7, 2010
Posted in: Jacob Sheep. Tagged: , , . 1 Comment

We have been at the Benton County Fair with our sheep for the last couple of days.  It is a fun, quaint little fair.  I took 7 sheep and my son took 4 lambs.  We had a wonderful time together!

He showed his ewe lambs by himself and did a fantastic job!  Echo is a little more wild than Precious aka Florence, so we left her halter and lead rope on.

He practiced all morning with Precious and it showed.  They looked like pros in the ring.

We had the only jacobs at the show, which meant we had a lot of sheep in the Champion ewe class – fall ewe lamb, spring ewe lamb, and yearling ewes.  We had a lot of great help!  Mollala won Champion ewe and Echo won Reserve Champion ewe – he was so excited to win such a big ribbon 🙂

While we were waiting to go in the ring, he sat with his girls – Precious, Echo, and his Nigerian Dwarf goat – Dreamer.  My sister showed her goats at the fair and brought his goat that stays at her house 🙂

One of our favorite exhibits to visit were the reptiles.

They had really big snakes, tarantulas, lizards, monitors, turtles, and a lot of really weird creatures!

This guy had a comic look to him – a black and white tegu.  I had no idea what a tegu was, they are a South American lizard and at maturity can be 3-4 feet long! 

In addition to the fair, there is a rodeo.

The bucking bulls are so big when you are that close to them!

On Thursday night we stayed for part of the rodeo.

We watched the bareback and saddle bronc riding…

and the calf roping.

The fair was fun, but people and sheep are happy to be home!

Magic Moon Junior

Posted by kenleighacres on August 2, 2010
Posted in: Jacob Sheep. Tagged: , . 11 Comments

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this blogpost.  We had to say good-bye to a very special sheep.  His name was Junior and I will always remember the day we picked him up.  In May 2004, I saw an ad on the jacob-list and led my husband on a little adventure to Deadwood, Oregon.  We came home with 3 new rams – Magic Moon Captain Hook, his son Magic Moon Junior, and Magic Moon Bazil.  Hook was 7, Bazil was 5,

and Junior was a yearling. 

I didn’t know it then, but those three boys made quite an impact on our flock.  They did an incredible job on improving our fleeces and Hook showed me that rams can be sweet and respectful. 

Junior inherited his dad’s respectful demeanor and has always been a gentleman.  

He never started a fight, but would defend his title of top ram if anybody challenged him.

He loved his girls…

and had a good sense of humor 😉

We keep all of our adult rams together because I believe this is the healthiest living arrangement for them, unfortunately it can also cause problems.

Wrangler and Junior were good buddies and spent most of their time together.  Their primitive nature and survival of the fittest urge was stonger than this friendship in the end.  Junior suffered a spinal cord injury and the miracle that I prayed for, wasn’t to be.  Being a good shepherd, means making hard choices at times and this was definitely one of those times.  I am going to miss him!

He sired many beautiful babies and his memory will live on through them here and across the country.

My son’s goat

Posted by kenleighacres on July 30, 2010
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, sheep, Uncategorized. Tagged: . 5 Comments

My son LOVES goats…he loves their over the top friendly nature. 

He loves to visit the goats at Tammy’s and my sister’s and even has his own goat at my sister’s house.  Unfortunately for him, my husband and I do not share this fondness.  I like my space and I like my animals to respect that space.

It occurred to me yesterday, that he already has his own goat!

Say ‘hello’ to Dolly – a goat in sheep’s clothing.

I have always described her as doglike, but the more I think about it, she is actually more goatlike!

Thank goodness, now I don’t have to feel guilty about not getting him a goat – he already has one 🙂

 She likes to climb fences – just to get closer to you (or the grain you are holding).  There are lots of times that I have a hard time opening the gate because she is standing on it.

She loves to be IN your face!  Not really a sheep quality 🙂

She enjoys and is very tolerant of all physical contact – even BIG hugs!

She has been here for a few years and she immediately became his.  He loves to pet here while I am doing chores.

Here she is with this year’s lambs.  I couldn’t believe they were all snuggled up on a 90 degree afternoon!  The lambs are 4 1/2 months old and long past needing to be weaned.  So, I moved Dolly with another ewe to a different pasture, only to find her back with her lambs the next morning.  Uuuugggggg!  She pushed her way through the gate.  My son helped me move her back and we fixed the gate and I thought all was good…wrong.  I heard her bellowing through 1/2 the night and then it was quiet.  Silly me, I thought she finally laid down with the other ewe and decided to sleep.  Surprise, surprise – she was back with her lambs this morning.  I can’t find how she got out this time!  She will be going in a different pen in the barn tonight. 

It’s a good thing she is my son’s sheep (goat) because she is testing my patience!!! 

A great weekend at the Calapooia Classic

Posted by kenleighacres on July 29, 2010
Posted in: family, Herding. Tagged: , , , , . 4 Comments

Towards the end of July, in a little town called Sweet Home, is a great herding event called the Calapooia Classic.  This is an Australian Shepherd Club of America trial and it was packed full of…

sheep herding…

duck herding…

cattle herding…

photo by Kristine Gunter

conformation showing…

photo by Kristine Gunter

obedience…

and good friends!

Ken and Debbie Lyle, along with their daughter Amy, are wonderful hosts.  I know their hard work is truly appreciated. 

This is my son’s favorite new friend – Shirley.

Here he is with Shirley and her owner, Stacey.  He was Stacey’s little shadow most of the weekend.  Everyone was so good with him and it was so nice not having to worry about where he was. 

We couldn’t ask for a nicer camping spot – down in the trees and next to the river.  It was a hot weekend and we took several dips in the river.

Good times and fun memories!

To see all of the photos that Kristine and I took, you can see them here – That’ll Do Photography

A special bond

Posted by kenleighacres on July 21, 2010
Posted in: family. 3 Comments

There is just something special that little boys and grandpas share.

Here is my dad with the 4 grandsons.  Get ready…

here they come!

So much energy…

and fun memories!

We were able to corral them for a minute and get a group shot.  Easier said than done at times 🙂

Earlier in the day, the two older grandsons and I went for a special field trip to my grandma and grandpa’s.

Guess what lies behind this door?

A room that my son couldn’t believe existed – a whole building devoted to TRAINS!  He has seen it before, but it has been long enough that he didn’t remember.  He is old enough now to fully appreciate it and boy did he have fun!

Great-grandpa also had a great time showing the boys how everything worked.

It was a bit incredible!  This computer is what runs the trains and track – definitely a ‘big’ boys train set 🙂

The boys loved watching the trains go around and switch track, but I really liked all of the background details.  These tunnels through the mountain were my favorite.

At the end of the visit, great-grandpa gave them each their own engine and a piece of track.  Talk about two happy little boys!  They couldn’t believe that they actually got to take the train home 🙂

A great day!

Little Treasures

Posted by kenleighacres on July 20, 2010
Posted in: family, Farm Life. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

While we were putting this year’s hay in the barn, we found a little treasure.

A barn swallow nest.

and look…there was an egg tucked away inside. 

I love the variety of feathers in this nest.

I hate removing the nests because I LOVE the swallows, but this one was going to be smashed by the hay and it was just too pretty.  It seemed to be abandoned, so it was a little easier.

I know a lot of people think these birds are pests – but they are one of my favorites.

The babies are an ‘ugly’ cute 🙂

The parents stay busy feeding the babies lots of bugs!  One of the reasons I like them so much.

In addition to barn swallows, we also have a healthy population of tree swallows.  They build their nests in these bird houses on our front porch.   

Can you see the baby peeking out?  There are 3 in there and they are almost ready to fledge (fly away from the nest).      

I feel very fortunate that our property has so many little treasures to share with us.