Goodness Girls

Posted by kenleighacres on December 30, 2013
Posted in: Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep. Tagged: , , . 4 Comments

While taking the girls out to the pasture today, it really hit me that lambs will be here soon!  We are down to 12 days.

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Poor Avalon has another month of waiting…

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this is what she thinks of the situation and these pictures 😉

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Delight is one of the first girls on the line-up to lamb.  She is also the only girl who Dalton bred.  I am looking forward to seeing the lambs!

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Susannah is another one that is due at the beginning.  She was bred to Mac and this is a repeat breeding of one of my favorite crosses from last year.

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Almost a third of the ewes are first timers this year.  Banshee is one of them, she is due mid-January and was bred to Reno.

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Quite a few of the girls are looking very big!  Ailsa is one of them.

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Starlet and Ailsa aren’t related, but look a lot alike!  They finally cooperated with a side by side photo for me.

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Unlike Ailsa, Starlet still has her svelte physique.

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Azera is a content girl, chewing her cud and enjoying the sun.

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I didn’t realize how big ‘little Sublimity’ was getting until I was looking at the photos.  Thankfully she is due at the beginning and has less than 2 weeks to go.  She was bred to Reno, this is a cross that has worked really well the last two years.

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Flirt giving one of her typical ‘Flirt’ poses.  Such a funny girl, she was bred to Mac.

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Meara isn’t bred, but I had to include a photo of her because she is just so cute.

Lamb photos very soon!

Snow Dogs!

Posted by kenleighacres on December 9, 2013
Posted in: Border Collie, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Dog Photography, Dogs, Lab, Photography, Snow, whippet. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

To say we got a lot of snow on Friday would be silly!  We got more snow than we have had in the last couple of years…combined!

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Darby, my Cardigan, had a difficult time in the soft, dry, fluffiness.

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He was having fun digging through it…

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so cute with his face covered in snow.

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I love his sweet, soulful eyes.

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Kate is just disgusted by all of the cold, white stuff on the ground.  We were at -9 on Sunday morning and 0 this morning.  The critters are all doing well, but I think we will all be happy to see the warmer temps later this week.

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Rose may be the only one that is sad to see it go.

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She was even dragging her belly through it!

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Her boy is loving it too!

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Playing fetch in the snow is a favorite of theirs.

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Evidence of the under the snow retrieves she was making 😉

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A few Felt Pups got to play in the snow too.  This Greyhound was a good sport about posing in the cold stuff.

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The Newfoundland enjoyed it a bit more!

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Deuce, our Lab, was very interested in the Felt Pup…or maybe she just wanted his bumper.

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The snow makes a nice back drop for her!

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Love the snowy lips!

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…and this is how my Whippet, Paisley, is enjoying the snow.  In her jammies, on her bed, in front of the fire 🙂

Why do we shear this time of year?

Posted by kenleighacres on November 10, 2013
Posted in: Farm Life, Fiber, Jacob Sheep, shearing, sheep. Tagged: , , , , . 3 Comments

That is a question we get a lot and it is a good question!  Why take away their wool jackets right before winter???  Here are some of the reasons we choose to shear this time of year…

–  We lamb at the beginning of January and it helps to ensure (at least increase the odds) that the ewes will seek out the barn to lamb in.

–  The lambs are born without warm wooly jackets on and the ewes will keep them out in inclement weather if they aren’t shorn.  If they have the same amount of fleece on as the lambs, then they are more likely to bring them to the barn when the weather gets bad.

–  Wool can hold a LOT of water.  The ewes don’t mind staying out most of the day in the rain, grazing, and then they saunter into the barn and shake all of that water off in the barn…not all of them insist on shaking it off in the barn, but I am sure there are a few that enjoy it 😉

–  Lambing with long wool on can be a messy situation.  This keeps the whole lambing process a little bit cleaner.  The lambs can also find the udder much easier.

I am sure there are other reasons to shear before lambing, but these are the top ones for us.

We have sheared a month before lambing in the past, but December can be cold here.  We have been moving the date up a little bit the last couple of years and I am really happy with this date…this year.  It is supposed to be 60 degrees tomorrow and in the 50’s all week.  They will acclimate very quickly with these temperatures.  We bed the barn with lots of straw and provide plenty of roughage for them to munch and provide energy to stay warm.

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The girls were sheared this morning and had a little bit of sunshine to soak up this afternoon.  Susannah and Sublimity were certainly enjoying it.

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I love watching the fleeces as they come off under the skilled hands of the shearer.

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Another favorite is seeing all of the colors and textures in the fleeces.

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…and the crisp black and white contrast of the freshly shorn sheep

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…or the various shades of lilac on this girl.

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Everyone looks a little different, minus their fleeces.  Some of the girls are very distinct looking.

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These two look even more alike now.

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No mistaking this boy – my buddy, Logan.

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I can’t wait to play with his fleece!

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Avalon was probably the biggest surprise of the day.  She isn’t due until mid-January…wow!!!

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Elan is one of the first time mama’s.  She doesn’t look pregnant like the previous girl, but she hasn’t missed any meals either  😉

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Happy Molalla, chewing her cud in the sunshine.

Back to Blogging!

Posted by kenleighacres on November 6, 2013
Posted in: Border Collie, Fall, family, Photography. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

I titled this post ‘Back to Blogging’ because that is my goal…get back to blogging.  Most of my pictures from the farm have been going on my Kenleigh Acres Facebook page, but that really isn’t a great platform for stories.  I originally created this blog to share photos and stories from the farm!  Time to get back to doing that.

The following story is one of those pieces that needed its own showcase.  It is a story/poem that our son wrote for school.  He has had more than his fair share of challenges, but I am a firm believer that all challenges come with rewards…if you are willing to look for them.

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He has a unique view of the world and his observational skills have always inspired me.

One of his homework assignments recently was to take a walk outside and observe the changes of the seasons.  I was blown away by what he wrote.  We put it together with photos I have taken this Fall.  I hope you enjoy!

Fall is here.

It is getting colder.

The fog is back.

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Leaves are changing colors. Some are still green. Some are orange. Some are red. Some are even purple. Some are bright yellow. Some will never turn colors.

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The grass is green. I saw a hawk go for a mouse. It came from a tree and caught the mouse. It ate the mouse.

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The birds are back. The rain is here. It is freezing in the morning. The birds are chirping.

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The leaves are crowding the ground.

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The trees are sleeping.  Winter is coming soon.

The mosquitoes are back. The geese are back. The ducks are back.

The hills in front of my house are changing colors because of the trees.

Summer Reading Program

Posted by kenleighacres on September 9, 2013
Posted in: family, Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, sheep. Tagged: , . 8 Comments

Sitting here on the last night of Summer break, I am finally sitting down and writing the blog post that has been sitting in my camera and my head since the beginning of Summer.

I’m not sure where our break went???

It was fun to go back and find all of the photos I have been taking for this post…sweet memories!

To set the ground work, we have to go back to January when Ruby and Blizzard were born.  I had no idea the blessings these two lambs would bring…

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they may have had a rough start, but bounced back quickly.

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He started reading to them when they were a month old…

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and I think they still enjoy it 🙂

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When Ruby was a couple of days old, he told me that there was something special about her.  I’m glad I listened and let him keep her.

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Blizzard isn’t very far behind in the ‘special’ category.   The ewe laying down is Dolly.  She is retired and doesn’t have very many teeth left, but still gets around really well.  She likes to harass all of us with her ‘goat like’ behavior!

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His ‘summer reading program’ has become popular and curiosity is getting to even the most stand-offish ewes.

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At one point, he took the comfy chair into the barn for reading time.

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We added two Bluefaced Leicester wethers to our flock this year.  We both love the breed and the wool is wonderful to work with.  The Natural colored one is my son’s and his name is Tonka.  The big, white one is mine and his name is Logan.

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They quickly became part of the ‘summer reading program’ with their sweet personalities.

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Blizzard likes to help with the reading and whisper silly stories in his ear.

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There is truly something special about this bond.

I wish every kid could have this summer reading program!

Fun to watch…

Posted by kenleighacres on June 7, 2013
Posted in: Photography. Tagged: , , , , . 6 Comments

annoying to listen to!

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Western Scrub Jay babies 🙂

We have been listening to their horrible screeching for a week now.  Their nest was on the hillside across the road, but now they have left the nest and like the trees behind our bedroom…especially early in the morning!  I didn’t appreciate their ‘wake up call’ until I saw the parents pulling wasp nests off the eaves of the house and eating the larvae, I found that I can live with the noise.

It has been fun watching them and the interactions between the adults and the babies.

There are 3 babies and even though they look like adults, they certainly act like babies.

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Anytime the adult comes near them, they throw their wings out and open their mouths and scream for food.  Last night we saw the adults showing the babies how to forage for bugs in the grass, sometimes they would feed them and other times they would fly off.  Tonight they weren’t feeding them at all.  They were showing them where the food was, but that was it.

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Tonight’s dinner was catfood…glad the senior cat’s expensive food is going to a good cause – ha!  This is one of the adults.  They would grab a piece and then fly off.

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The babies were left to fend for themselves.  The look on their faces was priceless…

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and then they started begging from each other.

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I did a little search on Wikipedia to find out more about this little blue bird and was amazed, they have found they are the only non-primate shown to plan ahead for the future.  They can also remember locations of over 200 food caches!

Mr. Cranky Pants

Posted by kenleighacres on May 19, 2013
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Llama, sheep. Tagged: , , . 2 Comments

aka Magoo, our Llama.

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I was surprised to see him standing so close to Carrera with a pleasant look on his face.  I soon realized, it was her standing next to him.

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She pushed her luck when she turned her head towards him…there’s the look I am familiar with.

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Then she really pushed her luck when she looked at him with a look of ‘what is your problem?’

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He tried getting her to move with the ‘intimidating’ head down, neck thrust.  She wasn’t impressed 🙂

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In fact, she decided to give him a little bit of lip back!

Magoo really does like his sheep, but he also has a big personal space bubble and prefers they stay OUT of it!  He teaches the lambs early on that he is NOT a jungle gym and there is no way they are to climb on him.  It looks like Carrera missed the memo on giving Magoo his space.

Here is a little video clip of Magoo doing his job.  Luckily, it was just a trash can that blew out of a trailer on the road that he was concerned about.  He alarm calls at the very beginning and towards the end, such an interesting noise.

Ah, the sweet sound of rain!

Posted by kenleighacres on May 13, 2013
Posted in: Border Collie, Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, sheep, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

I know a lot of people are going to think I am crazy, but there are a few of you that will know what I mean.

It has felt like July for the last couple of weeks.  Dry and hot, especially for the usually wet and cool May we are used to.

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Our roads don’t usually turn brown until late June/July.

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The sheep were very unimpressed with the summer like weather.  Poor Dreamer was carrying a lot of wool.

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Ah, now that is better.

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The ewe lambs spent a lot of time snacking on blackberry leaves and enjoying the shade.

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The ram lambs could have spread out in their shade, but chose to snuggle and lay on each other – silly boys!

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They weren’t the only ones that chose to snuggle in the heat 😉

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I think Kate had the best idea…hanging out in the stock tank.

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This is the view today and it feels a lot more ‘May’ like.  The sheep all seem a bit happier and I am happy to see the little bit of rain because it means we will have green grass for a little bit longer.

Where have I been???

Posted by kenleighacres on May 9, 2013
Posted in: Border Collie, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Dogs, family, Farm Life, Felting, Jacob Sheep, Lambing. Tagged: , , , . 4 Comments

2 months since I last wrote a post…what???  That can’t be!

I guess I can’t argue with the date on my last entry, but it sure doesn’t feel like a couple of months have gone by.

So, what have I been up to???

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Up to my armpits in sheep 🙂

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Bronwen FINALLY lambed.  She had two lovely ewe lambs – meet Chiffon and Magnolia.   I wish I could say she was the last to lamb, but she wasn’t.  Calgary was the last to lamb a week later with two ram lambs.

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I’m not a fan of April lambs, but it was fun having little babies again.

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Remember the soccer lambs, Blizzard and Ruby?  They have successfully become part of the flock and love to help lead the flock out to pasture.  Blizzard has become my little buddy.

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It only makes sense because his uncle Dreamer is my biggest buddy 🙂

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I have been busy keeping up with Kate’s full schedule.  When she isn’t managing the pasture rotation…

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she is ridding a local college of the pesky geese.

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Paisley doesn’t get to help Kate chase the geese, but she loves going with us.

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The boys have been doing a lot of fishing…

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we didn’t catch any fish on this trip, but the sunshine sure felt nice.

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A friend and I took a little roadtrip to California to deliver some sheep.  We found a lot of sunshine there!

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My Felt Pups are continuing to keep me busy and I love the stories and the connections people have with their dogs.

Ok, that was a VERY brief overview, but at least I feel like I am a little caught up and can get back to posting regularly.

Soccer Lambs!

Posted by kenleighacres on March 2, 2013
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing, Photography, sheep. Tagged: , , . 10 Comments

What do you do when you are a 9-year-old boy with a couple of bottle lambs???

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You teach them how to play soccer!

It all started when the lambs were returned from their temporary mom, she did a fabulous job raising them and feeding them every few hours, as bottle lambs require at a young age.  She called a couple weeks ago and said it was time for them to come back to the farm.  Our son was thrilled to take over their care and has done such a good job with them.

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He has been reading to them, mainly from a book about playing soccer.

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Today was such a nice day, they decided to try their new-found skills out on the soccer field.

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I love how you can capture moments like this, it truly looks like Ruby just head butted the soccer ball.

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Sometimes a player gets distracted and has to be called back for the game…good thing he has been teaching them their names!

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Back to the game!

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They had quite the cheering section and I think a few of them were a little jealous.  Maybe he can recruit a few more for a full soccer team.