Thanksgiving on the Farm

So we had a very eventful Thanksgiving. Matt woke up early and went to the pasture to enjoy the sunrise. Pretty quickly he realized that a ewe was missing. Really missing. She wasn't in the pasture. After some hunting he found her holed up on a sandy bar in the creek about 100 yards down stream of our property. On the other side of the same bend in the creek was our neighbor's hound mutt... normally a sweet dog but very agitated. The bank was very steep and neither animal could get out and neither animal wanted to get back in the water.

Matt fetched me out of bed and we started trying to coax her up the bank. It is at this point that I realized that all the old stories and adages are completely true. Given the chance, a sheep will decide to sit down and die. She was no help at all. She wouldn't even stand. With great difficulty we wrapped a wide strap around her behind the shoulders and puller her up the bank.

We got her back to the house and looked her over. There were many lacerations to her udder. Either she was bitten or she did it running through briars. Either way, one in particular was a little alarming, about two inches long and directly next to a teat.

Needless to say we couldn't get a large animal vet Thanksgiving morning. We did a Google search and then it was off to Walmart for Betadine and superglue... that's right superglue. As of now, our rustic chemical sutures appear to be holding pretty well. All of the superficial cuts are knit. The largest gash has opened a couple of times and been re-glued but we figure the draining is good for it. So far no discoloration and no fever.

What an adventure! It made for great Thanksgiving table talk.

If you're wondering, we saved the dog too and returned him to a contrite neighbor. Truly, he's not a trouble dog and his owner normally keeps him confined respectfully. There are a few problem dogs in the area and he probably broke loose and was running with them. Needless to say, I won't be nearly so forgiving if I ever get one of them in a cage. I've got animal control on speed dial.

Spring has Sprung

Our new guineas are settling in.

Chicken with their nice new feathers

Sheep grow so fast!

Button with her new baby

My babies with Button's new babies.

"Hey Mom! What are these pink trees?"

Our ram, Mufasa, has really come into his own this year!

Peach blooms

More blooms

The Sheep Are Here

Catadin Sheep Shed - No Sheering Necessary

We purchased 4 grade Katahdin sheep from Nick Nicholas in Fairview NC. Nick has almost a hundred sheep and markets lamb and eggs at the Asheville Tailgate market among others. I wish I had pictures of the sheep dogs in action but it was rainy and getting dark so you will have to take my word that they were beautiful, intelligent and very well trained.


The sheep are biding their time in the pallet corral until we get the pasture fenced. The corral will be transformed into a pig pen later in the spring and a vegetable garden next year so they are providing some priceless fertilizer also.



We obtained the pallets from an obliging apartment complex under renovation. It was not a dark-of-night operation. There were hundreds and the manager of the complex had placed an add on Craigslist asking for someone to take them away and put them to use.

Free materials kept out of the landfill? Yes, please!