He Ain't Heavy...

B. Willard and SHERMAN buddied up right from the start.



They are good brothers. Best friends. Both kind and caring.



Looking out for each other. I think it's sweet.

Today was a rough day for the boys. They got 'tutered'. I sat in the shed with them most of the afternoon. I wanted to make sure they were okay and stayed cool and in front of the fan. They may have been somewhat comforted by their "momma" napping with them...



...but I think were mostly happy they had each other.

Calling All Birders

Last weekend Saint Tim and City Boy headed out on the river to fish. A stretch we'd not tried before. They came back with tales of a huge nest spotted in one of the bends. Sunday Tim and I headed back out so I could see it and try to get some pictures.



If I had to guess, I'd say the wingspan was about four feet.



A young bird (I'm guessing) who did not leave the nest as the other hovered overhead, clearly upset with me.



A hawk of some kind?



Nothing exactly matched in any of my bird books and the nest being on the river is throwing us as well. He/she is over to the right, just down from the nest in this picture. I kept the file sizes fairly large, so click to biggify.



Any thoughts?

Sunday Stills - Black And White

Black and white pictures of black and white sheep. Can't beat that ;-).



Elizabeth - who I've always claimed is the smartest sheep in the world...sitting on the hot, sunny side of the shade cloth... ?



Joshua. This looks like a depression era shot to me. Or maybe just Joshua looks depressed. Or oppressed. Because the heat has been so oppressive... Ugh.



Crazy Esther, back in the midst of her peeps after being kicked out of her retirement home by the new black and white babies.



Ewen McTeagle and Boudreaux.



Emily and Caspar Belly (aka Spooky Tooth). Mother and daughter still hang tight. Always.



Speaking of hanging close, the cutest couple in the barn, Miss Ewenice and Buddy. Remember the story about Buddy being the kindest sheep in the world?

I enjoy working on Ed's photography challenges. Next month I'm getting an opportunity to learn more about taking sheep (and everything else) shots. Photographer Gale Zucker is coming to Tanglewood Farm (where Graham and the new white lamb who still needs a name because he just. can't. be. called. Mongo. for. the. rest. of. his. life. came from) for a weekend photography workshop. Check it out!

There are still a couple spots open. I can assure you it will be a spectacular weekend. Mike and Dianne's farm is a gorgeous (our dream farm) setting and we'd do whatever it took to stay on Dianne's holiday baking gift list (;-), so you know the food and southern hospitality will be outstanding!

If you have any questions, drop Dianne an email. Her address is diannemac1010ATyahooDOTcom.

For more Sunday Stills...

Bring Your Wheel

Punkin's Patch will be set up on Saturday at Art in the Garden in our favorite river town, Augusta, Kentucky. In fact, our booth is RIGHT BY THE FERRY that I take to Ohio Valley Natural Fibers! Wheeeeeee :-D.



Between playing catch up coming off the big Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival last month, the extreme hot weather that makes taking care of animals a bit more time consuming and playing with taking care of the new babies, I don't have a ton of gift items ready to go. That's okay because you know what that means?

It's a spinning day!

Come out and play. Bring your wheel, drop spindle, knitting project, weaving, rug hooking... Sit under a shade tree, watch the barges run up and down the river, ride the ferry to Ohio and back and enjoy a day off. Art in the Garden is a really nice small art fair in a beautiful town.

I'll bring some roving, a couple of wheels, drop spindle kits and some knitting needles. Want to learn to knit or spin? Come on out. If you want me to bring some particular roving or quilt batting, drop me an email (thecrazysheeplady AT myfavoritesheep DOT com) today and let me know .

BYOC - bring your own chair ;-).

Whachu Mean?

I ain't as cute as Keebs?



I'm cute. See? (Definitely biggify these - chewing lambs give you some of the funniest pictures)

Why are they looking so happy when it's so miserably hot out (hello-o-o this isn't August...)?



They got their own fan today. Willard stood in front of it for the longest time, staring at it the same way I tend to do. I'm not a huge fan of hot weather if you hadn't guessed. In fact, Saint Tim says I have SAD - summer affective disorder. Cute, big, fuzzy, white, droopy eared lamb who still hasn't settled on a name glanced up and promptly went back to sleep.



He's a nice boy. Sweet, cuddly, loves to have his back and ears scratched, doesn't boss me around, stays out of trouble...



Unlike his Uncle Grammy...who still thinks his first name is Dammit :-o.

Keebler, by the way, doesn't seem to care one way or the other about the new lambs. He's cute...but complicated.

Sheep Dreams

Well, I've gone and done it again. The phone rings. "Hey, I've got a bottle lamb that needs a home." You know the drill... No surprise.

I didn't allow myself to take on a baby earlier this spring because I knew with getting the festival off the ground I'd not be able to give it the attention those young babies need. These babies are several weeks old...but still babies. How could I say no.


I suppose if you are sleeping on your bottle, there's really no doubt as to what you are dreaming about.

I had reserved another lamb (NOT related to Graham Lamb ;-) from Dianne earlier in the spring. Luckily he was used to taking a supplementary bottle and could come over and get to work early babysitting the new lamb.



This is B. Willard. He's a 5 week old Border Leicester lamb with a big roman nose and kinda funny eyes, who walks around always looking a bit bewildered. B. Willard. Willard will be a fun name to grow into. He loves his new big brother.



I don't have a name yet.

We have several nicknames for him - Mongo (he's a big boy), Captain Underpants (He's pretty sure he's a superhero of some sort), Fatty McButterpants (more like it), Bitey (as in Homer Simpson "I call the big one bitey")... He needs a real name.

He's cute and very soft and has big droopy eyes and a smiling mouth with big chubby cheeks. He's kind to Willard, punched Hank right off the bat (those Sheep Dreams sheep are confident!), loves the ladies and is always busy. This is different from being a busy body...like Uncle Grammy (who loves the babies by the way - hey, we never said he wasn't sweet, just a busy body ;-).

Any thoughts?



Willard's just now learning to eat grass, but I think he's got a good start on it here. You gotta love those good role models.



And look who's keeping an eye out.

No surprise.

Memories

Almost every Memorial Day weekend, City Boy and Janbaby come to visit. This is a highlight of our year. We actually take the weekend off and fish, play cards, toss corn bags, watch City Boy's home movies and Janbaby and I go search for local geocaches.

What I like best about geocaching is finding cool places, right next door, that you might otherwise miss. The cache at the Endecott Meeting House was just that sort of place.

Located east of Cynthiana across the road from the current Indian Creek Baptist Church, the Endecott Meeting House was established in 1790 by the Indian Creek settlers. It later became the Indian Creek Baptist Chuch in 1852 and served as such until 1965.

The Endecott Meeting House is known as the oldest active house of worship west of the Alleghenies. Many of the early pioneers of the area rest here, including several Revolutionary War soldiers.

There is a lovely old cemetery there surrounded by an old wrought iron fence and interspersed with ancient trees and beautiful grave markers. The lamb on this grave stone has watched over a baby girl since 1859.



I love how the light appears to fall just on the moss covered lamb.



There were no plastic flowers or factory made wreaths.



But a tin can of roses had been carefully placed on one marker. It was the most heartfelt memorial bouquet I've ever seen.



I know we don't like to think about our final resting place, but a wonderful old country cemetery, shaded by trees, some of which have grown for so many years they've engulfed an iron fence, with a tin can of hand picked flowers placed with care on a hand carved marker?

Amen.