Sheep shearing 2019 with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth is so good with the sheep, some appear to fall asleep while she is removing their fleeces. It probably feels very good to get that heavy wet fleece off. She spent from 9-5 and sheared half of the sheep. The end of April we will get the other sheep shorn, (boys and some lambs). The fleece is gorgeous and I will be putting it up for sale on Massena Meadows facebook and blog pages as we get it ready.
Back tracking a bit to Monday.
(in this photo, he was caught misbehaving)
Beau (dog) was crying when I went to the barn to feed the sheep and dogs. I petted him and he quit. But it was the first time I had ever heard him cry. Tuesday, he wouldn’t eat and as he is very food driven, there was no question that something was wrong. We took him to the vet to learn he has glaucoma in the left eye and it is bleeding. They kept him overnight to get the pressure down. As they were unsuccessful, the next morning, we had to take him to an animal eye ophthalmologist. We spent all day Wednesday at that clinic having tests run to find the problem. Next Wednesday, I take him back to have the eye removed and eyelid sewn shut. He can’t see out of that eye now. The technician told us dogs compensate very well. Until surgery we have lots of eye drops and pain killer. After surgery, we will see.
That took care of Monday through Thursday, but I had Friday to get something done. Well, that didn’t happen as first I had no energy left, which must have something to do with age.
One of the barn cats had a very swollen jaw Thursday evening and couldn’t open her eye. Our son was good enough to take her to the vet Friday. She had 3 abscessed teeth removed and she will be fine.
The roof people called to schedule the roof addition to the barn for this coming Tuesday. (they thought they could put it up by Thanksgiving, but for sure by Christmas) With everything ready for them, they called yesterday and rescheduled for Friday. I think I’ve been chasing my tail this week and I’m happy to come to near the end of it.
Mark Twain said “if it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thin in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.
So before the month of February is over, our information is ready for the tax man. I will try to drive it up there this week
There are still at least 4 frogs in line.
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1. The people who took our order to extend the roof on our barn to keep the sheep dry don’t appear to want to get it done. I did make the order in August. So I will be looking for another source.
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2. The sheep need shearing. I think we have that lined up for some of them on Thursday with people to help. But this year, we will have to do it in two sessions.
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3. Babies are expected to come anytime now. Their actual due dates start Friday, but most of us know that nature doesn’t read our books.
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4. This quilt that I have on the quilting machine needs to be finished to give as a gift.
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It was sunny today! The snow is finally on it’s way out, I think. Yes, there is more in the forecast, but with 40 degree weather, it won’t stick. February is our worst weather month, and it is on it’s way out as well. I’m ready to start eating the second frog in the morning.
This morning, I stopped to have some fun with those half triangle I was making yesterday. They make the best Churn Dash blocks. Playing gave me the energy to go clean the barn.
Did you see the moon turn red last night? Here are some photos in case you missed it. The first is one I took, but my Iphone would not capture the red color, so I borrowed a photo from the news. It was amazing!
It’s finished and even has the satin binding that babies love to hold next to their skin. I will put this away for the right baby to come along.
Other than that, today, we changed a few sheep coats and did chores. We seem to have filled our day.
Oh, yes, I had the best laid plans. I was going to finish the lamb quilt and start the quilting on the machine. However, without warning, we had a major windstorm . Really major and we were without power for 2 days. I spent much of the last two days tending the fire, cooking here, and sitting in front of it. We were so thankful when power returned. We were technically okay and could have survived longer, just too spoiled to want to camp in the middle of winter. But now we have POWER and are very thankful, having just relearned how wonderful it is.
So today, I finished the front of this quilt which is now waiting for quilting, backing and binding. It was done on the embroidery machine, which is a technique useful for someone who doesn’t really know how to quilt, but I found it more cumbersome.
When I make this quilt again, I will embroider the pieces flat and put them together and then quilt it. I think it makes a cute baby quilt. It measures 38 x 42″.