2023 Fair

 Wow, 2023 Fair is done and over. 

Some challenges as always ...

But some success also.

Champion Lincoln Ewe in Delaware Bred and Owned class.

She also won her class of Early Ewe lambs.

Before fitting...

Sunburn and shaggy

To...

Proper form...with my friend B the fitting Guru as always.

Thank goodness for friends to get me through.

2nd Lincoln ewe lamb was not judged as well.

She was 4th in her class.

The White Yearling was 2nd which was a nice surprise.

She is a thick one but her fleece lacks in some areas.

No other pictures as I am busy working so I forget to snap.

Miss A stayed with me during the hot humidity and tornado warnings and severe storms.

HoHum

Still here, hanging on, working 3 jobs...

Plus Grandma-ing several times a week before dawn while parents head to work.

I get the nuggets up, dressed, fed and delivered for school bus and babysitter.

Life is a challenge but I am up for it.

A difficult lambing season is over.

Lost two ewes with their lambs still inside which was heartbreaking but couldn't be helped.

What is on the ground is growing and fingers crossed for a profitable Easter market coming up.

Lots of work to do when tax season is over.

Still waiting on surveyor stakes to mark boundaries.

Then fences and more fences will proceed.

 I am up for a different job at work as a Administrative Officer which is fancy speak for Financial Officer.

It's a small pay raise but more importantly it is no supervision of others.

I was raised to work so when I have others working to appear to work I am not a good boss.

I find my bullsh*t meter has dramatically diminished as I have aged.

 

Disappointed...

in humans.

I have been hearing "We need change", "The economy is awful", "When is this going to end".

Tuesday was the chance for people to begin the process of change.

They did not.

I heard an excuse for that which floored me.

"I voted for democracy and only insert party name here believe in democracy."

The facts do not support that statement.

America is in trouble and it is shameful when it could be changed by participation.

With fuel up to $6.00/gal. I do not drive anywhere unnecessarily. 

I drove 19 mi roundtrip to cast a vote because it mattered.

The excuses of co-workers for not voting were numerous.

The attitude that your one vote doesn't matter is not correct.

Tell me it doesn't matter when you go grocery shopping, fill your vehicles or pay your bills.

In the words of the great Forrest Gump...

And that's all I have to say about that!

Few pictures finally

I love a good fire, burning up sticks and branches.

Hidden treasure found in my front yard , still digging my way to the driveway.

The ground is hard but I am stubborn.

Hidden gem of fall now exposed by removing dead trees around it.

Breakfast with Grandparents at Miss A's school before work.

Trust me she wasn't scared at all, she is just awkward in pictures like me!

She fleeced Grandma at the bookfair after breakfast.

It was a good cause at least.

 

Continued Shenanigans....

are happening on the new property.

10 more dead trees were taken down last Saturday by my son, his Father-n-law and a friend of my sons'.

Thank goodness for family and friends.

Backhoes, chainsaws, fearless youth equals to precious memories.

No pictures because my pics are not backing up to the cloud so I can not insert on the computer.

I so do not want to pay for ICloud storage.

Any suggestions from the gallery? 

Waiting on surveyors to finish with the state and county paperwork so boundaries are marked.

Frustration by all of us.

Again thank goodness we are all friends and pseudo family.

Sheep are as bred as they are getting.

The borrowed ram has been returned swapping with my lamb she housed during breeding.

Thank goodness for friends in the sheep world as well as in life.

I am learning to be patient which is a struggle for me.

Hurry up and wait is not a natural occurrence in my life.

Just hanging around waiting...

 

Just in case something we can consume falls out of your hands into our ravenous faces Mom!

They are always hungry.

Breeding season is upon us and rams are breaking out and fighting and breaking fence posts and rails.

Few more weeks , just a few more weeks then peace for a bit, fingers crossed.

I am STILL waiting on the surveyors to stake the borders of the property so I can put permanent fencing.

Ugh, drat and phooey...

No selling or buying contracts till then so no mortgage applications so no locking in of rate so.....

*&$#@*&*^%$#^

Patience of which I have none.

Forcing myself...

to post is not how it should be but here I am.

I am struggling with sheep fencing issues at the new place.

In all my many decades of owning flocks I have never had so many escapes as I have had the last 2 weeks.

Frustrating considering I had eye surgery on Aug 4th.

I am under restrictions to do no heavy lifting on strenuous activities.

No major sweating to keep it out of my healing eye is an issue.

These buggers do not seem to care.

I can not put up my permanent fences as the survey to divide the property is not finalized so no stakes to indicate borders as I am renting till the division is complete.

Ughhhhh

I can't wait to get back to hard labor as weird as that sounds.

It calms me and settles the brain. 

This was a few days ago on my way to work.

Fall is coming the fog says.

Miss A in Montana on vacation.

She seems so sad or in deep thought I imagine.

She ziplined and hiked and had a great time on her first plane rides.

A rare sighting of my boy, Z's smile.

R smiles alot.

Yellowstone geysers were impressive Z said.

Prove this punkin smiles most of the time.

His teeth have still not arrived so that makes him grumpy once in awhile.

Hopefully I'll post more when I get to work on fencing and other property improvements.

Hello ?

I am still here, can anyone hear me??

It's been busy. crazy, tumultuous times.

Grandkids are growing like weeds.

Even though I only moved 15 min away I miss seeing them daily.

Miss A did a thing...

Her Aunt LN & R were there and she was happy seeing them.

It was blistering hot but we all showed up for Kindergarten graduation.

Onward and upward to first grade she moves.

Mr R is getting so big. 

He doe NOT like being on his stomach so I am not sure how crawling will happen.

He's 8 months old now.

The teething has been brutal for months with no tooth brave enough to pop through his swollen gums.

This chick came home to roost for the first week of June but only 5 days.

She liked my new digs and you can sorta see piles behind us of things waiting for placement.

LN is moving in mid August to Univ. of Wisconsin at Madison.

She will be in their graduate program for Environmental Sciences with a concentration in Botany.

While she has been in Oregon she has been working at a large nursery and is enjoying it.

I miss her but she has to fly.

Early August I go for my eye operation and I am not thrilled.

It's not a good time but when would be?

I have to attend our state fair to keep our exhibitor spot for the grandkids.

The sheep are not broke and so many other issues.

Ram pen needs built pronto as I get him back from Mass. within a week or so. 

He has been vacationing for a year with friends.

Time to get busy.

Good enough for now...

  

How and Why????

Every wall in the main open concept area and mistress ;) suite is like this.

How do you not see and smell this?

Why do you think a relative wants to move into this?

I'm scrubbing with alot of help from good friends.

Fabulosa is my friend.

The floors are left. 

Engineered hardwood, hand scrapped dark wood with buildup of hair and saliva I believe.

How do you bring them back?

Maybe by this weekend I'll be able to fully move in and sleep there.

Juggling many balls right now and I am exhausted but it should be worth it.

Working a few hours every night while still helping son with kids while R works late.

I am ditching the washer and dryer which is costly.

I can not get the animal hair out of either.

They are 10 yrs old also which is life expectancy anymore as well.

Surface rust inside dryer and washer lid shows their age.

Any thoughts on floors?

 

News

It's not much but news after all.

I am moving onto a 4+ acre property I am eventually purchasing.

A lot of hard work cometh and I am so ready. 

Cleaning , fencing, purging, weeding, etc.

Otherwise in health news I am partially blind in my right eye.

It happened over 6 month period .

It is a Macular Wrinkle obstructing my vision.

Surgery was scheduled pending pre-op which included checkup and EKG.

Which I failed the EKG with an abnormal reading.

Tests ensued with Cardiologist  (Echocardiogram, stress, bloodwork).

Which I pass with flying colors. 

I had a wake up call though to watch my diet and lower my stress.

Diabetes and heart disease are heavy in my family.

I am a work in progress.

I dumped my occasional favorite beverage, Coke ;/

Now after 3 weeks it tastes bad, go figure.

I did lower my BP to 124/74 quickly by diet change.

My bloodwork is mostly normal with Cholesterol and Glucose creeping just past safe ranges.

Salads which I love are my staple lunch.

Don't think boring lettuce though.

I call mine "garbage" dump salads as I add so much.

No dressing as I broke that habit years ago.

Egg, chicken or tuna, dark or red lettuces, carrots, tomatoes, cheese, avacodo, etc.

See it's a lot.

Overall it needed to happen as I am anti-medication if I can affect the change otherwise.

The stress will be harder to stop but moving into my own space will help but also cause a different kind of stress I imagine.

The surgery is rescheduled to mid June.

Grandkids are growing like weeds.

6 months and 6 yrs old now.

Teething game is strong for Mr R.

Miss A is graduating kindergarten shortly.

I will miss seeing them daily.

I will still go over early and take them to daycare and over to their aunts' 

for the bus on the days their Mama works.

I imagine I will help my son in the evenings as needed. 

My new digs are about 15 min away so not bad commute.