Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...

After 2 months of being confined to the small pasture with the sheeple, the polarbears finally had the freedom to go back to work and patrol on Christmas. Unfortunately, a recent guest at the ranch decided to do some trapping, setting metal leg traps in one of the pastures just below our house and we knew nothing about it. Potamus was very late coming home one morning and when he finally made it, on 3 legs with one very large, swollen foot up in the air, we could see immediately it had been caught in a trap. This could have been a lot more tragic if he had been engaged with a predator, or a pack of them. Angry as I am, I didn’t feel the least bit bad when I heard he bit the trapper, who finally showed up to set him loose. I would be pleased to do a lot worse and restraining myself is taking a great deal of effort.

A few days of pampering, ice, epsom salt poultices and pain killer and he is back to light duty. They are back in the sheep pasture again, until his foot can handle the extra burden of carrying him wherever they need to go at night.

About 3:30 this morning I heard every dog on the ranch sounding an alarm, including Bruno and Potamus. Mind you, that is a lot of barking as there are 29+ cowdogs here and also our 2 Maremmas. (Cider and Scottie sleep in the house and remain clueless to whatever happens outside)

It's not unusual for all the cowdogs to be barking, but Potamus was doing his 'woo woo' bark and Bruno was barking. If Bruno barks, something serious is going on.

I stepped out back to see what was causing the fuss and made it just in time to see Bruno crash the gate and go through it. This is the same fence and gate that held them for over 2 months. Potamus was on his heels and they tore towards the draw, then veered sharply and disappeared around the corner in front of the cabins. Whatever their prey was, it then led them past the barn and out towards the ‘boneyard’. That is where the cougar was first seen and, I suspect, that is who was prowling around last night. Bruno continued the pursuit, as Potamus ran back and forth, checking on me and the sheep and then checking on Bruno, ready to back him up if need be. After a pretty wild ten or so minutes, they were quiet again and headed home, so I went back to sleep. They were on the back porch this morning, none the worse for wear. Potamus is limping again, slightly, but not like before. I was pretty happy with them.

This has been a really amazing month.

Our friend, the chef, is back for his annual month long bird hunting visit. He brings his 3 upland game dogs and he eats at our house…let me rephrase that..he COOKS at our house! He brought one of his young kitchen helpers along this year and he has been pretty awesome as well, more often than not volunteering for dish duty.

We've been enjoying amazing meals and desserts. Shrimp Scampi, Bananas Foster, Braised Chicken, Lamb kebabs with Bernaise sauce (my new favorite in the whole world). It was a long haul for them from Nebraska. They also met up with another guy who worked alongside them last year, that lives here locally…so one night I had THREE chefs in our little kitchen. I was not one of them. 

After posting these, I had to laugh…these guys remind you a little of anyone on a rather popular tv show? Well, they fit right in here.

In my defense, I fed them a couple of times too. They got some sourdough Belgian waffles for breakfast and beef dip sandwiches, taco salads and a couple of other quickie things I whipped up when they were too exhausted from hiking and hunting to fix dinner. Our friend also brought us a beautiful french chef's knife as a gift. It's awesome!

Not having to worry about cooking has freed me to get my inventory built up. My little cottage business now has its own webstore now, at RanchRustics.com It’s been wonderful because you can now browse through the products and pay right online and I can ship it out immediately. I also want to take the time to thank all of you who have already dropped by and those who have ordered. I so very much appreciate it. Your response has been VERY encouraging!

I've been working on putting a little extra into the newest soaps I am  making. Not ALL soaps are quite this fancy, but I am workin' on it.

The new Honeysuckle

The new Bay Rum

Valentines Day is around the corner and coming fast! I have a few ideas for you this year on what to give your sweetheart.

...And since I can, I’d like to take this opportunity to tell a little about my products.

I love heart shaped shortbread cookies or chocolates, but now imagine pairing them up with a beautiful tartwarmer and some wonderful smelling wax tarts in Simply Vanilla, Chocolate Brownie or Pumpkin Spice! I also currently have some Spiced Cider and MacIntoshApple tarts. I'm open to suggestions of any fragrances someone might like me to try and explore.

Pictured left to right, front to back: 3 oz clamshell tarts (spiced cider), med wax tarts (MacIntoshApple) , large wax tarts (LemongrassSage, MacIntoshApple, PumpkinSpice) , 4 oz candle tin, 8 oz mason jar candle, Almond Honeymoo soap

You could add a small tin or mason jar candle for the bath and some Artisan soap in a variety of  fragrances. Think champagne glass and bubble bath and “oooh lala!” 

I really love the tart warmers. They are electric so there is no flame to worry about and they double as nightlights. The little plug-in ones are PERFECT for the bathroom and the larger punched tin rooster ones are wonderful in a bedroom or other  large room. I actually think the warmers throw scent farther than the candles. I carry the little ones in white and black (pretty neutral colors, yeah?) and the large come in French Blue, Dk Green and Ivory. I notice that even Randyman, who usually complains about any fragrances in the house (which is hard on him as I soap and stuff a LOT) turns on the tartwarmer himself. He either likes the light pattern it makes or he is actually loving the smell. Who’d have guessed?

The tarts come in different sizes  (and fragrances) so I suggest the clamshell or medium sized tarts for the small plug in warmers and the medium or larger for the larger punched tin ones with the longer cord.

(warning- do NOT use WhiteChocolateFudgeBrownie tarts unless you actually have brownies made. It makes men very grumpy to smell and not get to eat it.)

Don't forget the Whipped tallow body butters. It only takes a tiny bit, so it lasts a long time and is much more natural for your skin with no unpronounceable, weird additives. Just the pure product with a bit of fragrance to make it more luxurious and add to the pleasure of moisturizing your hands, feet or wherever your skin is needing some nurturing. It’s really nice after being out in the cold, feeding critters or milking cows and not worrying about the effect of all the dishes I wash, drying out my hands anymore. I finally have something that works and doesn’t have to be applied every 10 minutes to soothe my once chapped skin...and that is saying a lot.

Here’s hoping you all have a great week. I’m off to do some canning, housecleaning *sigh* and then I’m making some wax tarts in a new fragrance to test. Poor, poor me. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Let me wipe the smile off of my face so you can try and feel sorry for me. Naw…who am I kidding?
Life is good.

Part to Fairly Cloudy

                                                                                    

It’s been a fabulous 2014 so far. As happens every year, our good friend, the chef, comes to spend a month bird hunting and is generous enough to cook for us, in spite of the fact it is his only vacation for the year. We are so beyond blessed!

Because this can be a difficult season for me as far as barometric pressure and flares, not having to fix nightly meals helps immensely. I’m doing well this year so I am working hard to get all my soaps, candles and body butters made and my inventory built up because we now have an ONLINE WEBSTORE! A good friend in Tennessee worked with me and built it and I am very excited about it. It’s a totally new experience for me. If anyone is considering having a site built, I'd be happy to recommend him and please feel free to leave feedback.

Our chef friend has had nice things to say about my wax tarts, as he is sharing a cabin with 3 dogs and has been singing the praises of a little ‘Simply Vanilla’ tart that is in the warmer, keeping his cabin smelling nifty. Tarts and candles are made from clean burning and sustainable soy wax and both the hot and cold throw is amazing. I’ve learned to be very careful not to burn the White Chocolate Brownie candles unless there are actually brownies IN the house. It’s just too cruel.

I’ve had amazing feedback from the candles, tarts and Whipped Tallows and cannot thank you enough, those of you who have shared. In addition to the above, I rendered some tallow from grass fed lambs and the resulting product is nothing short of decadent! The tallow is WHITE, WHITE and is of such a beautiful, delicate fat, when used in my "Baaaa-D Butter" (as opposed to body) it tends to melt right into my skin, leaving it luxuriously soft. As it is difficult for me to come by this tallow, I will be offering only limited amounts of this particular body butter for now and for obvious reasons, it is a tad more expensive. But that is not to take away from my regular Whipped Tallow Body Butter which is truly wonderful and very nutritious for your skin. Our skin is the largest organ on our body, so it only stands to reason we are better off using products that only contain ingredients that are healthy, unlike so many sold commercially. Tallows contain many attributes that nourish skin and  closely resemble the sebum created by our own skin with a similar cellular makeup. It's a natural. Naturally.

Dinner one night last week was Broccoli-Beef stir fry in my (sorta new) carbon steel wok. I was happy the chef felt I had made a good choice, as there were so many options out there. Teflon or non stick coated cookware just doesn’t fly with me, for more reasons than I can name. Each year I try to acquire something for the kitchen that our friend, ‘Afif’, feels it should have. He outdid me though, having brought an incredibly beautiful and high quality French Chef’s knife as a Christmas gift. I was just speechless at his generosity and the craftsmanship of the offering. He also made us Bananas Foster for dessert, caramelizing bananas with orange juice and a dark rum flambe and serving it over ice cream. Heavenly. How do you ever repay someone like that? We’ve met some of the best people on earth, since coming to live here at the ranch. Last night’s fare was ‘Roast Beast’, Rosemary Mashed Potatoes, made by infusing fresh rosemary in heavy cream and simmering on the stove, adding a little garlic and butter at the end when mashing the tender red spuds. Our neighbor friend, Aki from Okinawa, had dinner with us and it was fun to listen to the two of them share stories of Japan and other far away places, to which I shall never go. I don’t need to, I can enjoy the stories and still relax being right here at home.

Heavy winds blew last night. First came rain, then snow and lots and lots of wind.I went out in the dark and put the waterproof blanket on old Mister, as he has no shelter of any kind to speak of and being wet, then windblown, would be too hard on him. I had worked hard the week before to get Ray the ram in a pen by himself as he was bent on destroying the goats and the baby lambs, who are in a little area with a soft kennel, next to the other sheep. The Maremmas went back in the pasture with the sheeple to keep an eye on everyone and help keep Patch warm.

All night we could hear the wind roar past our little rock home. I waited to hear the cracking of trees, as there are two extremely tall hundred year old sentinels out front, which are hollow. It’s only a matter of time before they come crashing down, yet I hate the thought of seeing them go, as they have witnessed history on the ranch I can only imagine hearing...the bustle of skirts as the ranch wives must have thrown scratch to the chicks, the clink of canning jars on the way to the root cellar, the jingling of spurs as the cowboys ambled to the cookhouse for a meal and the raucous laughter and timely wisdom of the same, as that is the nature of most men who live and work this lifestyle.

Voices of the past lulled me back to sleep despite the ever growing tumult outside. I woke up once to hear TheMan growling because the power was out again and it caused unspeakable insult to his foot, when he got up and was prowling around in the dark. I got up and rummaged around for the flashlight and handed to him. The wind howled and gusted, I thanked God for his care of the critters and beasties on the ranch and drifted back to sleep.

Morning came, with some puffs of wind, a few clouds of a dark nature and bone chilling cold. I climbed into my bluejeans and surveyed the damage. One of the lambs had somehow wound up in the pasture with the sheep and goats and was doggin’ Bruno’s shadow to stay safe from being bullied. The other was still in his pen, crying out in loneliness. Mister stood in the large corral, disgruntled, with his blanket folded up over his back and Ray Ram was nowhere to be seen. The fence behind his pen had blown down and he had escaped into the pasture with EmmaLou and SushiMoo. His shelter was torn away from the front fence and laid down nearly flat. The enormous and terribly, awfully heavy, hay tarp had flipped the 30 tires off of the top and slid down between the large stack and the fence, leaving 9 tons of hay uncovered. 

I returned to the house where I lit the stove, put some coffee in a small pot to warm up and cut yesterday’s soap. This batch is Honeysuckle.

It’s always fun to do, as being handmade, every single batch comes out looking a little bit different. I was pretty pleased with today’s results. Measurements for soapmaking have to be very precise, so yesterday I spent the morning pre-measuring my lye solutions for my various different formulas, then marking them and setting them under the soap sink for use later. Later I will measure out fixed oils to do the same, so even if I have a day where I am a little addled (which happens), all will still go well with soaping.

After lunch, TheMan went out and helped put the tarp and tires back over the hay stack (technically…"I" helped HIM, as he did the lion's share of the work while I stupidvised). He repaired the fence to the sheep alley so Ray the Ram could go back into his pen, and rewired the fence where the bummer lambs were climbing in and out of their little spot. They seem to be doing ok with the other sheep and they know to look to the dogs for protection, so as long as I can get their milk to them out there, they can stay. EmmaLou and SushiMoo and friends came up for a snack while TheMan was making repairs, before heading back to work himself.

We could see the kids in the background bringing their horses up. I miss the days of swinging up bareback and taking off for parts unknown, myself, and may have to saddle up one of these days and just take off for an afternoon. It's been awhile.

Afif is going to fix a leg of lamb tonite as I had one thawed out from the freezer. I have a 5 lb Thomas roast to put on as well, so TheMan can have turkey sandwiches. Sounds so good I can hardly stand it….maybe I will do that tomorrow for a hot lunch and sandwiches after that. Ahhh…the good life. Who could ask for anything more??

P.S. The Webstore has been an overwhelming success thanks to you, my  awesome readers. I want to let you know, I do have all soaps in stock, but some are still a bit soft from being more recently made. To those ordering the softer soaps, I recommend letting them sit out for a couple of weeks to air and harden to extend the life of the bar. I will attempt to send a smaller, harder, fully cured soap along to use in the meantime for those who do order the softer soaps. Thank you and God bless you!
-Petey/Kim

What's Cookin' At The Ranch in 2014??

It got pretty cold in early December. Thankfully, we had already gotten the hay in and stacked before the storms hit. It’s always great to wake up to a white, pristine wonderland, at least until it’s time to suit up and go feed!

One morning I went out and found Cowboy the rooster, apparently stuck on the top rail of the pipe fence. Emma was licking him and so I figured his feet must have gotten frozen to the pipe and he was stuck. I went for a closer look to try and figure out how I could save him, only to find that he just didn't want to stand in the snow. He jumped down then scampered back up on to one of the sheep. I had no idea sheep made good snow boots but they make him a darn nice wooly slipper as he sat and got kisses from one of the lambs.

Things eventually warmed up however and the snow has all but disappeared for now which has made the experience a lot more comfortable. Emma and Sushi are out back with a few other cows, enjoying the company, and so far I have not noticed Sushi in heat. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she is bred.

Christmas was, as usual, a fairly quiet ordeal. We invited our ‘neighbor’, a Japanese exchange student from Okinawa over and our roomie was here as well, before moving back down closer to family. I made Eggs Benedict for breakfast. I told our friend, Aki, we were having Prime Rib for dinner and his response was...

 “AH! I am SO TOTALLY PSYCHED!”   

His response made me giggle.

We enjoyed the Prime Rib, Twice Baked Potatoes and Arkansas Green Beans with Pumpkin Layer Cheesecake for dessert. I always think of my youngest son when I make any kind of pumpkin pie...but that is another story, for another day. I raked tumbleweeds for TheMan to burn, cleaned corrals and after I finished the dishes, we opened gifts and watched a movie and it was a nice, relaxing Christmas.

The best Christmas gift to me, this year was finding that the State Trapper had taken his traps and left the ranch. That meant the Maremmas could go back out on patrol. They have been pretty exhausted in the mornings, as they have had to start all over, re-establishing their boundaries and pushing back the predators that, once realizing the Maremmas were confined, had the audacity to start prowling the yard and corrals at night. I’m not too worried about the cougar showing up here anymore, although I can’t vouch for the boss’ house, as my dogs don’t really patrol up there and their dogs have proved futile against the darn thing, as he impudently entered their shed and ate the dog and catfood at will.

The first couple of mornings after backing up Bruno on patrol, Potamus would race over to check on Patch and then his sheeple. Now that things are more under control, he is not as anxious. The twin bummer lambs are living with Patch now so he is no longer lonesome.

My friend moved back to California and we had Aki over again, for New Year's Eve. 

We pigged out on homemade pizzas, baked wings and fudgey chocolate brownies...the brownies were a must, as you shall soon see.

Meanwhile, these guys must have partied like animals!!!

Over the past couple of months, I have been working on some new products and I am pretty excited to start offering them online. I am currently accepting orders and things will become more available as I am able to produce and increase my inventory.

One of those is candles and wax tarts. Wax tarts are especially nice as there is no flame involved. I have electric tart warmers and have made good use of them! Two are plug ins that double for night lights and one is a punched tin warmer with a long cord that works well in my living room. I hope to be able to provide these to you in the future.

I’ve enjoyed this thoroughly and have found a few exceptional fragrances that I think you will all like. Simply Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie and White Chocolate Brownie have been my personal favorites, and the latter has forced me to keep real brownies in the jar because the fragrance is so true to its calling. I am thinking I need a brussels sprout or spinach fragrance to keep me from wanting to eat!

The other product I am very excited about is Whipped Tallow Body Butter. This is made from grassfed tallow I have rendered myself and it is simply amazing. Tallow is a time honored skincare ingredient. Being so similar to our own skin cell structure with the same 50%-55% saturated fat,  it also resembles the protective sebum coating naturally produced by our own skin. It also contains vitamins A, D, K and E which are found only in animal fats, as well as CLA and palmitoleic acid which has anti inflammatory, antimicrobial and anti-carcinogenic properties.  Vegetable based lotions and butters can’t possibly compare to this. I have added calendula oil, jojoba and fragrance oils to increase the luxuriousness of this body butter as well. My ‘crash testors’ LOVED it!

I also still have quite a few soaps available and will be replenishing those which sold out over the following month.

Stop by the Ranch Rustics website and or contact me with your questions or orders!

May your New Year be a blessed one!

Potamus and the Patch

That's a Harney County sunrise. It's hard to keep the windshield clean with 35 miles of dirt road between home and the highway.

It was time for my 8 week trip to town again. Our truck has been broke down since the last trip 2 months ago and unbeknownst to me, the boss hauled it in for us some time ago to a shop so it could be repaired. He was also kind enough to loan us his truck so we could hook up our horse trailer and head out to get our errands and shopping done as well. We had to pick up straw for bedding, livestock panels to make feeders with, and a young Nubian buck, as well as replenish the pantry.

We headed out the door at 5:30 in the morning as my first Dr appt was at 12:00. That would give us time to have breakfast and maybe hit the feed store before I had to be at the hospital after our 4 hours of driving. About 20 miles down the road, the truck started to choke up. Randyman managed to get it going again and we continued on. All the way to Burns Junction...about an hour or better from home. There it quit completely. We pulled over and waited about 30 minutes before we realized it was NOT going to come back to life. 

TheMan put in a call to the boss ( a truly awesome guy ) who along with one of his sons ( another truly awesome guy ) hooked up a flatbed trailer and drove 2 trucks to come rescue us. I don’t know too many people who would drive over an hour away to bail someone out early in the morning on a cold, cold day. It was 9 degrees out. It was also 9 degrees inside the truck by the time they arrived.

I looked on as they unhooked the dead truck from our trailer, towed it around and pulled it up on the flatbed,  (really, it was a super impressive feat, the way it was accomplished. ) left us the extra truck so we could hook back up and be on the road again. It was awesome. The only downside was the heater in the extra truck didn’t work, so it was STILL about 9 degrees.

We made it to town 2 minutes before my first appt. Everything was white. 

Every tree, every single thing, was covered with ice and frost. I called the goat guy and told him we’d be there the next day as we’d be totally unable to get any errands done.

My second appt was pretty close to the first so I spent most of the day there. We left the hospital at about 5:30 and went to get something to eat. We then got a room for the night.

Next day, we started going down the list of errands. It was snowing a little and there was ice hanging from the wires underneath the dashboard of the truck. It was NOT a real comfortable situation. Hours later, we found out our own truck was ready to pick up, so we headed that way. When we got the bill we almost had a heart attack. Add to that fact that it was EXTREMELY high, they only accept cash, no credit cards. Again, Randy called the boss, who is unlike anyone we have ever met...he called in to his bank to have them make out a cashiers check so we could pick our truck up. We headed back across town to get it and agreed to split up so we could get the errands done faster. I climbed into my warm truck with the heater on full blast, grateful tears rolling down my face, thinking of how some people really live what they believe, while others only pay lip service to it. Our boss and his family, are of the former.

Later I jumped back into the loaner truck, as it was late and we had no time to switch the trailer before picking up the goat...who was supposed to be about 6 months old…just barely old enough to maybe get Anniegoat bred this winter. Turns out he is, maybe, 2 months and I suspect he had not been weaned. Slightly misrepresented, but I took him. He is cute, so we tossed him in the trailer. After taking the boss’ loaner truck to a spot we could leave it, we switched the trailer onto our own, grabbed some dinner and headed to the auto parts store to buy another plug for the trailer as we had no lights. It was so COLD!

I bought a big chamois and some tape and taped it around the little guy to make a blanket as it was cold and windy inside the trailer. Randyman arranged the strawbales to make him a little cave and we headed on home.

It was late when we got home so we left the little goat, we named “Patch” in the trailer overnight with some water.

Next morning I took him out to put him in with Annie, who immediately attacked him. I got Potamus to go in the pen where he would live, to protect him. He was TERRIFIED of dogs! Thin, frightened, traumatized, he was reactive and frightened beyond anything I have seen. Potamus went and laid down in the shelter after I had held the goat to try and make introductions. I put feed in the shelter, hoping Patch was hungry enough to approach Potamus. A wise and intuitive guardian, Potamus played dead, but would open his eyes every couple of minutes to make sure Patch was all right. He was determined to win him over. 

* note the open eyeballs when Patch isn't looking...

 I went back to check him a couple of hours later, and this is what I found.

Two goofuses that had to clown around...

It didn't take long for Potamus to win him over. Now Patch is so attached to him, he won't eat unless Potamus is near him.

I put Annie back in with the other critters and am working on a diet that will suit Patch as I don't believe he was fully weaned yet, and he has a few problems from it. Meanwhile, Bruno watches over the little band of sheep and Potamus keeps Patch safe and feeling loved.

Life is good.

Ranch Life Reality

My oldest ewe, Madge, has made this year interesting to say the least. She has had problems lambing every year. It looked like she never got rebred and I was agonizing over what to do. I can’t afford to keep a ewe that can’t produce for us, but Madge is so sweet and so sociable, the idea of culling her was really upsetting me. Luckily, I decided to give her a bit more time. Oddly, within just a couple of weeks she went from looking barren to being enormous and bagged up. I put her in the lambing shed with the camera on her so I could observe her, thinking she was ready. Several different nights she carried on, pawing, pacing and acting as if it might be imminent, before barking up a cud to chew and sleep the rest of the night. I finally gave up and kicked her out in the pasture with the others.

Because she was so much bigger than she has ever been before, I was worried about her possibly getting rolled over in the shelter by the other sheep and not being able to get back up. This usually has fatal results as sheep suffocate when this happens. I decided she could stay out by day, and come back in at night, so I could watch her on ‘ewe-tube’ and determine if she was going to go into labor or if I could actually just go to bed. 

Another week went by and her udder enlarged to proportions I have never seen on any of my sheep before. She looked more like she had the endowment of a Jersey cow. Appalled, I checked her over thoroughly and figured it was a good bet this would be the night.

Around 9:30 she was showing some definite signs of impending labor. I watched alone, unable to nap, in case she got in trouble while I slept. Around midnite I woke up my partner in crime who has never seen an animal give birth. I headed out to the lambing shed with my bag of tricks while she got dressed. Bruno, who usually attends all the birthings with me came in and we sat in the back of the shed. Madge was a little unsettled when our 'Roomie' stepped in, but being a very social ewe who was familiar with her, she settled after a few minutes and hard labor began. 

The water bag presented with a lamb's head close behind. No front legs. Again. As soon as Madge went down pushing hard, I put on latex gloves, lubed my hand up good with lube as warm as I could keep it in the 14 degree air under my coat and slipped my hand inside. It took a minute or two to find a front leg and hook it with my finger, bringing it up carefully. The lamb was small enough that with a little twist he popped right out. A ram lamb. Again. No bother, he will be a freezer lamb, but I was so hoping for a ewe lamb from her as she is my only purebred ewe.

As she babied and bonded with #1, #2 made its appearance without any sign of contractions or pushing. I figured this one was gonna be a breeze and for once, she could deliver one by herself. Then things went bad. Another head unaccompanied by legs. A much larger head. I reached in and attempted to push the lamb back but Madge started pushing so I had to wait. With my arm caught inside. The lamb was not going to go back any further than its ears. I managed, again, to find a front leg after much probing and searching, and feeling so badly for Madge who by now was very uncomfortable. With a lot of work I managed to get it straightened out, but the lamb wasn’t coming. It was stuck. The other leg and shoulder were caught underneath Madge’s pelvic bone. No matter how many times I tried to push the lamb back, there was no getting it unstuck. I couldn’t get my hand underneath there as there was not enough room and my hand couldn’t bend back to scoop it anyway. I kept trying to rotate the lamb sideways which is easier, as there is more room side to side than top to bottom, but the shoulder was still below the rim of the pelvis. I continually twisted, lubed, probed, and despaired of either of them surviving. I didn’t think I was gonna be able to get that lamb delivered. FINALLY it’s body turned enough I was able to press the shoulders up with my fingertips and the front half of the lamb was out...hanging up behind, but easily fixed as it slid back enough for me to straighten the legs out as it slid into the world and #2 was born. 

I had to check to make sure there were no more lambs and there weren’t. Surprised a little at the small size of the two lambs in regard to how huge Madge was this pregnancy, I watched her. Knowing she had to have experienced unbearable pain during the delivery of these lambs I felt a little sickened. The lambs were fine and healthy. #2 lamb was a little traumatized and Madge was busy with #1, trying to lick him more while he tried to find the cafeteria. I brought #2 into the house at about 2:30 and dried him off well, grabbed a bottle and lamb nipple and headed out to the shed. The rubbing had stimulated him enough that he was now wanting to nurse so I got him underneath her and he found what he was looking for. I grabbed up all the rest of the supplies, shot a bit of antibiotic infusion to her to help discourage infection and headed back to the house. Sleep didn’t come until 5 a.m.

TheMan said goodbye at 8:30 and I  dragged myself up to join our Roomie and feed critters. NO small task as the bales are 1600 lb bales and a very small flake is 4x5 feet and very heavy. Even with two of us, I usually have more alfalfa leaf in my hair than I leave behind in the feeder.

When I checked on Madge and the lambs she still had not passed the afterbirth. She dove into her hay, just happy with the world and her new lambs to whom she was very attentive. 

I went to the house, found my oxytocin that helps start contractions, another tube of antibiotic and dropped a note online in the sheep section of TheFamilyCow. Her contractions started on their own, so I didn’t have to administer a shot or do anything but check on her. She would lay down and push hard, the lambs would beg her to get up and she would stand and let them nurse. This went on all day. Some progress was made, but she still had not cleaned by nightfall. Not unusual or particularly alarming, from my understanding. After feeding cows, horse, sheep and chickens again we turned off Madge's light so she could sleep better at night.

Come morning,  Roomie and I were up again and headed out to feed. I looked in the lambing shed and two hungry lambs were bleating and nudging their mother trying to raise her up. 

She had died in the night.

 My hurt lurched up into my throat as tears threatened to overflow. She was the friendliest ewe in the flock. I had agonized over what to do with her just weeks earlier, when I thought she was unbreedable. We can’t afford to keep a sheep that doesn’t produce as it costs too much to hay feed them in the winter. I would have to cull her or feed her to the dogs. Either way, selling her or using her ourselves, she’d be butchered. I suppose this made things easier as I knew she would eventually die lambing if I continued to breed her, because she had problems like this every time. She was likely to pass on whatever was wrong with her if she gave me a ewe lamb. I managed to get my emotions under control by the time Roomie caught up.

Madge had looked so good the morning after. Happy and eating and making much over her newest lambs. I mixed some painkiller in with applesauce and grain for her hoping she would eat it and it would make her more comfortable. She didn’t seem to want to eat or drink. The contractions were coming more often. I was concerned, but hoped the afterbirth would pass quickly and she’d be fine. It was not the way things turned out.  

In God's grace, He made the decision for me and gave me two more lambs before He took Madge. For that, I am grateful.

The orphan lambs are in the house now as they cannot regulate their body temperature yet. We are bottle feeding them some more colostrum I saved from one of the goats, as it has a little more fat to it. They will have to adjust to powdered milk replacer in the morning. I hope they do okay on it, as nothing is better for them than real raw milk. They have taken some solace in the Maremmas who will protect them throughout their lives, and are settling into their temporary spot in the house as they get their routine established.

Sometimes life hurts. But it also has its rewards.

And yes, that really is a hideously ugly, old, turquoise linoleum. It goes with the territory.

...And So Forth...

The heaters are plugged in on the water troughs, the shelters are up the hay has arrived and we are pretty much ready for winter. I was worried about Madge, the last of my original original Dorper ewes. It has been a year since she lambed and I thought maybe she wasn’t able to have anymore as she has had trouble lambing every time and I have had to intervene. I was glad to notice her little lopsided udder suddenly evened out. In less than two weeks time she went from looking not bred at all to absolutely enormous. She is currently in the lambing shed, lonely and uncomfortable. She’s taking her sweet time too, but I am glad because she is a sweet thing and I didn’t want to cull her.  In fact, night after night I have been watching her, although she doesn’t have the classical signs I usually am able to pick up on, such as hollow flank, tight, shiny bag and going ‘slab sided’. No, instead, her Madge-esty simply enjoys eating copious amounts of hay day and night and rocking back and forth in her attempts to get up and get down. She backs up to the wire grill door, with her ever so itchy derrier just out of sight of the camera and does the mambo, as I sit on my perch in the warm living room rocking with laughter at the sight.

The cougar still haunts the houses up above us, walking around the ranch compound without fear. He is still spotted in broad daylight, often not far from where the guys are loudly working in the shop. He avoids capture or destruction time after time. The cowdogs sound off at him as they back their way to safety, one reason I think he is so bold. The LGD’s would not be so easily intimidated, but as they cover much ground on their perimeter patrols, they still risk being caught in one of the traps the cougar has NOT stepped in. I’ve heard some of them could be lethal. At least one trapper will be here until January. It’s going to be a long, long 6 weeks, regardless of how very much we like him and enjoy his company.

EmmaLouMoo is about 4 1/2 months pregnant now and should calve in March. I was hoping to have SushiMoo bred but there wasn’t a bull in at the right time. Then they brought a bull up with some calves for some reason and had them in the back pasture. I asked the boss if I could put her out with him and he said “sure, but he leaves in 10 days.”  I watched everyday to see if she was in heat. She was coming in the morning they came for the bull. I just hope she got far enough along to be bred before they moved him. I hate having to wait over another year to see what kind of milk cow she is going to be for me.

Meanwhile, I’ve been making lots of soap. In addition to my normal inventory I have added Jasmine, which is fast becoming one of my new favorites. I have also made a couple of batches of Salt Soap which is exceedingly nice. It has incredible lather and I love the way my skin feels after using it. It gets things really clean without drying my skin out and the Himalayan Sea Salt in it does its work detoxifying and nurturing. I think it’s going to be a pretty popular soap. There are tons of different varieties cured and ready to go for Christmas gifts. They make great stocking stuffers! If anyone cares to order, please remember our pony express here is a little slow, so get your orders in soon if you are wanting them in time for Xmas. Soap is currently 3 bars for $12 but prices will be going up after the 1st of the year due to the rise in shipping and supplies. Salt soap is currently $5.50 a bar. They are very large and very heavy bars.

Health issues have kept me indoors much more than I would like lately, so I went out into the small sheep pasture  to visit with the Maremmas. Bruno is getting stir crazy and REAL crabby. He was complaining at the ram so badly I had to yell at him to stop. I had just fed everyone, and as usual, when I went to toss the hay over the fence, the sheep made sure to all be right in the landing zone. I watched as Annie-goat’s baby “Shugar” grazed all the leaf off the backs of her lamby companions. The dogs left their food bowls to visit with me and to keep the neighbor dogs at bay, as one Border Collie was taunting them with the famous BC ‘evil eye’. Next thing I knew, one of the young wethers had snuk over to their dogbowls and was helping himself. Now the Maremmas work hard at disciplining the sheep to leave their food alone. They roar and charge and run them off, which is okay, as they would otherwise starve. They never injure the animals so I see no reason to put a stop to it. The sheep know better...even this guy. I was curious to watch, as instead of running along the fence to run him off, they instead circled around at top speed through the middle of the flock. Instead of scattering in terror (because none of them are afraid of the Maremmas, instead they run TO them when frightened) they all watched as the dogs ran between them with the look on their faces of “Oh boy, Joey is REALLY gonna get it!” And he did.

The dogs clown around, wrestling and knocking each other down until someone gets mad...

Then, of course, Potamus wants to kiss and make up, much to Bruno's humiliation.

Next up on the entertainment list was Cowboy the rooster. He has adopted the sheep as his ‘flock’, grazing and foraging with them by day and sleeping with, or in many cases on them by night. He particularly enjoys riding around on Thyme’s back. She was waltzing across the pasture to the water trough when he hitched a ride and apparently he’s due for a pedicure because she took to pitching and bucking until she unseated him. He landed gracefully behind her and picked someone else to sit on. It’s funny to actually watch as the sheep stretch out their necks and sniff his face while he stands and allows it.

This evening, as usual, I fed the horses, captured my recalcitrant milk cows, fed them, fed the sheep, then in turn, fed the dogs. Once again, they had to run sheep away from their bowls. As I was heading for the house I noticed them return and with confused and forlorn looks on their faces, they looked at one another then just sat down, staring in the direction of their dog bowls without eating. Curious, I walked back to find the rooster and a friend had decided to help themselves, and gobbled up kibble unimpeded while the Maremmas looked on sadly. The LGD’s sense of honor is beyond fault.

Don't Fence Me In

In spite of my efforts, Bruno continues to climb out of the pasture when he deems it necessary. I totally understand his intentions as there have been so many dogs as well as  predators around due to his having been confined and unable to patrol and repel them. A lot of the ranch dogs have now figured out that the Maremmas can’t enforce anything through a fence, so they stroll through my backyard and terrorize the chickens with impunity. One of my Jersey Giant roosters has found he feels safer staying with the flock...that is, the sheep flock. He often perches on the back of one of my ewes, they don't seem to mind much.

Little more than a week after Bruno was stopped from patrolling, a cougar has moved in and is lurking around the houses. It was in the boss’ back yard, in spite of all the cowdogs they have, so close to the house that his wife could hear it growl. Now it has been eating the dog and cat food out of her shed. She has called in the state trapper. It was then spotted one morning behind the house closest to us, which is next to my sheep pen. It apparently was strolling along, unphased by the 16 barking dogs on chains just feet away from it. I’ve been told multiple times it is not afraid of dogs, but I feel it begs the question, why is it not eating my sheep and the rooster that lives with the flock?  I suspect it is because the smaller dogs, even in packs, barking and posturing, are not as intimidating as 2 dogs equal in size to him, that would seriously take him on. Instinctively the Maremmas use only as much force as is necessary to achieve their objective, which works well for me, as I don’t have to worry much about them injuring the working dogs on the ranch, but they will use lethal force if necessary. I’m reasonably sure they have held cougars at bay here before as there were those nights they were barking all night when I went out and found them wayyyyy out in the back, and pondered what on earth was willing to face off with over 200 lb of angry dog...only to hear there were cougar tracks at the pond nearby, the next morning. Their dam brought a dead cougar home for the pups to chew on before they were 3 months old, so it isn’t that unusual for the breed kill even a mountain lion, if it is called for.

The only way I could keep Bruno safe from being caught in a trap, was to lock him in the house with me. That had me up all night as I had to let him in, and out, and in, and out as he barked or had other needs.

The fence in the little pasture the sheep have been living in, is only 4’ high and the cougar has been down where he could easily spot them. He’s been spotted 5 times, usually in the daylight, so far. He has not successfully been trapped or treed in spite of everyone’s best efforts.  Cletapotamus was guarding alone as he doesn’t force his way out of the pasture. It’s not a good situation as it would be risky for him to protect the flock AND combat a cougar should it decide to try its luck. Bruno is the better combatant of the two dogs and is normally the perimeter guard but giving him access to the sheep also puts him in danger of escaping and being caught in a trap, so there was my dilemma.

Normally, the Maremmas are free to pursue a predator. This has been a huge game changer and the ‘bad guys’ keep coming in closer and closer all the time. One of the trappers who is our friend has gotten 59 coyotes in just a couple of weeks. Great for the trappers, but not good at all for me, my dogs or my livestock. I will be glad when either the cat or the state trapper are gone for good. 

My friend and I proceeded to drag home t-posts and all my insulator posts and wire. We pulled field fence off of the old line that is falling down and attached it to posts we pounded in the ground, making our teeth rattle. All 4 sides of the pasture were hotwired. The last two mornings I have awakened to a beautiful sight, that is, TWO dogs in my sheep pen. It’s good to know that both the sheep and the Maremmas are safe now that Bruno is back to work, even if he's locked up in a small pasture with them. At least between the two dogs, nothing can breach their defenses and the sheep are secure.

Madge was so happy to see him, she spent the morning laying near him in lieu of joining the rest of the flock. 

All the sheep and Cletapotamus welcomed him back. It’s always good to see the ‘kids’ getting along.

Angst and the Guardian Angel

It was a fine day, so we saddled up and decided to go for a long ride. Heading across several large pastures (large being of a size in keeping with a 250,000 acre ranch) we picked our way through miles of grassland, past rock jacks, around sloughs, through willows and across fields then weaved our way back to one of my favorite places, an old willow corral. It has decayed to the point of being pretty much unusable now, but was one of the prettiest places on the ranch, in my opinion, with the willow reed fencing and the wild roses growing on it. My camera went dead which was pretty disappointing because I want to get some good pictures of what little is left of it, before it's too late. We rode on by and headed for the far side of the valley, determined to make a long, long ride today.We were several hours out and I happened to glance behind me and with mixed feelings I turned my horse around. 

Bruno, my self appointed body guard/Livestock Guardian/nursemaid/Maremma/100+ lb Guardian Angel, who is certain that I am not capable or safe anywhere on the ranch without his presence, was galloping towards us. He had apparently managed to scale the fence of the only 'dog-proof' pasture we have, in which I had contained him and he tracked us several miles across the ranch. He is built for speed and power, not for distance and his heavy coat made it even more challenging for him to and catch us in the warmth of a sunny fall day. He was obviously greatly relieved to have found me, clearly proud of himself and so strongly convinced in his own mind that he was doing a most excellent job, I couldn't reprimand him. He had a look on his face of absolute joy and accomplishment and looked at me as if to say “I am SO glad I finally found you! It’s not safe out here, there are ________ “(coyotes, cougars, field mice)" fill in the blank.

 We turned and headed back home, Bruno happily riding drag and occasionally trotting alongside, ever watchful for predators.  He had overheated himself and I chuckled because he hates water but continued to immerse himself in every irrigation ditch we passed.

The thing about dogs...they can be trusted. They are never judgmental, or malicious. They are faithful, sincere, devoted. Honest. Loving. Dependable. Exasperating.

The fall calves have been weaned. These are smaller, younger calves and have a more difficult time adjusting. Most are currently 3 miles away below the processing corrals. Coyotes have been bad this year and killed a few so there are currently 3 trappers on the ranch trying to eliminate some before the cows start calving again. That puts my Maremmas at risk of being caught in a trap. I’ve had to lock Potamus in a small pen with sheep at night, and keep Bruno in the house. Potamus is the flock guardian and pretty much stays in the pen with the sheep. Bruno is a perimeter guardian and spends each night out patrolling and deterring or confronting predators. It's hard to confine them. They absolutely hate it. I’ve been letting them come in the house to eat because the ranch cats have been stealing their expensive dog food. I wish they would eat the ranch cats, but none the less, since the Maremmas haven’t been free to do their job, the ranch dogs have figured out they have free access to my chickens as well. In great frustration, I have all the chickens and guineas locked in their little henhouse for protection.

This morning in the wee hours, Bruno woke me up because he wanted out. It was all quiet so I figured he was just hot or needed a bathroom break. I opened the door and he quietly slipped through. 

This morning he was gone. He scaled the back fence again and didn’t come when I called. He could have either been guarding and disposing of a coyote kill, or he could have been caught in one of the $@!!*&# traps. I never know until he either shows up, or the trappers check their traps and find him there if he is okay or not.

It’s unbelievable how much damage anxiety can do to your body. He’s often been in the area the traps are set, and a couple of years ago was caught in one of them. I guess until the trappers are all gone, I will just have to deal with the anxiety and watch my hair turn a  lighter shade of gray day by day.

This morning Randyman told me that the cowboss complained Bruno was chasing the calves back from the fence. His sheep are on the other side of the fence so that is why he does what he is doing. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to the cowboss myself, but I do know he has disdain for LGD's, as his only real experience with them was a friend who apparently got one and locked it in a barn with a bunch of lambs. It was, of course, a disaster. People seem to overlook the fact that these are still dogs and you can't just throw one out there and leave it and expect great results. It's not like putting an Alka Selter in your water. Anyway, I have moved all the sheep once again so there is no common fence between them and the calves and hope that solves the problem. I don't want any misunderstandings between my dogs and the new cowboss. When it comes to human vs dogs, dogs nearly always lose. Better to play it safe.