We made our way back to Texas, stopping whenever possible at county fairgrounds, rodeo grounds and other dog-friendly (and inexpensive) locations.
This pic is from the county fairgrounds in North Platte, Nebraska. Beautiful grass; the dogs loved it, but when it was time to go they loaded up in a heartbeat.
We arrived home to find our upper and lower stock tanks going around the spillway and down the draw-down tube. (Thanks, Allan, for the photos)
While we were in South Dakota, we had heard the terrible news about the flash floods that claimed so many lives in the Texas Hill Country in the Kerrville and Hunt areas. We received a significant amount of rain at the farm, but thankfully not so much as to cause the kind of damage experienced along the Guadalupe River and San Saba Rivers. Our hearts break for the families who lost loved ones and property in this devastating flood.
Shortly after we returned, we made a tentative decision to breed Dutch and Meg if she comes into heat late this summer. She is almost 4 years old, and has never had pups. The advice of breeders is for females to have pups at about this age, and we think a mating of these two would produce outstanding pups. So….we’re waiting.
Another thing on my to-do list was to get more sheep. We sold our ewes and lambs in March, and have been woefully unpracticed since then. I visited the Hamilton Livestock Commission in hopes of finding some suitable working sheep to use until we pick up more Katahdan-Dorper ewe lambs from Paul Holland in the fall. Tracy in the Commission office asked their livestock inspection officer to show me what sheep were available. Turns out, the livestock inspector is none other than Than Foote, a local rancher who had years ago leased our farm for grazing (long before John and I built our house and began spending significant time here).
None of the sheep available at the auction were what I was looking for, but Than made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. He runs several hundred head of sheep and goats on the family ranch, which is only a few miles from our place (past Jonesboro and out toward the small community of Pancake). Than said if I would feed them, I could borrow some sheep from him and return them when I no longer needed them.  |
| Dutch getting acquainted with the Sheep Sisters |
Such a deal!!! A couple of days later, John and I picked up 17 head of mixed-breed ewes and brought them home. The new Sheep Sisters are a diverse lot. Three are all-black; two are black-headed mostly-Dorper; several more are Katahdan-Dorper cross, and a couple more have Barbados Blackbelly blood. Most are young ewes that have just weaned their first lambs, but four are older 3-5 year-olds. They wasted no time getting acquainted with their new home, and the dogs wasted no time getting in some "sheep time."
Even Rue got into the act. Her 13 years and leaky heart valve have slowed her down, but they haven't dampened her spirit or her desire to work.
Even Cousin Rosie got in a bit of herding, then cooled off in the water trough.The sheep are fun, and quickly learned that when I call “sheep-sheep-sheep” there will be treats in their sheep shed. I usually don’t need a dog to bring them in at night, and they often show up on their own in the late afternoon. We are blessed!
On July 23rd, John and I made a quick trip to Fort Worth for me to get fitted for a new pair of contact lenses. The appointment went well, and we especially enjoyed our lunch at Pacific Table in the University Park area. The Ahi Tuna salad was extra special, and the creme brûlée was probably the best I've ever had.
In early August we were blessed with a few unseasonal but much-appreciated showers. We were also blessed to celebrate Rue's 13th birthday on the 5th,
and Meg's adoption anniversary on the 16th. Of course, Bluebell was a big part of both occasions!
Everybody loves celebrations!John has been working on several woodworking projects, but was slowed down a couple of weeks ago when he got a little close to the spinning blade on his joiner. We've progressed from the emergency room to heavy bandages on the first two fingers of his right hand to little more than bandaids, thank goodness. He's now back to work on several other projects.
And speaking of projects...we're in the middle of a big one. A couple of months ago, after consulting with the Joneses, we decided to fence the house pasture for goats. The heavy brush and weeds are choking out much of the grasses on top of the mountain to the west and south of the house. John and Allan have spent countless hours and much $$$ cutting, skid-steering and spraying, but the brush is winning. Hopefully, some goats will thrive in this area, and will bring back pasture instead of a thicket.
We put up the new 4" x 4" fencing on top of the original barbed wire. Allan has also reinforced the fencing around the raised garden beds east of the Little House, and we're in the process of re-fencing our yard. Here is the last of our rail fence ready to go to the burn pile.
We should be finished soon, and hopefully goats will join us before long.
We finished out the month of August with dear friends Terry and Pattie Meyers. Terry helped John move the hay out of the coastal field, and Pattie and I spent time with the dogs and sheep. We had a surprise on Saturday morning when I discovered that overnight our flock had grown from 17 to 19 head. One of the ewes had delivered twin ram lambs...totally unexpected since we thought none of them were bred.
It will be interesting to see if others will follow suit.
Pattie joined me to watch the dogs work, and to spend some up close and personal time in a small pen with the ewes. The purpose of this exercise is to allow the dogs and sheep to spend time in close proximity with each other, and to decrease the anxiety that each might feel. If the dogs and sheep are comfortable with each other, all should be more relaxed and better able to work as a team.
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