• Aug. 24, 2007
Road Trip
So, it's time for a road trip! Not for me though, for the 4 ewes we need to get bred this fall. They are off on a big trip to Nebraska, where they will make the aquaintance of a very special ram named I-beam. (kills me, the names some of these males animals have) "I-beam" -believe it or not- is worth tens of thousands of dollars and we are very fortunate to have the chance to have our ewes bred by him. He belongs to the brother of a friend/employee of ours, who is bringing our sheep along with a bunch of his own out to Nebraska.
Here's our girls all loaded in - they may look somewhat tightly packed but they really aren't , actually it's much safer and more comfortable for them if they don't have too much space.
I think the kids were a little sad to see them go - but they'll be back in a couple months.
We gave them a couple injections before they were loaded to help counteract any negative effects the travel stress might have on their health. Sheep are such herd animals, they are generally pretty content as long as they can be with some other sheep- especially other sheep they know.
ETA- meet Ibeam (now you know what a really expensive ram looks like)
Thanks for all the get-well-wishes! There's still a lot of coughing, hacking, sniffling, etc going on around here. I had to drag myself off to town today though, because the parakeet was totally out of food. (yes, the 8 yo has a parakeet - there is no limit to our crazy when it comes to critters) So I drug myself through the grocery store as well, seeing as we people were about out of food, too. All of which felt like an exhausting effort being sick and all, but I was rewarded when I got home by the arrival of a small package chock full of goodies from a contest I'd won. LLA sent a very pretty beaded necklace along with a bunch of other treats - I have to show this one:
Pink chicken barrettes! I am so wearing these tomorrow!
So, here's the scoop on Dish-Rag-Tag: it's the creation of Emily at Yarn Miracle. Anyone interested signed up, then she formed us into teams of 10 each. (there's over 200 people signed up!) It's basically a knitting relay race: each team has a box, and in that box is a knit dishcloth, 2 balls of cotton yarn, and a small gift. When you get the box, you knit a dishcloth using one of the yarns, and you get to keep the other yarn, plus the gift and the dishcloth that was in the box. You mail the cloth you made, plus 2 balls of yarn and a small gift, on to the next person on your team. Whichever team gets the box through all its team members and back to Emily first is the winner. Sign-ups filled up REALLY fast, probably because it got a mention on the Mason-Dixon Knitting blog. She has mentioned a Dish-Rag Tag 08 though, so keep an eye on her blog if you're interested.
I think I'm overdue for some goat pictures so here's the ladies eating their dinner tonight:
Here's Annie - do you think she knows she was the Grand Champion Doe?
They do love to eat! Well, it's time for a treat: I splurged at the grocery store and bought some of our fav ice cream - (Starbucks Low-fat Latte) sounds like good medicine for sore throats, eh?
Comments
• Aug. 24, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Wow.. I-beam has a truck load of ewe's coming for him.. look's like I-beam doesn't lead too bad of a life! :-D
Sarah
Sheep of a different color
• Aug. 25, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Thanks for the info on the cloth from the dish rag tag. I would never have guessed it was DW modified :) I love DW's so I'll have to try one of this version!
happy knitting :)
hakucho
• Aug. 25, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Danielle
I-beam will be a happy guy, with all your pretty gals comin' his way LOL ;)
Yeah for your team!! YUMMY to latte icecream, sounds like a tasty medicine to me!
• Aug. 25, 2007
grand champion
Posted by Anonymous
d00000000d she totally knows she was grand champion doe.
great goat pictures. Everytime i see the goat eating paper aflac commercial i just laugh. MEH!
I -Beam better be as impressive as his name. Poor girls i hope they have a safe journey!
• Aug. 26, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
The goats are adorable! I like their floppy ears.
www.oiyi.blogspot.com
• Aug. 26, 2007
Thanks...
Posted by Thimbleanna
for the goat pictures. You know how we fans are. I'll still never get used to the fact that those girls have horns -- that just seems wrong. I-beam looks like quite the stud. And they won't be back for months? Hmmm....there are so many comments that could be put here....but....I'l refrain. LOL. Thanks for dishcloth info -- sounds like great fun. I'm assuming she tries to balance the teams geographically to allow for mailing times? Hope the sore throat is getting better....
• Aug. 27, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Well, I-beam is one lucky stud!! I'm sure he's looking forward to adding to his harem.. even if only for a short time! I will have to keep an eye out for the next dish rag tag.. it sounds like a blast!
Sure hope you get to feeling better!
Janice
• Aug. 27, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
What cute pictures, I love seeing pics of your ewes, they are so cute off to their big adventure!
~Keri
Http://knittygrittythoughts.typepad.com
• Aug. 27, 2007
Tagged
Posted by psalm127
You have been tagged. Come to my site to see what you need to do.
• Aug. 27, 2007
Ha! Pink chicken barrettes!
Posted by Fringey
I am so way beyond jealous! Those are adorable- where did she get them or did she make them????I am going to have to figure out how to post so many pictures- I always get told I have big a file...I- Beam looks like what is making grade here in so Cal -just watched sheep showmanship on Sat at our fair. 4 our of 7 of the top showman were from our club -out of about 40 in the senoir class. One of our families goes to Texas for their meat goats, they did take champion and reserve! -and here you are sending your girls across country to get hooked up! May you get a nice breeding ram from one of them! I had looked up the dish rag tag when you posted it-what a great idea! Will be on the look out next year for it. Hope the ice cream did the trick...blessings...
• Aug. 28, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by woolwinder
Everything is a struggle when you aren't feeling well. Grocery shopping is not my favorite task under the best conditions. The ice cream is sure to help!
• Aug. 28, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Kelli
I hope they have a safe road trip and the couple of months go by quickly!
Kelli
www.kellishouse.blogspot.com
• Aug. 31, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
the animals are so beautiful.
jessica
www.somethingjessica.blogspot.com
• Sep. 6, 2007
:)
Posted by LLA
So glad that you got your goodies, and so glad that you are happy with them... The minute I saw those pink chicken hair pins, I immediately thought of you!!!!
I saw a previous commenter ask about them - I've got to confess, I didn't make them (although I wish I were that crafty!) I got them from Megan at harrilu.com. She is the sweetest girl, and she makes some amazing stuff! Everyone should go and check her out....
