No more sheep . . . for now.

I'm more than a little envious of the folks gathering in Seattle for Sydney's birthday. Hope we are going to see lots of photos.

As some of your know, I almost had a new Airedale puppy this week. A client of my vet brought in a 12-14-week-old pup that had been tied to a tree near her mailbox and abandoned. Finally realized (after buying puppy chow and chew toys, washing the large dog crate and bringing it into the house) that it was not MY dog. I will get a puppy before long (and yes, Glynn, free is better than $300 or $400, but . . . .)

Busy farm weekend. Saturday, my farrier came over and we trimmed donkey hooves, then spent a very long time trying to herd sheep into the corral because they were all going to their new home. Really. New home -- not market -- yet! Now that was a real challenge -- oh, have I mentioned that sheep are not the smartest animals in the barnyard? One big ram with an attitude and a lot of sheep that can't follow directions. Thankfully, there were four of us, but it still took hours to get them loaded (two loads) into the trailer. Bandit, the guard dog is gone, too. It's a little quiet around here today, but don't mind having the check I got for boarding them for so long. Maybe I'll use some of that to buy an Airedale puppy :)

After the sheep were loaded, they all helped me catch Captain and give him a shot before letting him and the goats out of the yard and to freedom. When I let him out, he took off and ran to the other end of the pasture. I was a little concerned that he might be heading back to Missouri, but after a while he came back to where the goats were eating. Think the bonding thing worked. Yea! (Now if he can just intimidate the coyotes, we're in business.) I then mucked out the barn where the sheep had insisted on sleeping for a while before collapsing, having a glass (or two?) of wine with dinner and watching a dumb movie I had downloaded on my computer.

I'm afraid if I tell you this, no one will ever want to come visit -- killed two copperheads today. One was out by the barn where I was loading wheelbarrows full of nice, cow-enriched dirt for my garden and then the other ended up in my wheelbarrow after I had emptied my dirt and then loaded a bunch of rocks I had taken out of the garden area to dump somewhere. Now, I was a bit amazed as to how I could have picked up the snake as I scooped up some rocks and not been bitten. However it happened, I feel very fortunate.

Dennis came to start on my deck today and when I found the second snake I thought he was going to leave, never to return. Anyway, he got my tiller going for me and I tilled the garden and planted a few things. Glad to have the animals out of the yard and my garden, late as it is, on its way.

Not to end the day without another "event," as I was putting the tiller away in the little storage building, the door blew shut. That meant that I had no way to get out because it has an automatic latch and it can't be opened from the inside. (I tried sticking my arm through a place where one of the boards on the door had been gnawed by some dog who must have had the same thought in mind - - "how the heck do I get out of here!") After trying to think of any possible solution (even breaking the door frame, calling a neighbor to come open the door, etc.), I decided to try climbing out the back LITTLE window with a drop off about six or seven feet. Wasn't sure the old wood around the window would hold me or how I would get my other leg out after getting my body and one leg out and nothing to step onto within reach. Luckily, there was some old wire tacked on the lower portion of the building and it held me as I got my other leg out of the window (while doing the splits!). That's a wrap.