Yesterday

Yesterday was a day full of interesting exercise! I helped my husband herd all of our sheep into a pin and give them shots (probably more difficult than it sounds to you city slickers out there). We also gave all of our goats their shots. I had never given anything a shot before yesterday. After I got used to it, it was actually somewhat fun... like playing doctor. I'm probably the only weird person on the face of the planet that enjoys giving anything a shot, but here I am! I found it interesting that the biggest babies were the rams and our billy goat, Bill. He (Bill) was the biggest baby of all. He let out a loud, "Baaaaaaaaah" when we had to give him his second shot. Then he went running around tossing his head back and forth. He got so irritated over the discomfort, he started butting all the rams in sight. The rams did the same thing after their shots - tossed their heads side to side, then started ramming each other out of irritation. You probably would have had to have been there to see why I found that so funny.

It was nice to have so much outdoor time yesterday. Instead of the predicted rain and 50's weather, we're getting high 60's, 70's, and plenty of sunshine. It's always nice getting weather the children can enjoy. Children are full of so much energy, they basically need plenty of acreage and good weather to use it all up in. Our whole family functions better when Ethan and Madeleine get their well-needed outdoor play in each day.

Today I plan on making several pairs of earrings I'm going to sell, hopefully get around to trimming my rabbit, Jake (an Angora), and tend to my everyday chores. I hope everyone is enjoying their Wednesday as much as I am!

Small Update

I waited long enough to write that the smell of manure already vanished from within my vehicle. I've been keeping busy, but didn't have anything too exciting to write. I've been working on all the boring jobs like laundry, dishes, cooking, schooling my children, feeding our dog, etc. We had a week of beautiful weather that I enjoyed. 70's and 80's... it was gorgeous. This week, though, has been rainy and in the 50's. It looks like things will be warming up again soon. I don't mind the rain. As dry as it gets here in the summer we need all the rain we can get. However, I am getting tired of the mud my children are tracking in.

Sheep in a Jeep

Have you ever read "Sheep in a Jeep"? It's a children's book that I always found a bit amusing. Well, today got me thinking about that little book. You see, today I got to ride with five big sheep in the back of our SUV. We don't have a trailer on this small farm of ours or anything else that would work well for hauling animals (yet), so when needed we load sheep in our "jeep"! These five ewes were pretty nervous at first, but after a few minutes settled down and were nice for the 100+ mile drive home. Most people might be nervous that a sheep would jump over the backseat and come join you in the front, but we've never had that problem. For the most part sheep and goats don't like being too close to us people. In a vehicle that works to our benefit! The only time I was a bit worried during our ride was when all of the ewes decided to look out the back window and their rears were facing my dear children in the backseat. I'm sure you can guess what I was worrying about! All went well, though. I'm not sure how long it's going to take for my vehicle to quit smelling like a barnyard, but from experience I DO know it goes away... eventually.

My Absence

Usually when I don't find time to write it's because I'm busy living. The kind of living that stands out in my mind years later. During my writing absence this last time I took a trip with my family (my children and husband) to Portland, Oregon to see my sister, Kara. We had a good time there and the children did GREAT on the drive there and back. I was happily surprised by that blessing since it was an eleven hour drive. During our visit there we also got to see some old friends of mine over across the border of Washington - it was really good to see them after nearly 6 years! Once we got back from our trip I had two days to unpack and clean house before my mother-in-law came for a six day visit. We enjoyed visiting with her, playing games, going shopping, swimming at the local hot spring, and eating some yummy meals and desserts. After she left I needed a couple of days of unwind time before getting back into everyday routine. I took it real easy the day after she left, then yesterday I worked on laundry, gave a reading lesson to my children, then headed over to play games with a very good friend of mine and her kids. I think we played 3 different games of Scrabble within 4 hours! We had a lot of good giggle time. I also made a new discovery about my very good friend; she is AWESOME at making long words!

Well, that's a very busy 2 weeks in a nutshell! I hope all is well with you and yours!