Last sheep aquisition trip of the year.....maybe. :)

Left Sat. morning for Eugene. Stopped at the usual McDonalds to get Kylie her plain cheeseburgers (gotta make hanging with me for the whole weekend worthwhile somehow!).

Met my sister, Cheryl and her husband, Ron at the residence where my Mom lives. Everyone there has Alzheimers or Dementia of some degree. My Mom hasn't know who we are for awhile now....I take that back I think she recognizes me but she doesn't know my name. We wheeled her around the courtyard and the warmth started to make her go to sleep so we took her back inside. We talked to her for awhile, I held her hand, and then she started to doze off again....could have been the stimulating conversation.....:) so we decided to go to lunch at McGraths fish house.

The young man we had as a waiter had a bit of difficulty that day. First he dropped our appetizer all over the floor, so we had to wait for the replacement. Then on the way with our lunches he dropped them too. Actually we heard a crash, and my sister said, "That isn't who I think it is?" I said I thought so from what I could see then he came over and said "You'll never guess what happened" wasn't too hard to figure out, especially with the cocktail sauce all over his apron. :) Needless to say buy the time we got out of the restaurant it was getting later than planned (we did get a free dessert out of it though!). Gave my sister a hug and headed to Shannons to spend the night.

Got to Shannons and we decided to take our dogs for a walk. Went to a great park by her and she brought her beautiful whippets. I fell in love with her new puppy, Danica (not that Paisley wasn't sweet too) :) Shannons son, Theron, was very friendly and wanted to help out a lot. He definitely has the love of animals that his Mom has!

I ended up going to bed early, as I was tired from the drive. Awake at 6am, Kylie and I got packed up. As I was in the bedroom (of the guest cottage) I heard this splashing noise. Went out to the main room to see Kylie dropping her ball in the water dish. I should have known better than to have a ball indoors.....she did the exact same thing at Lois' and made a mess of her kitchen!

The morning light playing over the hill surrounding Shannons farm was beautiful. I enjoyed the peacefulness of it all with the sheep softly baaing.

Next stop Camilles for turkey replacements. For those of you that haven't heard my two turkey boys were stolen. I know that no predator got them because they were both gone and there wasn't a single feather left behind. It made me angry and sad to think that they wound up on a platter or in some sandwiches. :( We walked around looking at my options and even though I liked two older boys she had a chose 3 youngsters. I hoping to get the security in place before they are old enough to look like a meal.

Last stop before heading home, Michelles. Michelles home resides in beautiful hill country with trees, orchards and vineyards all around. From her home you get a lovely view of the valley though they have some fir trees that block the mountain (Hood) part of the view.

I was greeted at the front door with a rousing rapid fire bark from her Aussie, Jackson. Michelle came out with a smile and Jackson decided I was ok. We let Kylie out of the truck and Jackson was an instant hit with her. They went tearing around the property having a good old time (I'm sure it felt good for her to stretch her legs).

I met her son, Brian, who had a winning smile and acted if we'd known each other (probably from stories he heard from his Mom. Probably thought I was one of those insane sheep women!) forever.

We looked at the ewes, then the wethers and Bevin. We took Inky to her stall, which I'm sure she was relieved to get out of the trailer with those crazy Jacobs! :) Then Brian took me to introduce me to his horse. It made me miss the sweet horse breath as his gelding checked me out.

We went to the house for the papers, and I was treated to a concert by Brian on his violin. He also plays the piano, quite the talented young man! We then took his remote control helicopter out to a pasture and I was given a show with that, amazing the toys they have nowadays! Wish I had something like that growing up.....never too late I guess!

Loaded up Bevin and Rechel, Brian gave hugs to Bevin and he didn't want me especially to take Bevin but also wanted Rechel to stay. Michelle tried to explain to him that there would be new lambs next year that could stay.....I don't think she was very convincing!

As I headed down the drive I was thinking about how nice this little weekend trip had been little did I know that I was heading for the day from HE double hockey sticks!!

To be continued..........

The Birth of a Blog

Well, here goes.....

Under the encouragement of one Michelle McMillen, of Boulderneigh, a very effective representative for the Shetland breed of sheep, I am venturing off on my first attempt at blogging.

It all started really, with a trip to the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR. I originally went there with only the intention of picking up three Jacob sheep, two ewe lambs and a ram lamb, to my Jacob flock. OK....and maybe 3 Snowy Call Ducks as well.

The Black Sheep Gathering, if you have never been, and have any attraction to sheep, cashmere goats, lovely rugs, sweaters, felted vests, spinning, yarns of every color imaginable, is something you should see. It is a yearly event and worth the drive for me even without picking up livestock!

I keep saying I don't need another hobby but the longer I have wool breeds the more I feel drawn to learning how to spin, knit and weave.....I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Anyway, back to picking up my three sheep....while waiting for one of the breeders to return from a off-site sheep buying venture I meandered amongst the stalls of various kinds of sheep. I was standing by some Jacobs when this lady (soon to be identified as Michelle) :) came thru the aisles with a lovely little ewe on a lead. I admired the ewe and was told she was for sale. Oh, OK, says I, thinking I have Jacobs I don't NEED a Shetland, and we continued our separate ways.

Later, standing by some Shetlands where I was ogling a gorgeous little ewe lamb, some lady (Michelle) says that the lamb was a Gulmoget. I breathed a sigh of relief to see she wasn't for sale and moved on down to a conversation that the farm owner of that lamb was involved in. I mentioned that I had always admired the Shetlands, but I had Jacobs. A fellow there said, "Oh, Jacobs and Shetlands can get along great together", and there is where the slippery slope began.

I think, and at this point everything gets a little blurry (or is it foggy?) I mentioned I had even seen someone walking around with a sweet little ewe on a lead. Michelle, who was also standing with the group said "That was me!" Does everyone see a pattern here? Next thing I know I'm going over to see Michelles sheep and she made me an offer I couldn't refuse on sweet little Bella.
Little did I know it was just a teaser into getting me to take the Shetland breed, hook, line and sinker.

I still, it appears, wasn't done sheep shopping because when Shannon, from Kenleigh acres that I had bought the two Jacob ewe lambs from returned she asked me if I had seen the Meridian lambs. No, says I, hesitantly as I follow her over to the pen as if I have no control. We admired three beautiful little ewes and next thing I know I'm the proud owner of Meridian Gypsy.

Now, almost in a panic, I gather up my purchased sheep, and my three little Call ducks (also from Shannon), load them in the truck and trailer, and careen out of the parking lot (well, maybe just drive slowly in one direction, but I didn't stop or go back!).

My animal gathering wasn't complete until I made a quick stop in Dallas, OR on my way north. I had met this very knowledgeable turkey lady on a turkey list I was a member of (no, I didn't have turkeys at the time, but had been considering them). Camille took me around back of her house to her many pens of turkeys all of colors, types and ages. She was giving away young toms as she had too many and I chose two young boys of Wild/Narragansett descent. With a promise to come back to buy some turkey hens we loaded them into some empty dog kennels in the back of my truck and down the road we went.

Did I mention I also had 2 of my 4 dogs with me in the cab of my truck? My 10 year old Border Collie, Finn, and Kylie, my 1 year old Belgian Tervuren. For some reason I couldn't stop humming the Beverly Hillbillies song as we continued home, with the sheep baaing, the ducks quacking and the turkeys gobbling in harmony.

My next blog post will be on my continuing downward spiral of Shetland addiction.......