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Winter is here!!! Last night we had our first significant snow…9 inches. And all day, it continued to snow lightly, softly.

Here in our valley, it usually snows straight down, as there is no wind in the winter. Snow piles up amazingly high on the fence posts:

The whole farm was a wonderland, and any chaos that had escaped autumn organization was covered with a clean white blanket:

The dogs were having a wild time, running and leaping together in the snow!
Wolves in Border Collie disguise….

The ducks had a tough time negotiating the snow, (and were no doubt blinded and confused in all that whiteness), so I tramped a path to help them get to their little pond.

The colors of the sheep were lovely against that pure white background. Their fleeces are at their most beautiful in winter, and keep them snug and warm:

After everyone was hayed and watered, Brook found a spot to take a view of the upper sheep pens, and the nearby horse corral. All of their hay is kept undercover in the new barn. What a joy….not having to deal with leaky hay tarps, and losing bottom bales to the damp ground!

We are all nestled in…for a long season of winter care. We see the sheep and the horses at close quarters twice a day, and talk to them, appreciate all that they are in a way that summer can’t provide. But I find myself struggling for words to describe the depth of satisfaction and comfort I feel in caring for the needs of our animal family…every bit as rewarding as turning them out on fresh grass, even more so. They are so eager to see us arrive with arms full morning and evening. Granted our strong connection hinges on their inability to forage for themselves in the snow…but more importantly, on our giving of our time, our care and our love.

This morning the ground was white with snow…the first this year. It was beautiful, but thin enough that the sheep and llamas footsteps revealed the grass beneath as they ate their morning hay. It all melted by mid-morning; this afternoon, it began to snow again…winter’s arrival wasn’t a dream. But the next few days promise to be sunny and bright. In the teens at night, above freezing in the day. Perfect weather for this time of year….

The breeding rams are back with their “buddies”, lots of snorffling and posturing, but no real fights! Maybe the alfalfa that we gave them was too appealing; or maybe they found the way they smelled just too disgusting!

Usually I dowse them with vanilla extract the night that they are tight-penned. This time, I used a perfume that I have had for ages, but don’t wear as it is too strong a scent (for one who rarely wears perfume anyway). It was perfect for the purpose!

They hate tight-penning, and so do we…always an adrenaline rush when we are cramming the breeding boys into an already packed pen, and trying to keep everyone else from escaping. And we always wonder if we have them tight enough (we use wether padding…sorry boys) so that the rams can’t get any space to bash each other.

The next morning is the opposite of Christmas: when we go out hoping that there isn’t any damage…that they are all standing and still alive! Thankfully they always are.

I wonder what they do all night; surely they must settle down somewhat. But in the morning when they see us arrive, the pushing and shoving escalates; they know the routine, and that they are about to be released from their confinement. To add to their irritation, we take time to put ram-shields on the more dominant boys, which they wear for a few hours that day. They hate that too! But it keeps them safe from their foolishness….

Constantine has had a rough breeding season. He was given 7 ewes (two blacks, a moorit, an emsket, a shaela, as well as two Ag sheep….musket and grey who carry solid). As of November 8, no one seemed to have come in season. Constantine had checked them carefully many times each day…nothing for three weeks!

But he was polite to them and ate along side of them, although when the group got their grain feeding (breeding season is the only time rams here ever get grain), he made sure that he got his share. Even then, Constantine was as polite as one could expect a ram to be…

Then on the 9th, he became more Border Collie than ram…he ran here and there, holding the ewes in a tight little group…away from the hay, away from us, even (it seemed) away from the water and shelter. Each time one of them moved, he ran to bring her back to the group…he went “come bye”, he went “away”, he “walked in”. When we came out for morning chores, here were his ewes, tight against the fence. No Border Collie could have done better!

The ewes seemed very puzzled and nervous at this turn of events, and we were worried about them. We put hay in lots of places all around the pen, to give them a little chance of getting something to eat. There didn’t seem to be any good reason for the change in his behavior. Brook thought that it might be extreme frustration (it had been a long time since the rams had been put into their groups), and joked that Constantine must have told the girls that they weren’t moving until someone was willing to breed with him!

I was ready to take him away from the ewes if this behavior continued, but by the next morning, we were relieved to see that things seemed much calmer….AND to our amazement, 5 of the ewes had rumpled wool on their hind quarters! All these ladies had come into season at once, it seems, and Constantine couldn’t fathom how to deal with his sudden good fortune, so he held them in one place until he figured it out.

Now it appears that the other two girls have also been bred. And all is peaceful and serene; the ewes seem relaxed…so does Costantine. They all eat hay together, and sleep together, and tell us they are starving together. Constantine will miss his lady-friends when (this weekend) he re-joins the boys in the ram-group. And we are bracing for a lambing storm the first week in April!

I am on my way home from a week’s visit with my mother, my brother and his family. My flight is delayed for nearly an hour, but I should still be able to meet my connecting flight in Denver. The free wireless in the Columbus Ohio airport affords me the diversion of writing a short post.

It was a such a good visit, casting me back to my childhood, and as usual, I find being there quite surreal. I had a great time, and enjoyed taking my mother to all the places that she had longed to go; she isn’t able to drive anymore and feels quite frustrated by it. We visited a friend of my parents in Miamisburg (near Dayton) in one trip. In another we went to see friends in Columbus…the husband was my father’s best man, and the wife a classmate of my mother’s. Mom loved it and I enjoyed seeing them too…they were favorite grown-ups (to my child-self). It is so much fun to hear all the anecdotes about my mother and father…how they met (a blind date) and about their lives when I was young.

My mother is on the left of the photo, Ernid in the middle and Polly on the right (holding Mom’s little dog, Sarah):

As you can see from the first picture, we had beautiful autumn weather….and the view from my bedroom window was wonderful. But now I long to see the mountains and pastures at our farm. And to see my dear Brook and all the 4-legs who share our life. It won’t be long now!

In this circumstance, I recognize that I how hopelessly I am addicted to modern technology. I had a long video-chat with Brook, sitting in a cafe here at the airport. Telephones are fine, but to talk face to face makes the miles melt away.

Our son Ben called me on the cell-phone several times while I was in Ohio; it is magical to hear his voice when the phone rings. Granted this is an ordinary part of modern life, but I am old enough to recall when cell-phones were brand new. I remember putting that foolish notion aside easily; the publicity was that with cell phones, folks could reach me whereever I was…why would I want that????

But I love it…and now depend on the cell-phone, my computer and wireless technology. I will go sit and knit and wait contently for my plane to leave. The connections to the rest of my life are all there!