Ag Volunteer Initiation

Began cleaning the sheep shed. Muscle-straining pitchforks full of eye-tearing, throat-burning, sinus-cleansing, hard-packed, ammonia-stench, sheep dirt. Nothing else quite compares. Once you break the seal with the first puncturing scoop of the fork tines, a Pandora's box of stink escapes. This is the true initiation of the Ag volunteer. I welcome all comers to a morning of sheep shed cleaning. And, you get to find the occasional trophy of shed lamb tails -- sort of like the prize in a box of Cracker- Jacks.

Farm Fu

I'm developing a new martial art called Farm Fu. The first animal based style will be "Chicken" style. You hold one hand in front of your face like a beak -- this is the striking hand. The other hand you hold behind you with fingers outstreched -- like a tail -- to distract your opponent. You crouch slightly and move about in a "chicken-in-the-straw" kind of shuffling candence. You make the high pitched chicken "coo" in your throat (Bruce Lee-ish), then squawk loudly as you strike with your "beak" hand.

It was Sheep Shearing Day at the farm last Sunday. Blustery weather. Visitors actually showed up! We sheared a few. Mark put on his energetic, humorous, and educational demonstration. A visitor, Jimmy, a music teacher from Indiana, volunteered to turn the crank on the historically accurate man-powered shearing machine.

Tegan, Faith and I watched the sheep dog show for a few minutes after stopping at the visitor's center to buy hand-spun yarn made for KCF sheep's wool on the way out after our shift. The day's chores had also included mixing feed, filling the horse barn and sheep shed with hay, picking-out a few livestock pens, and spreading some fresh straw. (A chicken almost landed on Tegan's head when we fed them.)

New Calf

A new calf was born the other day. Mixed breed -- angus / short horn. Mostly black with a brown sheen in places. White spot between the back legs. 100 lbs. Put short horn cow and new calf in with the angus cow and calf. The mixed breeding means the a.i. didn't take. The "clean-up" angus bull was successful.

Saw turkey buzzards circling up high in the sky.