Andy and Heather came over today.
The girls don't mind the cold. They have nice fur coats to wear. Luna was moving too fast to get in this picture.
Heather did her taxes. They picked up the little trailer to haul the bad hay out. The horses don't like it but the cattle ate most of the last one.
We hung out inside and had hot dogs for lunch. Luna slowed down enough to be in a picture.
It was going pretty good. The sheep and llamas had to spend the afternoon in the front pasture.
Lisa brought over stuff from her failed burn pile. Some of it was still damp but it burned anyway.
It got late so I banked the fire and put panels around it to keep the sheep out.
Feeding time.
She got it started with some diesel fuel I had left from changing the fuel filter on the tractor. She had trouble keeping it burning, it was still damp from the snow last weekend.
Martha and Bonnie have been taking good care of the flock. We think they'll work out nicely now that the antagonist is gone.
Martha and Bonnie are on opposite sides of the fence now. They still hang out around the water tank and gossip.
We've had the gate to the big pasture closed for the last few days. Mainly to give Martha a chance to bond with Dolly and the sheep in the barnyard. They share hay and the llamas get grain. Lisa fixed one of the stalls so the sheep can go in there and the llamas can't. Llamas tend to always poop in the same place every time. Dolly likes to poop indoors and usually picks a stall if she has access. The sheep don't like the llama poo.
I was on my way to get a round bale for the sheep. We put the welded goat wire back under it so no one can get their head in between the bale and the rack.
It has been snowing lightly since yesterday.
The truck wouldn't make it up the hill so it will be down there for a while. Don't worry Andy, Lisa said she'd come down on the 4-wheeler to pick up the pizzas tomorrow night.
This is Nelson's hay shed. Most of what you see here is our hay for the winter.
The bales are pretty good size. This is one of the good sheep hay bales. The cattle get good hay too but it is first cutting and has more clover. The sheep's hay is mostly grass. They like clover too but it isn't as good for them.
It's cold moving hay. It isn't something that needs to be done in the summertime.
You can see our house on top of the next ridge.
I zoomed in to our house.
At the bottom of Nelson's driveway.
Lisa set up a corral for Bonnie. Now she can eat in peace. She doesn't like the sheep stomping around by her feet. Also they jump at her feed bucket trying to knock it down. It's like they know what's in there.
The sheep approved of the new hay.
Lisa was out sliding around on the 4-wheeler. She was trying to get some air on the snow drifts.
The pond has snow on it.
I had to take some dog in snow pictures. It wouldn't be winter without dogs in snow. Here is Piper, Luna and Satin.
Paris was waiting to go in. Her feet must have been getting cold.
Piper, Satin and Paige. Piper wasn't being affectionate with Satin, in case you were wondering. That is Piper being the dominant bitch that she is.
Now Bonnie is in with Speedy and Martha is in with Dolly. Lisa was trying to coax Martha into the barnyard. She never went in so she'll be sleeping alone out in the pasture tonight. She'll figure it out eventually.
We are well stocked in the llama department.
Lisa was shaking a feed bucket. Everyone was taking notice.
Andy came over to drop off the little trailer. Heather can lift square bales again so they won't be needing any round bales for a while. He played in the burn barrel with me.
Lisa and Andy were securing the hay on the rack with a ratchet strap. It fell over last week and killed Curly. He was Andy's big wether.
We got Bonnie moved into the pasture with Speedy. Tomorrow Paddy should be going to his new home. He hasn't been a pleasure to have around so he will not be missed.
We moved the hay ring back down to the bottom. It drains better down there. The 'mud' was getting deep up by the shed.
Nelson was showing us his pigs.
He's taking them to the meat packers next week and wants to sell one.
Their names are Pearl and Bacon.
The creek got way up into the bottom pasture. We call it the bottom pasture because it's in the creek bottom. It isn't that surprising when it floods after raining all day it just makes a mess.
Luna and Satin got their nails done while it was raining today. They got the hair on their feet trimmed too. Less hairy feet means they track in less mud.
Ally is getting big.
She gets to come out in the dog's yard.
She follows Lisa everywhere. They all do.
The girls know there is a sheep in their yard. They are sheepdogs after all.
She knew that was her bottle. We had left it sitting on the deck. She quickly lost interest.
She played with the extension cord for a few minutes. Everything is a sheep toy in Ally's world. She quickly lost interest. Lambs have short attention spans. In case you're wondering, that is a look of disgust on Piper's face. Satin is trying to decide if she can kill it without us noticing. Paris just wants it to go away.
