Thomas the Ramming Ram

 Nathan got published! http://www.powerhousegrowers.com/aquaponics-a-diy-approach-to-organic-gardening/
Look at how fast SoZH is growing! I guess it's to be expected based on the size of his dad...here he is snoozing on my knee in the sun:

He still isn't quite fully feathered and he likes to stay warm however he can.

I think Squishy is getting tired of having him cramp her style...I took over chick warming duties for a bit.

The dogs have been very helpful with chores lately.

Rearranging the wood chip pile:

Speckles helped, too. Her foot is finally looking much better! Took long enough...

Abby helping to clean the chick coop.

The goats have been helpful, too. 

Cleaning some fall brush.

Looking hopeful as I walked by with a handful of kale for dinner (our dinner...but they love it).

I noticed that they need their hooves trimmed so we'd better do that soon. I would hate to start having hoof problems with them! Oprah and Amelia (previously "no name")'s feet are looking good. They're in the electronetting paddock that we've been moving around the orchard so they can eat the nice grass there. Once they've spent another week or so back there, it's date time with Thomas! 

Thomas has been getting antsy. First he escaped from his paddock through a gate that he's always pushed on (we've since fixed it). Nathan came out of the greenhouse and found Thomas just standing loose out there, looking a bit confused. Thomas converts any emotion into the same action: ramming. Hungry? Ram. Thirsty? Ram. Curious? Ram. Annoyed? Definitely ram. I ran to get some grain while Nathan distracted Thomas to keep him away from Nathan's mum and grandma who were sitting nearby. You have one guess as to what Thomas did when he saw me coming with a bucket of grain. Yep....I dropped the bucket and hopped over the fence into the horse paddock. Luckily Nathan is braver (we'll call it brave) than I am and he managed to call Thomas back into his paddock.

Then, yesterday evening, while Nathan was at work, we noticed that the horses and cows were all in with Thomas and Zeb. Our landlord noticed first and commented that it was nice that we were letting the animals all intermingle. Nope, not on purpose...the fence at the back had come down. I started running around the outside of the paddock so that I could get to the opening to try and call the horses and cows through. Our landlord headed right into Thomas' paddock. I warned him that Thomas has been pretty 'ram-my' lately but he said that he'd gone in recently without any problems. He got to the broken fence first and Nathan's dad and I started pushing the horses and cows that way (we were along the edges of the paddock - easy escape from Thomas plus he doesn't seem to notice that you're in there if you stay on the edge), so that after they went through, the fence could be patched up behind them. At first, Thomas and Zeb just stayed off to the side away from the action....but suddenly Thomas must have felt some emotion and you can guess what happened next. For a big ram on stick legs he sure can move...he took off right towards our landlord, who was holding the fence open in the middle of the field. I have never seen someone climb an 8 foot deer fence so quickly. I wouldn't even call it climbing...it was more like his legs became springs. One second he was on the ground and the next he was up the fence, straddling the brace. I'm pretty sure I heard a shriek first, but in case he reads this blog we'll say that he jumped in manly silence. Even though I realize that Thomas could really hurt someone...I was laughing too hard to do much and wondering whether filming with my phone would be appropriate. Eventually we got it all sorted out but wow...it is worth having a ram just for the life-endangering entertainment value.

Lesson Learned

Ewean and I discovered yesterday why you don't shear sheep with scissors.

 I went in there intending to just cut off some bits of longer wool that hadn't come off with the rest of her belly wool (I'm pretty sure we got sheep-newby tricked into thinking she was a hair sheep...). She was so good while I trimmed her, just standing next to me grazing or lying down, that I kept going...and going...and...yup. 

Poor Ewean.

At least I used kids' scissors (and I have the blisters to show for it). Safety first.

This guy was really interested in what was going on. Maybe he thought I'd uncover some bugs under the wool.

Not quite as bad by the end...

I moved the lambs into the yard near the house again so that we can keep an eye on them - their eyes look a bit infected and Ewean needed her hoofs trimmed. It seems as though her left front keeps getting long faster than the others (and Oprah hasn't even needed her hooves trimmed yet), and the hoof is slightly detached from the foot pad. She was so easy to catch - I walked over to her and picked her up, then passed her to Nathan so that he could restrain her. We trimmed her hoof and scraped some mud and grass out and we'll give her a foot bath in some zinc sulfate if we can find it. 

Bad side on the left, good side on the right (pre trimming). 

With her goopy eyes, her gimpy foot and her new haircut, it's no wonder the landlord asked today why "the white one looks so decrepit". 

At least she will be slightly cooler - it's still so hot! The veggies love it.

I got over eager and picked some of those yellow ones before they were fully ripe.

This must be some kind of mutant tomato plant. How does it have that many flowers...and will it actually be able to produce that many tomatoes??

The edamame had been hiding - they're almost ready! 

Along with asking why Ewean looked so decrepit, the landlord also asked me why my edamame were so hairy. Ahem. Excuse me? My poor lil' beans...they were born that way!

Lots of raspberries from the little plants next to the house, ready to be frozen and then put in smoothies!

Ryan is back to his normal, goofy self. The heat (and being a farm dog) makes him tired...