Minnie's Christmas Wish

Back in August we were loaned 3 Dorper Ewes to practice herding. Their owner referred to them as "cheap sheep" so if anything happened to them they wouldn't be too expensive for us to replace. We also assumed that they are older ewes. These sheep have been wonderful for working Minnie and Zoe on. We have been using them off and on since we brought them home.

Minnie loves herding and loves being able to work the sheep. We now believe Minnie had a secret Christmas wish of more sheep. Well she must have been a VERY good girl because on Christmas Eve morning, 2 hours after doing chores, Glenn looked out to see that one the ewes had 8 extra legs. That's right she gave birth to 2 ram lambs. We had no idea that she had been bred before coming to our house. Mom and babies are doing great. We have named them Dasher and Dancer in honor of the holiday season.

This is Dasher, he has a black down his neck and a black spot on his back.


Dancer on the left, Dasher on the right.










The above photos were take yesterday. Today the weather turned to cloudy and threatening to rain so we moved the ewes and lambs into the barn. Yesterday we also noticed that a 2nd ewe has developed and udder. I looked at her again today and she looks like she could go anytime now (keep in mind I'm not a sheep expert). Here are some photos taken with my phone in the barn.

Here are the three ewes. The one in the middle is the one who just lambed. The spotted one on the left is the one that is bagged up and I believe will lamb soon. Then we have the one on the left. After spending some time looking at her, we also believe that she is bred and will be lambing in the next couple of weeks!











With more lambs to come, I'd say Minnie got her wish. ;)

(On a side note-we have spoken with ewes' owner and will continue to handle the lambing for her. She is busy with her critically ill husband. We haven't had a chance to find out if this was as much a surprise to her as it was to us. However I'm guessing she would have mentioned it or asked for the back before now if she was expecting it.)

Cardi Claus and OFA

Wow, the girls and I received so many wonderful things from our Cardi Claus, Krystal Durre and The 7 Dwarfs.

Here is a shot of all the wonderful things that were included. There are some wonderful treats, a couple stuffed toys, a leash holder, scarfs, mix to make to more treats, a pin, and of course an ornament.


Here is another shot of all the items. The treats were made by Krystal herself. The treat mix and scarfs were made by MacroniMade on Etsy.


This wonderful pin cardi/sheepy pin made by Emily of DreamEyce.


A beautiful leash holder made by Krystal's husband. It will be my husbands job to hang it up this week. :)


Our lovely ornament which is painted to look like Zoe.


Here is Minnie showing off her scarf.


Then she noticed Rudolf and decided she must have him!


"Who me? I didn't steal anything..." (please excuse the lemon blossoms on the carpet)


Meanwhile Zoe was hoping her new trick would earn her more treats.


But then Zoe noticed Minnie and Rudolf and had to investigate.


Then Zoe stole him, such a mean mom. ;)


So Minnie decided to play with alligator instead.


Zoe continued to chew on Rudolf, but ended up dropping him.


"Ha, she dropped him!"


Minnie then reclaimed him and took him to be with the alligator under her watchful eye.



In other news we got Minnie's OFA results back. I believe you can click on the picture for a larger image, but it states her elbows are normal and her hips have been rated as Good.



It's been a great week for us!

Pictures of a 2 year old Minnie... and some of her family

Today we went over to visit Carolyn and Tom at C-Myste. Since Minnie turned 2 on the 29th of November we decided she needed some new photos, her last stacked one's being taken when she was a year old. She still has a bit of wave to her coat, but I figure not bad for using my personal hair dryer. HUGE thanks to Tom for taking the pictures and to Carolyn for baiting and stacking her. It wasn't an easy task as Minnie was sure she was supposed to sit and not stand.

Here is her off-side


"Are you sure you don't want me to sit?"


Her show side.


On the move.


She's sure Tom has something tasty for her.


Afterwards it was time to learn a new trick.


Zoe got to come as well. She hadn't been to Carolyn's since Minnie was conceived. She just helped herself like she was just there yesterday.



Daddy and Daughter photo.


Minnie say's sometimes after all that seriousness, you just need to be a goof!

Cardi Claus has left Oregon

The blue girls and I decided to join in the Cardi Claus festivities this year. The package is on it's way east. I had fun time shopping for our recipients and hope they enjoy the items as much as I did picking them out. I don't know if our recipients read our blog, but if they do I'd like to apologize for the shredding paper inside the box. I packaged it up at work and wasn't able to find news paper to use. Now to sit back and wait for it to get to its destination. :)