Uh oh!

A fiber optic cable was cut in the Eastern Upper Peninsula by a bridge that collapsed; apparently the victim of all the recent rain over the weekend, which has left three counties without 911 service and mostly without telephone service as well.
Will was called in to sub at the school so I did chores and them went off to work. Around two o'clock one of the administrative staff at work said "I saw a post on facebook that your animals are out"! I couldn't call anyone to check so drove the half hour home hoping I wouldn't find animals in the road. I pulled in the driveway and all seemed peaceful, but I did see animal tracks dancing up the driveway and the critters seemed a bit agitated.
Will came home soon thereafter and said someone had stopped at the school to let him know and it happened to be at lunch time so he was able to come home and put them away after finding them next door at the Heatherington's.
I believe the quote was "My wife is good at many things, but closing gates isn't one of them".

I might need one of these signs by mypoolsigns! Thanks Will for bailing me out again......

Here is a link to purchase this lovely sign... http://www.mypoolsigns.com" target="_blank"> MyPoolSigns.com

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We lost our "Bright Eyes"

Our pretty little Bright Eyes, better known as "Chunk", decided today was the day to sleep on.

Chunk came to us as a mature ewe and had celebrated her eleventh birthday this year. She had no back grinding teeth left and getting nourishment to her has been a challenge the past couple of years even supplementing her with other goodies besides hay. We thought we would put her down before winter set in, but she beat us to it.

She will be missed greatly. Frolick on dear one...you will be with me always.

 

 

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An unplanned and delightful visit!

Last evening after running around all afternoon from one school to the next for parent teacher conferences, we landed at The Erickson Center for the Arts to see Bill Harley, a two time Grammy Winner in Children's music and storytelling, perform. He had been at the school earlier in the day for a concert with the kids and then a family concert was arranged in the evening performing different material.

As we came in the door, Linda (our lovely librarian) told me that Bill wanted to talk to a biologist about a project he has an interest in pursuing. Just before the concert started he asked if there were any biologists in the room so I raised my hand. After the amazingly funny performance (during which both Sam and Duncan laughed like the nuts they are) we picked up a couple of CD's out of the plethora available and had them signed. Bill conveyed his interest in having a chat and we arranged for a visit at our place this morning.

Will and I had a GREAT visit and it was a relaxing philosophical discussion and it was even work related for me! He is a kind and funny man. If you haven't heard any of his stuff, look him up. You will be delighted.

I looked and looked on YouTube for "the best" clip to show you, and I ended up with this TED talks clip. It is 12 minutes long, but it is well worth the listen. It captured perfectly the gist, if not the topic, of our conversation and it is magically powerful.

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Oh and I did get to include one silly story up there above the TED talk. :) 

Muckle Mull

Muckle Mull was the ram lamb born this year that was rather large and his mum Zanzibar needed a wee bit of help getting his huge head out. He was a cute cute lamb, but we were rather disappointed by his rather blah feeling fleece and thought he was going to be chops and kabobs. It seemed odd given his great genetics.

A couple of months later his fleece started getting crimpy and butter soft, so I decided he'd remain here as a fiber wether because he has such a nice fleece and it is a beautiful grey with a blue cast (Emsket).

Unfortunately I left banding WAY too late and his testicles were too big to fit through the bander. I also did this with Rum, the super friendly black ram and had to have him surgically altered (banding would cost about $.04 versus surgery at $120....I won't forget again!). SO....we decided Mull with stay here as a breeding ram for at least this season and will have four ladies to woo for a month.

Deja, Gaia, Elle, and Daisy will be his breeding group.

Fleece upper shoulder

Lower back

Mid side (last rib)

Daisy is in the back ground admiring Mull (or looking for a pat!)

"Why are you doing this to me...."

There has been a lot of wooing going on through the fence the past few weeks and the girls will be put in with him soon for mid April to Early May lambs.

 

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