A Sheepish Eco Store Giveaway
In celebration of lambing time and the black and white spotted babies it brings to our springtime pastures, Bea and I have decided to host a giveaway. Bea and I, both being stay-at-home-moms, mothers to bouncing baby girls, and being that we both agree on using products that are natural and contain No Nasty Chemicals we thought that this particular product would agree with us both.
It is called Sleepytime Bath – Baby Aromatherapy; 6.8 fl. oz., and made in New Zealand by Eco Store. I got my particular products from the Eco Store USA, because, well the shipping would be far less. But I did use it in Annie’s bath last night and it proved useful in that it gave off a very relaxing smell which seemed to keep Annie calm and in the tub longer, she can get kinda bored with the tub after a bit. And when I put her down in her crib, she fell fast asleep. The best thing about it is the peace of mind knowing that it is a natural product, not bringing chemicals to my baby’s largest organ; her skin. I am sure Bea would agree in the case of Clarise.
So whether you have a baby of your own, are attending a shower soon, know someone who has a babe, are a grandparent to a charming little one, or just want to use it yourself (I won’t tell), you can enter to win this bottle of Sleepytime Bath by leaving me a comment answering the question:
“What are you doing this weekend?”
Not too hard eh? I will then ask Hubby to pick a random number of his choosing and will match that number up to the person who commented on this blog. Entries will be accepted until Sunday evening, 6:00 pm PST- one entry per person please!
“Hmmm… From reading the back of this thing, I’m thinking this may help me get Holly to sleep at night. That little gal can be so wound up!”
Enjoy!
Hint: The Flock and I have a couple more products for you to try out… Watch for upcoming giveaways.
New Business Cards – Mud Ranch Jacobs
I had talked about ordering new business cards through MOO before going to our Fiber Fair. Well, they didn’t show up in time but I am pretty pleased with them regardless.
The case that they come with is super sturdy and very well built. It will survive living in my purse and truck just fine with all cards in great condition! There’s a lot to be said about that.
50 Cards total, though I could have ordered 200… I just don’t think I’d use them quick enough. 
The 50 could have been all completely different which is easy to do using their online shop. But I ordered using my Flickr account and that makes it so easy! You can choose which photos you want and then edit each one.
Here’s the 13 different photos that I chose. I also did a green backside which has all of our contact information (I blotted out our address and phone number so I don’t get strange calls from people I don’t care to talk to who may read this… Online security I guess). You can upload a logo if you want to and there are many colors and layouts to choose from too. The cardstock is very thick and so pretty, extremely professional. My Hubby was even impressed and he’s talking about ordering some for his business because they are such high quality… That’s saying a lot! So if you haven’t yet, go check out MOO for your business cards or even postcards and note cards too!
Sophia’s Day – They’re here!
Obviously Sophia pushes them out faster than Bea. She did have a kind of desperate look on her face when I let her in to the barn, almost as if to say, “These babies are gonna just fall out right here and now!” Pretty cute that she wanted in though, what a smart mama.
This is what I found when I opened the stall door. Obviously my ISO wasn’t bumped up enough yet, so pardon the blurred movement and poor quality. I got excited.
We’ve got two black and white, two horned ram lambs. Wyatt and Louis IV. Louis IV is spoken for as we owe a ram lamb every year to the man who gave us our original flock way back when. The man’s name is Lewis so for the sake of not having the lambs names being exactly alike, but keeping up with who’s who out in the pasture we name them Louis and have had three in the past, so now this is the fourth.
I told Sophia she should have waited for me so I could take pictures of her birthing process and this is what she told me. Louis IV is on the right in this picture.
Wyatt is front and center here, a pretty marked little boy. I was a little bummed to see Sophia have two boys this year though I shouldn’t, since she gave me two girls last year. The first time we bred Sophia she had two boys sired by Dudley and they were gorgeous four horned, blue eyed guys and I made the rookie mistake of thinking they had to be wethers to eat them so wethered them at birth… Dumb mistake. They would have been awesome breeding rams. I’ve lived and learned though, and now keep most boys intact whether they will be in the freezer or not.
After I dipped the umbellical chords in the betedine and put a band on Wyatt’s tail, I moved Sophia to the 12×12 stall where she could continue cleaning them up. After that I had to pick up the wet bedding and did a thorough pick through of both 12×24 stalls that the sheep sleep in every night. The stall you see there to the right is where Sophia had her boys, under that bright window in the corner.
Of course my little helper was there. She really does try and help me, her favorite is spreading our favorite stall dressing that dries and eats up ammonia too.
Annie wanted to show you what we use, Sweet PDZ, a horse stall freshener but works great for sheep too! We use the granular kind and just sprinkle it over the stalls and it instantly takes away the smell and after airing a bit, the ground is dried too. The nice thing is that it is completely safe, even Annie reaches her hands in and helps spread it around.
After we cleaned up, we checked on Sophia and the boys and all was well. They were both nice and dry and Louis had settled down for a nap. We also witnessed quite a bit of eating from both; which is always a wonderful thing to see!
Time to go back to the house for Annie’s nap. “I got the door good and closed mama!”
I told you she was a big helper.
It’s Sophia’s Day
Just a quick update today… Hopefully I’ll be able to login and give you progress throughout the day but Sophia told me this morning that she’ll be lambing today! I just got back from my morning errands and she was wanting back in the barn from the pasture. Bea decided to go in and keep her company too so they’re both in a stall with a little hay and grain to keep them busy, though Sophia is standing in the corner on a thick section of straw. I think we’re getting pretty close!
Fiber Fair Update
We just got back from our Fiber Fair outing with two of our “collar trained” girls, April & Kiara. I was so busy with the people’s questions and running after Annie that I didn’t get any photos. 
It was pretty small, there is an old ranch house that the displays were set up in and actually we were stationed out on the lawn in front of the house with the girls on lead ropes grazing the grass.
Kenleigh's Kiara
Most people were very interested in the sheep and their first question was, “What kind of goats are they? Angora?” To which we’d reply, “They’re Jacob SHEEP.” Without yelling at them of course, just enunciated the “sheep” part of their name. After that they were pretty impressed as most people have no idea that sheep have horns too, though I think they might be more apt to thing they were sheep if we brought two horned ewes instead of four horned. We had quite a few ask questions about the wool to which I gave them the basics that they’re good for hand spinners and that, no, I don’t know how to use the wool just yet but am wanting to learn! We also made sure to educate them on using the sheep for meat, which was our original interest. Some of the people really perked up on that and others commented on how we eat such cute, gentle creatures. We talked about how nice it is to know what is in your food, no hormones, no chemicals. And how much easier on your digestive system the lamb is rather than beef. We actually made a new customer who wants to buy locker lamb and another lady who is interested in our wool.
One little elderly Japanese lady was a wealth of information on taking the fleece from the raw state up through knitting sweaters and using a loom. She was very proud of what she did and actually had a spinning wheel set up and a carding machine with a lot of samples of wool and different dyed products. Her dying jobs were really works of art in and of themselves, gorgeous coloring! I notice she was curious about the Jacobs but you can tell she is very comfortable with the wool she already uses and imports from Australia, Merino/Corriedale. Her name is Kinko and the tags on the insides of her sweaters are “Ewe to You – Via Kinko.” I thought that was really cute.
All in all we had a great time and it was a well received event in our little community. I know that it will be going on next year as well and I hope that it grows bigger to where there are more exhibitionists showing up. Hopefully I’ll be more knowledgable about my wool by then too. I know I’ll want to take raw fleece and maybe a pelt and some yarn to show that I’m not all washed up on the Jacobs being a good handspinning breed.
New Arrival – Meet Clarise
Yesterday, while feeding in the morning I noticed one of our ewes, Bea, talking whole lot and not really eating; though she’d nibble a little here and there. That sort of behavior can usually be a sure sign that babies are coming soon. The ewes tend to “call” to the babies that are about to make their arrival, as if to coax them out. I also noticed while driving in and out the driveway various times during the day (normal occurance for me) that Bea would be lying down next to one of her yearling daughters. If the daughter moved, she’d yell at them and move to follow, sniffing them as if to scold and then lay down again.
So since I prefer to have lambs out in the pasture, that’s where I found little Clarise, dried and happy. The sun was shining and it was warm. I was surprised to only find one ewe lamb as her mama has consistently given us twins, usually two boys or two girls never one of each. But I suspect that Bea is getting up in years as she’s one of the original sheep we got in our package deal of Jacob sheep.
The interesting thing about Clarise’s mama is that she doesn’t have any horns. When we first got them from the man that used to raise them I suspected that he burned her horns off as a lamb; I really wouldn’t doubt it actually. He would be the type to poll the sheep because they’d get stuck in the fence or some such reason. But since then, I have heard that there are flocks of Jacob sheep throughout the U.S. that do have a polled Jacob here and there. So I’m not sure what Bea’s reason is but I do know she is a consistent producer of beautiful babies. She’s usually given us ram lambs so they’ve been in the freezer but they have been consistently gorgeous rams, normally four horned.
Clarise and I know that Bea will never be registerable but that’s fine with us because we’re sure that Clarise will be able to stand on her own merits.
Just like her sister Ella shown above who shows the beautiful horns that Bea has given us on all her babies.
So there’s one of my “skeletons” that have been in the Mud Ranch pasture closet; unless you come visit us of course. Then you’d see.
This Time Last Year
This is what my baby looked like…
Cool Jacob Sheep News
I just received my Hobby Farms magazine in the mail yesterday, March/April 2009. There was a little article on page 12 titled, “Not All Lamb Is Created Equal.” I wanted to write it out here so as to show how neat it is, and to show how good the Jacob lamb meat is!
As you prepare your leg of lamb this season, keep in mind the results of Legacy of Lamb, the first heritage-breed lamb tasting, which was held last fall at Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, VA. Approximately 90 food fans participated in the blind taste test, which compared nine endangered-breed meats — Gulf Coast, Hog Island, Jacob, Katahdin, Leicester Longwool, Navajo-Churro, Santa Cruz, St. Croix, Tunis — and commercially available Australian lamb, making this the largest-ever comparison of lamb breeds in North America.
“When we eat them, we are giving farmers an economic reason to conserve rare breeds and the important genetic diversity they represent,” says Sandy Lerner, the event’s host.
The meat was scored on flavor, texture, tenderness, smell and appearance. The winner was the Santa Cruz; second place was Tunis; and third place was Jacob The top two breeds each received nearly twice as many votes for first choice compared to the other breeds, although organizers said each breed collected a number of second and third placements on individual tally cards, making it difficult to say there was one obvious winner.
Legacy of Lamb was produced through a partnership of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Humane Farm Animal Care, Slow Food USA and Ayrshire Farm.
On that note, no wonder we have so many return customers and more people calling us up wondering when we’re going to have more locker lamb available! I used to never like lamb meat, I raised them for 4H but always hated the taste, then when I tried our Jacob a few years ago my mind changed. I now prefer it over most beef (I’m still a sucker for a really good filet mignon ).
Jacob sheep are such a neat breed; cool color, excellent fleece for spinning, tasty meat, neat horns! You never know what you’re going to get each lambing season and I really like that diversity… Signing off now to go clean some pens. Lambs are coming soon!
Snowy Day Inspiration
When entertaining a toddler in the snow, you tend to see things in a new light. So here’s some inspiration for your snowy day.
When it snows, put your best face on regardless of the situation.
See new challenges as a way to benefit yourself.
Look boldy toward the future.
Know that someone bigger than you, is there to help you along.
Wear colorful accessories.
Take a drive to see new sites through a new lens (and don’t forget your mittens).
When the car quits, get out…
…Get out and push.
If all else fails, go for help.
Don’t forget to make new tracks.
Take time to play with your friends.
Your EEE-AWW doesn’t like the cold, wet weather; give him a snuggle.
And when you fall down…
…Know that someone cares enough to lift you back up.
Thomas Jefferson foresaw our age
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe .
Thomas Jefferson
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas Jefferson
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson
No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.Thomas Jefferson
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson AND FINALLY!
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
‘I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.’
New Logo!
I have finally made myself a new logo for Mud Ranch Jacobs. I had tried this technique before for a friend who was training in the Extreme Mustang Makeover and decided to do it again. I had originally thought to take a photo of a very spotted lamb so you could see the spots well but then ran across this photo of our very handsome lilac ram, Dub. I thought, well I can play with this to see how I like it. So I did, and there was a bit of distraction behind his face on the left, and from his horns out to the border because our other ram at the time, Dudley, was behind him. So I tweaked with the levels getting this affect then took my paintbrush and brushed out Dudley’s spotted pattern leaving Dub on a plain white background. Anyway, just wanted to share!
A Blast from Lambing’s Past
I’ve been digging through my old photo folders today trying to find cute pictures of sheep and lambs for some business cards I’m having made at MOO. I order them through Flickr in my invisible full size file and though I’ve only done it once, the cards did turn out really nice! In case you’re looking for some place that you can do various photos I suggest MOO to you.
Anyway, I found some old photos of my original lambs born way back in early ’07. This is Hattie, she was lost in the fall of ’07 during a coyote killing rampage that actually made us lose 7 sheep! Some were pregnant ewes but I did really mourn the loss of Hattie because she was so beautiful and calm.
This is Hattie in the foreground but her little sis is there with her, and we’ve still got her today… Nell. She’s a wonderful mama, so cute and sweet, not as striking as Hattie but I still feel fortunate to have her as their mama Madge, was lost during that time too.
This is Stella and Lou Ellen, twin sisters that don’t look anything alike. Their mama was bit nuts and… yep, we lost her, but I’ve still got these two. Stella is a favorite of mine and Lou Ellen is a favorite of Hubby’s. He always says, “Who’s that really good looking lilac out there? With the nice four horns?” It’s always Lou Ellen.
The Shepherd around here certainly doesn’t know the sheep on the personal basis that this here Shepherdess does. Weren’t they cute lambs too? Stella is also a good lilac producer, which I’m pretty pleased with being that she’s black and white. The other one like that aroun here is Cordelia, she’s mostly black but throws lilacs.
This was Dot, yep, was. We lost her too… I told you we lost a lot that fall. It was depressing! But Dot I have fond memories of because as a tiny lamb she would come marching up to me and paw at my leg then want to be held. You can imagine how she wormed her way in to my heart. She also had those beautiful blue eyes and the cutest little black dot right on the back of her head, perfectly between her ears.
Saving the best for last, you may recongnize this gal. She’s given tours here before. This is Violet, the very sainted, practically perfect in every way, ewe. I adore this sheep. She is so lovely in temperament, I just can’t say enough good about her. I am so excited to meet her lambs this year, I can hardly wait.
So those are some of the contenders for my business cards. I plan on going to my very first Fiber Fair on 2/21 and was actually invited by the organizer to bring a couple of sheep. It is to show the kids attending where wool comes from and that it actually does grow on the hoof. I’m pretty excited as this will put us in contact with local spinners and wool users who don’t know we are here. Hopefully it brings some good business our way and maybe I can make new contacts so that they can teach me a thing or two about using wool. I am looking very forward to our time and will be sure to take photos to share here.
Anyone have any suggestions on what to take to the Fiber Fair as far as literature, decorations etc?
Dare to be Fabulous
It is a rainy day today and my Mom took Annie off my hands so that I could enjoy some time alone. The day actually started out just drizzly and then in the late afternoon it started raining solid. I am glad for the rain, though I was really enjoying the sunshine. We need it desperately as we’ve not had the normal annual percentage here in a few years and the forests around here already like to burn during the summer, so we’d rather have some precipitation so as to maybe help out the land and fill up our lakes.
This early afternoon I worked with my Little Sure Shot, Annie Oakley. I know… Too many “Annie’s” around here so I’ll refer the the equine variety as “Sure Shot” from now on. She hadn’t been worked in a while now so was full of vinegar and had a few tricks up her sleeve. I just wanted to get her listening to me so worked on some circles in the round pen (not too thrilled with the word ‘lunge’ so use circles) to get her to watch me and do as I ask. I did have a few challenges as she didn’t want to change direction when asked a few times and then didn’t whoa on first ask but once our lesson was over, she did all very responsively. She really is sharp. I then remembered a little trick I had taught her, oh… two years ago now. I climbed up on the panels of the pen and then bumped her halter right next to her cheek a few times, this cues her to move her hind-end over to line up with the panels so I can get on bareback. She did it perfectly (I told you she was sharp) though I didn’t climb on. I kind of have a feeling I’d look like that cowgirl up there on my card without a bit more work. It is nice to have her do this maneuver so that if I’m ever out in the woods and need a lift, I can pull her up along a stump and climb on… She is only 14.1 hands so it’s not like she’s super tall… But I can’t jump.
Once our lesson was over I came inside and worked on this card. I am sending it to a very special lady who has done me a big favor. She’s a horse woman so I know will like the western motif, I know that’s all I ever want to create, though flowers are right up there on the list too.
After making the card I’ve been trying to de-clutter the entertainment center in my house. It is built of oak and is also built in to the house by a local cabinet maker so it’s not like it’s moveable. It was originally designed to house a 60 gallon salt water fish tank though, and now that the tank has moved on to greener pastures there’s a big hole in the center and I’m constantly trying to figure out what to do with it. I’ve now moved my Jade plant and another plant in there with some larger photographs but I’m sure things will be moved around again… I’m one that’s never really satisfied with how things look in my house. I sure wish I was smarter in this area.
Anyway, it was nice to have a day alone… Thanks mom!
Bloomers: A tutorial
Hi All, I found this little child streaking through the house yesterday evening after I made my cute little post about her and her dog Abby. Aparently she wanted to switch things up a bit and give you all a little tutorial on a new accessory, so if I can catch her I will get her to stop a minute and teach you a new thing or two.
Annie honey, I know you’re very busy right now, but would you mind giving these kind folks a new lesson on the latest and greatest accessory? (Do you all think them is, what I think them is?)
Darling, they’re all waiting in anticipation. I can’t keep them entertained too much longer as the silence is getting heavy.
Beep, beep… beep beep beep…
Yo, Vogue, this is Annie, I can’t be on your cover this month. I’m too busy… Later.
Sup? My ma tells me that you all wanna new style watch update. Well, I gotta tell ya, these matching “bloomers” or whateva you call them is the hottest thing. With how the world is today, and the fashions, I think just about every body will be wearing their undergarments on their heads. It will get you noticed, just like the jeans falling off guys buns and the non-clothes the girls are wearing. You should try it, if you’re anybody. I gotta get… Later, keep in touch.
~Homes, Annie
An Award and other snippits
Annie and I have been enjoying the warm weather here, though we don’t exactly need sun in January and February as we’re supposed to have rain and if we don’t have rain then our resevoirs won’t fill up and the salmon will die and the farmers throughout central California won’t have water for the crops and the food will skyrocket in price and we’ll have to import more food which could be dangerous to our health ’cause heavens knows HOW the imported food is grown and kept clean… but enough of that, this is a happy post.
Annie did, however, want to show you all the pretty dress she picked out this morning from the laundry basket full of unfolded clothes that’s sitting on the bathroom floor. She even picked the bloomers to match, but they’re under the jeans her mother insisted that she wear.
She also wanted to show you all her wonderful Abby whom she loves so very very much. Abby is the sweetest canine sister any one could want and Annie’s pretty proud to call her her own.
Abby probably weighs 120 lbs. at 16 months old but she sure doesn’t like the big suit she’s been given. Abby wants to be a lhasa or possibly a maltese or even a chihuahua. Abby isn’t proud of her height or build, and would much rather be petite, short, and on your lap without inflicting pain. I have a friend who says she’s 5’12″ and I told her that Abby and she had similar frames of mind, the “Why am I so tall?” frame of mind. But I love my tall friend and my tall dog just the way they are.
But then I tend to be the type of person who won’t dye my hair because it is the color God wanted me to have… Though I wouldn’t argue if He decided to make me 5’7″ instead of 5’3″.
Now on to business… My friend Shannon at Stories from the Farm (Kenleigh Acres) gave me a very nice award today.
Along with this blog award comes the responsibility to list five things I’m addicted to and then pass it on to five people so here goes:
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Photoshop- Just like Shannon mentioned, I am addicted to all the neat things Photoshop has to offer.
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My Nikon D50- she ain’t new, she ain’t top of the line but I sure like the photos she produces.
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Stampin’ Up!- Too much of my money has funded their operation.
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Mochas- especially Peppermint mochas, or the Java Chip Frapuccinos at Starbucks.
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Anything that has to do with Jacob Sheep and Kiger Mustangs… I’m a bit of an obsessive person with these two types of creatures.
I could list more than that but I don’t want you all to know just how addictive of a personality I have… Thankfully it’s never anything harmful.
- Linda at the 7MSN, I’m sure she’s received this award as she has so many followers but I wanted her to know how much I appreciate her sense of humor and her photos.
- Raising Country Kids, what a fun place to visit. Another one with excellent photography and a fun sense of humor; but very different to the one above.
- Michelle at Boulderneigh, a very informative blog on knitting, fibers, and Shetland sheep!
- Lisa at Laughing Orca Ranch, I’m sure she’s probably received this by now but she has a very nice blog where she wears her heart on her sleeve. A very honest person, loving and fun with neat critters too!
- Pony Girl, another popular blog that I really enjoy visiting. I love all the cowgirl things she shares with us and her trail rides are always fun to go along on.
Thanks again Shannon! 
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