Margali's Griffin Wood Ranch

[Margali]

I had nice visit with sheep last night while kids were at cub scouts. Aria and Snip let me touch and brush them. Panda was more interested in the hay.

I am adjusting my morning schedule some so kiddos can help feed their sheep. They were super excited.

 

[Bruce]

Good plan, get them in the groove while their interest and excitement is high.

 

[Baymule]

If you think the kids are excited now, just wait until Aria lambs!

 

[Margali]

Grr... No one near here caries sheep specific un-medicated loose mineral. One feed store had the Purina sheep mineral with anti-fly medications. I couldn't figure out from packaging if it was safe for bred ewe. Also, the local stores wont add some to their restock order. I offered to buy 2 bags at a time if they added it to the order but "Nope, you have to pay for ship to store".

I ended up getting Producer's Pride General Purpose Mineral for the sheep. The Calcium Phosphorus Ratio is 3.5:1 vs Dumor Sheep 1.7:1. It has zero copper. The Selenium (min) is 10ppm half that of the Dumor. I think it is good enough for short term? I will try the feed store where I got the Martindale feed next time I work at the far site.

 

[Margali]

In other news, I just realized it's been only 16 weeks / 4 months since we closed on our land. No wonder I'm feeling frazzled. I think I need to un-jam the turbo button before I completely burn out.

 

[Baymule]

In other news, I just realized it's been only 16 weeks / 4 months since we closed on our land. No wonder I'm feeling frazzled. I think I need to un-jam the turbo button before I completely burn out.

Take it from me, YES you need to turn off the turbo button for at least a weekend and spend family time. A bad weather weekend would be a great time for binge watching kid movies, baking treats, and doing crafts. Pine cones make great Thanksgiving/Christmas turkeys with tooth pick legs (you gotta cheat and give them 4 toothpicks). Also wrap Christmas presents in white butcher paper, then decorate them with crayons, stencils with tempera paints, buttons, the big sequins and what ever your kids little hearts desire. One year, we picked up pine cones, rolled them in Elmer's glue, then in glitter. They made pretty Christmas tree ornaments. Sweet gum balls, those spiky things that everybody hates to step on, spray painted, make pretty Christmas wreaths.

There is an eclipse of the moon tonight from midnight to 6 AM. I know the work schedule is fast, but maybe take a few moments in the morning to watch the last of it might be a relaxing, quiet thing to do. Naw, not quiet-not with kids! But maybe a science moment for them.

Take a moment to slow down and enjoy family-they are the reason for the land in the first place.

 

[Baymule]

The Martindale feed 14% all purpose pellet has copper in it, 5-15 PPM if my memory serves me. Hair sheep need some copper, mine do great on that feed and don't have the brownish tinge to the black hair like they used to. If it is "old" hair/wool then it is tinged brown, but new healthy hair and the wool undercoat they get for the winter is black.

According to Pat Colby, keeping Dolomite lime out for the sheep prevents copper toxicity. I get Dolomite garden lime at Lowe's in the garden center. It is calcium and magnesium, very important for preventing grass tetany in the spring.

 

[Bruce]

There is an eclipse of the moon tonight from midnight to 6 AM.

Which we will not see unless we get a REALLY tall ladder to rise above the clouds.

 

[Margali]

I woke up the eldest for the peak of the eclipse. He was mildly interested. The hot cocoa to warm up was appreciated.

We are on the mend from stomach bug attack. Cassandra and I spent some quality time with the boys.

Snip put his full face against me and started to lean hard while getting scritches. He got a light thump on chest and "NO!". Not sure if that was disallowed behavior or not since it was face not top of head but I corrected anyway. He decided to eat hay for awhile then presented his side for the curry brush.

I need to get a tougher hose real or pressure regulator. It's not liking 100PSIG. LOL

 

[Bruce]

Definitely need a pressure regulator. 100 PSI is higher than you need for anything shy of pressure washing and there are machines for that. I'm surprised you don't have a regulator coming in from the (I am assuming) city feed line. You don't want that sort of pressure in the pipes in the house either.