SageHill Ranch Journal

[SageHill]

Love naming our vehicles, started with DH and I, and now our kids all name theirs. LOL


Also, newcomers to the state (in the last 30-40 years) may not have experienced the flooding like we used to have before the storm drain system was installed about 30 years ago.

I'm smack dab in the middle of that - 35 yrs here.

When I was a girl, we had some that were so bad the streets flooded into stores. In 1970 we had a series - I was taking the bus to work and had to take off my shoes to wade home through knee high water from the bus stop. Those late 60's early 70's storms came every year for abut 7 years. Had one in 77-78 that flooded over the LA River channel and caused an area to be closed and bus passengers to be air lifted out of the dam spill area in SFV. DD1 was an infant, and they closed that road just after we had gotten through. A couple years the rains were so hard that I had to pull the car over and wait for them to lighten up in order to get the kids home from school. Couldn't see out the windshield. Had one in the 80's at our old house - we pulled the roof off to reroof in August. Big mistake. Entire downstairs leaked and we had a 2-story house! In the late 80's Los Angeles did its enormous storm drain project and it sort of helped with the flooding. In our current house, another roof removal and replacement brought a tropical storm in the 90's. LOL Last tropical storm of this magnitude was in 2011.

Ya' know we had those in the Midwest back int 60s-70s -- one could canoe down the streets! Oh wait - I remember the 2011 -- at the old house we were at the beginning of the bottom of a valley - I just happened to be outside when the head waters pushed through - that was quite a sight.

We used to have storms for 7 winters and dry for 7 winters for many years. Storms droughts have changed to a different pattern, but tropical storms have been around for centuries.

Yeah -- I remember my friend telling me 'we get El Nino then La Nina when we moved here - it held true for quite awhile then it stopped. Ya' know - strange how the media hypes things. Back then they didn't do the scare tactics and fever pitch like they do now. Ah heck everything in the news now is at a fever pitch - which is why I can't watch it for more than 30 seconds at best. OH and looks like Mr Google is filtering some searches on this as well.
Hope you're not baking too much out there. We're back to the mid 90s and lower elevations are 100-ish.

 

[Ridgetop]

Weather cycles change all around the globe. It is just now that the libs and news media have started pushing "global warming" and "man-made climate change" to obtain their agendas. Climate change is a natural thing, it just takes place over centuries. We are a short-lived species so we don't experience climate change as it happens.

 

[SageHill]

Weather cycles change all around the globe. It is just now that the libs and news media have started pushing "global warming" and "man-made climate change" to obtain their agendas. Climate change is a natural thing, it just takes place over centuries. We are a short-lived species so we don't experience climate change as it happens.

For sure! Why can't people see that???? Why do they think that they are so important that they can change something??!! A god-syndrome??
Heck - when I was in school I remember one social studies class (do they still have that?) where we played some game, it included city, suburb, and farm -- and how climate (back then called storms) effected each and that lo and behold no one could change it. It was an eye opener to me how microclimates effected everyone (and I was in the midwest where microclimate really wasn't a thing as there was none [think big flat expanse] other than a tornado).
Bet that game is banned now.
I guess it boils down to what they are taught in school. And Hilary's theft of the children by claiming it takes a village to raise a child. NO - it takes good parents and family to raise children. The village idiot just makes more of the same.
Kicking that soapbox aside or I'll be preaching to the choir.

 

[SageHill]

And now once again back to our regularly scheduled summer weather. 72-97 today.
I did manage to get out early enough and weed whack for a couple hours. Making a dent in my pursuit of weed whacking the entire ranch. Yeah - there's still a LOT more to go. With the appearance of the slitheries on the weekend (or was that Firday??) I've switched from my normal knee high rubber/canvas boots to my steel toed lace ups and snake gaters. I am such a fashionista

That hill was knee to chest high in dried brown weeds of many different types, that's a few days of weed whacking from before the storm. Before the storm it was still all brown, and now wow - green. I'm still whacking and the stuff
under all the brown and grey dead stuff is green. I think I'll take the sheep out on Friday when the weather is supposed to break and we'll have a morning start of 61. WOW -- and just looking at the forecast now we'll be starting in the high 50s Sat-Wed. Yee Haa - a teasing taste of fall.
And it looks like the wash out areas from the grove to the east of us are being checked out. YAY - a chance for them to fix it up. Timing of that rain was perfect for them - they'd put in their grove roads, marked out where to plant every tree, started putting in new irrigation. No trees in yet so no damage to them, but they now know where they need to shore up to prevent or limit wash outs.

 

[Baymule]

Green is nice! The tiny bit of rain I got brightened up a few patches, just need some more rain.

 

[Bruce]

Sunset before the storm, complete with God beams

So much for "red sky at night, sailor's delight"!!

 

[SageHill]

WARNING -- Photo blast dump!!!!
Ya'll knew this was coming when I said we'd go out grazing today so grab something cool to drink, have a seat, and come graze with us.
In my 30+ yrs of living here in So Cal I have never seen fields of unirrigated green in August or Sept. Heck our green fades in May, gone by June and not seen again until ~maybe November at best. Through a stroke of lucky timing I had weed whacked a very large portion of one of our bigger slopes over the last month. The weeds - all crunchy brown were between knee and over my head high. The almost 2 1/2 inches of rain now almost 2 weeks ago brought on a flourish of greenery. As that was happening we got the normal high 90s to 100 or so heat. Just one of few reasons to not work animals - esp my dogs. When the forecast showed we were in for a big break from the heat - starting temps low 60s I prayed the heat wouldn't stop the green because we could go grazing early in the morning while the temps were cool - great for warm blooded critters.
This morning I woke to a wonderful 63 degrees and some fog. PERFECT!
Made breakfast and headed out with Obi.
I particularly wanted to get out grazing while the lambs were still young so they could easily learn what this is all about - especially with a dog! I think I waited a little too long for that with last year's lambs. While it has worked out it was a little sketchy with those lambs the first few times, and a good thing that Obi knew what he was doing!
So this years lambs are a lot younger to start. I have to say they were great. They weren't quite sure at the beginning going down the ranch road, but the rest of the flock knew the drill, and wanted to graze along the sides but of course the deal today was get to the green hill. They weren't concerned and it transferred to the lambs.
Starting down the ranch road .....

.
Getting onto the hill where we entered is a jump up of about 2-3 ft.
No big deal for Obi, and usually not a problem for the sheep, but the mama ewes were a bit out of shape (hmm wonder why?!!! ) but they did manage to get enough jump or two to get off the road and on to the green hill. The lambs of course had no problem- they've been practicing jumping on and off the boulders in the pasture .
Let the grazing begin! FRESH GREEN EATS!

I really should make a video of what Obi does. While there are parts that may look like what a Border Collie does, the bulk of his work is nothing like that. I've said before that he is a living fence. Well, fences keep the sheep in one place - a place that is, or should be, safe - because that's why (some of the time at least) we put fences where we do. So - on this hill I've weed whacked to about 10-12 ft on the other side of the crest. I don't want the sheep beyond that. Add in there is a large outcropping or rocks and boulders that were left from the house build. An area of difficult footing at best, and quite possibly home to slithery creatures none of us want to encounter. It's Obi's job to keep the sheep away from the rocks on one side and also keep them from cresting the hill on another side.
I rarely say anything to him - he does this on his own. So what ends up happening is the sheep graze basically going in one (sort of) direction when they get close enough to an "edge" they usually turn some and keep grazing. That "edge" is a 'line' that Obi sets by trotting back and forth - he will do this on 3 or 4 of the sides of the area that we are grazing. If they haven't turned Obi will go to that "edge" and either walk into the graze until the sheep turn and graze in another direction (in a herding trial they would call this a "placement" and the handler is the one who dictates it, not the dog; trials are after all artificial). OR Obi will concentrate his movement along that edge (back and forth, back and forth) without going into the graze area until the sheep turn and graze in another direction.
Here the sheep are grazing toward the rocks and Obi goes to a point he thinks will turn the sheep,

Obi adjusted just a little and presto the sheep turned and continued grazing in a better direction.
I didn't have to say any words or do anything - he just does this on his own...

Working the crest of the hill (zoomed in) -

Not zoomed in (usually I'm at least this far away - most pics are zoomed in otherwise the dog and sheep would be little dots in the pics!) -

.
Yes, I did "train" him - commands: graze, too close, stay, go bye, away (those two typical BC commands of direction), and various other commands like tree (when he must move sheep away from a tree - avocado trees especially) side (to work on the side of the flock on a tight road or similar). He seems to understand without words what is needed and does it. Today though I did use quite a few "STAY" commands - not because of the sheep though, but because Obi is out of shape and I didn't want him to over do it and also needed him to get everyone back to the barn!
For the most part Obi is constantly in motion without effecting the sheep on a graze. Yes, Obi will stop on his own. When he does, that it appears as if he is surveying the situation, checking out where all his sheep are, where the problem areas are (i.e. avocado trees, boulders, and even where predators may be lurking, and only God & doG knows). This motion thing is 'part of the breed' - most Belgians (Groenendahl, Tervuren, Malinois, and Laekenois) are like that, and it is found in some of the standards stating constantly in motion when not under command. I think the old timers that wrote the standards late 1800s and early 1900s understood the purpose, while I believe that most of the breeders today have no clue what it means. Most of them do not breed for herding and typically throw their hyperactive pups into herding homes. Sad.
More grazing mornings ahead - I promise not to "dump" too much on ya'll.

 

[animalmom]

Dump away! Please and thank you.

 

[blessedfarmgirl]

That is so amazing! I honestly had no idea there were dogs that could do that.

 

[Baymule]

I love your pictures and Obi. You explain it so well, he is one awesome dog! What a fantastic day for the sheep, Obi and you!