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- #501
SageHill Ranch Journal
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Baymule
Herd Master
Yes we do!We all have amazing dogs
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- #503
SageHill
Herd Master
WOW -- one year ago today (after 8 days of reading BYH) I started this journal. I figured it was a good thing to do. It was. I have gone back to check dates and things I did and how. So it's been useful for that. But I've learned so much from everyone else here. What a wonderful group of folks to hang around with, and the like-mindedness is refreshing. LOL -- came off of the FB backbiters and uncivil keyboard warriors. Left there over 3 yrs ago and haven't been back (with the exception of DH showing me pics from friends).
A pic from yesterday - grazing on the hill (one of a few here) - where life is calm, the air clean and fresh, and the joy of living and taking in the beautiful world is what life should be.
Have a wonderful day my friends.
A pic from yesterday - grazing on the hill (one of a few here) - where life is calm, the air clean and fresh, and the joy of living and taking in the beautiful world is what life should be.
Have a wonderful day my friends.
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- #504
SageHill
Herd Master
Smile - you're on Candid Camera -- and Smile is one of the lambs in the feeder. Also in the feeder is Camper.
I've got some hooligan lambs! Someone told them to try out being goats
I've got some hooligan lambs! Someone told them to try out being goats
murphysranch
Herd Master
Terrific narrative and great photos!
Baymule
Herd Master
Happy one year anniversary! It’s been awesome having you here and I look forward to the years to come!
Ridgetop
Herd Master
I love watching a good dog work, whether it is herding, guarding, or hunting. What is even better is an owner that knows what the dog is expected to do, can train the dog to do it, and can then relax enough to let the dog work on their own because they understand what the dog is doing and why.
Great pix and wonderful explanation of how your dog works.
Great pix and wonderful explanation of how your dog works.
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- #508
SageHill
Herd Master
Thanks
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- #509
SageHill
Herd Master
What have I been up to this week. Well, a bit of grazing and a lot of weed whacking, and some internet searches.
I think I've got maybe 5-6 acres of weed whacking done. Whacking out the taller than me brown crud to reveal the tender and oh so beautiful green below. Green thanks to the tropical storm Hillary - 2 1/2 inches of glorious water from the sky. Around here we don't --- DO NOT --- get anything measurable until at best November in a normal year. I was lucky in that I've been weed whacking long before there even was a storm that started with an H. A tiny bit ahead of the game.
Mother Nature and God blessed us with cool and cloudy days that let us get the sheep out and on to the lush green. Sheep, being sheep (more on that in a bit) liked some areas better than others. Good news is whatever is in their pasture area is mostly something they 'approve' of!
It's felt good, very good to be back into the grazing mode. For the most part, because of the heat and the slithery things this is not a time of year that is normally what I consider good grazing. I tend to err on the side of caution if you haven't already figured that out. Ya' know it's kind'a like a mom moving that glass of milk out of the way before someone swings an arm and tips it over. Intuition? Who knows!?
Had some PT appts - gotta love living "prime" .
Today Mother Nature decided to tell off the weather ap and blessed us with high clouds most of the day and temps at the ranch easily 5 degrees cooler than predicted. Hmmmm, do the ap's want their 15 minutes of fame???
I got in just under 2 hours of weed whacking and ... didn't break a sweat! I would've gone longer but I ran out of batteries! I thought I'd give it a second go once they were all recharged - but............ that didn't happen.
Instead DH and I went .... wine tasting.
and took Obi with. Obi has gone wine tasting with us since he was but a wee pup so he knows the drill and is a joy to have with us.
First stop was a winery that we are members of - they've got 26 sq miles of ranch, orchards and vineyards. A great place that we enjoy and they know us and the dogs as well. There is a winery that I've been wanting to check out so we went there after the first stop. It was a wonderful place. Nice and layed back. A little higher elevation than the first that gave us a nice breeze to temper the heat in the valley. We sat down and the very first thing that happened - they brought Obi a bowl of nice cool water. That scored major brownie points in my book. We did a tasting of 5 wines - of the five I liked 4 the fifth was ok. Around here reds are still an evolving thing, I think the vines are still a bit young - but then I'm no wine snob and so far from anyone who is "winey" - but I know what I like 
and really, isn't that what counts?? It was a fun time out with DH 
Next week looks like a bit of grazing (yay) and one of my students should be coming to watch. I think he needs to see what it is really all about. I think he and his dog (a Belgian Tervuren) are capable of doing this, and will more than likely start grazing as a brace with Obi. Time will tell, but my bet is they can do it.
Sooooo, back a bit to my internet searches and sheep being picky about what they eat. A friend of mine, who learned herding the same place and time that I did moved to Tasmania back in the late 90s / early 2000's. As with many friends who move, or we move away from, we lost touch and I often wonder whatever happened to ___________. SOOO
Oh My Goodness. She now has a commercial wool operation with what from what I can tell produces the best wool in the world. HOLY COW. Now here's the very cool part - I've said so many times here how picky my sheep are, and how they decide where to eat on a graze, and also that Obi will move them to slightly different areas to make a better graze. Geeze Louise - this is (with the exception of the dog) exactly what she has found out and has the science behind it (real science, not the media bull). If you're interested check out White Gum Wool, Nan Bray. @The Old Ram-Australia TOR -- I'll try to get you contact info, working on that myself.
The avocado grove to my east is in the process of being replanted. I look over there (heck can't help it, it's RIGHT there!) and see the baby avo trees on the crest of their hills and wonder if that's sort of the way it looked when Indians lined up on the hills!!
Ending this week and starting another.
.
Heading out to graze
.
Smile - because she's so darned cute.
Obi in his other persona
.
OH .. and when we got home from wine tasting.... the sheep were out - checking areas around the barn they'd normally not have access to! Of course - they found a gate that wasn't latched - Obi and I popped out of the car and put them away. Gotta love a good dog.
I think I've got maybe 5-6 acres of weed whacking done. Whacking out the taller than me brown crud to reveal the tender and oh so beautiful green below. Green thanks to the tropical storm Hillary - 2 1/2 inches of glorious water from the sky. Around here we don't --- DO NOT --- get anything measurable until at best November in a normal year. I was lucky in that I've been weed whacking long before there even was a storm that started with an H. A tiny bit ahead of the game.
Mother Nature and God blessed us with cool and cloudy days that let us get the sheep out and on to the lush green. Sheep, being sheep (more on that in a bit) liked some areas better than others. Good news is whatever is in their pasture area is mostly something they 'approve' of!
It's felt good, very good to be back into the grazing mode. For the most part, because of the heat and the slithery things this is not a time of year that is normally what I consider good grazing. I tend to err on the side of caution if you haven't already figured that out. Ya' know it's kind'a like a mom moving that glass of milk out of the way before someone swings an arm and tips it over. Intuition? Who knows!?
Had some PT appts - gotta love living "prime" .
Today Mother Nature decided to tell off the weather ap and blessed us with high clouds most of the day and temps at the ranch easily 5 degrees cooler than predicted. Hmmmm, do the ap's want their 15 minutes of fame???
I got in just under 2 hours of weed whacking and ... didn't break a sweat! I would've gone longer but I ran out of batteries! I thought I'd give it a second go once they were all recharged - but............ that didn't happen.
Instead DH and I went .... wine tasting.
and took Obi with. Obi has gone wine tasting with us since he was but a wee pup so he knows the drill and is a joy to have with us.First stop was a winery that we are members of - they've got 26 sq miles of ranch, orchards and vineyards. A great place that we enjoy and they know us and the dogs as well. There is a winery that I've been wanting to check out so we went there after the first stop. It was a wonderful place. Nice and layed back. A little higher elevation than the first that gave us a nice breeze to temper the heat in the valley. We sat down and the very first thing that happened - they brought Obi a bowl of nice cool water. That scored major brownie points in my book
. We did a tasting of 5 wines - of the five I liked 4 the fifth was ok. Around here reds are still an evolving thing, I think the vines are still a bit young - but then I'm no wine snob and so far from anyone who is "winey" - but I know what I like and really, isn't that what counts?? It was a fun time out with DH Next week looks like a bit of grazing (yay) and one of my students should be coming to watch. I think he needs to see what it is really all about. I think he and his dog (a Belgian Tervuren) are capable of doing this, and will more than likely start grazing as a brace with Obi. Time will tell, but my bet is they can do it.
Sooooo, back a bit to my internet searches and sheep being picky about what they eat. A friend of mine, who learned herding the same place and time that I did moved to Tasmania back in the late 90s / early 2000's. As with many friends who move, or we move away from, we lost touch and I often wonder whatever happened to ___________. SOOO
Oh My Goodness. She now has a commercial wool operation with what from what I can tell produces the best wool in the world. HOLY COW. Now here's the very cool part - I've said so many times here how picky my sheep are, and how they decide where to eat on a graze, and also that Obi will move them to slightly different areas to make a better graze. Geeze Louise - this is (with the exception of the dog) exactly what she has found out and has the science behind it (real science, not the media bull). If you're interested check out White Gum Wool, Nan Bray. @The Old Ram-Australia TOR -- I'll try to get you contact info, working on that myself.
The avocado grove to my east is in the process of being replanted. I look over there (heck can't help it, it's RIGHT there!) and see the baby avo trees on the crest of their hills and wonder if that's sort of the way it looked when Indians lined up on the hills!!
Ending this week and starting another.
.
Heading out to graze
.
Smile - because she's so darned cute.
Obi in his other persona
.
OH .. and when we got home from wine tasting.... the sheep were out - checking areas around the barn they'd normally not have access to! Of course - they found a gate that wasn't latched - Obi and I popped out of the car and put them away. Gotta love a good dog.
Baymule
Herd Master
What a wonderful day! I wanna go too!
