Much Ado about Running

Hello there Sheepies!

As the title implies, this post will have almost nothing to do with my sheep.  Please don't fret, I do have a little update for you.  It's small, but it will have to hold you over.

Yesterday I learned that the sheep love music.  It puts them at ease around me.  Last night while I went out to do my chores I took my phone along while streaming Amazon Prime music.  I ALWAYS sing along, so just know that I was singing to them too.  While listening to Kelly Clarkson, I took oats out to their two bins in the pasture.  Caiohme as always came over to my bin, and while she ate her oats, I rooed her wool.  Then Meghan Trainor came on.  Jinny, one of our new Ewes, came over, bah'ed at me, and then started eating oats.  While she was so close to me I started rooing her copious amounts of wool.  She would start and run off at first, but them she just stayed there eating while I petted and pulled the wool off of her.  Tonight, I played George Ezra and even Bridgit the B*tch came over to stand by me. It is surprising and exciting.  I've now made a Sheepies play list. :-)

Okay, onto the title of this post.  As some or maybe all of you have seen on Facebook, I ordered the running equivalent of a fanny pack last week and a headband.  I was super excited to get them as I have chosen running as my cardio of choice.  I still have two reasonably good knees, two mildly cooperative hips, and the gumption to stick with it, so why not?  I also promised to review them.

 Here they are, fresh out of the box.  The belt comes with two pockets. A large one for your phone and whatever else you might need. Since I am not yet a long distance runner, it just holds my phone. I hope to one day fill it with gummies. chapstick and what not.  The smaller pocket is for your keys. It also comes with two loops on each side of the belt...what these are for...maybe a more experienced runner will tell us? Both the headband and the pockets of the belt are made of swimsuit feeling material.

The headband advertises no sweat and no slip.  True to it's marketing I did not have any sweat running into my eyes or any slipage off my head.  The latter is rather remarkable because apparently my mother allowed me to lay, sit or chill out in someone's arms and develop a cone shaped skull (not blaming my mom, just stating facts here).  All those cute headband hairdo's out there never work for me. The headband slips right off of my head.  This headband is a keeper!

Now the belt.  I have delayed ordering one for a long time for one reason.  I have the unfortunate genetic trait that holds the majority of my body fat right on my midsection (Thanks dad. Blaming you since this is a Norris trait).  I have a big, floppy belly.  I hate it. When I run, the jiggle from my middle makes my pants fall below the "Mom Paunch"and my tanks try...TRY...to rise up to my natural waist.  I have a long torso which means my natural waist leaves a lot of area between it and my hips where my tank should sit. So running is also a battle of trying to stay decent.  Adding a belt to that made me have nightmares of a belt bouncing all around, riding up to my waist with my tank and just being a flat out uncomfortable, useless waste of money.  I was getting tired of tucking my phone in between my sports bra and the  built in shelf of my running tank, so I took a leap of faith...

I LOVED IT!

                                                                                                                                  The picture to the left is the top view.  The picture above is the view from the back.  You can see that it folds over on itself to remain small when nothing is in it, but allows it to expand when in use. It also came with two reusable zip ties.

I tried this belt in different positions as I ran to give you a full review.  I started out with it on my stomach.  However, because of the a fore mentioned genetic trait, this was a ridiculous idea.  As I ran, the pocket fell below the mom paunch and so when it jiggled as I ran it was hitting the pocket.  Such an uncomfortable feeling.  Next I moved it to my back. BEST IDEA EVER. It did not bounce there at all.  I wore my belt between my natural waist and my hips (the advertisement shows all these exceptionally trim models with 0 body fat and the belt right on their hips) and it did not ride up or slip down the whole 2 mile run.  If you're thinking about putting the pocket on the side, don't.  You're phone is basically a brick sticking out awkwardly.  A major bonus, it helped keep my tank from riding up.  A pit fall, unless you have very little body fat, it is going to give you a small muffin top effect. Worth it to not have arm band tan this summer, or a sweaty phone to clean up after a run. The $20 I spent on it was well worth it.

As an added bonus, I will also tell you of my experience with the company. Hippie Runner is the company that I ordered from.  All headbands are $8 and all belts are $19.99.  You can get them cheaper from other companies on Amazon, but I liked the patterns.  While checking out with my two items, a window popped up offering 10% off if you liked their Facebook page.  Saving 10% for a simple like, I'll like that!  After my 10% savings my total was $29.68.  I ordered at 8:15 am Friday morning, by 9:36 am my ordered had been processed and packaged for shipping. My order was dropped in the mail sometime before 1:15 that afternoon when they emailed me the tracking information. I received it today, Tuesday.  I could not be happier with my experience so far.  Hippie Runner also has a reward point program, that for every dollar you spend you get 10 points, however, you need like 12,500 points to cash in.  You can also order from Hippie Runner through Amazon Prime and some things are cheaper, but depending on the style you want, it can be marked up too. So, do some research on what you want and if you have a prime account if you can get it cheaper.

All in all, I am super happy with my purchase and will order from them again.  As for cleaning, there wasn't any tags or notes on that, but given the feel of the material treat it like a swimsuit, wash it and then hang to dry.

I hope that was helpful to you. If not, ask me what I missed that you need to know.

I hope you weren't disappointed that this post was not majorly about my sheep or my farm. I'm flexible, let me know if you never want to see a review on here again. Or if you did like it, let me know!

Blog to you later, Sheepies!
~B


P.S, my favorite post run meal is a PB2, banana and honey on toast with celery.  If you do Weight Watchers, this is a 6 point meal.  I use raw, local honey which I think tastes the best.

New Additions!

Hey there Sheepies!

Life here on the Wenzel farm is same same chicken lips.  We spent spring break sick, so nothing fun happened other than chasing a fevered child around to give them some motrin. This warm weather though is renewing our spirits and getting all of us excited for the coming planting season.  Sean has tilled up our garden area and where my herb garden will be.  I have even planted Lavender seeds. Everything I have read says that if you have two green thumbs you have a 50/50 chance of getting your seeds to start.  I have one greenish thumb, I figure my changes are down to 25%, but I'll keep trying and learning.

 On the far left is my three lavender pots. The rest the kids planted. 

Where my herb garden will eventually be. 

Speaking of learning, we learned that no matter how many times you wipe a sick chicken's pasty butt, you can't save them all. In addition to our three turkeys we already talked about, we added two more chickens and four more turkeys.  Unfortunately, one turkey died unexpectedly of our original three, and then we lost one of our little chicks to the dreaded pasty butt.  We did replace that little chick with two more to bring our new little flock to three light brahma chickens, four white turkeys and two bronze turkeys.  The turkey's days are numbered (Thanksgiving) and some of our existing flock of egg laying hens are also going to be turned to stewing meat this fall.  It's sad to think of these birds that we're holding and talking to and really treating as pets almost, as food in a few months, but Sean and I agreed that the whole point of this farming endeavor is to become a little more sustainable on our own. A little less reliant on big farm and grocery stores for food. With that said, I more than likely will cry when they leave the farm for their fate of coming back to the freezer.  Even my beloved sheep are not safe from being turned to food. 

The sheep are doing wonderful.  The warmer weather has really started the wool coming off in puffs.  I have been rooing Caiohme daily. Some days I get a ball the size of my hand, others like today, just a little the size of my thumb.  Even more exciting than thinking about learning to spin yarn from my own wool, is the two newest members of my herd. Jinny and Bridgit. 

 Bridgit

Jinny

You can see the wool just hanging off of them.  I have a harness lead that I think I will have to use on these two to get them to stand still for rooing.  I hate thinking about stressing them out when they are so new to us, but I simply don't have the time to get them comfortable with me like I have with the others if I am to get that wool off of them before it gets too hot.  For now I am spending a good 15 to 20 minutes in the pasture every morning and evening just watching and sitting there.  I also will get a cup of oats and feed Caiohme out of my hand to show them that I am not an aggressive or bad person.  Jinny seems more inclined to come near me, but Bridgit bleats for her to come back and Jinny backs away.  Bridgit seems like a jerk. If her personality isn't improved over the summer, she might be off with Bellasarious this fall to wait in the freezer for the turkeys and chickens. 

Herd management is something we discuss frequently around here.  Sean is of the mind that we should just let them go and do their own thing. Their ancestors did that for years, unnoticed in the wild and have survived. I am of the mind set that the rams need to be separated from the ewes and designated penning needs to happen during the rutting season (Sept. to Feb.) We'll have to see who wins this conflict of opinions,  Fingers crossed it will be me.  It would make it easier to get the sheep papers and register them as a conservation herd, if we go that route, if we know who sired who with whom. 

Well, I think I should wrap this post up before I just start listing the things that are going on around here in a boring, straight forward, choppy manner. 

Thanks for reading Sheepies, type to you soon! 

~B

Spring is HERE!

Heeeelloooooo SHEEPIES!

It has been awhile and I apologize for my absence. Not much has been going on here that is worth noting. We have had illnesses and routine, nothing that would illicit a post worth your time.

Let's catch up on the last month, shall we?  A.C and D.C are now 5 and 4 weeks old respectively.  They have both received a BOSE injection to help with selenium deficiency and CdT for tetanus/toxoid.  They will receive a second dose of CdT in 28 days and then the rest of the herd will receive a booster.  Pretty soon we will be looking for deworming the herd as well. The next step we will be taking is to get the herd registered.  We have talked about sending out blood samples to see how pure of Soay they are. If we do decide to go this route, we will probably continue down the path to register the herd as a conservation herd since the Soays are listed as a rare and protected breed in Great Britian. Who knows where we will take this, but it is a fun journey I never expected to be on.

Love my herd. 

New to the farm are three Turkey chicks.  We have appropriately named them Thanksgiving, Sandwiches and Sandwiches 2.  Sean and I have discussed the very real fact that I CAN NOT be involved in their end and processing.  I won't eat them if I see the in between steps. He is very excited to learn about it though so, we'll see if he does it or if he pays someone else to do it. The kids have been told that these turkeys will be killed to be eaten and it has caused some concern when I ask "Do you want a turkey sandwich?"...Cormac will give me a distrusting look and reply "Turkey from the fridge right...not those turkeys, right?" Haha. He is so smart.

They don't have a name specific to them...there are three names. They are interchangeable.

The goat continues to be a thorn in my side..or more appropriately, legs. 

This is how we stand when I am trying to watch the herd move or balance our neighbor's golf balls that he sliced or hooked into our pasture, on the fence posts for him to retrieve at his convenience.

Now that spring has officially sprung, the snow is gone and the sun shines longer (I wish we had sun in the morning and still had a shorter afternoon sun...I need the sun to get me moving. Curse you "daylight savings"), the hens are in production mode and almost every hen lays an egg a day.  We have lost another hen though.  She was a mean hen who always pecked at your feet.  I'm sad that she died in vain.  She wasn't eaten or carried off, she was most likely attacked my a neighbor's dog.  This of course, has caused us to stop being nice to the neighbor's dogs when they come over and we have to chase them off. If you know me, this kills me. I LOVE dogs, all animals really, and to have to be rude to them and make them leave when all I want to do is pet them, SUCKS.  I'm sad we lost her, but I am happy to announce that you can now safely wear flip flops in the coup again...silver lining. 

Moving on to regular life things, my weight loss journey is doing good.  I haven't been able to run in a while thanks to a nagging cough and I can't wait to get my running shoes back on. Pretty sure my dreams for a half marathon for this year may not happen, but I am not giving up on it.  I'm going to keep running and working for it. If nothing else, I will be getting in some amazing cardio. 

This week is spring break and we have nothing planned, so be on the look out for a post next week with our adventures we find this week. 

That's all for now Sheepies.  See you later, Alligators! 

~Beth

A.C. D.C.

Good Morning Sheepies!

As I'm sure most of you saw on Facebook and Instagram yesterday, Grizelda finally had her lamb.  Another Ram on our farm! His name is Dalzell Cincinnatus. For those of you I don't text regularly and haven't explained the names to already, I always pick a Scottish name and Sean picks a Roman name (he's a big Roman history buff).  Dalzell means "white fields" and since Dalzell has a white face, it couldn't have been a more perfect name.

He was born yesterday around 3 in the afternoon.  I knew Griz would lamb soon because that morning she was cushed down in the straw and had built a little nest about her. I found them happily together at 4 when I went out to check for more eggs.  You can see above that he is still a little wet.  Dalzell is our last lamb of the season, we only have the two ewes...although we will be getting two more sometime soon! 

Our herd. The lambs are a week apart in age. 

I spent about 45 minutes in the barn yesterday just watching these new little lambs.  The moms have a community sense of raising and if Griz is off eating and Dalzell starts bleating for his mom, Caiohme will go and help him. Same with Aillig and Griz.  I truly am loving this little farm.  Here is another shot of Griz and Dalzell. Also a shot of Rosie and I just chilling out. I'm watching the lambs and Rosie is trying to eat my hair...seemed like a good time for a selfie.

 I titled this post A.C D.C. since those are the initials of our lambs.  A friend who happens to be a vet had made a joke after Aillig Camillus' (A.C.) name was revealed that we needed a D.C...like the rock band AC/DC.  When I first saw it, it went right over my head.  I definitely thought she was telling me a serious vet thing...not a joke.  I totally made her spell it out for me (go ahead and laugh at my mistake, I did).  But when Dalzell was born, I told Sean how fun it would be to walk out there and say "Here comes AC/DC!" and so we looked for a D name first. Now the joke is a reality and I will smile and laugh a little every time I explain their names.

As for the rest of the farm, the chickens are doing good, the goat is getting a little better and the snow is MELTING!!! Two corners of the field are giant puddles so I am going to have to figure something out for that, I don't want a lamb to get stuck in the mud. 

Moving on towards the end of this post, let's briefly touch on my running...I'm still at it.  With the weather warming up and being able to get outside it is getting a little more exciting and less daunting to tie on my shoes.  I saw a rise in weight of 1.4 pounds this week, which is really disappointing.  I have been playing with the same 4 pounds since June of last year. I'm mad that I haven't been trying harder and tracking better.  This week is a new commitment week for me to really get this weight and food thing under control. So far this week I have walked 3.5 miles one day and ran/walked 2 the next. :) I haven't tracked as well as I should...but have been reasonable in my food choices. 

Anyway, I'll wrap this post up since I have things to do! See you soon Sheepies! 

Lambs

Hello Sheepies!

Our barn grew by four hooves between 4pm yesterday and 9am this morning!  I couldn't be more excited.  This post will be short because I am so ecstatic I can't even think clear.  I don't know if it is a boy or girl yet but...

 I will post later this week!
Have a good day with the cuteness Sheepies!

It wasn't me!

Hello there Sheepies!

I hope you all are continuing to stay warm in this frozen tundra that we seem to be living in.  I sure don't know who packed up Michigan while we all slept and moved us to the Arctic, but they suck.

Today I went out to my little barn and for the first time in a week, opened up the chicken run so that the few brave feathered souls that wanted to go outside, could. None of them took me up on it.

The best part about going out to the barn was finding the rare opportunity to say "HA! You're no better!" to Sean.  Ya'll remember the post about leaving the barn gate open, right? Well, if you don't it's right here.  I have never lived that down.  I am constantly asked if I left the gate open.  There's a door open in the house..."Must be Mama was the last one in, the door has been left open" is the new joke around here.  Today I walked out to the barn, opened the door...and was RUSHED BY THE GOAT! Literally she jumped on me and was bleating all excitedly like she was saying "My person is here! Yay!".  Once I get her off of me, I see the sheep, just looking at me like "Well, Crap".  They ran back into the pen as fast as they could.  That goat however just kept jumping on me wanting to play and try to eat my pants. Photo evidence.

Crap! We've been caught! 

Reverse course! Back to the pen! 

Grizelda, my horned ewe is looking rather pregnant (she is the one in front in the above pic).  Caiohme still looks the same so I am going to assume that she did not come to us pregnant as originally thought and is just a little bit round.  Today, I tried to rub under Griz's belly to see if she would let me.  She was not a fan.  She kept backing up and looking at me, stomping a foot down.  Of all the sheep, Griz is definitely the friendliest.  She is also the only one that I chose when we picked up our sheep.  She has a white question mark on her face that I love and I think it is fitting of her personality.  She is more curious than scared.

 Enough with the sheep.  Friday, I had a mild heart attack.  I went to the bathroom and on my way out, I heard some squeaking in the whole that was cut open to allow heat to get to the pipes.  I looked in there and saw a BAT! ACK!!! I very calmly walked out of the bathroom, closed the door and woke up Sean.  After a couple aborted attempts to grab the bat out right, Sean decided to use the kids' bug net to get the little jerk out.  Here he is freezing his bat wings off in the snow (which he deserved for coming into the living areas).  He did eventually fly off, back to my attic I am sure.

That little brown looking turd, that's the bat.

This week was also a 1.4 pound weight loss! Woot woot.  I still have trouble motivating myself to get up and run.  It isn't my favorite thing in the world yet, but I always feel so much better when I'm done. I just need to keep plugging away at it.  Once the snow melts I will be getting back outside no matter the weather because I have decided that I HATE the dreadmil. Hate it.

Something else that has been distressing and exciting this week, is the talk of fall.  As I'm sure all of you know (because I pretty much only reach readers that I know on FB), I left Indiana University South Bend before finishing my Human Resources degree. I have been really bummed about this since we moved back to Michigan, but as my projected graduation date grows near and seeing my program buddy accomplish everything I had wanted to do...well it will suck the sunshine out of the cheeriest person.  So, with Cormac heading to Kindergarten in the fall and Devin going to young fives, all day three days a week, the idea of going back to school has been looking more and more likely.  Until I saw the price tag.

I am so far into my degree at IUSB, and my financial aid is close to it's cap.  I cannot in good conscience use the rest of that and still have nothing to show for it.  The problem is, community colleges in Michigan are not the same as what was considered a "community" college in Indiana.  IUSB had there own sports teams and we were the Titans not the Hoosiers, but when I graduated, it would have been an Indiana University degree with the price tag of a community college.  Here, I would have to do a partnership through a community college with the higher four year price tag.  I miss IUSB, I miss it terribly.  I will be continuing to look for a program that will accept the majority of my credits to minimize the amount of repeating as well as price, but in the mean time...I may get to take an Introduction to Herbs course.  :) While this will do nothing towards furthering my degree, it is a self study course that I can start whenever and is also something that will help me incorporate a more natural life style around here with my oils and herbs. It is also something that I can pay for out of pocket without batting an eyelash.  It makes me happy to think that I will be exercising my brain again, but it isn't something that could turn into a career (clinical herbalist would take years to achieve and I still really would like to work in HR).

Well, that's all for now Sheepies.  I need to go to evening barn chores.  I hope everyone stays warm and that there is school tomorrow for my Hooligans' safety.  They need to get out of the house and see people other than me!

Cold Houses

Hello my Darling Sheepies!

I hope everyone is staying warm on this frozen tundra type day.  Here at the Wenzel's we woke up to frozen pipes. Fortunately for us nothing burst, but a couple hours later our pipes were thawed and our landlord was happy we called first thing.  Just in case you feel you need photo evidence of our morning adventure...

Moving on.  In preparation of the cold snap, we put down our barn door for the sheep and the goat.  They all agreed that this was not a favorable move.  The sheep wouldn't come back in for a little while, leery of how this narrower opening would affect their escape from the goat.  Once they realized that it was okay, there seemed to be no more issues.  Here they are enjoying their oats.

The only really downside to all this cold is that if I am not sitting out there watching the chickens, I never get to the eggs fast enough and they all freeze. We haven't gotten any eggs for two days now.  Not that we're running out by any means.  Just an FYI, if you want fresh eggs, $2.50 a dozen, mixed between medium and large.

Nothing much has been going on here.  We just "keep on, keepin on".  I've been going to Weight Watchers like usual.  The week before last I watched every single point and was lost 2.4 pounds.  I worked out everyday that week for at least a half an hour.  This week, I lost some of my motivation and ate like I was a skinny girl who lives in France.  I ate anything and everything I wanted with little regard for my point limitations and gained 1.6 pounds.  This is a minor setback, but nothing that will detour me from my goals.  I have managed to find two, TWO, fabulous women who have agreed to run with me and train ourselves for a half marathon.  I am so excited for this.  My original running buddy was my sister...but she went gimp on me and is not allowed to run again, ever.  It's okay though, we can still cheer each other on while I run and she walks.

In the end, this will be a year to remember and I am so excited to share this all with you.

See you next time Sheepies!

Exciting things...

Welcome Back Sheepies (see how I used the nickname again...)!

Some exciting things to report on this week.  I'll start with a gripe then move onto the exciting parts.

I had to lock the goat out in the pasture this afternoon.  Luckily it is a really nice and sunny day so I didn't feel too bad about it.  While out doing my morning chores, she pinned Grizelda against the barn wall and then she head butted her in the side TWICE!!! GRRR. MEAN GOATS DON'T GET OATS!!!

Moving on to the exciting parts.  Today I was able to start pulling some of the wool off of Grizelda and Caiohme.

It's not a whole lot of wool, but it's still pretty cold out.  It was easily plucked right off of them, and they seemed happier that I had grabbed it.  Since I still can't get up close enough to really rub all over them and feel them, I have to rely on looks to tell me that both Caiohme and Grizelda are getting bigger...which should mean LAMBS.  

Speaking of lambs, Caiohme and Griz have started bleating at me.  According to one sight that Sean has been on, the ewes will start bleating prior to lambing, so this could mean that lambs are coming soon. That is super exciting.  I hope it is soon. Our oldest has the honor of naming one of the lambs and she has been working hard on picking the perfect name.

I have also been working really hard at earning their trust and I am finally getting major results.  Like this...

This is my Caiohme, licking my fingers...the best part is that I was IN the pen. There wasn't a huge gate between us.  I was in the pen and crouched down on my heels.  She walked right up to me and I offered her my hand.  She started licking. This was so exciting to me to be so close and have her trust me to not grab at her or make a sudden movement.  What you can't see here is that the other sheep are right behind her.  I honestly love having these sheep.  I thought I would dread doing the chores and taking care of them, but I love it.  I love the sounds and excitement my morning routine brings in the barn.  Here are some more sheep pictures just because I love them. 

 The kine up from left to right, Agrippa, Bellisarious, Caiohme and Grizelda.

 Agrippa.  I'm worried about how this guy is standing.

 The herd.

 Look at Agrippa's back. :(  I'm keeping a close eye on him.

Caiohme still licking my fingers.

The last exciting thing for me this week was new running shoes!!! It has been about two years since I bought a really decent pair of shoes and my feet and legs could feel it.  

This is my running motivation station with my dreadmil and my new shoes.

I took along my BFF and had a field trip to Running Fit in Ann Arbor.  I highly recommend it.  They measured our feet and then watched how we walked to get the best shoe for us.  It was amazing trying on the shoes.  Just standing up in them you could feel how perfect they were for your feet.  My legs burn in different areas now that I have proper shoes and am not running Phoebe Buffe style to keep my feet and legs from hurting. 

That's all for now Sheepies.  Keep an eye out, if we have lambs before next Friday you'll get a mid week update.

It's been a while...

Hi there!  I know it has been over a month since my last post, but I was really hoping to do a video post for you and that just didn't work out as I had hoped.  I'm sorry for my absence although I am sure you all managed to survive without me ;-) 

Here at our little farm, not a whole lot has changed/happened.  Mornings are still rough, the sheep are still skittish and the goat is still being a pain in the ass.  So far she has bitten my hair, made shoveling the pasture nearly impossible and is till being a giant oat hog.  I literally tell her "mean goats don't get oats".  She has no clue what this means but, I feel better having a nice rhyme to throw in her face.

The sheep seem to have finally settled in nicely.  Rosie still head butts them regularly, usually at oat time, but for the most part I usually see all four sheep and the goat together. Whether they are in the barn or out in the pasture.  Sean and I have discussed getting another goat this spring to help keep Rosie company and maybe weed out some of her aggression. 

My beautiful view from my dining room table. 

The chickens are still laying a good half a dozen a day. Even with losing one of our bird this year.  :(  One of our Spitzhaubens (Siggy) liked to stay outside of the coop at night and I think she paid the price of it.  Her sister, Lagertha, is missing quite a bit of her back end feathers as well but seems to be doing alright.  

I don't have much to report this posting.  It just has been boring routine after boring routine. I do have a few pictures for you though...

 Caiohme allowing me to rub her neck.

 A whole lot of happy chicks eating grains.

Grizelda letting me rub her sides. You can see the first tuft of wool I'll be pulling for the rooing season.

Sorry for the short and boring post.  Hopefully next week I can get a video post up for you.  As for my goals this year and weight loss...well, I still want to run a half marathon, but I am having treadmill problems and that is causing some delay in training for a 5k.  As far as weight goes...I have been getting sloppy and actually gained last week. :( Weigh in is tomorrow morning so hopefully I will have at least lost or stayed the same this week.  

See you next week Sheepies! (Yeah, I just gave all of you who read this a nickname...sheepies!)