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.