Did you notice I changed the header photo? More bulbs have earth sprung and it's still pretty even though the patch needs weeding. Once, someone told me, "Every time I see your header photo, those weeds drive me crazy." So I told her, "Feel free to come weed; weeds don't care who pull 'em from their roots." Funny...she never did show up.
Toyota had a recall so that meant taking two days to take the truck to Christiansburg, leave it and then go back to retrieve it. It seems like the past two or three weeks have been spent dealing with problems caused by someone else. Have you noticed, there are times when you're doing what you can to right someone else's wrong and they say, "Gosh, isn't it nice you're getting this done for free?"
Seriously?
So, I smile sweetly (I like to think sweetly) and say, "Gosh, it sure is. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to afford it considering how much it's costing me in time and vehicle expense to bring the truck to Christiansburg to correct Toyota's problem."
To quote Queen Victoria, "We are not amused" and I think that means both me and them. Oh well. Fiddle dee dee, boys. If y'all had done the job correctly the first time, there'd be no second time recall.
So that's how I spent my 61st birthday on Friday...dealing with Toyota problems that cost me a lot of extra money. Nope, I am not amused although I am a year older. Shazamm!
~ Derrick Spangler ~
On another note, last week was full, I mean to say FULL of nothing on the schedule other than getting nekkid. And we did. Twenty-two of us are running around bare butt nekkid and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. The rest of us are I am taking copious quantities of Ibuprofen, liquid refreshment to boost said Ibuprofen, Epsom salts baths, Tiger Balm patches and rub, sleeping on a heating pad and, when all else fails, crying like a baby and bawling like a calf.
Yes, it does help, all of it. I say this from vast experience...it actually does help!
Wednesday evening, Derrick Spangler, Lord Willin' Shearing, aka DNA Shearing, and his crew spent the night in their camper parked in the driveway. They ran an extension cord from the barn to the camper and I'm not sure how long they stayed awake because when I came back to the house, I went to bed. I'm two generations older than some of those young folks and I knew Thursday was going to whup me. At 6:00 a.m. I began my day with coffee and devotions then started breakfast. I'm a huge fan of breakfast and made buttermilk biscuits, pepper gravy, scrambled eggs and sausage with coffee and milk rounding out the meal. Eventually everyone ate then we all headed to the barn to set up for shearing.
Derrick likes the sheep close and tight; he says it's easier on him. Chad, the young man standing on the left, helped jury rig a small pen. I'd put the sheep up on Wednesday morning so they were dry and already in the barn so no one had to chase sheep and there were no escapees...hurrah!
It might be a tad difficult to see but Derrick is laying over a padded U shaped holder. The holder is attached to the barn rafters and it helps support his back, a very good thing.
Here's a better photo. The contraption allows him to move about yet offers full support.
Derrick not only shears sheep, alpacas and llamas, he also will trim feet and de-worm. Derrick...I love you, man!
My sheep get pedicures; I get to pay for my sheep's pedicures. Me? I get no stinkin' pedicures but that's all right as I'm sorta funny about people I don't know touching me. Other than Derrick, Britney (his girlfriend) and Chad...I'm good with hugs from them -LOL.
~ Derrick de-worms a Merino ~
Derrick has been to New Zealand to shear and told me, "If you can't shear 300 sheep in a day in New Zealand, you get to go home." Good gosh! I'm not sure I could take pictures of 300 sheep in a day!
Sadie found a friend in Britney. Britney also helped me skirt fleeces although Derrick is a shepherd's dream. He skirts the nasties as he goes along...the tags consisting of manure, urine and lanolin, from the rear end, are sheared first, then swept to one side. When Derrick hands over a fleece, it's all good. Because I keep my pastures clean (meaning I spend hours and hours, days and days in the summer, chopping weeds with a stirrup or hula hoe), my fleeces are fairly clean of VM (vegetable matter).
At the height, my small flock numbered 50; now, they are twenty-two and elderly. You may have read Carly was 20 when she died in mid-February. Dave and I used to laugh about our having "loyalty problems" as in, we were (and I still am) loyal to, sometimes, my detriment. Animals are put down only when it's in their best interest; it's never because it's inconvenient for me to take care of them. It's my job and a privilege to care for those lives on this farm and, for a variety of reasons, I expect to hear, "Well done thou good and faithful servant" when I see Jesus.
Time to close and will leave you with more beauty; even with all the hard work, it's still a beautiful day on the farm.
Blessings ~ Derrick ~ Britney ~ Chad ~ nekkid sheep ~ tulips ~ daffodils ~
