ALONG CAME THE LLAMAS

Early this summer, our neighbor told us about a man down the street who was trying to find a home for the two llamas he had. He had been given them two years earlier when their owners moved and the people they were going to sell or give them to didn't show up to pick them up. The llamas are very skittish, but are oh so sweet! Their wool is so soft, too.

We named them Guy and Cousin. Initially, Guy was tied up in the back yard and Cousin in the side yard. They got their names because I would go out to feed them and would go to Guy first and say something like, "Hi, Guy. How are you, today? You're such a pretty guy! You're so sweet!" Then, because the man who gave them to us told us they are cousins, I called the other Cousin. Once we got their papers and knew their real names, we kept them as Guy and Cousin as these names were better than the real names.

Guy















Cousin

THE START OF OUR FLOCK

My sister Michelle has been spinning for years. She tried several times (unsuccessfully) to teach me to spin. However, one day, she took me to a "fiber fun day" and I decided to try one more time to learn to spin. Something was just right that day because it just came to me and I've been spinning since.

At the time, Michelle had sheep of her own and one of them was Bella, a Lincoln. I absolutely loved Bella's wool; it was a beautiful brown with silver in it and was so easy to spin. She was such a friendly sheep, too.

One day, Michelle told me she was going to get rid of all her sheep and she asked me if I wanted them. I was not prepared to own sheep, but I didn't want to give up Bella's wool if I could help it. So, I asked my husband, and he agreed. Soon after, we brought Bella and her lamb Corrina (a white Lincoln, Cheviot cross) home. Their pictures here are after we had them sheared last year, Summer 2007.

Late last summer, 2007, we got Jed, our Cheviot ram. We were hoping for "sheeplets" this spring. Bella and Corrina got bigger and bigger. But, it turned out Jed didn't do his job. Neither Bella nor Corrina got pregnant. They were only fat. The picture is of Jed at his old home the day before we brought him home.

Since Jed didn't do his job, we were going to have him butchered after we had all the sheep sheared this summer. However, we found that Jed had the best wool out of all the sheep (light, fluffy, and so soft) so he got a reprieve. He is like a puppy, too. He just follows us around when we're in the paddock.

Then, late this spring, someone gave us Sam, short for Sampson. I don't remember what kind of sheep he is, but he's a good looking ram. His wool is rather coarse, but he should make good meat lambs. We're hoping again for "sheeplets" in the spring.

THEN THERE WAS RANGER

Once we got Beau, we knew he needed a buddy since horses are herd animals. Besides, Rueben needed a horse to ride, too. We looked in the newspapers and online. Finally, at a farm not too far from home, we found Ranger.

Ranger is a beautiful brown and white Pinto. He's been a great friend to Beau and has taught him many things; some good and some not so good. Ranger taught Beau to use the run-in shed when it rains. Beau used to stay out in the rain. Now he stays fairly dry. Beau used to be "house-broken" before Ranger. The run-in shed was always clean. Now, during the rainy season, the run-in shed is never clean. I have to clean it twice a day just to feed them! Yuck!

Oh well. They are great horses and have given us many hours of enjoyment.

IT ALL BEGINS

Hi. I'm Tracey and this is my first attempt at blogging. I've created this blog to chronicle my lifelong dream of living on a "farm." As a little girl, I remember going visiting with my father to a home in the foothills in Northern California. This home included a lot of land, brown with the summer sun; an inground pool (fenced) that did not hold a lot of intrigue for me as we also had an inground pool; and a horse - that was exciting! The little girl who lived there was not much older than me. She put me on the back of the horse and led me around the property. I was in love. From that time on, I can rememeber wanting to live in the country.

While growing up I enjoyed camping. Once married, I enjoyed camping with my husband and sons. So, when my husband and I moved to Washington State to our little "farm" I was in heaven!



We moved here six years ago and I've been loving it ever since. When we first moved in, we kept saying we weren't going to have any animals...besides dogs and cats (that's Madison, the chocolate lab you can hardly see in the photo above). That lasted until 2004 when, for our 25th wedding anniversary, my husband, Rueben, bought me my first horse, the horse of my dreams. His name is Beau and he was foaled on my 40th birthday. He was just the beginning...