A New Ram at Villa de Micaela

A little over a week ago, we picked up our latest ram.  He is a big, beautiful, boy.  We drove to Port Ludlow to pick him up.  It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the sun was even coming out from time to time.  However, the further North we drove, the more foggy it got.  Eventually, we came out of the fog into a big, beautiful farm.  Being Washington, it was wet and muddy.  There were several large fields filled with lots and lots of beautiful sheep...big sheep...small sheep...white sheep...black sheep...sheep in full fleece...sheared sheep...all Romneys.  I wondered which one was ours.

The woman we were going to purchase the ram from came out of the farmhouse and led us to the barn.  The first thing we saw inside was a beautiful tortoise colored barn cat.  She was very interested in us and followed us around the barn.  The woman told us that she was very good at her job...keeping the rat population down.

Next, we saw the bred ewes.  They were all sheared and waiting to lamb.  They were together in one stall, milling around and eyeing us, full of curiosity for the strangers in the barn.  Next, we met the sheep's guardian, a Great Pyrenees.  She was a very big, white dog, that apparently has a hankering for whatever is on the other side of the fence.  The woman said she has to tie her up or she will go exploring rather than sticking close to her charges.  So, I helped the woman untie the lead that was keeping the rams' stall closed.  She needed the lead so she could tie up the dog while we had the gates open to get our ram.

Once the dog was tied up, we got to go into the stall that held the two black rams.  These were the two rams we would choose from.  One would go home with us that day, but which one?  We had to catch both to look at each of them to choose.  First, we caught the smaller ram to check out his fleece.  He was a little lighter in color than the other and a little smaller.  He had a very fine crimp to his fleece.  He was beautiful.

Then, we had to catch the other ram.  He was a little bigger, a little faster, and wanted to be caught a little less than the first ram.  We had to chase this one around the stall and make a few tries at grabbing him.  At one point, I fell to my knees trying to catch him.  I'm sure it was funny to watch.  I wish I'd had someone videoing the whole thing.  I'm sure it was a sight!  Rueben thinks the woman was probably laughing at us.  If not then...later.  Eventually, we got hold of the ram, but he kept trying to get away.  I remember hearing the woman telling us, "...keep his head up...keep his head up."  I put my left hand under his chin, holding it up and kept my right hand at his rump.  We looked at his fleece...very nice crimp, but very close, very dense.  I then told Rueben to go and get the lead while I held him...this was the one I wanted.  He will provide us with large lambs that have nice fleece.  I had to try to keep hold of him while Rueben went to get the lead.  I did it.  Rueben brought the lead and we brought him out of the stall.  I kept hearing, "...keep his head up..." "...choke up on the lead..."  It wasn't easy, but with one pulling, the other pushing, we got him out of the barn and to the Tahoe.  Now for the hard part...getting him up into the Tahoe.

This boy probably goes at least 200 lbs.; not easy to deadlift into the Tahoe.  Finally, we got his front two hooves into the back of the truck.  Rueben was on one side and I was on the other.  We tried lifting him, but couldn't deadlift him.  We tried pushing and pulling, pulling and pushing...but he just wouldn't budge.  Finally, Rueben said to roll...roll...roll!  So, we rolled him into the back of the Tahoe.  When we closed the door, the ram was still on his side.  It took him a good five minutes to roll over and get to his feet.

When we got home, we put him in the small sheep pen in the back to isolate him from the other sheep to ensure he is healthy before we introduce him to the other sheep.  I wanted to name him Methusela, because I want him to live a very long life.  However, Rueben didn't really like that name (I think it was too long), so we agreed to name him Moses instead.

Artfelt Paper

A couple of weekends ago, I went to the Sew Expo in Puyallup with Mom and Michelle.  I purchased a felting kit.  It was for making a camera or whatever case.  It takes a little bit of needle felting and wet felting processes, but it is so much easier and faster than either.  You start with Artfelt paper and wool.  Place a layer of wool roving in the paper and tack it down with a felting needle just so the wool does not fall off when you pick up the paper.  Then, you add a layer of colored wool in whatever design you wish.  You need to tack that down, too.  Once you have your design, you put a towel in a shallow pan and wet the towel so it is saturated.  Place the project on top of the towel, paper side down, and press to wet the project.  Pour more water on top, so it is very wet.  Place a piece of plastic on top, and press to ensure the piece is saturated.  You then roll it up, with the plastic, around a small towel, place in an old sock, knot the sock, and toss in the dryer for about 15 minutes with a few clean, dry towels.  When you pull it out, it is felted.  next, you lay it in the sink, paper side up, and pour boiling water over it to dissolve the (potato-based) paper.  Then, itonly needs to dry and be sewn together.  It was so easy!  Here is my project before felting, after felting, and when the case is sewn together.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the kit and in the process of putting all the roving together.

Before Felting

After Felting and Completion

At the Sew Expo, I also purchased a large piece of Artfelt Paper (I guess I was optimistic that it would work and be easy).  I need to try now with my own wool to see how it goes.  I'll keep you posted!

My Spinning Wheels

I thought it was about time I introduce my spinning wheels.  There is my Wee Peggy (on the left).  I got her from a yard sale several years ago.  She has been my favorite wheel ever since.  Then there is my Norwegian/Scandinavian wheel (in the middle).  I got her last Summer off of Craig's list.  She is closely rivaling my Wee Peggy for my affections.  However, she is a bit loud.  One evening when we were getting ready to watch TV, Rueben asked me if I could knit instead of spin...he wanted to watch without the noise of my girl.  Then there is my Ashford Traditional wheel.  Mom gave her to me.  She was one of the pair Mom brought back when she and Dad went to Australia and New Zealand.  I learned to spin on her.  For Christmas, Rueben got her a jumbo flyer and four bobbins.  Then, he finished them to match the.  I haven't used her with the new flyer yet.  I have to finish my spinning on my other wheels first so I can ply on her.

Then there is my Great Wheel.  She was my best ebay find.  I found her in Grants Pass, OR.  Although I am about 400 miles from there, I have a friend who lives near there.  She agreed to pick her up for me and bring her to Mom's; about half way to my house.  I met her there and brought her home.  I haven't gotten very good at spinning on her, but I'm thinking I just need to practice a little every day (yeah, right!) or at least a couple of times a week (much more likely).  I will be taking a carding class in April and a drafting class in July.  I'm hoping between the two that I will be able to better take her for a spin.

Although just about everyone I know has a name for their wheels, I don't.  Is that horrible?  I keep trying to find the right names, but have so far come up empty.  I guess I just have to think a little harder...

I have two spindles, too, a Spindolyn and a Trindleman.  Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that spindles (other than on the Great Wheel) are really not for me.

Spinning and a pig

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted the Saturday spin for my spinning guild.  We were having a good time when Rueben came in with the neighbor and a pig.  The neighbor, Chris, said this was my Valentine's day present from Rueben. He scared me for a second...Rueben and I have talked about NOT having any pigs.  Apparently, the neighbor has had Gunther for a couple of weeks.  He talked about the girlfriend he's going to get for him, too.  Her name is Penelope.  I must admit, he was a cute pig.  Everyone thought so.  He had a cute smile, too.  However, the cats didn't trust him.  Not one bit.

Betty Ewe and Fleecity

Today, Seth and I got to go and pick out two new ewe lambs.  They are both natural colored "black" sheep.  They are called black because the color of the wool next to the skin is black.  We named the lambs Betty Ewe (the darker one on the left) and Fleecity.  They both have rather dense wool that looks like crinkle cut french fries when I opened the fleece up and looked down to the skin.  When I looked at Fleecity's wool, I looked at the wool on her back thigh, too.  It's not as crinkly, and it has some locks of white.  It was very interesting looking.

I took a picture of Abraham's mom, too, when Seth and I picked up the lambs.  She is beautiful.  She looks a lot like Joy, beautiful, clean face with a lot of wool.  She has a great smile, too.  What do you think?

Kool-Aid Dyed Yarn

I finished the yarn.  First I spun singles, then plied two of them.  Although the picture shows only two skeins, I got three skeins of 60, 70, and 80 yards.  I really enjoyed this project.  Now, I just need to knit it into something.

Carding the Colors

Once I got all the wool dyed, I carded it on the drum carder.  The first go through took the better part of an evening and the next morning.  The colors are now much more muted than they were, but they're still pretty bright.  I ended up with 11 batts.


The second time around, I took a piece of each batt
and carded a single batt from them all.  I went through this process until I finished the small pieces from all the batts.  Going through this process, all the batts should look similar.  I ended up with six new batts.  These pictures show what I got the second time around.  The batts are more muted still, in color, but they don't all look as much alike as I thought they would.  Some are more orange and red while others are more blue.  That's okay, though, I like them.



They are all still very pretty, I think.  I wonder what they will look like when I spin them.  I will post pictures once I have spun the singles and after I have plied them.  I'm sure the singles will look different from the plied yarn.  Stay tuned...

No Green Kool-Aid

Well, I went to three different stores looking for lime kool-aid so I could dye some of my wool green.  Not one had it.  Rueben says maybe they took it off the market for some reason, like red dye number 3 (or whichever number it was).  I was almost stumped.  Then I remembered the old "yellow and blue make green."  I had planned on adding some orange to the green to get more of an olive green, so I thought I would try to mix blue (ice blue raspberry lemonade) with mango peach.  It turned out pretty nice.  After it dried, I was going to take a picture of it with the other colors.  Wouldn't you know it, the camera battery was dead.  As soon as it charges, I will take a picture and post it.  The green looks great with the other colors.  What do you think?  Kind of looks like a clown wig.

Busy Day

Today was a very busy day.  When I got up this morning, I fed the sheep (and the dog and cats) and then came into the house and started dyeing some Joy wool.  Last weekend I dyed some of her wool orange.  Between last night and today, I dyed some light blue, black cherry, and purple.  I dyed them all using Kool-aid.  It was very easy and the wool looks so yummy!  It smells yummy, too!  It was amazing to watch the water become clear as the kool-aid was soaked up by the wool.  Usually the orange would have been my favorite as it is one of my colors, but I think the purple turned out really cool.  I need to find the green kool-aid, though.  That will make it complete.  Then, I can blend the colors with a little firestar to give it some sparkle and then spin.

We also needed to clean out the sheep shed, so I took the opportunity to get some pictures of the ewes and lambs.

Joy - Telling me all her troubles.  It was her wool I dyed. 

Joy (in the back) and her Mom, Corina.  Notice the rainbow
on Joy's chest.  I didn't notice it until I saw the picture
on the computer.  It looks a bit like the dye job I did using
her wool.

This is four of our ewe lambs.  There is Bella (far left), Raina,
(brown in the back), Ewegenia (white), and Ewelanda
(light brown on the right).  Although they are all Romneys,
Raina is the only ewe lamb that is registered.   They wanted
to know what I was doing inside their shed since I wasn't feeding them.

Ewelanda is keeping cool in the shade.  She is one of our more skittish lambs.

Ewenice is keeping Bella company (or maybe the other way around
since Ewenice is another skittish lamb).  Ewenice is one of the twins that
Corina birthed this year.  Ewegenia (in the background) is also keeping
cool in the shade.

The lambs are getting so big.  They've grown so much since we got them in May and June.  We will not breed them this year.  They are all too young.  The oldest is only six months now.  So, we'll wait until next fall to breed them.  Just think, with Joy and Corina, we'll have seven ewes to breed.  That will be one (or two) happy rams!

We're Back!

It's been soooo long since I've posted anything here (more than a year) but now we have news to post. We have so many lambs this year. Corina had twins, Riblet (he's in the back paddock with the rams) and Ewenice (she's the smaller white lamb) (you can probably guess Riblet's ultimate purpose). Then, we purchased three Romney ewe lambs, Bella (the piglet eating from Rueben's bucket), Ewegenia (the larger white lamb), and Ewelanda (she's the light brown lamb further back). After that, we purchased another ewe lamb and a ram lamb. These are called Raina (furthest to the left) and Abraham (the small lamb you can barely see behind Bella) and are our registered lambs.

Rueben and I have been very busy since the lambs arrived.  We worked all one Saturday on building a feeder for the lamb's shed.  Then, we let them come in and eat.

Ewenice, Ewelanda, Bella, Ewegenia, Abraham, and Raina

I'll try to post more faithfully from now on.  I have a feeling we'll soon have lots more to share.

I spent this weekend with members of my spinning guild doing a dye study. We spent hours (days!) painting, steaming, and rinsing wool rovings. They turned out beautifully. The colors are awesome. Some, I didn't think I'd like too much (they weren't what I think of as my colors), but after rinsing and hanging, I don't think there's one I don't like. You can see most of them in the picture here. However, some are hiding behind others. I really enjoyed the study. Once the rovings are dry, I get to work on getting them spun up! Rueben helped rinse the rovings. He is so sweet and always so helpful. I don't know if I could have rinsed them all myself. It was a lot of hard work! Rueben said he thought they looked very "hippie" or much like what one would see at a Grateful Dead concert! I love them!

Birthday Gift from Levi and Seth

Early last week, we received our gift for our 50th birthdays from Levi and Seth. It is an awesome farmhouse table that they made. They told us they wanted to make the table for us and asked us (when we were visiting over the Mother's Day weekend) what style table we wanted. We looked at all the styles to choose from in the shop where Levi works and selected the style we wanted. They used recycled wood (from some building) that actually came from Washington. I guess the wood came home. The table is beautiful and will be an heirloom for Micaela and her children (or for the new little one to come).

Levi and Seth also carved into the underside of the table. A lasting tribute to when the table was made and who made it.

And, now that John and the girls are here (Micaela and April), here is the first mess on the new table!

A New Arrival at Villa de Micaela

On Sunday evening at about 6:30 PM, when I fed the horses, I had a hard time getting Ranger to come eat his grain. He kept wanting to go down the hill toward the fence between the horses and the sheep. I didn't want Beau to eat his grain and Ranger's, too, so I waited until Ranger finally came into the run-in shed before I dumped his grain on his hay.

Then, I went down the hill to feed the sheep and the llamas. Corina was making sounds more like grunting than baas. Once I got in and fed the sheep, I saw Corina was ready to lamb. I ran back up the hill and told Rueben to grab the camera, that Corina was lambing. He quickly got off the phone with his mom and came down the hill with the camera.

When Rueben got down the hill, I had him watch Corina (she'd gone into the sheep-shed by this time) while I fed the llamas. When I came back to the sheep shed, I found that he had placed a plywood board against the opening, keeping Corina inside and the other sheep outside. Then, we watched while Corina lay in the corner. It didn't look like anything was happening, but after a few minutes, Corina got up, and there was a little lamb in the corner, wrapped in a placenta. We had a new arrival to Villa de Micaela.

I got lots of video of Corina cleaning up the lamb. I finally pulled the last off of the lamb so it could try to stand up without being tangled up in the placenta. Finally, it was able to stand and I was able to tell it was a ram lamb. I got several pictures and video clips of him trying to stand.

Yesterday, we moved Corina and the lamb up the hill to the pen inside of the shop that we had ready for them. When I bent to pick up the little lamb, after I had Corina on the lead, he just stood still. He didn't even squirm when I picked him up. Rueben carried him up the hill while I led Corina. Before we placed the little lamb in the pen, Rueben weighed him on a baby scale we have for weighing feed. He was about 12 pounds. We'll weigh him again in a day or two. He's growing so fast.

Rueben picked him up again this morning. He's nothing like Joy was last year. He doesn't really run and hide behind his mama like Joy did. He just stands pretty still and looks up until Rueben picks him up. This evening, he was a little more skittish when I bent to pet him, but he never really tried to get away.

We called Micaela last night to tell her about the new lamb and to ask her opinion on what we should name him. First, she asked what color he is. I told her he is white. She said we should call him Whitey. I asked her to think more of a people name. She suggested Eli, Jayden, and Whitherspoon; all names of people she knows. Then she started talking about one of her teachers named Ms. Lambert. I told Rueben and we thought and thought about the name. Rueben said Lambert was one of his favorite cartoons when he was little. I remembered it, too and also really loved it. You can find the cartoon (about 8 minutes) on Youtube if you search on Lambert the Sheepish Lion. We decided to name him Lambert.

Michelle's Jacket, April's Placemats, Experiments

In the last month, I've completed two projects, started another, and have been experimenting with a fourth.




First, I completed Michelle's jacket for her birthday. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it after I put the clasp on it. Anyway, I really enjoyed creating the jacket. I think I may also have inadvertantly created a monster along the way. Once Michelle received the jacket, she made one for herself without any pattern or instructions and has now borrowed my cd on creating other jackets out of sweatshirts.

I also finished April Vargas' mini placemats for her tea set for her birthday at the end of March. I personalized the placemats with her name, as well. The picture shows the front on the top and the back below. For my first design, my first project using the paper-piecing method, and my first attempt at actual quilting, I think they came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I really enjoyed making these and I just started making a set for Micaela's birthday, too. Hers will be with the same fabrics (in a different order), except for the back with a lavendar binding. I will post pictures of Micaela's placemats once I complete them.

I've also been experimenting. I got Mom's felting machine from Michelle and I've been playing around with it. At first, it worked really well and I was getting addicted. It was really fun. Scraps of felt and wool couldn't satisfy me for long. Then, I started breaking needles. It got a bit frustrating when the needles started bending and breaking. Then, I discovered that forgetting to lower the cloth foot (presser foot) was the problem. Once I discovered the problem and remembered to lower the cloth foot, I stopped breaking the needles. Next, I cut out a pattern of a sheep from brown felt and appliqued it to some olive green felt. Then, I started experimenting with felting wool from Bella that had been washed, but not carded, to the applique. I was using wool locks. I started breaking needles again. After lots of frustration and seven broken needles in one sitting (a pricey endevor since needles are about $4 each), I realized that the needles were probably too long. They hang lower than the cloth foot when it is in the down position. As I was moving the fabric and wool around, the wool would catch on the needles and bend them. Then, as the needles lowered, they broke.

Anyway, the Bella that I tried to make looks okay when looking at the picture. Actually, better than I thought the night I was working on her. She still needs some defining embroidery such as the eyes, nose, and mouth. I'll need to felt some 3-D ears as well. Maybe next, I will try a baby Corina with Bella. I'll have to try some more, using Mom's suggestions. She suggested I use some wash away stabilizer over the wool as I am felting it. That way, the wool shouldn't catch on the needles and break them. Then, I can wet the stabilizer and dissolve it. I'll try again and see if I can get the machine to work without breaking so many needles.

Mary's Jacket

Well, I finished Mary's jacket. I made it for her birthday (at the end of March) but I can safely post a picture here since she doesn't have access to the internet. I found the instructions in one of the books Mom lent to me. I started with a red sweatshirt and took the collar, cuffs, and hem ribbing off. I cut it up the center front, then used a plate to copy the curve for the upper and lower portions of the front of the jacket. I then sewed bias tape around all the edges. Mom also found the fusible bias tape for me to sew onto the front and back of the sweatshirt.

Last night, on the way home from work, I stopped at JoAnn's and picked up the fabric for the placemats I'm going to make for April and Micaela for their birthdays. They will be able to use them with their tea sets. The picture shows the fabrics. Nice, pretty, bright colors. I created the pattern I'll use from one of the books that Mom lent me on paper piecing. Moms sure are great! Once I get them sewed together, I will post more pictures.

Sweatshirt Jacket

This post is for Mom and Michelle who asked me for pictures when I finished the jacket I was making from a sweatshirt. Well, it is complete now except for the clasps to close the front. I'm waiting for them to come in the mail. It took a little while (I began it on the Tuesday after Christmas while I was on leave from work and finished it yesterday). I had a few challenges, too. During the construction of the patches, and while putting the panels on the sweatshirt, I found I had used too small of a seam on some of the strips. Especially on those strips with a loose weave. Some of the seams I had to re-do while putting it together and one, I had to hand-sew when I found it after the panels were already on the jacket. I will have to be very careful when I wash it and be sure to put it in the washer on the gentle cycle.

Spin in Public Day

Yesterday was World Wide Spin in Public Day. Rueben took me to Allyn (a very small town South West of Port Orchard) where they were having a Spin in Public Day in the Gazebo at the waterfront park. The weather was kind of cool, especially when the wind blew, so I wore the shawl Michelle made for me from her sheep (handspun yarn and hand woven) over my t-shirt, kept closed with the shawl pin I bought in Colorado Springs.

I thought it would be cool to take my Great Wheel to spin on. I made that decision for a few reasons. That was the wheel I'd been working on lately to spin the yarn I received in a yarn swap and I want to use that yarn to make a hat for Rueben. Also, I thought there probably wouldn't be another Great Wheel there. I was right, there was not another Great Wheel. Also, it didn't seem like anyone there had even seen a Great Wheel in person. I was told more than once that it was good to see the Great Wheel and even more so, that it was good to see that someone was actually spinning on one.

This is me and my friend Renate with the Great Wheel.

At one point, someone asked me if it was true what they'd heard; that the wheel was in my family for a hundred years and that I had just learned to spin on it. I told them, no, actually, this was my greatest ebay find.

It wasn't until this morning that I realized that it was my friend Renate they were talking about. She was using the wheel she got from her husband's uncle. It was last used by her husband's grandmother or great-grandmother and was in her family for at least 100 years. At one point, she blamed me for her new hobby obsession. I told her, all I did was tell her it could work.

This is Renate and her 100 year old wheel (to the right of center).

I was also interviewed by a reporter from North Mason Life. I haven't seen any article or picture, yet, but maybe tomorrow!

Micaela visits Villa de Micaela

Micaela got here on Tuesday for her summer visit at Villa de Micaela. Villa de Micaela means Micaela's country house.

Since she got here, Micaela has been helping feed the animals. After her second day, she can already feed the llamas and the dogs all by herself. She's a natural. And when the llamas tried to mug her for the food, she seemed to know exactly how to keep them out of it until she was ready to put it down. That is...except when I wanted to get a picture of her feeding them. Then she did that perfectly, too.

Last night while she waited outside the sheep pen for me, she picked daisies. Then she posed for lots of pictures with her bouquet.

Today, she went on several errands with Grandpa. One took them to a hardware store where they saw a pink mini-bike. When I got home, I wasn't sure if she or Grandpa was more excited to have seen a pink mini-bike. The guy at the hardware store loved her t-shirt - a black shirt with a pink skull and cross bones and a pink princess crown.

They also went to Horseshoe lake park. It wasn't quite warm enough to swim (Grandpa didn't want her in the water without me there, anyway). They had a wonderful time. Micaela got to show Grandpa what a monkey bar champ she is. When they got home, it was time to mow the lawn. Grandpa moved the seat all the way back and had to use his tippy toes to run the lawn mower just so Micaela could stand up in front of him and help him mow.

Joy comes to Villa de Micaela

Last Wednesday evening, I went down the hill to feed the sheep. Bella didn't come to eat. She stayed in the small sheep shed, just lying there. She was quiet and not moving anything more than her head. She tried to stand, but couldn't seem to get her legs under her. She just didn't seem strong enough.

I brought her some hay and she began eating, so I knew she wasn't too bad off. Later on, Rueben helped me get her on the sled and drag her up the hill to the shop where we made her a bed in the kennel. We thought she might be in labor, but she was so quiet. She looked great except that she couldn't get up by herself and couldn't stand.

On Friday, Rueben called the vet since Bella still had not gotten up. She was eating and drinking and was also peeing and pooping just fine, but she couldn't get up. The vet came and told Rueben that Bella was definitely not in labor, but she couldn't tell us if Bella was pregnant or not. She took blood and a fecal sample and told Rueben she would get back to him on Saturday.

Rueben had to run some errands and when he got back, he heard a ruckus down the hill with the other sheep. Corina was making all kinds of noise like she was really hurt. Rueben rushed down the hill and realized at once that Corina was in labor. He got the camera and took lots of pictures and videos. At one point, Corina was lying on the ground, not moving, not making a sound. Rueben went a little closer and saw that the lamb was half born. It was breach. The back legs were out, but the shoulders, head, and front legs were still inside. He had to help. He pulled the lamb out and cleared its face of the placenta and it took a breath! Then, he backed off and began filming again.

After I got home from work (yes, I missed it ALL!), we brought Corina and the lamb up the hill also to the kennel in the shop. It got down to freezing (or lower) Friday night and we didn't want the new baby to freeze. Though Corina is a new mother, she has turned out to be a great mother. She seems to know all the right things to do. It's amazing how God made mothers know just what to do!

We tossed around several names for the new lamb including Sunshine, Spring, and Blossom. We decided on Joy since she has brought Joy to Villa de Micaella!

On Saturday, the vet called about Bella. She is very weak, has a low white blood count and bands in the white blood cells. She has some kind of infection going on so the vet gave us some antibiotics to give her for seven days. Hopefully, this will make her well.

Sampson

A couple of weeks ago, Rueben went down the hill to feed the sheep. When he got there, he saw that Sam was inside the feed trough. Apparantly, he had been there all night. I guess he had been trying to nibble up the very last morsel of food in the trough when stretching his neck was just not enough. He must've put one front foot inside, then the other. As he was reaching for the very last morsels, he must've walked inside and then, just didn't know how to get out. I didn't see it first hand, but it must've been so funny. Rueben ran back up to the house to get the camera. The sheep had to wait to eat. Then, Rueben had to turn the trough on its side so Sam could get his feet between the slats. Once Rueben put it all the way down, Sam could walk out. He hasn't gotten stuck in there since. Maybe he learned his lesson?