Getting Ready to Shear Sheep

 Yesterday afternoon the clouds were so pretty and I had sheep on my mind (perhaps due to seeing the sheep in the ranching exhibit a few days ago). I decided we would take a little trip to see if the sheep shearers were getting set up. We found plenty of sheep in the general area, along with their faithful guard dogs. We also found some activity at the sheep-shearing corral. So we got out and headed over to see what was happening.

 They were really nice and let Desert Boy get on the horse. Desert Boy couldn't remember riding a horse (although he did several times when he was younger). He loved it. I think part of the reason he was so excited to be on a horse is that his friend Ava is totally into horses and talks about them all the time.

 Desert Boy was all smiles for his little ride.

 Thanks so much for giving him a ride! That five minutes was so memorable to him.

 After Edwin teased us about if we had come to work or not, he got on his horse and headed out to gather some sheep.

 That gave us time to look around. They were unloading panels and setting them up to make a chute that came from the recently-arrived sheep shearing trailer.

 Here's the chute, where the sheep can be easily counted, vaccinated, and whatever else needs to be done.

 Here's a view of the purple sheep shearing trailer. It has seven doors with ramps leading down into stalls. This is where the sheep go after they're sheared.

 Morgan was a sweetheart and showed us around. This is the inside of the shearing trailer. Above each shearing station is a little motor that operates the cutting blade.

 When Desert Boy found some wool, he came up with all sorts of ideas of what to do with it. He is creative. Maybe not practical, but why not dream big? Or with some of his ideas, small? He was ready to make some doll clothes from this piece of wool. He figured pressing the wool flat would work well.

 Off in the distance we could see the sheep moving this way.

 A couple of boys were on foot helping Edwin move the sheep. Sheep are apparently much easier to herd than cattle.

 It was so much fun watching. But then we weren't just watching. Morgan said we could help move the sheep, so we tried to keep them going towards the corral.

 They plan to shear about 1000 sheep here, and these are the first couple hundred in the corral. They stay the night in the corral as it's easier to shear them when they don't have full bellies. I love the sheep dog's expression in the photo above.

 Some of the sheep were just as curious about us as we were about them.

 Edwin went out to get more sheep, and Desert Girl took the time to admire Morgan's colorful fingernails. She was really impressed with them.

 Desert Boy went and hung out with the older boys for awhile.

 Then he discovered some bones, and from then on, everyone was on bone-finding duty. This is not a task to be taken lightly. We went to the other side of the corral to pick up more bones than I really wanted to take home. But Desert Boy was already planning his next dinosaurs.

 Edwin and the sheep gradually approached, with the storm clouds looming in the background.

 I like how the leading edge of the sheep and the leading edge of the storm nearly intersect.

 We tried again to help get the sheep into the corral, but we weren't the best help around. Some of the sheep tried making a run for it.

 Edwin brought them back around.

 Morgan helped get them moving in the right direction.

They were added to the group, making the inner corral full of sheep. Hopefully the weather will cooperate (wet wool is difficult to shear), and it will be a good couple days of shearing!

A Special Attraction at the Ranching Exhibit

 I was passing the ranching exhibit, an open-air building with panels about ranching heritage, when I noticed that the exhibit had a special visitor: a sheep! I screeched to a halt (okay, not really, but allow me some poetic license here!), backed up (which it's very handy that the highway isn't busy and I could do that), turned into the parking lot, pulled out my camera, jumped out of the van, and snapped a photo.

 The sheep didn't look like it was in a hurry, so I switched to my telephoto lens and zoomed in. The sheep looked at me once in awhile. Otherwise it didn't seem concerned by my presence.


As I moved around to get a different angle, the sheep decided maybe it was time to leave. That's when I noticed the fantastic iron art up in the building. I've seen it many times before, and every time I marvel at it. It's beautiful and so well done.


In particular I noticed the windmill, which has recently been repaired. It actually turns! Our windy spring has been giving it a good workout, I'm sure. Do you see the cat next to the barn? It's those little details that make this iron art outstanding.

The middle panel shows cowboys moving longhorn cattle, the traditional cattle first brought to the Great Basin, with a wagon pulled by mules following. Just take a look at the lasso, swinging tails, and different movements of the cattle.

The third and last panel has the sheepherder checking on his sheep, with a faithful dog just behind him and the sheep wagon (with spokes in the wheels!) awaiting his return. My photos don't really do the art justice--this is a place you just need to stop at and spend some time admiring. It's about half-way up the hill to Great Basin National Park.

The sheepherder did come later in the day and collect the errant sheep. April is the month when the sheep shearers come and give the sheep a haircut. A most noticeable haircut!

An Unexpected Visitor

 I glanced out the window Saturday morning and noticed a sheep wandering in through the gate towards the cookhouse. I did a double take. A sheep? I wasn't hallucinating, was I? I didn't have any flowers blooming so I didn't need to race outside. I shook my head, wondering if that would make it go away. Then I got distracted by something (or someone) else for a little while. A few minutes later I opened our front door (which is really the side door, but as the front door opens directly onto one precious piece of unstained carpet, we rarely use it), and saw the sheep was on our front steps.

Hello? 
Are you selling something? 
Do you have pamphlets to distribute? 
Do I know you?

For some reason the sheep didn't answer me, but he (and it was obviously a he) didn't give me any pamphlets either. He also didn't run away, which surprised me. Perhaps he didn't run partly because our dear dog Henry was so busy sunbathing in the driveway that he didn't even notice the sheep approach. (Note to would-be robbers: he does bark every time someone drives into our driveway, so if you want to rob us of our wonderful collection of toy trains, kids' books, and broken crayons, come disguised as a sheep and you will be able to get right in.)

 I moved around to get some different photo angles. The sheep was content to stay put.

 In our few minutes of acquaintance, I was getting fond of the old guy. I mean, what's not to like with the grass hanging from the shaggy wool, the dirt-stained nostrils, and that nearly comatose demeanor?

I got bored before the sheep did, and since I didn't know what to do with a sheep on my front steps (would you know what to do?) I went back into the house and did something or other. But I couldn't resist going back outside to check on the sheep. It wasn't on the front steps anymore.

 Now it was in the flower garden. If the flowers had been blooming, I might have been a wee bit upset. Okay, it would have been a lot more than a wee bit. But at this time of year, I was hoping that the sheep might be helping to push some seeds from the native flax into the ground to enhance their chances of germination. So I didn't chase him out. Plus, he was just so darn cute.

 Henry had woken up from his stupor by now and gave a few half-hearted barks. The sheep didn't seem to care. Henry went back to the driveway and laid down to resume his sunbathing. Life is good when you're a relaxed black lab.

 This was about the extent of concern that the sheep showed. It kept standing there and again I got bored, so I went back in the house. As I was cleaning in the kitchen, I peeked out the window and found that the sheep had moved to another part of the yard.

 Yep, I guess that sheep was ready to play!

I still didn't know what to do with a sheep in the yard, so I just ignored it. When my husband came home for lunch, he said we should get it out. (Hmmm, who woulda thought?) Lucky for us, it wandered through the gate and headed for the neighbors. (In case you're wondering, towards the neighbors with the crazy bull. Those neighbors apparently just attract weird animal behavior!)

I did wonder where the sheep had come from, and this morning I saw that the sheepherders had moved their camp to just above town. I also noticed something else that might have caused a distraction to the sheepdogs that usually keep the sheep in line. Can you spot the distraction in the photo below?

 Here's a close-up to help you out:

 The cutest little sheepdog puppies! I counted seven of them, and they were all so adorable.

 The mama came bounding up to the truck and I recognized her as the same dog that had greeted us last week on our adventure walk where we collected the bones for Henryosaurus. I rolled down the window (which usually isn't recommended with sheepdogs), and she was happy to let me pet her and say sweet things and compliment her on her gorgeous pups. I was wondering what her calorie requirements were to nurse seven pups. Yikes!

 The pups ventured towards us a bit to check us out.

The mama sheepdog might be a little hampered protecting sheep right now, but before long she's going to have a big bunch of helpers!

A January Hike

 It was a beautiful Friday afternoon and I had spent too much time sitting all week, so I took the afternoon off to go hiking with the kids. Desert Boy was glad to go out, but had a couple tears because he wanted to have friends go hiking with us, and they were all busy with other activities.

 I'm not sure what Desert Girl was thinking. She was keeping warm in her coat. Not that it was all that cold--it was upwards of 50 degrees.

I wasn't entirely sure where to go, but ultimately decided to go towards a canyon not too far from our house. I couldn't get too wild, as I was driving the low-clearance two-wheel drive soccer mom van.

 On the way I spotted a large bird and noticed it had a white head. Brakes!! We stopped to admire the beautiful bald eagle. We usually have a couple that spend the winter near us, and it's always so cool to see them.

Then we continued on our way, and instead of going up into the canyon, decided to climb a "mountain" that juts up from the bench on the way up to the canyon. The "mountain" doesn't have a name, but when I deigned to call it a hill, Desert Boy was quick to disagree.
"That's a big mountain," he said.
Okay, I wasn't going to disagree.
"Do you think we can climb it?"
"Yes."
Good. Because I knew he could. But it would be better if we wanted to.
Before we started the hiking challenge, we had the fording the creek challenge. In the low-clearance two-wheel drive soccer mom van.

Momentum was our friend, and we made it across. Good thing, too. It would have been really embarassing to have to go for help and tell someone we had gotten the van stuck in the middle of the creek.

 Before I had gotten out of the van and Desert Girl strapped on me and the camera ready, Desert Boy and Henry had charged up the mountain. This mountain is known for lots of rattlesnakes in the summer, so it was nice to be climbing it in winter and not have to worry about them at all.

 When I finally caught up to Desert Boy, he was trying to scale the sharp limestone on a "huge" cliff. He made a good start of it, but eventually slid right down the face of it. He skinned part of his hand, getting a "blood owie." Then it was time for more tears because I didn't have a bandaid with me. I know, what an unprepared mom I was!

I convinced him we could continue, and despite great protestations, we ascended.

 We could measure our progress by how much smaller the sheep camp below looked.

l

 Yep, it's tough to climb a mountain with a blood owie. Really tough.

 I was amazed that there wasn't any snow. And looking up the canyon, we could hardly see snow at the higher elevations.

 We hadn't gotten too far when the kids decided it was snack time or else. So we plopped down and they happily sipped and munched away. Afterwards they were slightly more willing to continue.

 They got much more excited when we found some fossils.

 Here I am holding one for scale.

 Then the whole mindset for the hike changed. Now we were on a mission to find cool fossils.

 And cool caves. This one was big enough for the kids to climb into it.

 It turned out it had a sunroof so I could look down at them. We found several other little holes to investigate, and Desert Girl got really good at spotting them. Unfortunately my camera battery died and the spare was back in the low-clearance two-wheel drive soccer mom van, so the photo taking part of the trip was over.

We made it to the peak and enjoyed the view. Then Desert Boy was really concerned about how we were going to get back down. I told him there was a special way. And lucky for me, there was. We went down a little gully, and on the way, we saw some bones. Desert Boy entered his dinosaur paleontologist mode and immediately declared we had discovered some dinosaur bones. He asked if he could take them home. I told him that if he carried them, he could. Then we found more bones. And more. It turned out that the gully was full of sheep bones, including some recent deaths with lots of wool all around them. Desert Boy had to pick and choose what he wanted and filled up his backpack. He decided he was going to make an Emmasaurus with that day's finds, and then we might have to go back to gather more to make a Henryosaurus and a Daddyosaurus and a Mommyosaurus.

 Here are some bones he had at the end, while he's looking at a large sheep dog with a blood-covered face that came up to check us out. Fortunately she was very friendly. I tried not to dwell too much on why her fur was blood red. It wasn't too appealing.

 I tried out my new camera lens.

Hurray, we survived the mountain! Then we went home and promptly all took a nap.