Wwoofing It: Almost A Brand New Barn

So I am still sick but I think that I caught it early enough to start taking Amoxicillin and I wont get as sick as I usually get. I feel okay, but I cant sleep and my throat is always burning and I just feel run down. Im taking Emergen-C too, so that makes me feel better.

This past weekend was really busy for us. We worked so hard to get the barn rebuilt inside, and it still is only halfway finished. Terry, Marv's best friend, came up from Grey Bull, Wyoming where he lives to help us, and with all 5 of us we still only managed to get halfway finished. But what we do have finished looks amazing. Everything is made out of really nice quality wood, and all the jugs look uniform and professional. We also got 2 8x8 foot dog kennels built, and one set of puppies and their mother is already living in them. They look so content and happy now that they have a really nice, sturdy kennel to stay in.

Yesterday, Sunday, we were supposed to finish the inside of the barn and build 2 more dog kennels and a small gate and a dog feeder out of the extra wood. That was our goal, along with a few other things. So we got out there earlier than usual, and then everything went downhill from there. It seems like if we have a goal of getting something done, it never works out. Something else always seems to come up. This time, I was feeding a few of the animals and checking on a few goats, when I noticed that one of our cows was inside our general population yard. There are no gates into that yard, so there was no possible way he could have gotten in. Then I noticed that the fence that separates that yard from the rest of the property was laying flat on the ground. This means that all the dogs in general population could have gotten out and gone off the property, and there are over 200 dogs in general population. Apparently, the cow's started fighting and one pushed the other one into the fence and he was so heavy he knocked the fencing completely down and stumbled into the general population yard. I had to get Marv and it took Marv, Mike and I and a couple herding dogs about an hour to get him back out. Then the stupid cow ran right past the gate that would have led him back out to his other cow friends, and kept running, thus trapping himself on another gated part of the ranch. So I had to outrun him and come around in front of him to try to stop him and turn him around. I succeeded, but then a few of the younger herding dogs followed me. These dogs think they know what they are doing, but all they know to do is chase cows. They do not listen to commands, and they only know to chase cows in whatever direction they happen to run in. They also do not listen when I tell them to stop either. So 2 herding dogs started chasing this cow along the barb-wire fencing, and they trapped him so he just jumped over the fence. Then his leg got stuck, and he ended up tearing down the fence while he pulled his leg out. He probably got cut pretty bad because he was limping away. But cows are large animals, and I am sure he will recover fine. He already has a clubbed foot anyway from where it froze to the ground one winter when he was a baby, so maybe he didn't feel anything on that foot anyway. So then we had to fix fences and put dogs back, and that took way to much time, so we were already behind on our barn project anyway. Then we had to move around different groups of sheep, and that is always near impossible because sheep are incredibly dumb. They always choose the path of most resistance, and they will always do the opposite of what you try to get them to do. So forcing them through gates and fences and trying to separate them is always a huge task. That took over an hour, and we had to catch a few dogs along with them so that took a while too. Needless to say, we never even got started on our barn project, and now Marv will be out of town today and Thursday and the project needs to be done by Wednesday, so that leaves us Tuesday to finish it all. We need it done by Wednesday because that is the first day of lambing, and we expect quite a few lambs to be born that night, so we need to have all the jugs and places for them to stay completed before they are born.

Carrie's birthday is on Wednesday, so we are going out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant that night. I am excited about Mexican food, but I know it won't be quite as 'authentic' as I am used to in California.

Penn, my little boyfriend, is doing wonderful! He is almost at a full recovery, and he is getting very feisty now. He is completely spoiled, and will cry and cry if he sees me walk by and not pick him up. He lets me hold him like a baby in my arms too. He will lay on his back in my arms and just sit there so content. He is going to be a monster though! He already outweighs the other litters that are twice as old as him. He is at least 2 times bigger, if not more. He will be an enormous dog when he grows up. He is so sweet and adorable and I know he will grow up to be a wonderful guard dog. I brought him home a little girlfriend because I thought he might be a bit lonely and want a play friend. Another litter of pups had a very weak and tiny little girl, so I wanted to bring her home to give her some extra nutrition, and I noticed another one of her sister's was also a little weak and very small, so I brought them both home. So now Penn has little play friends, and all the pups are doing very well. They are warm and full of food and very happy now. I think they will put on weight and grow out nicely like their litter mates.

That is all that has happened recently. Belle's puppies are doing fantastic, as are Auggie's puppies. All the puppies are growing out very nicely, and they all have wonderful little personalities. I only have a little more than a week left here, and I am very excited to get to Kentucky, but I am also sad to leave Marv and Carrie and all the beautiful and sweet dogs that I have here. I will miss them very much.

I have new pictures so enjoy them!

Love,
Sam