Making their way...

Friday evening I got home from work, ran inside and changed into my ranching clothes. I loaded J and Jigs in the car and headed back out to meet up with the sheep. The herders were bringing the sheep back to the ranch from the windmill on Friday - the first of three moves. They didn’t need our help, but I wanted to help! I'm beginning to enjoy trailing, I still hate the anticipation, but once they get going it's actually kind of fun!

We got there just in time.
The gate was open and the sheep were just waiting to be pushed!

The sheep and the dogs did such a great job on the way home and knew just where to go.


Gringo, like a Drum Major lead the pack back to the ranch. He always takes the lead. He does it so confidently, don't you think?

Everyone pulled their weight. Sage helped move lambs that got on the wrong side of the fence back onto the trail and Nell was right there following her lead. Nell has gotten lots of practice up at the windmill these past few weeks and is going to make a great herding dog.

Some babies were thirsty and couldn't wait to get home to eat. Unfortunately, I had to break this feeding session up. It was less than a quarter mile...hang in there babies!

Some got a little confused and wanted to turn and go back!  Fortunately, our herder continued to push and they turned around. Phew!

Also, it never fails to see someone you know while trailing sheep! J stopped to chat for a bit. Slacker! ;)

Once everyone was home for the last time this summer we discussed the plan for Saturday. We went over everyone’s job because moving sheep is a family affair and called it a night.

. . . . . . . . .

Saturday came, Gell and I met up about 2 o’clock and went to our designated positions. Shortly after – here came the sheep! They worked their way up the road and about a quarter of the way in I ran up to help push the first “bunch” with Pop. The view was lovely. 

excuse the quality, this was taken with my phone.

In Pop’s experience it’s best when you have a person after about every hundred sheep. Sheep follow the flock (most of the time) so as long as you have that first bunch continually moving forward the rest will hopefully follow. Gell and Pop told us there have been years where the babies weren’t able to see their moms (they crested over a hill) and have tried to run all the way back to the ranch! Thankfully that did not happen this weekend!

Once the sheep and our herder were settled for the night we headed back home to get rest for the toughest of the three days, Sunday.


I’ll post about Sunday’s trail soon!

Here's to another great weekend!

This post is a little late. It was a busy week!

What a wonderful and relaxing weekend we had last week.

This time of year things slow down for a little while so it's a perfect time to garden. Most all the sheep have delivered (except for about 5) and majority of the sheep and their babies are up at the windmill.

Friday I began tending to my very first garden! J's mom and sister made these garden beds last year and I'm excited to use them this year!

My mother-in-law is quite the gardener so when she mentioned starting a garden at our place I was a little intimidated. After pulling all the weeds and tilling the garden it seems like I might be able to handle it.

I also mowed a lawn for the first time in my life. How funny is it that I mow my first lawn while living on a SHEEP ranch? Why not let the sheep eat it, right? Well, apparently they are picky eaters and don't like the long grass that was filling up our yard. We'll keep them in the yard now that it's at a nice length for them.

Another fun thing that happened is J's vines arrived!

He has planted a (very small) vineyard. How fun is that?!
Jigs is pretty excited.  Even though we will keep her far, far away from the grapes when the vines start to raisin.

I think it will be great hobby for him. How he will find the time to tend to these vines, I have not a clue.

How he will keep the pain-in-the-butt goats from eating them, not a clue about that either. Just today he told me the sheep trampled all over them. oops! We are off to a great start.

Also, this past Friday evening we had surprise visitors! Our good friends, Lisa and Thor (yes, that is his real name) drove down from the Boulder area for the weekend! Apparently everyone knew and they wanted to surprise me so when I heard knocking in the middle of the night I was a little taken back.

Good thing I don't sleep with a loaded gun by my bed. ;)

We did some shooting out in the back, spent some time on our good friend's houseboat and celebrated a birthday.  We had a delicious breakfast at the new diner in town and enjoyed a few cold drinks. 

This is Thor. Yes, he is pretty bad a**.

This is Lisa (and Jigs).

I've said it before and I'll say it again...we have some pretty awesome friends in our life.

Here's to another great weekend! What are your plans this weekend?

Summer is here!

The arrival of summer means a few things for us at the ranch.

One of which is that the sheep will be brought home from the windmill on Friday and start their very long trek to the high country on Saturday.
The sheep spend their summers in the mountains and will graze thousands of acres of green grass over the course of about 4 months.

This picture was taken last year during my visit to the high country.

I can't wait to take a trip up there this year, the vista is absolutely beautiful. Here is a blog post about a visit I made to the high country last year to give you an idea. I have learned my lesson since that post...I will be taking a whistle with me on my next trip!

One of our herders stays up in the high country all summer however, this year two of our herders will be there since one is in "training". Our newest herder will learn all the camps we will move to over the course of the summer and learn more about sheep.

J will take supplies to them weekly and will move camp every few days. When they move camp the supplies like food, water, the tent, dog food and clothing will be packed up and moved via ATV to the next "camp".

We have several permits on the high country. Each permit has different restrictions as to how long we can be in one area and what area we are allotted. It's important our herder(s) keeps track of this because there are other sheep permits in the high country and we don't want to mix or get in any trouble for grazing an area we don't have the rights to.

So, we are getting ready for the big move. I'm excited to get the sheep up to such great pasture where they can roam freely. At the same time I'm nervous because well, it's nerve-racking seeing hundreds of sheep on the busiest (and only) highway in town!

My mother-in-law, Gell told me she gets nervous every time we trail sheep on the road, even after all these years. She said seeing those babies on the road is just terrifying and after this move a few weeks ago, I completely agree.

When she starts to feel nervous while trailing sheep she reminds herself of a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, "You must do the things you think you cannot do." That, my friends, is what I will be saying to myself Saturday morning at 5am.


Please send your positive thoughts and prayers our way! We want every one of our furry friends to make it safely to their destination.

Trailing with the babies.

We moved some babies and mamas to the "Windmill" where they will stay for a few weeks.

J, Morgan and I worked on that water tank a few weeks back.

We patched it up and got it ready for the sheep!

This trailing adventure was physically demanding.
I vlogged a bit for you too.

When we were done my in-laws said that compared to past years, this move actually went smoothly. I do NOT want to be around when things go badly.