What about that sister anyway?

It has come to my attention that while my blog is full of quirky anecdotes about the exploits of my merry menagerie and my little brother Obie (the snowball throwing, rabbit raising 9 year old); there is little mention of my little sister Brenna ( the sheep raising, music blasting 15 year old).  So it's only natural for you to be wondering things like, "is this girl real?" "Does this girl do anything besides sheep" or even "Do Brenna and Allie even get along? Or are they like those sisters who are not on speaking terms".  This should hopefully put your questions to rest, as well as answer the key question.  What does Brenna do for fun?

Well isn't it obvious?  I mean we live in the desert.

She skis of course! I may be an Ag Girl, but my sister is a bonafide snow bunny.  She is part of the high school alpine race team, and has a membership card and everything. Frequently Brenna uses words like "powder" and "GS" in daily conversation,  when clouds cover the mountains that border the valley she and her excellent friends start to radiate energy and reek of anticipation, she gets alerts on her computer when new snow falls on her "home court" and when she asks me to sheep-sit her ewe Bugonia and brood.... It's because she is on the mountain... Carving it up. 

And now you know.  Brenna the desert snow bunny.  Sking in the desert.  It's true.

Desert Ag Girl doesn't PLAY video games

Yesterday we finally welcomed our family's breeding ewe, Begonia home after a summer and fall at Camp Ram. When my sister led her up the walkway we greeted her with pets and hugs and her favorite treat-a cookie. However, the events leading up to her homecoming was anything but boring.

Worming Begonia so she could come home

Begonia had come up in the trailer with a passel of other extraordinarily pregnant ewes. All of these ewes belong to my very favorite mentor/Ag teacher/FFA advisor, Mrs. Lacey. Now all of the ewes, including Begonia, were tucked safe and sound into a field, where they were doing their thing. The problem was, ewes that are doing... whatever it is that ewes do when we aren't watching them, don't particularly want to be caught.

The goal was get them in the pen, like this,

What ended up happening reminded me of a giant, real life video game. I'm predicting it would go viral, and attract fans of both Farmville and Angry Birds.

-Four players: Preferably all girls, (and preferably looking like real women, not like the ones found in nerdy video games)
-About 30 VERY pregnant ewes: These could be computer generated and programmed to avoid the four players AT ALL COSTS.
-The object of the game is to get the sheep into a small pen, for some reasonable purpose like separating one ewe out to take her home.
-This is accomplished by moving a variety of semi heavy and cumbersome objects to form blockades and fortresses that direct the sheep in a variety of directions.

-If this cannot be accomplished, there should be a cheat code available that involves super awesome dogs.
-There can be a variety of levels with different sheep moods and available objects.

And after each level, you might see a screen like this, because the Battle of Penning Sheep is never truly won!

I'm telling you, this could totally catch on, and when it does, I will finally be able to say that Desert Ag Girl doesn't PLAY video games, her life IS a video game!

(All I need now is a catchy name... Maybe: Woman vs. Sheep, Sheep a Rama, or Cranky Ewes...hmm I'll have to think about that one!)

Llamas on the Loose

There is no downside to keeping a pair of retired Llamas around. They're not loud, they don't chase cars, they don't need to be groomed often, they don't need to be walked for a half hour every day, and they don't kick. They do eat weeds, have kind and unique personalities, put up with unruly dogs and brothers, and have an adventurous spirit. Wait, okay, so I suppose that "adventurous spirit" can get them into a little trouble sometimes. But that's okay, because they don't startle very easily. However, when they do get startled, combine that raw(ma) llama fear with that adventurous spirit, and you might have a bit of a problem on your hands.

Now, you may be getting the idea that I'm speaking from experience, because, well I do have a pair of retired Llamas, and yes I normally do speak from experience. So I will admit right now that yes, my Llamas became startled. Then, they started feeling adventurous, and they sorta broke right through one of the panels on their pen. So that's how my family spent our Sunday morning. Rounding up a couple of spooked Llamas-in the windstorm that had them all riled up in the first place. Needless to say it wasn't easy. We would have our arms around them, ready for a halter, when a gust of wind would come up, and that lovely Llama would take off again. It doesn't really help that we were trying to repair the pen (that Bodie Busted through) at the same time. Eventually though, we had the pen fixed, the Llamas rounded up and sealed in their pen, then we got some hay in those Llamas and they settled right now.

I'm looking out my window at the Llamas. Bodie is munching on some tasty weeds, and Superman is acting as our heroic Sentinel, keeping an eye on the road. Yeah, no matter how many "adventures" we might have together, I don't think I will ever see a downside to keeping Llamas.