A New Sheep

At 5 am Saturday morning we loaded the whole family into the car. We had food packed, lots of water and the newly constructed sheep crate. You did notice that I said car, right? Not truck. Not trailer. But yes, a car. We have a small SUV and decided to transport our new guy home in it.

Thankfully, we didn't have far to drive. Just seven hours... Each way.

But when you know, you know. This was our ram and he was worth the trip.

I first heard about him last winter in this post.

And then again this year in this post. And when his owner says this about him, you act.

"… and secretly, I’m trying to figure out a way to keep Dill, her ram lamb from last year. He has grown into a magnificent beast that I would be proud to use as the sire in my flock. But Hamish is still the King around these parts and has a few good years left of breeding in him. And alas, two rams for a flock of five ewes is simply one too many."
 - Shaye Elliott The Elliott Homestead

I took a deep breathe and emailed Shaye to see if she would consider selling Dill. She said YES! And then I told Timothy.

I had been looking for a Katahdin ram for a couple years. We were not finding exactly what we wanted at the right time. I was able to find ram lambs before we got our ewes, but once we got them I couldn't find a single one.

Shaye and I scheduled a time for us to come get him and then proceeded to cancel due to a crazy winter storm that was storming the entire way between her and us. The mountain passes we had to go over ended up being closed due to avalanches that night, so we were very thankful that we didn't go that day.

So we rescheduled. And cancelled again. Now all that lovely snow we had gotten the week before was melting and flooding that same mountain pass. It closed down again because there was feet, yes FEET, of water on the road.

We rescheduled again and this time we made it.

Now for those of you who know me, you know I am a huge Shaye Elliott fan. Like, probably the biggest. Just a little perspective, I am a bit of a minimalist and only keep 3 cookbooks in my house, two of those are ones she has written. I have been reading her blog since her oldest was a baby and have gotten to know her a bit better since joining her Essential Oil Team.

And last Saturday she made me lunch. I was pretty much over the moon. Timothy assured me that I didn't make too big of a fool out of myself while we were there. But let me tell you, I had to work very hard to act normal.... wink.

Shaye was one of the people who talked me into (through her blog) getting a dairy cow while you have young children and family life going on. That even though it may be hard at times, that cow is worth it. And you all know how much I love our Penny Girl.

So cheers to Shaye, Dill (now known as Rogue) and Penny!

And of course Timothy, who decided to go along with his crazy wife.