Amanda has a wonderful trial in mid October. John and I were commuting for the open days…a beautiful 2 hour drive in the fall…I don’t remember how we scored, Spec ran her very first open runs, completing both of them, and when we came home…

The rams were out, our 5 mature rams and 11 yearling rams headed for the Eid holiday festival;  So after a long day at Amanda’s, ram wrasstling (that is a word right) was in order

So around March 15th we had these:  25 lambs from 14 ewes…Thank goodness for great March weather

Great easy lambing…lets hope the real lambing in May is just as easy!

I’m always complaining about the boer goats getting out and eating all of my flowers (well there aren’t any left);  But today we set out to solve a mystery

A lttle foggy but always a good party in the morning

Meteor? says SergeantDidn't you want to rework this pasture?

Follow the trail

I think we are getting close

What is that in the background?

What is that in the fog?

Can’t hold a good pig in!

Here we come!

So we wanted to replant an area in corn for the lambs to graze in this fall…guess it’ll be here!  Go to work piggers, but you’ll be in electronet shortly!

So I promised my friend Jenny Glen I would get back to posting when I got my computer.  So with that in mind, and remembering that at worst I have to post a picture of a cat…I’m rededicating myself to the blogging

We’ve had an interesting winter, The weather hasn’t been bad, just icy, Again we had a rogue ram lamb that bred about 30 ewes..I swear I’m not keeping any of those stupid dorper ram lambs when they don’t grow…or we shall have a big castration party…Come on girls, you know you want to attend.  And the goats have finished kidding..I swear they will be in a fenced area and I’ll be able to do a little gardening this year. But with opposable thumbs that goats have, they’ll get out of their paddock!

John took the advice of Scott last year and bought Bracken from Louanne Twa.  She has been a real learning experience.  She is so different that his current open dogs but it will make him a better handler or he’ll die trying.  He’s been enjoying doing some close at hand work with her to keep her honest (read not hanging on to sheep).  She never gives up and i’m not sure John does either

Also had some puppies from Dixie/Preacher.  Everything seems pretty fertile on this farm so look for photos of more lambs and calves this spring.

John and I will be making some changes to the farm to make it a little easier to manage…We say that…and we’ll see!

We are also running a winter arena series for those of us that are so deprived of working dogs in the winter.  We tell ourselves it is a good break for them, but i’m not sure we believe it!

Remember to sign up for the Whiskey tour happening at all OBCC sanctioned trials.  A group of whiskey lovers and affeciandos will be doing some tastings this year…No Canadian Club or Jameison allowed!

I thought I would join those I follow on the internet and pass on some facts about me

1. What is the biggest thing that grossed you out over the past week?

I flpped over a ewe to check out her foot because she was limping…and there were maggots  eeewwwwe

2. What do you feed your dogs?

Mainly raw…the puppy gets some extra kibble because he is ultra skinny.  I’ll add oatmeal and rice to those that seem to need some more carbs…And then there is the sheep, horse and cow poop..and dead stuff;  that rounds out their nutrition

3. If you could move anywhere where would you live?

I love the area we are in…but given the choice Scotland, Ireland, southern Alberta, Kentucky…in that order

4. What is the funniest thought that occurred to you (or thing that happened to you) this week?

That spell check when you are texting changes words so that meanings are changed dramatically…My friend Carol and I text a lot…and some of the word changes are hysterical
5. If you couldn’t have your breed of choice what would be next on your list?

Ok, again assuming dog…since no border collie (WHAT)…a Giant Schnauzer….cause they were my first breed

Horse:  no Belgian…I’d get a Suffolk Punch

And the Canadian Border Collie Championships were held this week.  Congratulations to Scott Glen, Dennis Gellings, and Amanda Milliken for their outstanding performances.  I’ve been living vicariously through blogs, posts on the internet and updated scoring.  How did we live before live feeds…or at least barely delayed feeds.

We’ve been busy trying to find additional pasture for the sheep, John has started to shear the sheep…they can’t have a year’s worth of wool on them for the October trial or the winter…Leaving it a little late but it comes off like butter at this time of the year.

Here is a picture of the trial field for the fall trials.  Andrea and Sheri /Hugh are hosting a 4 day trial over Thanksgiving weekend, than Kevan and Kim Gretton are holding a midweek trial with John and I hosting the final three day trial.  Should be a blast…..but the to do list is SUPER long!  The weekend after is Amanda’s Butternut trial!  Last of the season and a great trial!

Our newest sow…who has no name…just had piglets;  I know, they should be in the spring, but what the heck!  She is a Tamworth/Large English Black;  The piglets were sired Tamworth.  MMMM Good bacon…well not yet;  So on top of finding buyers for Matilda’s summer piglets we now have to find buyers for these boys/girls in a couple of months.  Farming does have it draw backs.

I’m excited to enter the world of blogging about JohnCyn Farms and the activities we participate in.  Thought I would start by showing a few scenes around the farm

 The house and barn

Please check back soon to read about what’s happening at JohnCyn Farm! In the meantime, why not visit our website? http://www.johncynfarm.com

Thanks for looking!

John and Cynthia Palmer