My husband often hears this question as I am walking from room to room searching. His response is “between your ears” and laughs. To me it is not very funny as my “brain” is very important. What I am searching for is my calendar planner. Photo by Olya Kobruseva on Pexels.com This calendar planner is…… Continue reading Have You Seen My Brain?
Author: amtolle
Walking With a Business Plan
The main reason I raise sheep is to have an income or make money. Raising sheep is a business. Every business needs a business plan. A business plan can be complex with numbers and projected figures or simple plan to follow when making decisions. Businesses write out a business plan each year. I complete my…… Continue reading Walking With a Business Plan
Plan, Growth, Expansion
When I began as a sheep farmer, I checked with the area officials on how many animals my property would support. Answer is 25 ewes. I made plans on where to put the shelters, size of pens and where I wanted the alleys to go. Eight years later, I have learned and implemented rotational grazing…… Continue reading Plan, Growth, Expansion
The Little Lamb that Could
In October of 2020 a day I had been waiting for finally came, Big Bertha gave birth. Big Bertha is a ewe I purchased, fulling one of my goals for the year 2020, to purchase a really nice full blood Dorper ewe with Australian bloodlines. The day was a double blessing as the twins Big…… Continue reading The Little Lamb that Could
What Will You Bid?
The rhythmic jibber of the auctioneer drowns out the noise of the crowd, stern faced buyers focus to hear each word and number as the auctioneer rattles on. People new the sale barn have confused and questioning faces. Unfamiliar with the rhythmic cadence of words and numbers new comers find bidding to be confusing. One…… Continue reading What Will You Bid?
Are You My Mama?
Photo by Rachel Claire on Pexels.com A helpful skill for a sheep farmer to learn is the ability to graft or have a ewe accept and care for a lamb that is not her own. Many things can happen during laming. Lambs get separated from mom by wondering off while mom is delivering another lamb…… Continue reading Are You My Mama?
The Lull before the Storm
Photo by Alexandr Podvalny on Pexels.com The busiest time for sheep is laming. A sheep farmer may raise other types of animals or feed for his livestock, so there are busy times. I do not raise anything but sheep and laming is my busiest time. Today was cold, really cold. Well, not Wyoming cold or…… Continue reading The Lull before the Storm
Start and Build Upward
Chester, my first ram When I first started raising sheep my financial situation was not very good. I purchased the best I could buy. One sheep you should consider paying the most you can afford is the ram. The ram is half or 50% of your flock genetics. The ewe is half or 50% of…… Continue reading Start and Build Upward
Patience and Frustration
Frustration was in my day for about three hours. I need to some home maintenance, actually finish a home maintenance project, and I could not find the tool I needed. My husband was the last person to use the tool for a totally different project and I could not find it. Then I just knew…… Continue reading Patience and Frustration
Be Grateful
Old Dorper and a set of twins Above is a picture of a Dorper ewe I named Old Dorper, she was my first Dorper ewe. I first named her Dorper, but when I purchased the second Dorper ewe, she became Old Dorper. I have had Old Dorper for five years. Each laming I can count…… Continue reading Be Grateful
Granny's Homestead 