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There have been some changes around here.

We said goodbye to the majority of our Icelandic sheep flock. The breeding ewes and ram went to my sheep mentor; she kindly drove hours my way to pick them up and bring them back to her flock.

This left two lambs that weren’t breeding quality due to high inbreeding coefficient percentages(their offspring wouldn’t have improved the Icelandic breed) and one ram, Samwise, that can’t handle his hormones during the breeding season(Nov.-Feb.).

The following day, Samwise was butchered under Big Rock. The butcher carefully killed, skinned, and gutted Samwise, taking what would become our wrapped cuts of meet away hanging in his cold truck.

Then it was my turn. His hide was lightly fleshed, brushed, washed, and then placed into a basification bath to stabilize for soft tanning. Finally, I buried his head in a bucket of horse manure to start preserving his skull and horns. I did all of this efficiently before the midmorning heat.

Fall is the time to wrap things up and tuck away before winter. The two remaining ewe-lambs will soon find their way into family freezers to be pulled out and enjoyed on cold days to come.

While a part of me is sad to put my shepherding days behind me, I am mostly relieved to have fewer mouths to feed with the High Desert drought and inflated hay prices, and potential hay shortages that may be in store.

My work with my acupuncturist has me embracing what is truly for me and letting go of what isn’t. It feels good to let go of struggles, find my path to walk as an individual and not try to live up to even my own self-made projections for my life at Big Rock. I can only do so much each day, especially in my current season of life: motherhood and healing autoimmunity. My energy and presence is precious; I intend to use them wisely on what fills me and my loved ones up, not spend it struggling to be the ideal diversified regenerative farm for Instagram and hobbysake.

Chores are now more straightforward which is necessary in order to provide proper care for all animals when conditions make feeding and watering difficult. In addition, we also do not and cannot plan to have appropriate fencing for sheep to enjoy our pastures on a full-time basis, and I hate to see a ruminant in a dry lot, no matter how neat the area may be. They are designed to browse and forage, not wait for mealtimes, and then waste what excess there is.

Electonets offer pasture access but not without great effort on our part. The ground in CO is very dry and compact. Some winters it freezes even harder. The nets are staked into the ground and require warm, moist soil. Electronets are also only a mental barrier and can cause fatalities due to entanglement when sheep are left unattended, not an option for overnight stays or to be used in winter months for pasture access.

Already we can channel more energy into the other animals we have. The chickens have an improved area, as you will see a highlight below. We also have more time for each other and the idea of even having some idle time to ourselves, a usually overlooked necessity.

Clancy has been doing lots of food preserving with his Nana(Raina’s mom), chopping bell peppers, coring tomatoes, making storage bags. Clancy also helped me cast seed into our two little beds out our front door.

As some things come to an end for the year, others hold firm, changing themselves by growing long thick hair like the cattle and horses, or we choose cold-hardy varieties that will hopefully thrive and provide us with fresh greens in the New Year.

We have been enjoying beets, squash, and tomatoes from our summer garden. There has even been a surplus to sell to our supportive friends. The chickens have been slowing down on egg production as the days get shorter.

While we have said goodbye to the flock, we have welcomed back our breeding Hereford bull, Leftie. We are so fortunate to be a part of a bull share with local friends. He will be with us from September to November. This amount of time is about three cow cycles and should ensure that Leftie is able to do his job. Last year he and the cows were very efficient and got on it first breeding cycle! This year we are breeding Ginny, Granger, and Little Gin, Ginny’s daughter from 2020.

It is pretty traditional to breed a heifer ten months before they turn two when they are about two-thirds their full-size. She will grow to maturity as she is in gestation which is 10-months. I believe Herfords mature at a slower rate than other beef breeds like angus or shorthorn and are generally a bit smaller.

It was a tough call to breed her this year with the herd or sell her. Seperating her wasn’t an option, she would have had to go to someone else’s property as our ranch wouldn’t provide adequate distance between a heifer in heat and a bull in breeding season. No fence is strong enough or tall enough to keep a bull from a cow in heat, especially if they can see or even smell each other.

Summer will bring us two seasoned cows and one first timer, if she took. We will save our nerves for calving season in the summer.

Unexpectedly, we took in a little kitten we named Nella. She is a lovely little grey kitten with a veracious purr and bold, playful spirit. She was rescued by a family member from a bustling parking lot and was never claimed.

So as we downsize, simplify, and tuck ourselves in for a long winter, we also remain open to what comes up around us and say ‘yes’ to some things we might not usually be up for. **cough, Nathaniel was the one who said yes this time, cough**

Sharing the pancakes that we are enjoying this crisp Fall morning! YUM.

New items are coming… eventually!

I have cutesy tea towels ready for a final wash, press, photos, and packaging. When all those boxes are ticked, I will update the shop!

I have been working on a washie 2.0 for this year. Last year I made and sold nearly 100 washies (dishcloths) during the fall before Christmas. I want to offer some sewed items this year, but that isn’t as easy to work on with Clancy! We’ll see what happens!

If you want to get or gift crochet washies, reply back and let me know so I can get you on the list!

I hope you find some time to sit with yourself and reflect on the sorrows and joys the previous seasons have brought. Thanks for opening and reading another Big Rock Newsletter!