Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Surrounded by theatre ... (edited to add newspaper clippings)
"Anything Goes" was truly awesome. Kev was very, very funny. Tonight, the kids are in their first showing of "Enchanted Sleeping Beauty". Tomorrow night is the second. Tomorrow night is also a dress rehearsal for Kevin, then "Anything Goes" has its final run Friday and Saturday evening and a Sunday matinee. I'm not sure I'll have any photos from any of this because our camera does not do well in hall situations. I'll see what I can do.
From the April 23, 2008 "Picton Gazette":
And from the April 25 "Picton Gazette", here are the main cast members of "Anything Goes" along with part of the article:
From the same newspaper, here are both girls (Claire, centre; Alison, right) in practice for "Enchanted Sleeping Beauty". Typical of a small town newspaper (in particular this small town newspaper ;-) ..) all three girls' names are spelt incorrectly. In fact, it's Tori, Claire, and Alison.
From the April 23, 2008 "Picton Gazette":
And from the April 25 "Picton Gazette", here are the main cast members of "Anything Goes" along with part of the article:
From the same newspaper, here are both girls (Claire, centre; Alison, right) in practice for "Enchanted Sleeping Beauty". Typical of a small town newspaper (in particular this small town newspaper ;-) ..) all three girls' names are spelt incorrectly. In fact, it's Tori, Claire, and Alison.
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Ahhh, spring ...
The sheep profiled against neighbour's 1800's bank barn. During a phone call to mom, I was trying to express to her the feeling I get when I look out and watch the sheep peacefully grazing. She came up with "bucolic", and I agree. It is lovely.
M.J. enjoying the smells and sounds of spring ... never mind ... M.J. wondering if she can pounce on the birds clustered around the feeder on the top deck. Our two house cats are never outside; this is the closest they get.
Jasmine's two, Peppercorn and Basil:
Latifah, with one of hers (but not sure who!):
All five babies, now into grazing themselves in a big way:
Our lilacs are almost there. These shrubs were wee little things when we moved in, and three property owners later we will finally be blessed with significantly sized bushes! I can hardly wait until they are open. Prince Edward County has a "Lilac Tour" coming up; the whole county is covered with wild bushes as well as planted ones. You can drive published "Lilac routes" and it's an olfactory experience, not to mention a visual one. Later in the year, it's the holly hocks and lilies that take over ditches county-wide.
One of our cherry trees, hinting at things to come!
I'm praying for a long spring; we have a tendency in this neck of the woods to move quickly from winter to summer weather. But spring is my favourite and I hope it's not too fleeting this year!
M.J. enjoying the smells and sounds of spring ... never mind ... M.J. wondering if she can pounce on the birds clustered around the feeder on the top deck. Our two house cats are never outside; this is the closest they get.
Jasmine's two, Peppercorn and Basil:
Latifah, with one of hers (but not sure who!):
All five babies, now into grazing themselves in a big way:
Our lilacs are almost there. These shrubs were wee little things when we moved in, and three property owners later we will finally be blessed with significantly sized bushes! I can hardly wait until they are open. Prince Edward County has a "Lilac Tour" coming up; the whole county is covered with wild bushes as well as planted ones. You can drive published "Lilac routes" and it's an olfactory experience, not to mention a visual one. Later in the year, it's the holly hocks and lilies that take over ditches county-wide.
One of our cherry trees, hinting at things to come!
I'm praying for a long spring; we have a tendency in this neck of the woods to move quickly from winter to summer weather. But spring is my favourite and I hope it's not too fleeting this year!
Friday, 25 April 2008
Another Ben-ism (we love this boy) ...
Written by his mom, Janna ...
Tee-hee :-).
Karen
| ||||
Karen
Two Vignettes from the life of a Morning Show Host
... During the last Share-A-Thon (to raise support for running the station), Kev dropped in to Burger King to pick up lunch for himself. When the employee asked whether he wanted something else with his order, Kev replied with a phrase that apparently he's becoming well known for. Upon his arrival at the pick-up window, he was presented with lunch ALL AROUND for the UCB team, at no charge to UCB, courtesy of the Belleville Burger King. All because the employee recognized his voice!
... Last night, Kev was talking to one of the other actors in "Anything Goes", and they realized they had a mutual friend, Dana Rogalski. The actor stated emphatically that he listens to the morning show, but his favourite host is the guy. "He's just so funny" or something to that effect :-). Yes, Kev came clean and admitted that he is "the other guy" :-).
... Last night, Kev was talking to one of the other actors in "Anything Goes", and they realized they had a mutual friend, Dana Rogalski. The actor stated emphatically that he listens to the morning show, but his favourite host is the guy. "He's just so funny" or something to that effect :-). Yes, Kev came clean and admitted that he is "the other guy" :-).
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Lamb update, age 2-3 weeks
When market lambs are quite young, they are started out on "creep" feed. This is a high nutrient starter food that helps the bacteria in their rumen get started out in a healthy way. You can see the little lamb door in the front panel. The first time we left the yummy, enticing creep feed in there, Kivu, our Shetland ewe, managed to make her way in and clean up the feed, however she then got stuck inside. She hasn't attempted this since! Technically our Shetland ram lamb shouldn't be eating creep, however he's first in and last out daily (Shetlands as a breed do not require extra feed like this; they do well on straight grass/hay). Once again we are grateful to Linda Swaine (Rosehaven Farm Store), whose panels and electric fence we were able to "store" in a way that housed sheep!
This is Basil, our freezer lamb. Right now he's very sweet, but as his hormones surge around 4 months he will likely end up quite aggressive. So hard to imagine, but it does make it easier to take the ram lambs to the abbatoir.
Here is Tarragon ... still a lab puppy. And getting much too fat, between the uneccessary creep feed and being the sole recipient of mom's milk.
Here is a close-up of Tarragon's emerging horns. They started out as flat leathery patches when he was born, and started to poke out very slightly when he was about 2 weeks old. He is 3 weeks old here.
Here is Peppercorn. She is doing really well, and has started gaining trust in us two-legged types. She is smallish but very gentle and will be a great first-year 4H lamb.
Here is Rosemary, one of Latifah's girls. She is also on the smallish side. Neither of Latifah's babies are very approachable yet. It may be because we had to treat Latifah for retained placenta, including seven days of penicillin shots. She became very wary of our visits, and managed to pass that on to her lambs. IF you can catch Rosie, she is very sweet, and will probably be our other first-year 4H lamb. She is a little close-coupled and more Shetland-like than I prefer, and won't be a keeper (at this point).
And lastly, here is Coriander. Conformationally, she is far and away my favourite, and is currently my first choice to stay on here and replace her mom as a breeding ewe. She has a good long back and good legs. She also runs and jumps like a steeplechaser, twice as high as the other lambs, and has the unfortunate tendency to be very, very, (VERY!) loud. These last two attributes are not a good thing :-). I can just picture the noise she is going to make in the show ring! So we'll see. She and her sister have pink skin around their eyes, which I find less attractive than the black skin that Jasmine's babies have.
There will be tough decisions to make this year. We can only keep one ewe lamb, who will replace Latifah as a breeding ewe. I will only over-winter three sheep here due to feed cost and space considerations, so that means finding good homes for two ewe lambs, culling Latifah, shipping Basil, and ... well, not sure yet about Tarragon. I'll have to have Bill Stearman (Willow Garden Shetlands website ; Willow Garden blog) come over and assess his fleece before I make any decisions.
I dearly wish I could keep all three ewe lambs. They all carry colour genetics now, since Spencer was black; with this next generation we can expect coloured lambs, which is one of my flock goals. My farmer buddy Arnold is making noises about selling his farm again (some of you may remember the last time we tried to purchase his farm ... what a fiasco once the realtors stepped in). It would be perfect for sheep. Arnold has really aged over the winter, and I wonder whether this time he will manage to actually go through with the sale ...
Heh, heh ... would anyone like to invest in a lovely Dutch farmstead/sheep farm in beautiful Prince Edward County, Ontario?
This is Basil, our freezer lamb. Right now he's very sweet, but as his hormones surge around 4 months he will likely end up quite aggressive. So hard to imagine, but it does make it easier to take the ram lambs to the abbatoir.
Here is Tarragon ... still a lab puppy. And getting much too fat, between the uneccessary creep feed and being the sole recipient of mom's milk.
Here is a close-up of Tarragon's emerging horns. They started out as flat leathery patches when he was born, and started to poke out very slightly when he was about 2 weeks old. He is 3 weeks old here.
Here is Peppercorn. She is doing really well, and has started gaining trust in us two-legged types. She is smallish but very gentle and will be a great first-year 4H lamb.
Here is Rosemary, one of Latifah's girls. She is also on the smallish side. Neither of Latifah's babies are very approachable yet. It may be because we had to treat Latifah for retained placenta, including seven days of penicillin shots. She became very wary of our visits, and managed to pass that on to her lambs. IF you can catch Rosie, she is very sweet, and will probably be our other first-year 4H lamb. She is a little close-coupled and more Shetland-like than I prefer, and won't be a keeper (at this point).
And lastly, here is Coriander. Conformationally, she is far and away my favourite, and is currently my first choice to stay on here and replace her mom as a breeding ewe. She has a good long back and good legs. She also runs and jumps like a steeplechaser, twice as high as the other lambs, and has the unfortunate tendency to be very, very, (VERY!) loud. These last two attributes are not a good thing :-). I can just picture the noise she is going to make in the show ring! So we'll see. She and her sister have pink skin around their eyes, which I find less attractive than the black skin that Jasmine's babies have.
There will be tough decisions to make this year. We can only keep one ewe lamb, who will replace Latifah as a breeding ewe. I will only over-winter three sheep here due to feed cost and space considerations, so that means finding good homes for two ewe lambs, culling Latifah, shipping Basil, and ... well, not sure yet about Tarragon. I'll have to have Bill Stearman (Willow Garden Shetlands website ; Willow Garden blog) come over and assess his fleece before I make any decisions.
I dearly wish I could keep all three ewe lambs. They all carry colour genetics now, since Spencer was black; with this next generation we can expect coloured lambs, which is one of my flock goals. My farmer buddy Arnold is making noises about selling his farm again (some of you may remember the last time we tried to purchase his farm ... what a fiasco once the realtors stepped in). It would be perfect for sheep. Arnold has really aged over the winter, and I wonder whether this time he will manage to actually go through with the sale ...
Heh, heh ... would anyone like to invest in a lovely Dutch farmstead/sheep farm in beautiful Prince Edward County, Ontario?
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
How many 4H members does it take to tip a sheep? (aka "Learn to Do by Doing"!)
Our regular 4H meeting was out at the Gilbert's farm on Monday night, and the Smith's brought over their hoof trim chute. This is a very helpful system for farms where the sheep are kept in flock. Ours stand for us, and lift their feet helpfully like horses. We don't need this system at home.
Here is the club, working on a poor, unsuspecting Katahdin.
Little did she know what fate would await her as she walked through the chute!
How she ended up on her side:
Iain, busily working away on a hind foot. It is definitely a lot easier for the kids to gain experience with hands-on sheep care when the sheep are immobilized like this!
We brought one of our neighbours to Sheep Club this month. Amanda is super keen! We are going to try to find a lamb for her to raise at our place.
Here is the club, working on a poor, unsuspecting Katahdin.
Little did she know what fate would await her as she walked through the chute!
How she ended up on her side:
Iain, busily working away on a hind foot. It is definitely a lot easier for the kids to gain experience with hands-on sheep care when the sheep are immobilized like this!
We brought one of our neighbours to Sheep Club this month. Amanda is super keen! We are going to try to find a lamb for her to raise at our place.
You saw it here first .... introducing
Moonface Martin, Public Enemy No. 13 ... in costume (sans makeup, which is a very good thing ... he came home from the makeup session last night and they had done a less than admirable job. Definitely girl make-up rather than male actor make-up!). He left today with one of my old mascaras //shudder//. I'm so not a theatre type, although I'm glad Kev and some of the kids are.
Out of the Mouths of Babes ;-)
"Dear God, Thank you for this day and thank you for this good food and thank you that we had fun today. Please help Alison be a good babysitter in two sleeps. Amen." (Ben Cylka)
This was our good friends Janna and Steve's eldest son Ben's prayer at dinner today. Alison is babysitting for the kids while their parents attend opening night of "Anything Goes". Oh-so-cute :-).
Heh, heh, Alison ... you've been told!
This was our good friends Janna and Steve's eldest son Ben's prayer at dinner today. Alison is babysitting for the kids while their parents attend opening night of "Anything Goes". Oh-so-cute :-).
Heh, heh, Alison ... you've been told!
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