Fresh air...

Thanks for all the comments guys! :)

What a difference a couple of days makes. I’m feeling better about things, but still on the lookout for the creepy crawlies. I’ve discovered that they are out in full force in the evening so that’s when I’m in spider mode. I have one little guy, with a big “bubble butt” as Kayde would say, that appears every night outside my door. I might name him. Any suggestions?

Yesterday (after the spider panic attack evening) we did our first day of mustering. Not sure if I mentioned this before, but Eckhard has around 800 acres and 1,000 sheep. He got a call from a neighbor that some sheep broke through a fence, so we needed to round them up and get them back over. We started about 9 AM, hopped on the FWD vehicle, with me on the back along with Watch, one of the working dogs, and headed up into the hills. I wish I could describe to you how beautiful this countryside is but words could never do it….it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. I feel like I’m in a movie sometimes. And rolling along the trails and bumpy hills, through streams, on the FWD is FUN! It’s muddy and wet….I love it. There is crap everywhere here. You can’t avoid it. I have to sit a certain way and hold on a certain way so I don’t go flying off. It gets to be kind of difficult when there is a dog sitting on your lap! Normally she sits on the other side but I think she likes me. Eckhard says she is a big softie and always likes the girls. ☺ We did a pretty serious hike up to the top of a paddock (land where animals graze) and mustered the sheep down the hillside with the help of Watch. All the while Eckhard explains farming lingo, basics and a lot about the vegetation that grows. There are two trees that are invasive that are taking the hillsides over. It’s getting to be a serious problem, so in the coming months we have to go out and yank/cut them down. We also did fence maintenance. Straightened posts and cut wool out of the wires. When sheep see wool on the wires, they know it’s a spot they can get through, so we have to cut it off. Once we finished, we cleaned up and had lunch. Then we had to prepare for the lady that was coming to inspect the B&B. Eckhard asked me to sweep out the front veranda (including spider webs, ick) and clean the windows from the outside. All the while he cleaned the inside of the house. She ended up calling in sick but at least the house was cleaned.

Today we did more mustering. We needed to get all the sheep down from the higher paddocks because snow is on the way. We brought two dogs this time and did a lot more steep hiking. We had to switchback in some sections. I’m going to be in great shape by the time I’m done! ☺ This afternoon, after our first round of mustering, Eckhard had a meeting so I did a couple chores, some laundry, some firewood stacking and then just sat outside and relaxed. I watched two chickens fluff themselves and peck insects out of the grass. I saw a beautiful little bird eating a strange looking berry off a tree. It was lime green, with a gray belly and a whiteish-yellowish circle around it’s eyes. It was about the size of a chickadee.

After the meeting we went out and mustered the rest of the sheep down. I got to yell at them and scare them down the trail. Once they were in the lower paddock, I had to go down and open the gate to another lower paddock. I stood aside and watched the stampede go by, then shut the gate. It was really cool. ☺

I promise I will take more pictures soon. It’s just that I haven’t had many free moments yet (until the evening). I snapped a few when I first arrived and today. For those of you who were asking about a mailing address, I’ve asked permission and he said it was ok. I will give the address to my mom and she can give it out to anyone who wants it. I just don’t want to post it online.

Talk to you soon!