Rain is supposed to move in tonight. I sincerely hope we get plenty. It is very dry here.The lambies have been moved to the shady area in the central part of our yard. We do have some grass there. But most of it is the kind Shetlands don't like. For a couple of days, it will suffice though.
Silvy is starting to warm up to me. If I grab her while she's distracted, she immediately gets all blissy on the pets and rubs. She doesn't even want to leave. But she is still that bit flighty about the being caught part. I don't care. I love the chances I do get to snuggle with her.
Parker lost a scur the other day. It measured less than an inch long. Underneath was a bit of blood and a small bump in the depression of his skull. You can see the remaining scur on the right-hand side of this photo. It is very loose now too.
Today, we took some time to do ordinary fun things like fishing, ordering school clothes, watching Cadfael mysteries, and painting racing stripes on the Mercury. (I'll blog about that some other time.) The South Wind was so hot, no one was inspired to do much more than be comfortable.
Tomorrow it is Back-To-School. Summer has ended on a good note.
6 comments:
hey! I'm so happy his scurs are coming off! Phew!!
You have luscious green grass there! My lawn has the sprinkler on it and it won't even green up!
I have a weekend in October free....might that be a good time to come see a farm visit?! I"m dying to see the sheep!! (well and you of course too!)
Could you explain what a scur is? It sounds icky, but my curiosity is getting the better of me!
I can hardly tell from your photos that you're in a dry spell---the grass looks so tall and green (like ours, but we've had tons o' rain).
All the best to the boys as they head back to school!
Kim-
(I soooooo owe you a letter. Just so you know I've been tuning in to you.)
I don't know the official definition for scur...but it is basically an incomplete expression of a horn.
Sometimes scurs can be as tiny as a thumb nail, and they can break off because the keratin is really thin. Below every horn is a horn bud. When the scur breaks off this little bump will be left. Sometimes new horn material will start to grow, sometimes not. Sheep that are completely polled may simply have depressions in their skulls with a leathery patch covering the spot a horn bud would be. Some scurs can be very large and look a lot like full horns.
Scurs can be anywhere in the range of 1/4 inch long to almost full looking horns.
Parker had the tiny little thumbnail size scurs. I think Arvada has a much fuller scur. They just look like slow growing horns and they are not loose. Bombarde carries a polled gene and his horns are quite large-but they are very asymetrical and that is a clue that they are aberant-which is sortof like the largest possible version of scur.
I hope the above helps you visualize scurs and their differences. I don't guarentee it's 100% accurate, but I think I'm pretty close.
Garrett,
October sounds great. Let me know which weekend you mean.
Sabrina,
That does help. Thanks! Of course, now I suppose I should ask what "polled" means. Yes, I've been reading your blog all this time without knowing! Oh, I suppose I could just go look it up myself. ;)
I've got another letter coming your way soon. It's all written---in my head, that is! Meant to write it last night, but then B went to bed early and I took advantage and watched "Persuasion" (1995 version) instead. But I'll get to it real soon.
Love you lots!
Oh My Goodness! I just watched Persuasion Monday night. The version with Amanda Root-which is the only version I like.
What a coincidence. I'd been trying to find it for years, and the library just put out a copy.
I love you. I'll try to get my letter going soon too.
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