We started Wednesday morning hauling supplies (plywood, skirting table, bags, shears, etc) to the barn and trying to round up the sheep. We had tried to pen the sheep in the barn the night before, but they weren't having it. Most of the flock would go inside, and 7 or 8 would stand in the doorway, and run away when we tried to encourage them inside. Wednesday morning we brought in our secret weapon - the sheepdog. Her name is Ellie, and she's nearing a year old. Soon we'll be able to start officially training her. Last Wednesday though, we just had her walk with us into the pasture, and the sheep did exactly as we asked. Well, all but three of them. One penned herself in a corner of the pasture, up against the barn. So, Ryan let Ellie off her leash, and boy did she flush that sheep out of there! She did a great job... we can't wait to start training her so she can do exactly what we ask. All in all, Wednesday morning went well, but we didn't end up shearing until close to 10am. Then we had to quit early to secure the sheep in the barn in a way that they'd have room to walk around, but not get out. So, we only got to 6 sheep on Wednesday! (We have 39). We spent the night at my mom and dad's because they live just an eighth of a mile away, and we live half an hour away. We sheared all day Thursday, and got 8 sheep done. We were going to shear Friday as well, and got all set up Friday morning, and when Ryan grabbed on to the first sheep he realized - they're wet. And you can't shear wet sheep! (It ruins the fleece). So we only got 15 done last week. Ryan is going back up today to work on it again, and I'm super bummed I can't go with him! But I have a "real" job, and there's work to be done!
Soon, it will be lambing time. I'm super excited about that. We have been waiting to get our tax return so we can order all the lambing supplies we need (ear tags, tail dockers, emasculators, medicine, etc). We should have received our refund three weeks ago. I've been waiting and checking, checking and waiting... but nothing. So finally yesterday I called the IRS. I told them I'd been checking my status online, and it just keeps saying my return is "being processed". Well, she was actually very nice and easy to deal with, but gave me bad news. See, Ryan and I received the "First Time Homebuyer Credit" in 2008. We were in the first year it was available. The downside? We're the only year who has to pay it back! We knew we would have to, and starting this year, they just take 10% out of our refund each year. No big deal. Except wait... despite having three years to prepare, the IRS computers aren't equipped to process this repayment! So it will be a minimum of an additional 30 days before we get our federal return! I was a bit upset. On the up side though, it didn't effect our state return, and we received that yesterday. So Ryan was going to order supplies when he realized... I can't order ear tags without an official flock number (a Premiss flock number I guess it's called), which is issued by the state. No big deal, he says. I've already e-mailed them requesting one, and I'll call tomorrow. It's super easy. ....... Except it isn't. They are mailing him forms he needs to fill out, then mail back, and they'll process it.... and a month and a half or two months from now, he'll have his official ear tags from the state. Well, lambs will start showing up in less than two weeks so we can't wait that long! But there's a way around it. We mail the forms back, wait a couple days, and call them. They can tell us the Premiss number over the phone, and we can order ear tags from a lamb supply company, and they can have them to us in just 3 days! So let's hope we can get the form, fill it out, mail it back, wait a few days, call and get the number, order the ear tags and have them shipped all in two weeks. Let the race begin!!!
so things I've learned in the last week:
How to tie bailer twine with gloves on (take the gloves off)
You can spend 3+ hours trying to heard sheep into a barn, or ask a dog to do it in under 5 minutes
How to skirt a fleece - act like you know what you're doing and just go for it. Everyone will be impressed.
It's not always the people you think are interested that stand in the cold with you for hours, asking you all kinds of questions, and learning about what you do.
Family is always there to help (thanks Pat for helping Wednesday, and thanks mom and dad for letting us move in for 3 days!)
Special tax credits, that were super cool 3 years ago, can come back to be a pain later!
You can't sell a sheep, or show a sheep, without an official flock number issued by the state. Not legally any way.
That's my life!
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