I am honored to be the first guest writer on the Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch website! My name is Holly and I am a wwoofer. I arrived last Monday to stay for a week and learn everything I can possibly soak up in such a short time.
Its another beautiful morning on the ranch. Yes, even grey skies and fog in the tops of the trees are beautiful. I only have two more mornings on the ranch so I’ll enjoy this one as long as it lasts!
Yesterday there were no calves to greet us when we went to the barn and I am sure they are going to hold out until just after I leave!
After morning chores we all piled in to the Chevy and drove up the farm road to visit a litter of neighbor pigs. All of us wwoofers were really excited to see the little piggies! It’s a good thing that animal owners usually like to talk about their critters cause we ask more questions than the host on Jeopardy! I’ve concluded that the best thing about pigs is the snuffly snouts! (I also like bacon quite a bit…sorry piggies.)
After our visit with the pigs, each of us wwoofers selected a project to work on for the afternoon. Lesley is now practically an expert on sharpening chainsaw chains! Quatra spent a few quality hours wrestling 14 gauge fence wire into ‘s’ hooks for hanging chicken feeders up off the ground. She earns brownie points for volunteering to do the job involving Sumos. Eww! Derek is in the process of fixing the screen door for the kitchen down at the barn. The screen part of the door was coming out of the frame, which does defeat the purpose of a screen door. He was taking off old molding and pulling out staples like a pro! I spent the afternoon making a new ‘fresh eggs’ arrow. So far it’s a beautifully shaped arrow with its first coat of white paint. After its finished and can begin fulfilling its purpose guiding folks to the fresh eggs, hoodlums had better think twice about snatching it because I’m pretty proud of that sign and I have to find them and retrieve it!
Then came the biggest adventure of the day! It was time to trim lamb hooves! Greg gave a quick lesson and soon the sheep pen was swarming with lambs and eager hoof trimming students! Quatra is a mighty sheep wrangler, making some excellent grabs. Derek is also an excellent wrangler, but he also likes to spend time bonding with the lambs he catches. He and his lambs chatted about peanuts and other lamb things and hung out while waiting for a professional hoof inspection. Jokes were flying and laughter was ringing off the walls as lambs were caught, wriggled, escaped, were re-captured, and finally had their hooves trimmed and were booted out the gate. Chance made her rounds inspecting the progress of the hoof trimming students. Lesley got an especially wiggly lamb but after capturing the escapee, she successfully trimmed all four hooves! Our first hoof trimming experience was a success!
Well, the clock is creeping toward 7:30 so I had better stop rambling and lace up my work boots! Enjoy your day!