I was fortunate to be able to attend the Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Annual Show and Sale in Abergavenny, Wales, on September 4th, 2008. Then, I got to judge and view a number of flocks, culminating in my attendance at the Cadet Judges training. It was held at the Ted Williams Garth Uchaf Farm in Continue reading

On August 25th, the heat dump loop was completed. Next, we had to work on the actual panel mounting structure. The first step was to get the blocks that would provide the spacing for the braces. That was finished on September 11th. The next day, we started the mounting structure. With the blocks secured, we Continue reading

Another day with Melinda Baker. We sorted and looked at her entire flock, then got to finish two other flocks as well. Here are Melinda’s show sheep, ewe lambs, and wethers. After getting the catch pens set up, we got the sheep into the pen. It was refreshing to see someone else set up pens Continue reading

My next stop was at Melinda Baker’s farm in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. She had to work for part of the day on Friday, so her husband kindly took the day to take me around and play tourist. This is the chapel of the Marston House. It belonged to the Earls of Cork and Orrey. The Continue reading
In the pens, ready to be judged. Ted Williams with his ewe entry. Julia Patterson with her ram. Judge Matthew Evans checking the turn of a ram’s horns. The Adult Ram class. E.O. Williams with his ram. A couple of nice older rams. A very nice boy with wide-spread horns. Checking the shoulders. Checking the Continue reading

This is the Park Guest House, the B&B where I stayed in Abergavenny. I took the first day there to recover, then spent all day on the fourth walking around Abergavenny and doing touristy stuff. Our first stop was, of course, the castle. The ladies at the castle museum sent me on to the St. Continue reading

The installation of the solar hot water system continues. The heat sink pipe is now in the ground, and it’s been fully covered. Continue reading

We’ve decided to install a solar hot water system to provide domestic hot water and heat to the house in winter. We already use a combination hot water heater and boiler that gives us domestic hot water and in-floor radiant heat, but it’s propane-fired. We are in an excellent area for solar, and we hope Continue reading

Here are a few of the mares out on pasture. We’ve run out of grass in the back, so they’re getting hay for now. Continue reading

The first batch of dinner chickens is ready to butcher. These guys are a bit smaller than last year, but they’re also two weeks younger. The difference in food costs may offset the smaller size. Anyway, we’ve been out of chicken for a while, so it will be good to get them done. We do Continue reading