Smokey Mountain Breakdown

As it turns out....shearing a sheep...not so different from grooming a cocker spaniel after all.

I didn't do it like the pros do. I didn't flip him on his back or take it off in one piece. We took lots of breaks to cool the blades down and let him catch is breath, but I think he actually enjoyed it. I basically just started at his head like I would a very matted cocker and peeled him out of it like a banana.

So now I have a pile of discarded sheep's clothing. Not sure what to do with it at this point but will stuff it in a bag to keep it separate from the next pile of sheep's clothing that is to come.

And that's going to be the hard part. Mutton is my buddy. He comes up to get his butt scratched and is a general snugglepuss as far as sheep go. He's got a spot under his chin that if you scratch just right, he'll close his eyes and moan. Slutty, slutty boy.

Chops is a different matter. He's not really into the "touching" thing at all.

For Friday Ark

When last we checked in with Mutton and Chops, they were enjoying being kept on the back porch while they adjusted to the new digs and were having a fairly nice assortment of foodstuffs and hose water being hand catered into them. Such is the life of a pampered sheep.

Unfortunately, these two boys are badasses. They immediately decided to ditch the ritzy resort accommodations and go native. Go drink some of that goat tequila with the worm in it.

"Hey Mutton, will you check out the udder on THAT doe!"

"Yeah, Chops! I say we go get us some 'strange'!"

So, I come down one morning, a few days after the boys arrived to find that those seemingly harmless curved horns are good for something. That something being busting through a nailed shut barricade I had on the open end of the porch.

So, they cunningly escaped and snuck off to the pasture. Exactly where I would have put them when I took them off the back porch.

Mutton is the friendlier of the two, but he's a bit of a con artist. He has a deceptively sweet face that belies a rather dominant nature. But it's good for getting snacks.

It didn't take long for them to insert themselves in the pecking order of the barnyard. They don't take any gaff from the goats. None, whatsoever. They do show a tiny bit of deference to the geese, who stand unchallenged as far as being the most aggressive animals in the barnyard. I mean, nobody likes being grabbed by their private parts and that is the geese's secret jutsu.

They have even tried that crap with me, but usually they miss and get my very large backside. I got beak shaped bruises to prove it that I will politely refrain from showing you.

Right now, nobody can tell where the sheep's private parts actually are. I'm betting once their armor fleece is removed that they will be skedaddling from the geese like little girly boys.

They are settling in nicely and seem completely unaware that they are not living an exciting life on the sheep lam. (bad unintentional pun alert)