Sam's Icelandic Sheep Farm, llc

 

There is so much that happens here. It takes on a whole new meaning of "just another day". In our past lives we loved opera, theater and all those things that come from living in a big, metropolitan city. People-watching used to be a favorite of mine. Now we have opera every day, from chickens crowing to obnoxious guineas screeching, to birds singing and trilling throughout the day. The woodpeckers I liken to the drumming section; the roosters heralding the oepra's beginning; our cacophony of wild birds delivering the body of the music score; and the guineas shrieking the killing, death, disaster that is always depicted in the opera. And believe me, it carries on all day long!

Our little theater here is watching the lambs play, the dogs romp, the birds run around like mindless ninnies trying to get some bug or morsel before the others. Watching a deer graze, and a squirrel shell and crack a nut is viewing in the most wondrous form. Then the obnoxious armadillo tears up the pasture until a dog sees it and there's murder in the air. One of the guardian dogs prances around with a rabbit hanging out of its mouth while the rest of the dogs are circling as if saying, "Can I have a bite?" — it will send you to your knees in laughter. There's a pair of bald eagles in the neighborhood, and occasionally we will see one of them gently soar so gracefully that it catches in your throat. Our ponds have the occasional nesting gray heron, snapping turtles and snakes slithering through the water with graceful ease that belies their deadly intent. Reality Theater is what we call it, and it is never-ending, unfolding all day and night long.

Rebuilding the Guinea House

Make sure you watch the slideshow below to get a "glimpse" of our farm and what we originally dubbed "The Guinea House" because Diana envisioned housing our guineas in here once we got it rebuilt. Then we could have guinea eggs and the occasional guinea on the table and in return they would keep down the insects, mainly ticks, of which there is no shortage. They are also very good foragers of weed seeds. The goodness of this simple idea was overwhelming. It didn't turn out that way, though. Instead, the guineas, which we never got around to taming, decided to roost in trees or wherever. They have managed to get themselves picked off by owls and other birds of prey until there were only 11 left. Still yet, they do a fine job keeping down the ticks!

But then Diana decided to get some rooster chickens for meat birds. Once again, repairing The Guinea House became a top priority. Diana has a brother who has built houses for a living, so he showed us how to build the forms. From there, concrete was poured and walls were filled in around them. We even built a little chicken door!