"The Ruby"

We've got 3 sheep here at our place, 2 are idiots and one is a genius. Take into consideration that I'm using the term "genius" very loosely, but adhering strictly to the term "idiots" for the other two... the Psycho Sisters, Dummy and Stupid. But then there's the good sheep, Ruby.



Ruby thinks she's part dog, and it's probably my fault... I've spoiled that old wool winter coat with hooves something fierce. She's bound to me 'bout as bad as my folks are to eating at Ponderosa, she just can't help herself. She loves chewing gum, and I oblige her penchant for it almost daily. Leftover salad? She's up to the fence before you're even halfway there with it.

Now the only reason we've got ANY sheep left is because it's that much grass I don't have to mow... and between me and you... I like pampering Ruby. We didn't figure she'd make it through another winter, she's like a million in sheep years, and we nearly lost her about a month ago. She got down in the mud and was partially paralyzed with the cold. I found her and got her up out of the mud, got her all propped up on a hay pile and poured about 10 gallon of nice warm water over her and 'bout 3 or 4 hours later... there she went walking across the yard. Good as ever. :-)

I put a bird feeder up a couple of years ago on one of the fenceposts beside our yard and couldn't figure out where the hell all the birdseed was going. If we had birds emptying that thing THAT fast, there had to be some mighty fat birds in the trees just waiting to bust a limb off, fall out on someone and hurt 'em.

Then, I found the culprit.



Ruby the genius got it figured out if she just stood there and butted the fencepost, she had her own little version of the Ponderosa "all you can eat" food bar. Everytime she smacked it, 'bout a 1/4 cup of bird seed splashed out and she sucked it up. She's playing innocent in this picture... don't fall for it.


Then this evening, Sally is standing at the sink looking out the window and said, "I think Ruby's stuck." I looked out the window and she had her head at an odd angle through the barbed wire fence. She was just kinda locked up, frozen there. So I grabbed a pair of scissors (to hack wool off that was most likely tangled in the wire), pulled on my boots and a coat and sure enough, she was stuck. I clipped her a little and started pulling on her head and wire trying to get the whole mess untangled. Now she had her head through the fence onto the yard side and everytime I pulled on her head, it inched her lips a little closer to the forbidden fruit of "yard grass" and she took full advantage of it. I'd pull on her, she'd start nibbling as fast and furious as she could. This happened a few times until I was laughing so hard I couldn't hardly untangle the old girl.

I think it was a ploy to get me to help her get yard grass. I dunno... it worked if that's what it was. :-)