learning – Me, Myself and I

Going Back to School

Before the grandchildren came to live with us, I was going to attend meat cutting school. I was working full-time at the grocery store, and part-time in the meat department. There was a need for a part-time meat cutter at the grocery store where I was working, and I would be working at nearby stores to make a full-time schedule. After the children arrived, I went to working one day a week for five hours in the meat department. Although my tasks are more than just wrapping meat as I am allowed to grind meat into hamburger and seasoned taco meat. On occasions I use a knife to cut boneless pork loin chops and split chicken breasts.

Our community is growing with new homes being built and families moving into our area. The business at the small grocery store is increasing, and so is the need to have someone able to cut meat on Sundays. Sunday is the big revenue day of the week for our community. Having a meat cutter to keep the shelves stocked as well as specific requests for customers will only help our store sales continue to grow.

The company offered the opportunity to other employees working at the store who were younger than myself. They all turned it down. The meat department is a cold place to work or they were interested in a different occupation. One young person wants to attend college without the student loans, but does not work to be come a meat cutter as that is not the area they want to learn in school or do for a career. Yet, being a meat cutter would pay more than being a cashier.

I have noticed that the younger generations do not consider trades as a career. The trades are very important if we are to continue to live in houses, have electricity and water along with other comforts of home. My father was a mechanical contractor, meaning he installed plumbing and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) in homes and buildings. My father thought trades were very important and would always be needed. “Everyone has the biological need to use the bathroom. The facility they use may change, but the need will always be there and the waste transported somewhere.” were his words in relation to learning a trade.

Once more I was approached on becoming a part-time meat cutter by attending the meat cutter school. The company is paying for my training, I will have to pay for transportation and a hotel room for a week. After the training I will be a meat cutter provided I pass. I will have a new occupation.

Why a new occupation at the age of 60 years. The truth is we do not have the income coming into our home to pay off the home mortgage that would allow my husband to retire. With the position of meat cutter and working a full-time week, we would be able to pay off the mortgage allowing my husband to retire.

I am excited about this learning adventure. Learning how to cut different portions of meat will assist me in the butcher processing of my own lamb. Learning also keeps our minds active, and younger. I will never stop learning new things.

amtolle

Why Read Blogs?

Today I was thinking about my blog. Deciding what interesting activity would I write about doing today. During my thoughts I asked, Why do I read blogs? Why does anyone read a blog or blogs?

I started reading blogs by other sheep farmers seven years ago. I was wanting knowledge on raising sheep. I also was wanting ideas on how to arrange the buildings on my farm, to work best for what I was going to be doing in the future. To learn how others operate their sheep farm. Hoping to learn from others’ experience, in order to make my experience better and with fewer mistakes, at least I hoped so.

I have done well with being a sheep farmer, and wanted to share with others some of the pitfalls I had, to those beginning their sheep farm. Hoping to help them out and promote my own sheep, I started a sheep farming blog.

WordPress hosted Bloganuary in January and I decided to participate. I enjoyed reading others people’s blogs on various subjects. Blogs of encouragement, poems, cooking, traveling and many other different writings. Through others’ blogs I was able to learn of different cultures and way of thinking. I enjoyed participating in bloganuary for the experience of reading other people’s blogs.

I enjoy sharing with others my creative adventures, farm life, and words that have encouraged me to be the best that I can be. I also want others to know, I am not perfect, I have my faults and my battles. My life has not been easy, but I overcame, and there is a way they can overcome as well.

I have a vast array of interests and hobbies. I love doing creative things. I enjoy sharing my ideas with others. Some are experiments, and other things I have done for many years and are proven. Most of my projects do not take much finances to have fun. Anyone can be creative, there are simple ways to be creative.

I enjoy sharing my interests, hobbies, creative experiments, cooking recipes, etc. with others. I hope those who read my blog, will be encourage to step out and try new things. Life is fun, lots of things to do and try.

I also write, so my grandchildren can read and learn more of their grandmother they do not get to see very often. For them to hear the stories, and learn of my life experiences.

I have lived many moons, seen many different seasons, and I still look to learn something new each day. That is a reason I read blogs. Reading some blogs gives my encouragement to keep trying when times are hard. This past year I have seen pictures of other places that are not seen in tourist advertisements or common places.

Have you thought why do read blogs?

Thank you for taking time to stop by and read.

amtolle

Dorper Sheep Show

**A White Dorper Sheep class at Mid-American Dorper Show April 2022**

The past two days I have been attending the American Dorper Sheep Breeders Society Mid-American Show and Sale in Duncan, Oklahoma. This event is fairly close to where I live, meaning travel expenses are lower than if I went to other events.

Why do I attend this event? I am a sheep farmer raising Dorper sheep. Attending this event I have to opportunity to meet with and talk to other Dorper Sheep breeders. I study their animals and their bloodlines. As a sheep farmer I will need to purchase breeding rams for my farm every two to three years. I want to know what other sheep breeders raise that would benefit my breeding plans for my sheep.

It is an event that brings anxiety as I am very nervous in large crowds. This year the event was even more crowded. With the lifting of many of the moretoriams due to Covid-19, people were able to travel, show and sale their sheep from states that previously they had not been able to travel to. The event is also a large learning time for me to study sheep and bloodlines. I also get to connect with sheep farmers whose sheep I like and want to put their bloodlines in my flock. Sheep farmers are able to see what the sheep look like that others are breeding and what bloodlines they are using with their sheep.

Sheep farmers like looking at others sheep. Talk to each other about the influences in the sheep agriculture business. Mostly, they like to show they have the best sheep. Yes, the show is very competitive. When the sale day arrives, there are some sheep who fetch a very high price as there are sheep farmers wanting to improve their sheep, and bring in different bloodlines.

Two years of not being able to buy rams and ewes with different bloodlines, put the breeding plans on a holding pattern of just maintaining the quality of their sheep, without improving their sheep.

When you live in an area, the area gets saturated with certain bloodlines. Breeding only those bloodlines does not improve your sheep, but can cause your sheep to degrease, as the recessive genetics start showing up as dominant traits. With these large show and sales, sheep farmers are offered the opportunity for bloodlines very different than the ones they have.

Several sheep farmers in different states are bringing in bloodlines from Australia to diversify the bloodlines in the United States. Sheep embryos are purchased, shipped to the United States and implanted in a ewe in their flock. The expense of shipping embryos is much less than trying to ship a sheep. This method is too expensive for me at this time. But I have learned at the event, a sheep farmer and friend has done that and the embryo produced a ram. Great news as a ram will put the bloodlines in many lambs, where a ewe will only put the bloodlines in her lambs.

At this event I met and talked with a breeder and we became friends. They were also able to tell me about the new ram I purchased. The information was most helpful. I am looking forward to more visits as they are close to where I live. Although it will be difficult to purchase sheep from them, since the new ram I purchased came from ewe and ram they had sold to the person I purchased the ram from. Sharing knowledge and conversation will be good.

At the sale I purchased three ewes to add to my breeding program. The person I had purchased the ewes from has been most friendly to us. Has wanted to help us in the sheep business. He has definitely encouraged me to on improving my sheep and showing my sheep. Although I did not have a sheep to show this year. I do have a couple to show next year. He was so thrilled we purchased sheep from him.

Some things I left with I need to learn more about artificial insemination and looking into doing embryo transfers. I also need to find a veterinarian who has working knowledge of the procedures and does them with a good success rate. I will be busy for the next year learning more about being a sheep farmer.

Regardless of what you do for income or as a hobby, there is always more to learn. I need to learn to move forward and improve in what I am doing as a sheep farmer, and with the other things I do with my life.

amtolle