Jacob Had Daughters??

"Reuben was the eldest of the children of Israel 

With Simeon and Levi the next in line 

Napthali and Isaachar with Asher and Dan 

Zebulon and Gad took the total to nine 

Jacob. Jacob and sons 

Benjamin and Judah, which leaves only one, actually three

Jacob! Then Mariah and Hannah 

Who were Jacob's actual favorites"

-the better version of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" 

So in case you didn't catch what I was throwing in my intro, Hannah and I have been working on a sheep farm the past week and have been learning all about the art of sheep herding! But first let me back track: 

On Thursday (March 26th), we left Hanmer Springs and hitch hiked our way to Blenheim. The man that picked us up was a local from Blenheim who works with the farmers and their banking. We told him our story and where we were going and he knew our hosts for WWOOFING! What a small world! Andrew (our hitch hikee, aka:driver) was kind enough to stop a few times to show us the seals along the coast. 

Those little brown specs are the sea lions that were ALL over the coast

We took a little hike to the place where all the seal pups went for the day

We made it to Blenheim and Andrew dropped us off right at the farm! Helen and Ron are who we are staying with. Those two and their son, Greg, own the farm together. The farm is 3,000 acres, has 1,500 sheep, 400 cattle, a vineyard, and loads of other animals! Helen and Ron just recently moved into town, so now it's just Greg on the farm. When we first got there, there were already WWOOFER's staying on the farm, so we have been staying in town with Helen and Ron and driving into the farm everyday. 

The first day, we hung out with Ron. He manages the vineyard, so we helped him flush out the water pipes so that cleaner water would drip on the plants. 

The Vineyard is all to the right and in front of Hannah

Ron organizing his grape seed pile

On Saturday there was a great bike race. Helen and Ron were working it all day, so we tagged along. It was a very relaxing day for Hannah and I. We read our books, ate good food and watched as wounded bikers with their shorts all torn up came crawling back... 

So many bikers! 

On Sunday (day of rest, so no work for us!) Helen and Ron took us to the Heritage Museum in Blenheim. It was set up like an old town, with a Barber Shop, a pharmacy, and a household appliance store. Each store had things they used way back when!

A shop full of cattle ranching/sheep herding supplies 

Check out those vacuum cleaners!

Guilty of loving "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" too much

One of my favorite shops had old radios piled floor to ceiling

This may have been the moment when Ron and 

Helen realized we like to sing...a little too much

Hannah "Vanna White" Myott

Helen and Ron, as we took a ride on the train

On Monday, it was back to work for us. Helen had some work for us to do around the house. As usual, Hannah and I turned it into a source of entertainment. Helen wanted us to stain the fence in the front yard, she was nice enough to get us suits that would protect our clothes from the stain. Before we got to work, we had to get all of our giggles out while pretending to be astronauts...

Hannah just casually floating away

You can't tell, but I may be in the midst of an epic Disney duet with Hannah

Anyway, back to the farm! We were very excited about coming to this farm because we heard they had puppies, and we were not disappointed! The following one million photos are here to melt your hearts:

Worried Belle and her pups

Heaven??

Thug Life

and you're welcome

Besides the sheep and cattle, the farm also has pigs, chickens, and lots of dogs (see above pictures). 

The big, friendly bull

The farm has 9 adult, herding dogs. This is Hercules, he likes hugs 

These two are about the same age, 2 months. The little one is a wild boar that Greg caught 

On Tuesday, we had a busy sheep herding day with Greg. We needed to get the sheep off the hilly paddock, down onto the farm's lawn so that they could be sorted for breeding. We made our way through the hills bright and early. 

Key in Lord of the Rings Music

The view from the top of a hill

Hannah scouting for sheep

We took the truck to get up into the paddock, but walked some to "muster" the sheep (get them into one place so the dogs can herd them easier)

Ready to herd! 

It was absolutely amazing to see the dogs at work. Greg would blow a few whistles and the dogs new instantly what to do. With the help from Greg and their instincts, they were able to get the sheep where they wanted them to be with very little time! 

We came across a few cows along the path

The dogs hard at work

Once we herded them (I keep using "we" but really it was Greg and the dogs. Hannah and I just opened gates and watched with our mouths open in astonishment of what was happening). Anyway, when we got the sheep down to the farm lawn, we had to sort them into different classes of sheep. We had green and yellow chalk to mark them. The yellow chalked noses were the sheep with the best wool, good stature and clean skin, the ones that weren't marked were just your average sheep, and the green chalked noses were in between. Once sorted, Greg will then sort the rams with the best sheep so that his herd can keep improving. It's quite the process! Yeah science! 

While Greg inspects and decides, Hannah marks the noses

I didn't need Greg though

Ok, I can't lie...Greg is there, in the background talking to someone

Finally, Greg would put the sheep in certain paddocks based on their color. 

It's been an AWESOME week so far! I can't wait to see what next week has in store for us! Not only are Ron, Helen, and Greg hosting us, but they are also going out of their way to teach us about the farming they do. Greg went into a lot of detail about how he sorts and why he sorts. It's been a really fascinating experience so far!