Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Put a hex on it!





Aimee is Pennsylvanian, and so the first thing she did when she had a house of her own, the first one she had which was the old Bale House, was to put a hex sign on it.

These are a Pennsylvanian tradition, and each symbol means something specific. In the case of our hex sign, we have a distelfink, or thistle-finch, which means good luck and happiness. The oak leaves are for strength. I'm not sure what the wheat is for. Maybe it's barley, for beer, for me!

I just rescued the sign from our old house. I had to go over there to make some repairs, and so I picked it up.

The other shot is of poor old Abraram, our ram, now separated from his harem, and not very happy about it. He's sequestered because tupping season is on us, and we don't want him impregnating his daughters and granddaughters and great-granddaughters, dirty old patriarch that he is.

He'll get no sex this year. After last spring's hard birthings for the older ewes, which are the only ones not related to Abe, they're in retirement.

We should make mutton out of them and Abe, but we promised their former owners that this first generation would die of old age, not of butchering. A little sentimental, but a promise is a promise.

No such sentiment will apply to the next generations, years N through P.

2 comments:

  1. poor old chap - couldn't you get a nice young thing to keep him company... :)

    we too are pondering when to put the ram in with the ewes. soon probably

    ReplyDelete
  2. He's a knucklehead this time of year, and nearly broke Aimee's arm this year while she was reaching through the gate to get a food dish and he decided to charge. He broke the gate! I usually take either a hose or a stick when I go into his pen. And I don't wait for him to get me. I get him first! Turn your back and he'll have you. We will get our "rental ram" in late October or early November, most likely. We like April lambs, as we generally have deep snow until then.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to our Farm Blog.
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