We had a treat in the form of a Senior Field Studies shadow...here is her "Guest Blog" enjoy!

My name is Hallie. I am currently a senior in high school up near Denver. Thanks to an awesome program at my school called Senior Field Studies, I got the chance to spend this past week with the Villard's. I was learning about what really goes into operating a sheep ranch. This week was part of our "rural" unit. Each of us was assigned a host family that could teach us about a kind of life most of us were completely naive to. As the youngest of only two children in my family raised in a quiet Littleton suburb, coming here to the ranch to live with the Villards and their four rambunctious children was quite an adjustment, but definitely a lot of fun! The first day I got here, we went to feed the sheep, and I was very excited to see that someone else had arrived the same day as me, a newborn baby lamb! He was adorable and the perfect introduction to the week following his birth. Throughout the next seven days, I was privileged to experience many things that I never would have been able to experience in my sheltered city lifestyle. I learned to drive a huge tractor and transport an enormous hay bale through the pasture and into the horse's feeder. Later in the week, I went to sheep camp, where I got to experience life as a novice sheep herder. Albert and I rode on horseback down a canyon and through some very rough terrain to retrieve a group of run away sheep. This was very exciting for me, as it combined my familiar love of horses with a new and exciting twist. We went through a second time with a truck and I was allowed to drive all around the property in search of additional renegade sheep. The day was a lot of work and gave me some insight into the typical activities involved in maintaining the ranch. Being a staunch vegetarian from the age of four, I was initially a little nervous about coming to visit an operation focused around raising animals raised for meat, but I soon learned that the Villards do truly care about the animals they raise and were very open-minded concerning my lifestyle. Melody was extremely kind and prepared several delicious homemade meat-free meals, one of which we enjoyed along with about twenty close friends and relatives. This was yet another unique experience for me, coming from a relatively small and very scattered extended family, but it didn't take me long to feel at home. I also spent parts of two days and a night with a friend of mine from Senior Field Studies named Jessica, and her host family to learn about the Cattle ranch they operate. This was completely different from the stay with the Villards but also a lot of fun. Jessica and I explored the property on a four wheeler looking for a lost Angus calf. The calf's mother had rejected him and he was being fostered by a mother Normandy Cow who had lost her own calf. The cow allowed the foreign baby to nurse as long as one of us stayed and prevented her from walking away. This visit was interrupted by news of a fire that started at a nearby sawmill. Upon driving out to the site of the fire, I was amazed to see the size of the blazing woodpile. Even more impressive was how the community had pulled together to help alleviate the disaster through the use of bulldozers and bobcats carrying mass amounts of snow. This visit was full of excitement and was a great addition to my stay. I can't thank the Villards enough for opening their home and their hearts to allow me this opportunity and I will be sure to keep in touch!

~Hallie

I hope you enjoyed her take on things around here! I have a ton to catch up...but it's only going to get busier here for a while, so for now...this is it.

I'll be Baa-ck!
Lola Wooly