Every spring, our sheep get their annual haircut.

These lambs were born in November, so this was their very first shearing this June. While I sheared most of them, my 83-year-old grandma still wanted to shear a couple herself. I finished them afterward, but having her hands on the sheep was what mattered.

Our family has been raising these sheep since the 1950s, and shearing day has been part of that tradition for generations. Some skills aren't just about getting the job done, they're about staying connected to the work, the animals, and the people who came before you.

This is No Signal, Life happens when you put the phone down.

Gear used:
Columbia PFG sun shirt
Premier sheep shears
Sony a6100
Leatherman multitool
Work Sharp sharpener

#SheepShearing #FamilyFarm #Homesteading #NoSignal #RanchLife

Five years ago I stood at the starting line of Ironman Coeur d'Alene. 140.6 miles. 105 degrees. A record heat wave moving through the West. I wanted to finish sub-12 hours. I finished at 15:58.

This is what happened in between and why it was still one of the best days of my life.

No Signal, Life happens when you put the phone down.

Last week we butchered one of our lambs. My two boys sat in the dirt and watched the whole thing.

I'm not going to show you any of it. No blood, nothing. This isn't that kind of episode. But I am going to be honest about what the day actually was.

I believe if you can't kill what you eat, you shouldn't be eating meat. I think it's wrong to hand that off to someone else and then look down on the people who do it. So we raised this animal, we fed it, and when the time came we did the hard part ourselves  and I let my sons see where their food comes from.

Then they drank a soda in the dirt and went back to being kids, because to them it was just another day on the farm. Maybe that's the whole thing right there.

A note before you start: nothing graphic is shown or described in detail. If the subject isn't for you, skip this one. But if you've ever wondered where your meat comes from, this is an honest look at it.

No Signal. Life happens when you put the phone down.

New episodes every Tuesday
Watch on YouTube: @NoSignallife
 

My grandpa kept this tractor running for years with a pair of vice grips clamped to the battery terminal. It worked, until I went to fix it the right way and the whole connector broke off in my hand.

This is the tractor that moves the chicken tractor and mows the fields. When it went down, the farm went with it. So I spent the afternoon working backward through it, a spliced starter wire with no nuts and no tape, an ignition with power but no crank, corrosion, and finally a broken terminal I had to replace with a part pulled off my grandpa's '65 Fairlane. One old machine fixing another.

My grandparents are 85 and 83 and still out here every day. Grandpa's at the tractor with me. Grandma walks up in the middle of it to ask about her computer. The analog and the digital, back to back.

Life happens when you put the phone down.

I came over to work on the siding. I left having torn out the whole outdoor kitchen behind my grandparents' garage.

It had been rotting for years. My grandma wanted it gone. My grandpa didn't. He came out, no hearing aids in, not in a good mood, told me to do whatever I wanted, and walked off. So I started anyway. The thing was pulp underneath; you could see why it had to go.

Then he came back out and said, "take it all down."

He's a complicated man. He's been in a lot of pain lately, and he hasn't been easy, on me, or on my grandma. But I keep showing up. This one's about that.

Life happens when you put the phone down.

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My plan was siding. My grandparents had a different plan.

A neighbor down the street lost her husband. She gave my grandparents his hammock. Their number one priority that Tuesday was getting it hung up.

My grandpa is 85. He didn't put it up for himself. He put it up for the great grandkids.

This episode is about what happens when someone else's priorities become yours — and what that teaches you about the life you're trying to build.

No Signal. Life happens when you put the phone down.

• (00:00) - 30 Second Intro

I grew up thinking Starbucks was good coffee. For a long time it was all I knew.

Then I started roasting my own. Green beans from Sweet Maria's, a Whirlipopper on the stove, and a process that takes about 20 minutes from raw to ready. One cup a week. That's it.

This episode is about what happens when you slow down around one thing. I gave up coffee for Lent this year and my anxiety dropped noticeably. I'm still not sure if that was caffeine or the ritual I had built around it. Maybe both.

This isn't really about coffee. It's about intentionality, the same thing No Signal has always been about.|

Green bean sourcing: Genuine Origin (genuineorigin.com) and Sweet Maria's (sweetmarias.com)

Roaster: Whirlipopper stovetop popcorn popper

Grinder: Breville Smart Grinder Pro

Espresso machine: Breville Dual Boiler

Brew method: Pour over and espresso

We were in Hawaii for a week. Three families, my parents' generosity, real rest. While we were gone a chicken died, my grandpa got worse, and a ewe lambed that nobody expected. She was moved out of the ram pen on December 5th. If you do the timing she was bred December 3rd. The flock didn't wait for anyone's permission. I came home to a full week of work, a garden that needed attention, and a property I'm still learning how to run. Someone in Connecticut is buying wool from my grandparents' flock after hearing episode two. Ernie's wool finding someone who values it. This is No Signal, life happens when you put the phone down.

Before you can go anywhere, the animals still need feeding. This week I loaded 49 bags of feed, mowed my grandparents' lawn, moved the chickens, and made sure everything was set before three families headed to Hawaii. While I was unloading feed my grandpa told me he thinks a lot of what he's done has been pointless. I told him about the podcast. I told him about Ernie. I told him people in Japan are listening. I told him it will outlast him. Then I went to Hawaii. This is No Signal, life happens when you put the phone down.

• (00:00) - 30 Second Intro

This morning I walked to my neighbor's property with my bow. Decoy out, tom fan, box call, gobble call. Just me under an oak tree waiting. The first two turkeys this season went to my boys. This one was mine. While I was sitting there I kept thinking about how I got here. Brad Gunter handed me my hunting license at 11 years old in Roseville. His son Nate officiated my wedding. My dad hunted ducks and pheasant half a mile from where I live now. My boys have already been in the blind. Some things are too specific to be random. This is No Signal, life happens when you put the phone down. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

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