17 Acre Woods

08/29/2026

A couple nights ago Mother Nature apparently said, “Y’all look a little too comfortable.” 😂🌧️🌪️

Over 3 inches of rain, broken trees, limbs everywhere, a collapsed pool, and somewhere in the middle of it all I’m pretty sure I saw the Wicked Witch of the East flying past the barn. 🧙‍♀️💨

So today’s agenda at 17 Acre Woods: skid steer, grapple, chainsaw, cleanup… and figuring out what else got relocated to the next county.

On the bright side—we needed the rain. We just didn’t necessarily need it delivered sideways at 70 mph. 😂

08/25/2026

At 17 Acre Woods, we provide fresh water, shade, food, and apparently… a full-service spa. 😂💦

Why drink out of the trough when you can climb in and become the problem?

🎶 Splish splash, I was takin’ a bath… 🎶

Just another completely normal day around here. 🤦‍♂️😂

08/15/2026

Here’s Crescents fleece (babydoll). We just sheared our Valais this last week too and soon will post their fleeces. Reach out if you are interested in any of our fleeces! Thanks Bur Oaks Farm for sharing!

08/12/2026

When you’re an LGD out fighting bad guys…and the bad guy turns out to be a porcupine that fights back. 😳

He may not have won this round, but you’ve got to admire the commitment to protecting the ranch!

Poor guy had to be sedated where 41 quills were pulled out!

08/10/2026

This is how livestock math works at our house…

Wife: “I’m ordering a sheep from Minnesota.”

Also wife: “Well, if we’re shipping one, we might as well get two.”

Me a few days later: “When are those two sheep coming?”

Wife: “Well… there was a problem.”

🚩🚩🚩

Apparently somebody else was getting two, she ordered them too, they backed out… so naturally now we’re getting four.

Then she hits me with:

“Well, if we’re getting four, we might as well get five.”

So anyway… that’s the story of how 1 sheep became 5 sheep without me ever actually agreeing to sheep #2, #3, #4, or #5. 😂🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑

At this rate, I’m afraid to ask when the sheep are coming again. We’ll end up with a semi pulling into the driveway.

Molly Sherman Kalinowski
Chris Kalinowski

08/08/2026

It’s hot in Texas, so we shear (thank you, Daniel) our Valais twice a year, August and February/March. I think the Valais are liking their much cooler summer do’s.

We still have a few Valais ewe lambs (F2, F3, and F4) available as well as many fleeces to choose from. Reach out if you’re interested!

08/02/2026

From rags to riches!

Buzz was one of the Toy Story puppies rescued from the Gatesville ranch. He came to us in April of 2025 with terrible manage, covered in fleas, and at an age where he missed out on socialization. I remember Chris picking him up and Buzz biting him.

We’ve been patiently working with Buzz and our confident other LGD’s have been showing him the ropes. Buzz is still weary of strangers and hides when anyone comes over, but slowly and surely we are making progress. He’s gone from a hide in the corner guy to living his best life and emptying out every single toy from the toy box daily.

Buzz enjoys being an LGD at night (he’s great with chickens, peacocks, and sheep) and living the AC life when it’s too hot out. We can’t imagine him not being with our pack and like to think he’s living his best life.

Bluebonnet Animal Rescue Network has so many of these dogs that you could really make a difference with. Please consider fostering or adopting one of the Gatesville dogs and save their life.

07/30/2026

Huge shoutout to Chris Kalinowski for picking up this litter today in Gatesville and bring them to Bluebonnet Animal Rescue Network

We have another litter we are trying to pull too of two week old pups. Now is the time to put in your application to foster or adopt. These are Great Pyrenees/Akbash pups.

Located in the North Texas area!

Many thanks to Chris for picking up this litter of 7 puppies from the Gatesville ranch that has been the focus of so much of our rescue work for the past 2+ years. They’re headed home with me to Windsong Ranch where we’ll get them started with flea treatments and deworming plus plenty of groceries. I’ll give each pup a good once-over to see how many boys and girls there are, and I’ll take a look at their puppy teeth to see how old they probably are. The rancher said 8-12 weeks, and these puppies are definitely on the young end of that guess. We’ll get them scheduled for a visit with All Heart Veterinary Center soon and before long, they will be ready to meet potential adopters.

Stay tuned!

07/28/2026

The sheep are enjoying watermelon from our garden too, especially our harlequin, Marilyn.

07/25/2026

How are you keeping your animals cool?

Today we threw out some homegrown pumpkins to the cows and donkeys.