Saturday, June 30, 2007

Yes life is good, but I'm sick (and tired)

I've been running a temp for two days and I'm SO tired. Not sure what's going on... Hoping to feel better tomorrow so I can put up some fencing to wean the lambs. I've got a new vet who actually does farm visits coming out on Monday morning too.

I would like to post some recent photos, but my computer isn't reading my card slots or my usb port. Are there any computer whizzes out there who can tell me how to fix that?



We'll just have to make do with some older shots. Here are Gillian's twin ewe lambs, Sadie, the sweetest little moorit tail wagger (top photo), and Sophie, who is coming around to being petted slowly but surely (bottom photo). Sophie is lighter colored and may end up fawn. Gillian at age ten, has done a fine job with these two!


Wednesday, June 20, 2007

A few photos...

It's been a while since I've written anything here. The graduation open house that occupied all my time is history now and I've been enjoying the summer and the sheep.

Here's a photo of Geronimo, one of our 4 ram lambs born this year. He's so cute -- his face reminds me of a little burrow. His horns are pretty small compared to the other three ram lambs and he is unregisterable with NASSA, so we decided to wether him. He would make a wonderful fiber pet or companion for another sheep. He's a very friendly little guy and he's got a great crimpy fleece that will turn a cream color as he matures.


And this is the black BFL ewe lamb I will be getting from Brenda Lelli this summer. Isn't she gorgeous? I'm so excited to be adding her to my flock!

Here's a photo of our little Dot at just one day old. She found a nice shady spot to sleep while her mother grazed in the background - it was a hot day. She's getting so big already - two weeks old now. She makes a nuisance of herself with the older lambs who are now pretty interested in grazing rather than racing with her.

In the last photo, she's relaxing with her older half-sister Delia.

Monday, June 04, 2007

She's Here! Our last lamb of 2007




I am happy to announce that our last lamb of 2007 arrived this afternoon. She's a little white shetland mule lamb with polk-a-dots on one ear, so her name is tentatively set as Dottie. I was worried about having a yearling ewe bred to the BFL ram, but all went well, thankfully.

I was keeping an eye on Cora this morning because it looked like her belly had dropped. When I checked on her around 2:30, Dottie's head was already out -- perfect timing on my part! A few more pushes and Dottie was out. Cora laid there for a little while and I cleared Dottie's nose and mouth of mucous. She was a little tentative about licking Dottie off, but she got into it as time went on. Both are doing well now. Dottie is thin, but her mom has plenty of colostrum for her and she's determined to get as much as she can.

So we end the year with a total of 16 lambs. We got 12 ewe lambs and 4 ram lambs for a 3 to 1 ewe/ram ratio, so I am very pleased with the 2007 lamb crop.
Big sigh of relief...lambing is done and we had no problems, just the way I like it!

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Still waiting


Cora still hasn't lambed. I saw her bred on Dec. 26 so I had her due date marked on the calendar as May 22. She must not have taken at that breeding, but at a later date. You can see in the photo that she's got a nice bag going, but her tummy isn't very big. Maybe she's due 16 days later than I thought?



Here's a shot of Harley's fleece, he may be lightening up some. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.

And finally, here's a shot of our new pole building. They finished it on Friday. Now we need some class five fill brought in and the water line and electricity added. Then we can fix up an area in back for the sheep.

Getting ready for Christmas Markets!

  I'll be doing two Christmas markets this year. The first one is at Sapsucker Farms in Brook Park, MN Nov. 18-19th. And the second one ...