Cross-Eyed Mary

Cross-Eyed Mary is one of my favorite barn kitties. She is named after a Jethro Tull song. CE Mary is very, very affectionate. I often find her hanging above me from the rafters when I'm with the sheep, purring and swaying back and forth, she's so happy to see me.

Barn Kitties

I have some beautiful kitties who live in the hay mow. They are shy and some won't let me hold them. I try to put my hands on them at least once a day when I'm putting out food to get them used to human contact. The kitties are earning their keep in many ways. When I bought this barn it was inhabited by many, many pidgeons who perched on the hay elevator track and covered the floor with poop. The kitties chased them into the silos, then went to work on clearing them out of there. When I moved in here with my sheep and their grain, the rats thought it was party time. No parties, no rats. Thank you, kitties. I know you pick off my chicks once in a while, but I forgive you.

Big Brother

Chris is living with the goat moms and their babies in the hay mow. Tough duty. All those bales of second cut hay to eat between naps. I opened up the big barn doors today for everybody to go out and enjoy some of this glorious sunshine. Bad weather due back next week. The moms went out and tried to get the babies to follow, but no luck. They looked outside, but once those tiny hoofs touched the cold snow they ran back into the hay. Matt got the trailer unstuck with much struggle and rocking back and forth. He unloaded the remaining bales into the barn and went back to Postma's for more. I've got a red dyed fleece to spread out in Mia and Hannah's room for drying and another on the stove. Last winter I was drying fiber on the kitchen table and fighting off cats. Much easier this way. I turn the heat on in that room and with the overhead fan on high the fiber dries just fine, undisturbed by cats and dogs. With lambing and kidding over, hopefully, I'm on full speed wool processing duty. If I think of all the work I have to do in the barn and in this apartment, with making product for upcoming shows, and my busy time at work this spring with special ed paperwork, etc. I just don't know how I'm going to get it all done. But then, I won't get it all done, and that's okay. Like I told my students, it's not finding the Holy Grail that's important, it's the quest that counts. Then I see, just now on TV, the little boy Monley, who was unearthed from debris after EIGHT days of no food or water, and how well he is doing and how happy he is to be alive, but how his family is dead and there's nobody to take care of him, and I feel so fortunate to have this farm, this farm business and my job in a country with so many opportunities.

Naughty Little Goaties

Baby goats are as curious as cats and drive their moms crazy with worry. These cuties are wondering what's going on downstairs. Notice how mom comes to check on them and keep them out of harm's way. One baby did go down head first but luckily stayed under the hole until I could lift him up. With the hay pack so high he did not have a long way to go. I had a board propped up but the babies flipped it down for tap dancing, which baby goats do so well.

Friday Night

Colder last night. I was afraid to climb the ladder to the hay mow for fear the baby goats might have slipped their sweaters and froze. They were fine, with round bellies and warm backs. After bottle feeding Tank and Luna I set off for work. Good to see my friends again. Mrs. Price and Miss Huggins, aides in my class, took good care of everything while I was out. I hate to be absent. I always think some kind of calamity will take place having to do with me and I won't be there to put out fires or defend myself. Everything was okay. The kids had worked hard for two days so I took Last of the Mohegans to show them. I told them about JF Cooper (we live near Cooperstown) and how this movie takes place in Central New York. They seemed impressed by that. I know Mrs. Price, Ms. Huggins and I were impressed with Daniel Day-Lewis. OH, what an excellent portrayal of Nathaniel. I came home to find little Tank and his mother had escaped from their pen. Tank is a bit nervous these days. He's taking his bottle okay and his belly is round and firm. Mom, an older ewe, is attentive but doesn't have a lot of milk. Have to pay some special attention to him this weekend. Billy Goat only took half a bottle while at work with Matt today. He is kind of upset, too. I don't think I will send him with Matt next week. I can't get him to take his bottle tonight. I held him for a half hour or so and he fell asleep in my arms. I'll hold him some more after chores tonight. Poor thing doesn't have a goat mother to nuzzle and dote over him like the other kids do. I would like to start sewing and making soap again sometime soon, but with the state of this place I can only live and hope.

A New Home for Billy Goat

If everything goes alright Billy Goat will surrender his American citizenship and emigrate to Canada. Kim's friend, Julianna, heard about Billy and staked her claim to adopt him. Billy has to pass a TB and brucelosis test, along with a vet exam, and I have to put a flock tag in his ear (oh, no!)before he can cross the border. I haven't told him about his new home yet. I don't want to upset him. Billy is bonded to me now and is taking his bottle very well. He's such a fine, sturdy buckling so I'm sure he will adjust to his new home without a problem. Billy has a beautiful, thick red coat and lovely blue eyes, just like his grandmother Celeste. I'm happy he's found a home - on a bunny farm! What fun!

Gang of Roving Lambs

I took this picture while doing chores tonight. Dina, Mary Magdalene, Joseph and Loki were bouncing around the barn while their moms were chowing down. This is a very happy time for them. They are still nursing and can fill their tummies with rich milk at any time. Moms have to wait for their hay to be delivered!

Goatie Playground

The kids are having a ball in the upper hay mow. They are just too cute. I love to watch them play.

Little Angels

My babies keep me busy and take my mind off politics. I used to be so blissfully ignorant of what was going on in government. College changed that. Real life changed that. Kids in the Army changed that. My job as a public school teacher changed that. Ted Kennedy must be hopping up and down in his grave. Too bad he died before the health care bill could be passed. Obama spent so much time trying to work with Republicans instead of strong arming health care and look what happens. Scott Brown drives around in his Carhartts and pickup truck and says he represents the little guy. I'm the little guy and he doesn't represent me. When he gets to Washington he will fall in with the other Republicans who want the little guy to just crawl away into a hole and die without costing them any money. And what's with the Supreme Court? Now Big Oil and the pharmaceutical giants can spend all they want on political campaigns? Another blow to the little guy. Goodbye small farmers, artists, poets and musicians. No health care for you. Let me go and hug one of my babies...

Home Again

I have to face the fact that I am no longer bullet-proof. I'm home for another day. Got up to get ready for work and realized I was still feverish, sweaty and not well. Called my faithful, wonderful, amazing aide, Mrs. Price, who told me everything was going well in school and not to worry. Every teacher should have a Mrs. Price. I might actually get the dishes washed today and put a load of laundry in. It's nice to be able to keep up with breaking news and spend quality time with the critters. I'll be sitting up today more than lying down. Yesterday was a prone day. I made an appointment with the Bassett clinic in Sherburne to get checked out next week. It's tough to get appointments around here but they have some new people on staff. I haven't had a "doctor" ever in my life, other than an obstetrician or an orthopedic when I broke my leg. I can't imagine someone looking at my total well being, the way people do when they have a regular MD they see every year, but maybe "Nurse Tonya," a local nurse practitioner, will do that. I have many questions about this and that. When something is going on I look it up on the internet and come up with a dire diagnosis that's probably ridiculous. Matt likes to tell me that if something happens to me the farm will be "disbanded immediately," in his words. I don't like the sound of that! At least he's honest.

Head Cold

Home from work. Head and body in the throes of some kind of cold virus. Fever, too. Hope the moms take care of their babies out there 'cause I'm down for the count.

Good to be Home

I'm okay once I get there, as a matter of fact I had a really good day, but driving in snow is not fun. We have big windows in the classroom and a pretty, soft snow fell all morning. The roads were much better on the way home. I was anxious to check on all the babies. The hay mow kids are fine - bellies full and backs warm under their sweaters. There's a lot of hay up there for them but we have to haul water up the ladder. It's clean, dry and cold. I'll be getting the remaining three mommies with their babies up there in the next day or two. Monkey's black boy is tiny, smaller than red Billy Goat brother. He might get lost in the hay, so I'll wait a day or two for him to grow a bit. The other two are only two days old. I had to float one in a warm bathtub to get the chill out of him. He's coming along nicely. The dogs will be happy when I get the goats out of that room, as we have to pass the mommies on the way out the door. Today one mother attacked the dogs as they were passing by her baby. You've never seen dogs move away so fast. Cooked some of Mary's local chopped beef into spaghetti sauce over ziti tonight...very delicious. News is sobering but hopeful on the Haiti scene. I was very impressed by a segment on an Israeli Army medical unit that set up there and is completely self-sufficient. They have imaging, neo-natal capacity, operating rooms, yada, yada, yada. You should see what they are doing there. They even have an ethics committee with them to help make difficult decisions about their patients. The Israeli Army major in charge quoted a famous Jewish idea, "If you save one life you save the world." I like that.

Snowy Commute

Out into the barn to bottle feed Luna and Tank, water chickens, bunnies, check on babies in the hay how and get on the road. Billy Goat is on his way to Syracuse with his bottle, sweater, basket and towels. Here's hoping he behaves himself and the secretaries are gracious about having him in the office. He's soooo cute I can't imagine they wouldn't be. Matt called to say the roads are horrible. So what am I doing sitting here? It's called reluctance, avoidance, stark disbelief, whatever. Better get going...

No-Name

Little No-Name buck kid is going to work with Matt tomorrow. I couldn't believe it when he offered to take him. I was wondering how I could sneak him into BOCES and down to my room. If I got him all the way down a crowded hall, hidden in a bag, without him yelling his head off, then how could I hide him from administrators? My students and teacher friends might keep my secret, but a surprise visit from someone upstairs could blow my cover. Matt's office is very relaxed and his friend, Dale, has already broken the animal ice with a tiny kitten who required around the clock feeding and was brought to work. Now I have to find an extra bottle, pray I have a spare Pritchard's teat around somewhere and find a cage for riding in the truck. I'm so tired I can barely put one foot in front of the other, but the relief of what to do with this baby, at least for one day, will take me through to bedtime. Ahhhh, the bed. I am longing for it.

Dolly and Dina

Dolly's baby is coming along nicely. I have no idea where this sheep came from but she's an awesome mother and one of the few ewes who gave me a ewe lamb this year. Dolly has a very easy-going disposition. She doesn't relate to the other sheep very well, but doesn't seem to care. She just goes along her merry way, eating, pooping and sleeping. Dolly, it was a good day when I brought you home.

Upstairs Downstairs

With six moms and kids in the room adjacent to the apartment the air was getting too warm and moist, even with the heat off and the windows open. With no real hay pack on the floor I couldn't keep it very clean in there. I was worried about pneumonia, which is deadly, and I didn't want to deal with that. We carried the babes and dragged the moms up to the hay mow and closed the big doors. I'll have to carry water up there but they are in a clean, cold and dry environment. I let them get adjusted while I was doing chores downstairs then climbed up to take a peek. One kid was leaping from bale to bale, another was wandering around, checking out a tire, hanging out, and the third was taking a nap. Everybody looked fine. Until I can get an area set up in the lower barn with the sheep this will have to do. Chris is in there with them, too. The worst thing that can happen is they will fall through a hole to the lower floor, but I'm hoping the moms will warn them away from those pitfalls. Fingers crossed.

Long Suffering Husband

I've been playing Negroe (whoops, Black) Spirituals all day for poor Matty, who is working very hard today. I caught him taking a break on the sofa. I told him he would get some sleep when he is dead. Don't worry, I have one of his favorite dinners planned for tonight - Mary's homemade Kielbasa and pierogies. That ought to perk him up a bit.

Loki and Nicholas

My two Merino/Bluefaced Leicester ram lambs, Loki and Nicholas are growing nicely. They have very thick, dense coats. Both their mothers are also very dense, something I've been striving for in my flock. Nicholas has more curliness, but Loki is more Merino. Softness and density - good things in a fleece.

Busting out of their Sweaters

The lambs are growing like crazy, busting out of their sweaters. I'll pull them off and wash them for goat kids, then save them for next year. Calvin and Hobbes are almost ready to lose theirs. I have a heck of a time catching them and pulling them off when they are tight. These sweaters are life savers when lambing and kidding comes in January, in the Great North Land of New York State.

All Full at the Inn

This is what I see when I open my apartment door. I'm going outside now to move some moms and two day old kids up to the hay mow to live. There are hardly any sheep up there and Chris, the llama, will guard them. The layer of loose hay on the floor will keep them warm, along with the sweaters I put on them. A good thick sweater, knit from real wool, not acrylic, combined with angora or alpaca, will keep a kid warm in very cold weather providing it's nursing okay. The room adjacent to the apartment is full of moms with babies. The moms attack Izzy as he goes out the door. I've rescued him a couple of times already. Good mommies, just protecting their babies. It's getting a little ripe out there and I want the babies to breathe clean fresh air.

Cupboard is Bare

We are down to just a few bales of hay, so Matt hooked up the old landscape trailer to go get hay from Mr. Postma in New Berlin. He's a dairy farmer and has plenty of hay, great big bales, tightly bound, nice and dry. One of his bales is heavier than 2 from some other places and he delivers for free if I buy 200 bales. I can't do 200 this week so we have to pick up enough to get us through until we can get a full truck load. Our motor is broken on the elevator and Matt can't fix it. We found a guy in Brookfield, Mr. Barnes, who might be able to do it but we have to disconnect it and carry it to him. In the meantime, Matt is hopelessly stuck in the lane going up to the hay mow, on the icy slippery slope. The heavy Postma bales will have to be carried to the mow. I don't want to think about it. Oh, the woes of buying hay in the winter. Most of my summer teacher's pay will go to filling up the mow to avoid this happening. I hope Matt can get at least the truck unstuck so he can go to work tomorrow. I asked him to call Will Nolan, our dairy farmer neighbor, to yank him out with his tractor, but you know how men hate to ask favors. I'm up to my neck in newborns, sweaters, bottles and making sure everyone is fed sufficiently to get through another day of life on Maggie's Farm.

Monkey Gives Birth

We've had a few babies born this holiday weekend, and, finally, Monkey gave birth. The watch-labor never happens. We went to WM and grabbed a sandwich at Panera then came home to find Monkey with two buck twins, one black and one red. Unfortunately they were both stuck behind storage tubs and a piece of dry-wall and Monkey was very upset. She decided to reject the little red boy in favor of the black one. I tried and tried to get them mothered up but no deal. She butted him for a couple of hours when I said that's it, and brought him inside for a bottle. This is very rare and I thought it might have been the circumstances of the birth when Matt pointed out that Monkey herself was rejected by her mother, Celeste, in favor of another twin. Maybe something in her little goat brain remembered being butted away from her mother and did the same to her baby. Who knows! I'm hoping to find someone who will take this adorable little guy as a pet, maybe to live with horses. He takes his bottle beautifully and loves to be held and is so, so sweet.

Ahhh, Sunday Morning

Stayed up way too late watching Inglorious Basterds and slept until the scandalous time of 8 am. IB was very entertaining, gorey in parts, and slow in others, but the ending was very clever. We both have parents who were in WWII service and it looms large in our collective memories. I woke up to find Pearl Harbor on TV, the mushy romantic Hollywood version with Ben Affleck and co. Very good movie, very moving. I hung my "I have a kid in the Army" flag in my classroom door at school, as I was sick of my cats pulling it down from every window I hung it in here at home. Some of the boys were really excited and told me they were signing up asap. I do what I can to steer them in that direction as it was terrific experience for my own boys and a steady income with benefits for these upstate kids with few prospects. One of my former students came back to visit and is thrilled with the Army and the money/respect it gives him. No new babies this morning. Monkey still has a discharge and is very unwieldy when she walks around. I bet she's holding it in until I go back to work on Tuesday just 'cause she can 'cause she's a Monkey. Cold wet weather is on the way back. It's been a lovely reprieve the last few days. Lambs in pens are doing okay. Tank is learning to suck with vigor and can stand on his feet while nursing. Makes it easier for me not to have to hold him and coax it along. Big giant ram lamb from Friday night is not nursing well enough for my liking. Mom is willing and he pokes around but I haven't seen him really nurse. I'm giving him a supplemental bottle to keep him strong. I nursed out his mom so she doesn't get engorged but don't want to have to keep that up. OH, the maternity ward. At least they all came out okay without me having to lie down on the poop and reach in to the great unknown this year. Back to work. I think writing in this journal appeals to me because I can sit down to do it. I borrowed a book from Matt's co-worker at the party last night called Woodswoman about a woman who built a cabin on a lake in the Adirondacks and lived there alone. Should be very interesting. Have to turn off the TV and read it sometime. I can spin while I watch TV so I don't feel guilty as I'm making product while loafing. Reading is truly a guilty pleasure.

Big Night Out

We attended a house party hosted by one of Matt's office mates at NY Weatherization. Sometimes I feel crippled in a room full of humans after spending so much time with sheep and goats. I communicate telepathically with my animals, who don't require any social graces, just quiet and gentle movements along with ample food and water. Everyone brought a dish, mine was a yam/marshmallow casserole. We had a nice time but left fairly early to get home to Monkey, who I thought was going into labor tonight. We arrived home to find Monkey resting comfortably so went about chores and bottle feeding. While throwing down hay Matt found a hefty red buck kid in the hay mow, all dried off and warm. We brought them down into the "goat room" for crotching and a dose of colostrum. This butch kid makes three right outside my apartment door. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is as cute as an angora buck kid, all curly and cute with those long ears hanging down. Maybe Monkey will come through tonight with a pair of black girls for me, as all these boys are slightly disappointing...fantasies are free, right? I'm settling down to watch Inglourious Basterds on payperview. We'll see what the morning brings.

Another Big Boy

Friday night is cause to celebrate around here. After five days of rushing around, getting lots of animals taken care of, bathing, dressing, and bombing out of here then trying to function up to expectations at jobs, then coming home and throwing some kind of evening meal together before chores, we are bushed. Last night Matt crashed on the sofa and couldn't/wouldn't get up. He said let the sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits and dogs wait until morning for food. It almost sounded acceptable to me, but at 9 I went out to take care of everybody myself. Good thing, because a newborn ram lamb was wedged in a trouble spot between a pen and concrete blocks. Remember what happened to Tank at the other end of the barn, wedged between an old rusty stock tank and the wall. Fortunately this baby was under a light and making lots of noise. Mom had taken off. The huge baby had shaken her, understandably, as he must weigh almost 15 pounds. I freed him an he immediately started toddling around on long shaky legs trying to nuzzle under any ewe he could find. Ewes are very fond of their own babies but treat others as aliens they don't want anything to do with. He was being butted around by the moms and ignored by his own mom who was hiding in the flock. I gathered him up in my arms and went about finding his mama in the dark barn. We have bashed most of the light bulbs out with our heads as the hay pack is so high. I was bent in half holding this giant lamb but managed to go up and down the length of the barn. No mom for this guy. I realized I had to get Matt, the sleeping bear off the couch to help me. Let's suffice it to say he was not amused. I'll leave it at that. Ten at night after a long week and we're inspecting sheep bottoms for any signs of blood and goo. There she was, one of three sheep I have with long tails which hid the bloody cord I was looking for. Matt caught her and held her, poor scared first time mother, while I nursed out enough colostrum to get the big boy's belly warm and working. I let Calvin and Hobbes out to make room for her and her lamb. They leaped and jumped like springs all over the barn, freed from their prison. Their sweaters are almost too small, they're growing so fast. I hated to let them go, as their mom is too thin with those twins nursing on her. As long as she was penned in I could feed her twice a day and get some weight on her. Out with the flock she has to fend for herself and her babies. I sent Matt to bed and went about getting this reluctant mom her warm molasses water and some food. She drank the bucket dry and chowed down. It was 11 thirty when I got back in the apartment. Now I'm drinking coffee with Annie's biscotti and wondering what I'll find when I go out there. The dogs have to pee so I can't linger long. I need to check on the goat babies just outside my door, who had full firm bellies last night and warm mouths, and the new guy from last night. It's going up to 40 today and will remain unseasonably high for a few days. Hope to get this lambing and kidding done and over with. I can hardly watch the Haiti coverage without tears welling up. Today I'll be thankful for my farm and the challenges I am able to face and conquer. This is paradise compared to what those poor people have to endure. I'm wondering why the military is not being parachuted in along with tons of food. All I hear is excuses about how long it takes to get the planes in, etc. Excuses won't fill bellies. Drop it from helicopters on the outskirts of the towns. Put parachutes on the doctors and drop them in. Drop the 82 Airborne in to distribute the supplies and provide security. I heard they are there somewhere but not many boots on the ground that I can see on the news. My Mia should go down there...she could jump in and get the place organized and running just fine. She's sliding down the endless slopes of the Colorado Rockies right now, a well deserved vacation before she goes back to her own earthquake zone on that crazy ward she works on in NJ.

Heat Wave

Everything in life is relative. When you are broke finding a $20 bill in your purse is a windfall. When you've had 6 bottle lambs to feed, two is a piece of cake. When you are used to working in single digits, 36 degrees is a heat wave. I found a cute little black buck kid with his mother in the hay mow yesterday. I was walking the dogs past the big north side doors into the hay mow and heard a loud waaaahhhhh coming from inside. Had to be a baby in there. I got the dogs back in the house, ran back to the hay mow and sure enough, there was a teeny tiny black kid under a doe with the most mohair I have ever seen on a goat. Did I tell you I did not shear this fall? This goat looked like Cousin It on the Addams Family...and a first time mom, too. I checked the boy and he looked good. There was no way I could clip the mom without help. I decided to wait until Matt got home. After dinner and chores, which was several hours later as Matt doesn't get home until almost seven, we finally got to the mom. We brought her into the "goat room" next to the apt. and I clipped her while Matt sat on a chair and held her horns. I was hanging upside down for a while and sweating bullets with this heat wave. Little baby was standing by next to mom so she wouldn't have a fit, but it didn't stop her from giving me all the trouble she possibly could. When I uncovered her udder and clipped a window through the mass of 8 inch long mohair locks, I proceeded to nurse out some colostrum for the little one. I really had to squeeze and pull a bit, but I got enough to fill his belly. Mom was not amused, but she got over it, and he looks good today. The two moms in the room like to hide behind a big breakfront cabinet (intended for inside the apartment someday)while Monkey - mom in waiting - intimidates them from the other side. When the babies venture out the moms come with them and eat their corn and hay. I can't wait to see what Monkey is carrying. Last year she had a white buck kid, Jean - Jean, with pretty blue eyes. I wouldn't mind a pair of doe twins this year. I hope Monkey got the memo this time!

New Lamb

So much sorrow and devastation in Haiti, but in the barn at Maggie's Farm there is peace and love and new hope for the future as each little lamb and kid is born. This morning as I was creeping into the quiet, sleeping throng of sheep to give little Tank his bottle, I heard the soothing sounds of a mother talking to her newborn lamb. I told my students about him and they decided he should be named Bubba. Mom and babe doing fine in this balmy, 30 F. temperature.

Update from Animal Planet

Hysterics over! While I was tending to a new baby doe kid, born in the same place as the buck kid the day before, in the back of the barn, I heard some faint lamb sounds. I followed the little moans and, incredibly, saw a speck of white wedged between a rusty old water tank and the barn door. Apparently the lamb crawled into this narrow space and couldn't get back out. Why it waited so long to make noise I have no idea. Maybe it was so exhausted after birth and crawling around it had no energy to cry. Mom had never wandered very far away. I had to lie down on the hay and reach my arm into the tunnel because the tank was impossible to move. I grabbed the hind legs ans pulled the long white snake of a lamb body out. He had been licked off but was freezing cold. After reuniting him with mom I whisked him into the kitchen for some oven warming. Tiny little doe kid is doing well. I decided to bring the goat moms and babies into the work room which seperates the apartment from the rest of the barn. The moms are not happy about it but they are not happy about frozen babies, either. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I brought the warmed ram lamb back out to his mom, after Matt and I caught the thoroughly spooked mom. She's more interested in the bucket of corn than her lost baby, but I'm hoping she'll pay attention to him after her belly is full. Total Drama Farm is fully functional. After some chicken soup and biscuits I have to crotch the new goat mom or the tiny baby will never find the teats in the mass of mohair.

Tough Luck Ranch

I sometimes think that I should only write happy things in this journal, and that if I were more upbeat, and wrote about knitting, cooking and crafting, that I would have more readers and comments. People would sign up as "followers" and tell their friends to log on to see what Maggie is up to now. Just can't do it. I feel some responsibility to record events as they happen, good and bad, gory and nasty, happy and euphoric. As a history major I read all kinds of stuff about what women experienced and endured through the ages and usually wished they were even more candid about their feelings and frustrations. Women often clean things up, or refrain from being self-indulgent. I have relatives who did heroic, incredible things, but I know very little about them and if they left any records I don't know about it other than bits and pieces of stories. I want to keep an accurate and truthful account of my farm experiences here, while I am in the throws of this drama, but I don't want to horrify or sicken anyone, although I am horrified and sickened enough myself. Why am I carrying on like this? It's just one of those days. The little goat buck kid died this morning, after tending to him all night. I'm disappointed and tired, and listening to his mother calling and calling for him is so sad. She'll get over it, but I feel for her and wish I could have saved him. Then, while doing a barn check an hour ago, I heard a ewe calling for lambs at the end of the barn. I know my sheep voices, and this is not one of the current moms. I find her, with signs of birth coming from her behind, but where are the lambs? I can't find them and neither can she. After searching all over this big barn, inside and out, tracks in the snow and under the snow, no lambs. No blood trails. I find tracks that go up to the fence but not over it. If coyotes got the lambs they would have to jump over the fence, but maybe they went a different way. Something got those lambs (I was sure she was carrying twins)and I can't figure out what. And I'm tired, and I need a bath, and the house is a mess. What to do, what to do. Get busy and think of what might have happened, and keep looking for clues. I'll tie on of the White Boys to the back of the barn and let him bark all damn night long if he wants. He will keep the sheep inside and the varmints out. Poor mama, and where was I? Inside taking care of little buck kid I guess. I've been very lucky about predators, but I've also been complacent and complacency leads to disaster on a farm. Sure, I know that things happen but I try to avoid disaster as much as possible. Back to work tomorrow where there's not much I can do about anything but worry, but while I'm here I like to have some control. Going back outside to look for those lambs.

Roast Goat Kid

I have a cute little newborn goat buck warming on the oven door of my dye stove in the milk room. I put him in a wire rabbit cage so he won't crawl into the oven or be bothered by the cats who are escaping this awful cold in there. We found him in the coldest part of the barn by the back door. He was just born and still wet. Fortunately Matt heard the newborn bleats when he was putting out hay. We got mom and baby in a lamb pen and gave him a dose of nutri-drench and put him in a thick sweater. She was still bonding with him so we went inside to eat dinner. When we came back he was stiff with cold. Nursed out mom and got some colostrum in his belly, but I feared he would still freeze. When lambs or kids are really cold, they can't digest anything. It was time for the oven. The Aga stoves have neat little ovens where British shepherds would put lambs to warm. My dye stove has to suffice. I paid a hundred dollars for it out of the paper, and it's saved many babies in addition to keeping my milk room warm and pipes from freezing. It's also survived many dye pots splashing over. Tonight it's on goat kid duty. I put the little guy in a wire rabbit cage so he can't crawl into the oven or be smothered by well-meaning cats. After watching him for an hour or so he started squawking and complaining - a good sign. Mom hears him and calls for him, but I gave her second cut hay, a bucket of corn and another of molasses water, so she's busy cramming her hungry mouth with food to be too upset. I'm hoping I can reunite them in the morning. Not tonight, for we would truly have a kidsickle by morning.

Saturday Musings

I don't realize how much winter, the cold, the critters and my job is taking out of me until the weekend, when I have so much work to do around the farm and not enough energy to do it all. I felt such a sense of relief last night when I got home safely, off those snowy, icy roads. Very cold with snow every day lately. High of 11 F. today, low of 3 tonight. The road my school is on was blocked yesterday morning, due to a collision between an SUV with a small child who was ejected, and a police vehicle. The child was airlifted out to Upstate in Syracuse with a spleen injury, I heard, and the detour was an extra 5 or 6 miles to get to school. The DVD I planned, Beowulf, didn't work when I put it in the machine (almost new DVD) and luckily Gretchen had many others to chose from. I wasn't entirely happy about spending the morning watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail but the kids liked it. I was going to build some lessons around Beowulf, but Monty Python??? I did talk to them about the plague, and the importance of the "quest," and how it's a metaphor for striving to reach your goal and not giving up, etc. The rest of the day was semi-uneventful with that lovely this-is-Friday euphoria. I made my once weekly trek to the Post Office, only because the post lady, wife of one of our tech teachers, called me in my classroom to ask where I live so she could drop off my mail to me on her way home. Unfortunately I am way out of her way, but her call made me drive the 8 miles out of my way to get the mail. I know, I know, why don't I get mail delivered???? The lovely people who sold me this farm told me I was in Brookfield, when I am actually in West Edmeston, a name I would have to spell every time I said it to someone. Kind of like Riegelsville, in Bucks County, Pa., where I used to live. And then they would think I was talking about somewhere in Canada. So I got a box in Brookfield and have to go get my mail. Might have been a mistake...but here we are. I spent a relaxing and enjoyable two hours doing chores in the barn, with lambs running up and down, doing mule kicks and racing with each other. I'm in heaven watching them play. I was thinking I would have all the work done when Matt got home with Chinese food. He has a dreadful commute in the snow, with people doing 25-30 on the roads (like me) turning a 90 minute drive into eternity. I keep telling him to stay the night in Syracuse, maybe in the training trailer, but he wants to come home. It was almost nine by the time we were all settled down in the apartment. My back is better enough so I can sling bales and tote water without too much discomfort. Now is the time to do some exercises to build up some core strength and avoid complete breakdowns. I just can't be laid up with a job and all these animals to take care of. We spent the evening eating the Chinese and watching Clint in Gran Torino. Saw it in the movies last summer but it was still very good the second time. Thought I would sleep but finally got up and came out to the sofa and TV again. Not a good night sleep and it's dragging me down today. Belgium waffles at the Beaver Den is not helping my energy. Maybe I need a day off??? Not happening. I need to "crotch" Monkey, who is looking very pregnant. Goats need to be trimmed around the back for babies to be able to find the teats. When I try to check her udder I can't even find it in the tangled up mass of mohair. It takes two people. Matt is going to work on the hay elevator motor and I want to clean out the milk room. The cats and chickens have left a fine mess for me. I figure I have four more hours of daylight, then I might treat myself to some spinning tonight. Oh, the Christmas tree has to come down first. Needles everywhere, but, surprisingly, no chewed up ornaments while I was at work. Good doggies!!

Cold and Dark

I hate being the last one to leave and the first to come home. I've had to stay late the last two days to finish my Therapeutic Crisis Intervention training. The big test was today, written and physical. We practiced restraints on each other, kind of funny actually, seeing grown teachers on the mats grappling with and holding each other down. I rushed home on snow covered roads, imagining frozen little bundles on the floor of the barn, but no bad news. Just a dark barn and lots of hungry, needy animals, and a human that feels a little needy at times, too. Oh, would I love to walk into a brightly lit apartment after a long day at work and smell a chicken roasting in the oven, or soup simmering on the stove. Ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Tomorrow is Friday and it comes in the nick of time. I've decided to show the Beowulf movie to my class, after a lesson on the history of the manuscript. Fortunately, it's not rated and, although Angelina Jolie is in a tight golden leotard, none of her specific places are showing. Not that the students would mind, but my supervisor or a parent might. It's awfully cold in the barn, too cold to not cover my hands, making chores difficult. Tomorrow the high will be in the 20's and I have to be careful of pipes freezing. I'll be on lamb and kid watch all weekend, but, thankfully, I can stay home. Maybe I'll buy a chicken to roast...

I'm Gonna Drive in This???

It's snowing like crazy out there and we don't even have a delayed opening. Okay, so I wanted to buy a farm in upstate New York. I have to accept some responsibility for my actions here. I would take a sheep day but it will probably be the same tomorrow and the next day. Okay, deep breaths, get off this machine and leave early. No births this morning but there is still time. Sometimes I avert my eyes as I run out the door. If only I could stay home with my babies! Wish me luck...

Theft on a Train

Driving to work in snow, driving home in snow, rushing to get home before it gets more slippery and even colder. After my couple of stops for the PO and milk I stopped by Mary's and took a quick peek at her newborns. Sooooo cute. Gosh I love sheep, all sheep, any kind of sheep. I scooted on home to check on my own lambs. No lambsickles today, just healthy happy lambs bopping around the barn. Calvin and Hobbes are the only lambs in pens right now. They are rather small compared to the other lambs and I don't want them loose in the barn yet. We'll see what the night brings. My back is coming along. I stopped taking the prescription meds and I feel better already. That stuff can really mess up your head. Aspirin and Ibuprofen, with some sofa time, will have to do. I had a nice chat with AJ last night from the airport in Atlanta where he was connecting to Las Vegas. While visiting friends in Washington, DC, over New Year's his suitcase was stolen on the train, not far from where he was sitting. His cassock, priest's robe, was in the bag, along with his laptop, cell phone, Bible, prayer book and religious text books. I hope the creep felt some kind of guilt when he opened the bag and realized he stole it from a clergyman. Luckily his renter's insurance covered the lap top, but the robe was custom made and costs $300 to replace. The books cost a fortune, and the Bible is a very personal thing. What a world. I'm going back out into the barn where my world makes sense and where I feel very, very safe.

No Lambsicles

I flew out the door of the school at 3 and made my way home as fast as I could on snowy roads. Traveling was much easier than this morning's commute. I had to go my emergency snow route, all the way to 23 in South New Berlin, then over a big but gently sloped hill to Norwich. I'm very surprised we didn't have a delay at the very least. Anyway, after a quick stop for rabbit food I rushed home to find Little Luna screaming for her bottle but everything okay otherwise. Calvin and Hobbes, the ram twins born yesterday, are doing great. They tiptoe around their mother, who stands patiently still while they poke their tiny noses around her teats. I walked the length of the barn and found sheep resting and napping, some with lambs by their side, but no shivering newborns. I guess this scenario will repeat for another week or so, after which any births would be unlikely as Wooster was in his new home with Mary and Othello had passed over the Rainbow Bridge. I carried warm water to all the bunnies, dogs, chickens and cats so they could have a drink before it freezes over. I filled the sheep water containers. I'm using several small buckets instead of a large stock tank. Don't want any drownings this year. Oh, how dreadful that was!! It seemed so odd to be in school and not home on the farm, but I'll get used to it - I hope. Many students stayed home so things were quiet in our wing. Snow is expected every day this week. I'm going to lie down and rest my aching back, which is not coming along as well as I hoped. Could it possibly be the fact that I don't give it a chance? I'm going to run out of muscle relaxer pills pretty soon. There's always ibuprofen.

Doggie Bag

Here is Tiko, a chihuahua who travels around in a Bundaflicka Bag. Isn't he adorable?

Twins

Blanca had twin ram lambs around noontime today. There they were - tiny little things, standing up shivering in the barn. Mom had gone to eat the hay that was just put down. She's a little flighty, so I was concerned, but once captured and put in the pen with the boys she calmed down. Warm molasses water, second cut hay and a little bit of corn helped. Blanca is thin after carrying twins so I'll build her weight back up with food. Although nicely bagged up I didn't get a whole lot of milk out of her. I had to use the colostrum I had saved in the refrigerator. She still hasn't passed her afterbirth so I might give her a shot of oxytocin to help her get rid of the membranes and bring down the milk. We'll see. While out there with the newborns Matt helped me worm the moms, dock some tails and give tetanus shots. I put a bigger sweater on Dina and got a nice big sweater on Nicholas. Dina and Dolly are now out in the barn together. I sure hope the moms keep track of their babies. Right now I have to lie down and take a nap. WalMart lasagna is in the oven so I don't have to cook tonight. Matt is shoveling snow so I can get my minivan out of the driveway to go to work tomorrow. The van has almost zero clearance and can't plow through like the F150. Still waiting on Ron to finish the valve job on my tractor. Life on the Farm...

Snowed In

We're expecting a LOT of snow today. When I got up for the 4 am lamb check the doggies ran to the door with me. Thought I better take them out for a pee. When I opened the north side barn door a blast of cold, snowy wind hit us hard. I had to push Izzy out with my foot or he would have run back inside and hid. Luckily all the dogs wanted to get back in and did their business quickly. Lucky for me I had started wearing silkies underneath my new high tech fleece pants Mia gave me for Christmas. God the dogs back inside the apt. and ventured out into the barn. Everything is relative in life. As cold as the barn is, it felt cozy compared to the blizzard going on outside. Luna came running over for her bottle, and Lilly for her apple. I gave the baby bunnies some broccoli then continued on down the line of stanchions to the way back of the barn. Big wooly bodies were spread out everywhere, with a couple up and munching on hay. I stood quietly listening - sounds tell me so much. Nobody in labor, no new bundles on the floor. I said hello to Thor, Knut and Finn, who are living inside the barn now. I would not subject any animal to that weather outside, besides, the sheep are in the barn, why shouldn't their guardians be in there, too? Back inside and lie down on the sofa. I couldn't get totally back to sleep, and there was a movie on with Mel Gibson where he can hear what women are thinking. Very funny. I'll pay for lack of sleep later on today, but maybe a little nap will snap me back into shape. I played my new Enya DVD, a late Christmas present, and was completely mesmerized by the animation, and her singing. The VMI cadets turned me on to Enya when Eric was there. She gets better and better. Matt can't stand her music, so I waited until he braved the storm to drive to Sangerfield for the Sunday NY Times, and some more molasses if my remaining pregnant ladies start to drop lambs. I give every new mother a bucket of warm molasses water after they give birth. It gives them sugar and iron and gets their milk going. I really thought I would have more lambs by now, but why should it be that easy? Tomorrow I will be flying out the door of the school and driving home as fast as I can to look for lambs...the lot of the working shepherd. I'll take the Christmas tree down today and do some work in the barn. I'm hoping to dock tails and give tetanus shots to the lambs today, but I don't want to keep Matt from stapling new plastic over the broken windows. We'll see how the day unfolds. It was wonderful being off for a week and having the kids here for Christmas. They only stayed two days but it was fantastic. They have places to go and people to meet in their busy, amazingly full and exciting lives. I've often heard, the better you raise them the less they need you. My kids are certainly self-sufficient and productive. I hope they come back real soon.

Windy and Cold

If it's going to be winter it might as well snow a bit. It's the in-between weather that is tiresome to me, you know, when it's 45 - 50 and muddy everywhere. I love a snowy landscape with crystal clear blue skies and crispy cold air. I even love the fierce storms, as long as I have food and power, that is. There's something so cozy about being inside my barn apartment with lots of candles burning, Christmas lights glowing and the weather going crazy outside. I ran out of cat food today, and the kitties are enjoying some of the chicken soup I made yesterday. They are eating the big chunks of carrots, a surprise to me, but then they've been boiled in lovely chicken broth. I stopped by Mary's over the creek and hill from me, and saw her first Wooster lamb of the season. Remember, after W. jumped the fence and had his way with my ewes I made a gift of him to Mary, who was thrilled to get some "mule lambs" from a big, hefty Bluefaced Leicester ram. There was the new babe in the barn with mom, with those long spindly BFL legs, nuzzling around her teats. I came home to look for any new lambs here. Nothing yet. Back to my spinning. I'm plying some very soft BFL/angora yarn, kelly green with some pink angora. The color didn't go over very well last fall, but spun up it's really pretty, and oh, so soft. I have several full bobbins. That's my MO, filling up bobbins without plying them, then I have to have a plying marathon. One more day of vacation then back to school. I took down my classroom tree and brought home the ornaments the students made for my tree. It's very heartwarming to see a teenager, who has had so many things go wrong in their lives, crafting such creative and beautiful things. I'll save them, ofcourse. Wish I could "save" the students, too. I'm doing my best.

Snowy Saturday

Very cold with a pretty snow falling this morning. I hear a major storm is headed for New England with a foot or more expected. Gosh, it seems like they just finished digging out from last year's snowfall. I just came in from the barn where everybody seems comfy cozy. The goats like to lie outside the barn door in the snow, under the stars at night. No new lambs for several days. They must have been waiting for my back to heal up. I seem to have lost two days, with the drugs I had available to me I was able to rest and take long naps. I promised myself I would work on my core strength, the same promise I make every time my back gives me trouble, but this time I think I will do it. I used to be so disciplined, but this "see-food" diet I've been on for the last few years has really taken a toll. Everything about farming is bending, stretching, lifting and carrying. You can't be in bad shape. We'll see how it goes. Luckily, I'm okay when I'm standing up straight. It's just sitting and bending that kills. Tomorrow should be better. I can do light chores, but no slinging bales. We had such a good time on New Year's Eve listening to Pamme Swan sing at the Mountain Top Golf Course. Her mom hooked my gorgeous "Country Girl" rug, purchased by barter for three Bundaflicka Bags, one for each daughter. Well, the whole family was there for dinner and I heard all kinds of compliments about my bags. One is being used to carry around a miniature dachshund - wish I had a picture of that. I got rocking chair cushion covers made for Mia's college friend who is having a baby. Matt brought home a rotesserie chicken which I turned into soup with all the half frozen celery and carrots on the floor of the refrigerator - so delicious. I got half a dozen bags cut out - standing up back works great - and will cut more and pack them in bags for sewing later. All roads lead to Maryland Sheep and Wool, happening May 1. If I make four bags a week, which is very do-able if I set my mind to it, and make a batch of soap every couple of weeks, and keep up with washing and dyeing my wool, I should be okay. I often complain about the "booths that come in the UPS truck," but not everything can be handmade, and we need all kinds of equipment and books. There are a few people like me who make everything they sell, but we are in the minority and that makes us even more special.