Valentine Twins

A beautiful young first time mom had a set of ewe twins tonight. I'll have to call them Valentina and Sweetheart, or something like that. Yes, moms don't always pick the nicest, cleanest spot to drop their lambs. I always try to resist the temptation to jump in and clean them off right away, however muddy they are. Mom needs to lick them off herself to facilitate bonding. One twin is teeny tiny,just like my Bella. She's very spunky tonight, we'll see how she's doing tomorrow. We let three moms and babes out of the lambing pens into the maternity ward after shots and worming. There is always a lot of confusion when they are let into the group of moms and babies, with moms yelling for their babies who are testing their new limits. I sit cross legged on the hay, bottle feeding my little group of orphans, and supplementing the lambs who have moms but might be the less adored twin or the one who is crowded away from the one working teat, etc. That's what a shepherd does - always watching, anticipating problems, intervening when necessary...ever vigilant. Why do you think the Pope carries a shepherd's crook? We brought the poor frozen ducks into the barn. No more freezing outside under a roof that is about to collapse under the weight of the snow. They were so happy to get on a nice bed of hay, with grain and cracked corn just for them and a pan of water to play in. They immediately started grooming themselves and picking the ice out of their feathers. I love to hear their happy quacking! I'm going a bit quackers myself...

So Big...

Oh, this classroom is so big and I'm so little!

Sleepytime

Time to take this tired little lamb home to the farm. I love her pointy fairy ears!

Robin and Bella

Auntie Robin and Bella are great friends. Robin is knitting Bella a new red sweater. With all the extra attention Bella is getting I know she will be needing a bigger sweater real soon.

Bella Makes New Friends

Little Bella was the hit of the show. She was truly the Valentine treat for the class today. Santana got her to drink half a bottle. I didn't know she could hold that much!

"...followed her to school one day..."

Little Bella came to school with me today. There was no way she could make it through the day with no bottle, having almost died over the weekend. She didn't make a peep and my class was the only people who even knew she was here. What a hit she was with the students, who willingly posed for this picture with the lamb and their teacher/shepherd.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day kind of got lost in the shuffle and chaos of lambing and wedding preparations. When the truck got stuck in the snow bank, while trying to free Randy's truck that got stuck in the snow bank, I didn't get to the mall to buy shoes and some other dainties needed to complete my wedding outfit. One can't walk her daughter down the aisle, then dance the night away without the proper foot ware. Mia is looking for my fantasty heels, but where she is going to find the time is beyond me. We'll think of something. Some things I need to consider:

1. Find shoes and the proper undergarments for two slinky gowns.
2. Sew 16 pewter clasps on the black velvet cloaks and hem the bridal cloak
I finished yesterday.
3. Band 30 lamb tails in the next two days.
4. Clean the apartment sufficiently for a family of four to live in while I'm away.
5. Make sure I have necessary pet food, milk replacer, hay, etc. for the critters.
6. Buy roses at Price Chopper for the bridal party bouquets which we will put
together at Mia's apartment in NJ.

Just checked the weather - good report! 40F. and sunny in Morristown on Saturday with only 10% chance of precipitation! Yay! Perfect for velvet cloaks, pictures, people travelling, etc. It's tough when your ski bunny daughter wants to have a winter wedding, but it looks like we will be okay weather-wise.

Preparations

Susan and Lisa Palmer have been working hard on Mia's wedding favors. She and Andrew picked pine cone seedlings to symbolize their love for the outdoors. They are adorable. I'm working hard on Mia's black velvet Irish Kinsale Cloak with champagne colored paisley damask lining. I just got the collar on, with a huge amount of gathers under it. The cape falls around me like a cocoon. I know why they were popular in Ireland and other countries for hundreds of years before great coats came along. It's supposed to be warmer in NJ on Saturday, but I think it will still be cool enough for the cape. I don't know how Mia is holding it together, but she is perfectly composed. Just spoke to her on the phone. She's studying for a big nursing exam after being on duty all weekend and will have to work next week to have time off for her honeymoon. Work for her means on your feet for a ten hour day with many patients to take care of. It will be warm in NJ on Saturday but there are eight velvet cloaks on hangers. Good job, Mom.

Lamb Coat Pattern

There have been many requests for my lamb coat pattern, which is featured on the January 18, 2008, blog page. I'm going to repeat it now to make it easier for people to find. The coat can be crocheted or knitted. I think simple garter stitch is the best as it is fluffy on both sides and sticks to the lamb without sliding. Double or single crochets are good too, and lay nice and flat on the baby. Wool is the best, as it doesn't slide around like polar fleece or moleskin does.

Knitting: Bulky yarn, or two strands of worsted, size 15 needles. Remember this coat will be washed and you want to leave a little room for shrinking. I use my shrunken coats for angora goat kids.

Cast on approx. 45-50 stitches. You have to consider the breed of sheep. If you are raising Rambouillet lambs your sweater needs to be longer. You can hold the knitting needle up to the lamb's back and spreading the stitches apart slightly, cast on as many as you need to reach from high up on the lamb's neck to the tail. Knit back and forth until you have three inches on the needles. Knit approx. 15-20 stitches and cast off ten for the leg hole. Continue knitting, turn at the end of the row, and knit back until you reach the spot where you cast off. Cast ON the same number of stitches that you cast off on the last row. Knit to end.
Knit back and forth until you have 6-8 inches of knitting. Knit to the spot where you have a leg hole on the other side. Cast off the same number of stitches. knit to end. Knit until you come to the spot where you cast off, and cast the same number of stitches back on the needles. Knit to end. continue knitting until you have the same length as the other side. Cast off. Sew together the end where you cast off for the leg holes, half way down the sweater. This will cover the lamb's neck, yet leave a hole for pee/poo and let the mother sheep nuzzle her baby underneath the "cape" hanging over the lambs. My moms sometimes flip the cape over so more of the lamb's back is showing. I've never had a mom pull off a sweater. They keep the lamb warm so it can internal the energy needed to survive. The sweaters pull off if the lamb gets caught on a nail or fence post. A sweater won't burn down your barn but a heat lamp might, and the heat lamp won't help a lamb that has moved over into a corner and isn't directly under it. Good luck and write with any questions! Happy Lambs to You!

Happy Sunday Morning

I do my sabbath day worship in the barn with my flock. After all, I'm in a very biblical profession as I like to tell my priest to be son. I'll be travelling to St. Vladimir's Orthodox Christian Seminary sometime next month to attend his ordination. One of the nice perks of having kids is getting dressed up to go to all their graduations, weddings, celebrations, etc. I'm so blessed my kids have many of these occasions. This time one week from now we will all be together for the post-wedding breakfast before Mia - Mrs. Andrew Fisher - and her new hubby jet off for a week of skiing at Interlocken, Switzerland. Andrew's parents gave them this fabulous ski honeymoon as a wedding present. Lucky kids! Matt and I will venture home to the farm where Kim and Crew will have kept all the little critters alive and happy. I'm leaving Kim strict instructions to cook all the ham, bacon, sausage and pork chops she can cram into her husband and kids. Lord knows they will need it after four days of toting wood and water, throwing bales and bottle feeding babies.

Bun in the Oven

I have my tiniest baby Bluefaced Leicester ewe lamb in the oven. She's chilled and not sucking on her bottle took her inside and soaked her in a pot of warm water for a while, then tubed her with warm Sav-A-Lam, and am now keeping her warm on the oven door with a rack turned upright so she can't roll inside the oven. If I had an Aga I could really pop her in the oven, in one of the small compartments English shepherds have used for years to warm up chilled lambs. I hope she comes around. She is so precious, like a tiny doll with pointy ears. Sewing on Mia's wedding capes all weekend between sheep doings. Alas, no Fur Ball for me tonight. Duty calls...

Still Coming

Two sets of twins yesterday, one set born well before I got home from work and one born just as I was coming in. I had to stop to visit a student's home for IEP input, then feed store to get molasses for new moms, otherwise I might have been here for second set. Everybody doing okay, I think, but one mom is limping. Maybe nerve damage from birth? We'll see. Sadly, my purebred beauty queen Bluefaced Leicester mom laid on the bigger of her ewe twins, who was quite flattened. The remaining twin is teeeeny tiny, so much so I might bring her inside as I don't think she is big enough to nurse. I remember my Fiona being that small and survived. The "high percentage" crossbreds are having gigantic, healthy lambs. My poor old Myrna, whose picture is painted on my Bundaflicka sign, gave birth to a stillborn black ewe. She has a history of carrying to term then delivering lambs stillborn. Wish I knew why. I would find a set of beautiful twins lying dead in the field for no reason. The last time she gave birth, three years ago, she had a live set of gorgeous ewe twins and I thought it might have worked out okay because I was there to take care of them right away. This time I was there and helped pull the last part of the dead lamb out of her. No chance to save it. Poor Myrna. Sheep love their babies and mourn terribly over them. They roam around the barn crying for their missing babies. I quickly grabbed the little sweetheart ewe lamb who was seperated from her mom and then rejected while I was at work, and rubbed her with Myrna's dead baby fluids. I got her in a pen with the orphan lamb and she started licking! Now Myrna has a baby and the lamb has a loving mom with great teats and lots of milk. Happiness abounds. With bags of lamb replacer going for $50 I am grateful for any help with getting those lamb bellies full. The new lamb born this morning should be dry by now. I like to give moms and babies alone time together. Don't know where I'm going to put them, but I'll figure something out.

Agony and Ecstasy

One little ewe lamb suffocated by her own mother. Matt saw her get up and the lamb was underneath. Lambs can take a lot - cold, hunger, getting knocked around, but they can't take a 200 pound ewe lying on top of them for very long. Beautiful healthy black ewe twins born this morning. As I was making coffee Matt came to the door with a big black ewe lamb in his arms. He said he found it by the chicken coop. Yes, sometimes lambs get dried off by mom and decide to travel. He said he didn't see a mother anywhere. I knew better, but just in case I quickly mixed up some powdered colostrum and gave her a few mouthfuls. I could always give her more if I could find the mother. I gulped down some Joe, threw on my barn clothes - they are SO very dirty but the laundry pipes are frozen - grabbed my bucket and ventured out. I tiptoed to the back of the barn while Matt was putting out hay. Sure enough, there was Mom, standing by a nice black ewe twin. I brought her other baby to her and they acted like they knew each other. PHEW!! Mom has one udder but we will deal with it. I had not choice but to let one jug with two moms and four lambs out into the kindergarten. They are all looking good. Got the new mom in with the twins and sat with them a few minutes, doing cords and praying mom would let me nurse her out. Matt was in no mood, saying things like, "No more lambs!! There will be NO swinging dicks in this barn come July!" I said shhhooosssh, not around the babies, but he didn't listen. He continued, "This is YOUR business, not mine! You need to get kids in here to help you get the rams out!!" Yada, yada, yada. I don't like such tension in the barn with newborns as it is not condusive to happy milking, but sometimes I have to let him carry on. He retreated back inside to the hot bath I managed to run for him after making his coffee, and shortly after I saw him run out to go to work. Thankfully Mom let me nurse a half cup of colostrum out of her one sagging nipple. I made sure both lambs got some and went to get her some alfafa to get that milk going. Went around and got the other bottle babies fed, which you just can't rush. I also fed the teeny tiny Bluefaced Leicester twin, and the other tiny ewe twin I'm worried about, along with Princes Harry and William, Laticia and the poor little confused ewe twin from last night. Inside to mix more milk and drink more coffee. Going back out to bottle feed some more. It takes a good ten minutes to bottle feed newborns so six lambs I am feeding = one hour and that's not with chores. They are too young to hang a bucket of milk with nipples. Minus 20 F. outside this morning, 28 in the barn. Cold for newborns and I'm out of sweaters. Trying to keep their bellies full. Took the sweater off the dead baby to give to one of the twins. I'll think of something. Lots of hay in the jug to nestle in. I hate to leave them but gotta run. Weather.com doesn't match what my thermometer says, but I know my little valley is colder. Thankfully remembered to turn on my truck. I bet there will be newborns when I get home from work today. This day can't go fast enough.

Good Night

Everyone taken care of. I think I will have more lambs by morning, or certainly by the time I get home from work tomorrow. I got one more sweater made tonight after finding one half done in a tote bag. I put it on the sweetest little girl who got separated from her mother after being born while I was at work. She attached to another ewe, who I think has forgotten her now and her real mother is butting her away. I'm going to try knitting some roving with big needles. Should make a very warm, squishy coat. I have named Lilly's baby "Laticia" after my soapmaker friend from Rome. I need to come up with some names as soon as I'm able to think straight. I think I'm half way through lambing. My house is a wreck. I need a wife to take care of me, keep my house and organize my stuff. I want someone to worry about what I eat, and if I have enough clean underwear to get through the week. I want someone to cook my food and wash dishes while I sit on the sofa and read the NY Times. I want to find my clothes folded in a neat little pile on my dresser. I want someone to look out the window and wait for me to come home. Fantasies are free...

25 - I think!

Rushed home from work to find Prince Harry stuck in the fence. He is the "special needs" twin whose mother totally rejected because he is a little spastic. I got him nursing from the bottle okay and now he thinks I'm his mother. I had him living with Prince William before I had to evict them to put my purebred BFL mom in their pen with her tiny twins. Prince Harry was trying to get to Thor outside the fence and got himself jammed. I heard the screams as soon as I pulled up. I opened the barn door to find a tiny ewe lamb, cord dangling, standing next to Kate Middleton's mother. Hmmm, I thought, where did you come from? After much poking around and trying to free Prince Harry with no success, I spied a new mom with a black ram lamb down the other end of the barn. I'm thinking this ewe lamb squeezed through the panel to get in with the other moms and babies and picked whatever mom would take her. The new mom was satisfied with her lovely boy and didn't give chase. I fed Harry a bottle while still stuck, and went around feeding Prince William and Lilly's unnamed ewe lamb, who is very large and a bit lethargic. Poor Lilly wants to feed her so badly and stands over her very protectively but has no milk. Damned that mastitis! Matt arrived home and freed Prince Harry. He helped me milk out the new mom and get her lambs full of colostrum. They are in the kindergarten now with all the others. Most lambs look good. One ewe lamb, clearly from my Merino ram, is a bit light and weak but is taking my supplemental milk replacer and trying to nurse from mom a bit. The big boy born last night - named Rocky Balboa - is a little slow too. I'm making the slow ones take a little milk replacer to be sure they have something in their tummies. Weak lambs are not likely to get up and nurse the way they should. I wandered through the barn to take a look at who might be next. I'm guessing Myrna, another aged ewe who had stillborn twins two years in a row before she had healthy, beautiful lambs at last. I'm glad the bulk of the lambing is getting done this week so Kim will have mainly management issues to deal with, not obstetric problems. I'm concerned my Moira might be about to give birth. She has an udder problem, too. I only have three out of 25 lambs on the bottle now and don't want any more. Did I say 25????? Gonna give Matt his dinner - pork chops with no veggies. Didn't want to take the time to stop at the market, just rocketed home to my babies. Thank goodness for all these good moms I have. Temps going down minus 15 F. tonight. I found half a lamb coat done and think I will sit down and do some power knitting for the new babies born today. Will be quicker than sewing something I think. Really need to work on wedding capes. Oh, how did I let this happen? Lambing 32 ewes and wedding? Great timing Maggie!

Twins

I'm blessed with many sets of twins this year. They are easier for the moms to deliver and look so cute huddled together to keep warm.

Big Fella

This HUGE ram lamb was also born last night. I sat and watched the birth, and am in awe of his mother, who worked very hard to deliver this gigantic lamb. I'm going to weigh him tonight. I bet he weighs 15 pounds. I know all that fabulous hay my ewes got this winter helped grow these big, healthy lambs and I am very grateful.

Lilly Does it Again

My amazing "aged ewe," Lilly, gave birth to a huge ewe lamb last night. Last year she also had a lovely ewe lamb, Luna. It took an hour or so but Lilly came through splendidly - quite a feat considering she is VERY old in human years. Sheep on the average live 8-10 years, and Lilly is ten at least. She has the prettiest, curliest fine fleece and is extremely affectionate. It's wonderfully satisfying when Lilly sees me and jumps with joy, running over to me for a scratch or a nose rub. Her son, Forrest, is equally affectionate and loves to rub his face against mine. His whiskers are a little more prickly than mine!

So Many Lambs, So Little Time

They are sooo beautiful. I can't wait to go home and hold them!

So Fortunate

My lambs are coming out, for the most part, big and healthy with adoring mothers. I hated to leave them today, but with the cup full of colostrum I make sure they get after birth, and warm sweaters on, I can be confident of finding everyone okay when I get home. Have to keep a roof over their heads...

Awake

Matt shook me awake. Have to make some very STRONG coffee, drink two big mugs of it, pull some clothes on and get out to the barn. My clothes are covered with lamb goo - love the smell of it! Have to bottle feed Prince William and the little special needs twin whose mother banged him against the wire a few times. He's a little spastic (white muscle disease due to lack of selenium?) but is improving. Have to run around feeling insides of mouths to make sure they are warm, and squeeze bellies to see if they are nursing. And those purebred BFL ewe twins in their lavender sweaters! One is soooo tiny! Oh they are just the CUTEST little things in the whole wide world! The babies are jumping and playing. Thankfully Shavaun has one working nipple. Have to make sure the ewes who are doubled up are not getting on each other's nerves. Once in a while a lamb tries to nurse on the wrong teat and gets a little butt. I am almost half way through lambing. Am counting the days until Kimmie Cornerstone and her crew comes to take over. Oh, what I would give for just one more hour of sleep.

Beyond Exhausted

Two more ewes gave birth today including my lovely Lilly who gave me another beautiful white ewe lamb, and a huge black ram lamb, the heaviest lamb I've ever had. He must weigh 15 pounds. I'll weigh him tomorrow. We are still getting all these lambs situated. We enlarged the kindergarten and will let the ewes that I have doubled up in pens out into it tomorrow. The moms are behaving very nicely in the maternity wing. I've been nursing out all the moms who gave birth today, total of 6 I think. Came in from the barn at 11, exhausted but have to go back out and give Prince William the sweater I just found. I took his sweater off to give to Lilly's baby and now feel guilty. Took more pictures will post them soon. I am dead to the world.

No Room at the Inn

Dragged my sorry butt in the door from work today to find two sets of twins and one single lamb, wandering around the barn with their mothers. I ran inside to get changed and get the doggies out, then went out to try and get them situated. All my pens are full. The ewe I found with twins this morning before work was quickly put in a pen with the sweet gentle ewe whose babies were almost stolen yesterday. Two of today's moms are also double up with moms. One of today's births include my purebred Bluefaced Leicester mom who had teeny-tiny little ewe twins. I put my last set of lavender sweaters on these tiny girls. I'm out of sweaters - a horror considering we are going down to zero tonight. I took some sweaters off babies that have full, fat bellies and are doing well, like Kate Middleton and Monkey's Spikey. I felt like such a heel doing it. I put them on one set of twins and you should have seen the mother's face when I gave her back her babies with those smelly sweaters on. No time to wash them. I know Kimmie Cornerstone is knitting more sweaters as fast as her little Dutch fingers can go. I'll have to come up with something quick, because as I write my lovely Lilly - Very Important Sheep - is in labor!! I think I have two more moms getting ready to go tonight. I'm bushed but have miles to go before I sleep tonight.

More Lambs

Two beautiful white ram lambs, clearly Blue Boy's and very Bluefaced Leicester, were just born to my very pretty black ewe. She's a first time mom and a little nervous, but she let me nurse her out no problem. A white ewe is starting up right now. I have to shift a ewe with twins into the kindergarten to make room for her. Kimmie Cornerstone is frantically knitting more sweaters for me up in Kingston. I should have been knitting them myself. It's getting colder in the barn and it's frigid outside with awful wind. Might have to cut up my own sweaters which I hate to do. Better get back out to the barn.

Yikes, this Weather!

The wind is blowing very hard and cold air is coming into the barn in every crevice. Lambs born this morning are doing well. They should as I got a LOT of colostrum into them. The ewe twins born to the ambivalent mom are nagging her silly. I am trying to stay out of the picture as much as possible, as I know my presence makes the ewes nervous. What else is this human going to do to us? She lets the girls nurse, then sees me and bolts from them. She can't go too far as she's in a room pen. I will check the girls mouths this evening to make sure they are warm and bellies firm. Big giant ewe single - have to weigh her I bet she's 11 or 12 pounds - is sleeping off the hefty cup of colostrum I made her drink. With this awful cold weather I'm not taking any chances. I have an extra cup saved for the two ewes I know have udder trouble - Shavaun and Lilly. Will save even more when I get the next lamb from a healthy udder. I'm so careful with these udders. I pour Iodine over my fingers before I nurse out the ewes. I don't want to put any bacteria in those teats and ruin them. The lambs have an antibacterial component to their saliva which prevents them from contaminating their mom's udders. Prince William is whiny and complaining about being in the maternity ward. He does not play well with others. Monkey and Spikey are in there now and they are doing fine. I brought PW back inside to give him a bottle, as I don't want him to go down hill. He took half a bottle, then peed a flood on my lap. Guess he's not dehydrated. Miss Mamie and her boys, as yet unnamed, are doing well. I was worried about her udder as she's older, but she seems to be satisfying them. They are gorgeous boys, so I will be sure to band them so I can keep them forever. I have Zack, the new registered Border Leicester ram, for next year's lambing anyway. He is bursting with wool and is the BEST NATURED ram lamb I have ever seen, even more than my BFL rams who I thought were real pussycats. Zack is even halter trained and walks like a dog. Libby Llop really took good care of him. After the trauma of a couple of weeks ago, with prolapses and ring-womb nightmares, lambing is going much better. Better not speak and jinx it for sure. I have a roast chicken in the oven, to eat tonight and to heat this place. Electric heat is just too $$ so I'm using the wood stove and cooking to heat the place. So much work toting wood but this is the weather for it as long as the stove doesn't back puff. Will bring Knut in tonight as the temps are diving. More pregnant ewes on deck including some beautiful black girls. I'm running out of sweaters!!!

Sheep Drama

I went out to water the sheep before getting dressed for work and found a ewe in labor. Okay, maybe if she drops her lambs I can get them situated in a jug and still get to work...but she was in no hurry. Mom is a gentle older ewe and giving birth is hard work. I agonized a while and finally called Robin, my faithful aide. Took forever for ewe to give birth and second mom-to-be decided she would move in and claim it, even before it was fully birthed. I tried to pull her away several times but no, she was going to lick off this baby and claim it for her own. With her fuzzy sheep logic, she thought this was the baby she had not yet given birth to herself. In my effort to separate them I spooked first mom who ran away from the wet bundle. Licking off the newborn is extremely important as it is the way mom and baby bond. First mom never licked at all, second mom was licking like crazy. What to do, what to do. I lassoed second mom with some baling twine and pulled her into a jug, away from the baby. Much screaming from second mom and the first mom's baby was looking to her as mom. Couldn't catch first mom who was thoroughly spooked and still laboring to give birth to a twin. Tried to steer flock back toward wet baby hoping first mom would see her and say, oh! there's my baby! No good, she ignored it, while second mom, still laboring with her own baby, kept yelling for first baby. Oh, crap. First mom gives a big push and drops the twin, but doesn't lick it at all. I'm beginning to doubt first mom's maternal instincts. I didn't spook her that much. Wet twin gets up and starts to run around the barn! First wet baby had crawled over to second mom and they are bonding through the fence with big wet tongue washing and "mother/lamb speak." Enough is enough. I caught wet twin who is running the length of the barn under the rabbit cages behind the stanchion, bring her back to mom, who doesn't want anything to do with her. I drop first twin in the jug with second mom who is gloriously happy to receive "her baby." I put second wet twin in an empty jug and go get my leg crook and a harness. Catch mom by the leg while lassoing her with harness - a first time success for this shepherd! Sure, vets won't come and husbands leave for work - but I don't care!! I can do it myself!! Put mom in jug with twin and tie harness to stanchion. Nurse her out - hurray! Lot's of colostrum from nice sound udder. I get poor runaway baby - a gorgeous ewe lamb - clipped, dipped and a belly full of milk. She wants to nurse but mom is still freaky. This will take time. I get both moms warm molasses water and a flake of Libby's fabulous alfafa. Second mom is laboring hard while making big fuss over first mom's baby that is not hers. She finally gives birth to a giant ewe lamb that must weigh over ten pounds. I slip away first mom's baby and give it back to her, thinking second mom will be busy with her own baby. Second mom's baby is very frisky and viable despite being covering with a brown goo and sputtering with some fluid. I hold her upside down to drain fluid and take off some of the brown goo with paper towels. Mom doesn't care as she is swathing baby with big tongue washings. Let them bond a while before putting on sweater. I nurse out second mom and get another big jar of colostrum. All three lambs have sweaters and full tummies. All this took FOUR HOURS!! First mom is still a bit reticent about her twin girls and acting like "where did they come from? oh, I'm SO upset about all this!!" Too bad - she's got milk and I need her udder! She is not kicking them or knocking them around but she's not crazy about them nursing from her. If I need to I will harness her to a stanchion again to let the girls nurse. They are spunky, wonderful, heavy twin ewes so I will forgive mom a little flakiness! This shepherd is BUSHED and very much needs to sit down with a cuppa tea. Going to school would have been much less work! Took lots of pictures but computer says NO MORE PICTURES so they will have to wait until I can get ahold of another machine. Ciao for now...

Avalanche

Went out to do watering after Matt left early to travel over the Catskills. He's doing a green building training all week at Allen Center, a juvenile residential facility. Sure enough, a round, gelatinous bubble was hanging from a ewe. Okay, my mind starts racing. If she drops her bundle quickly I can get them jugged up and settled and race off to work. But she's in no hurry. I do the watering, watching her with one eye. I suspect I'm making her nervous as she keeps watching me, so I go back in side. Peek in on her again in five minutes. No real progress. What to do, what to do. I had to make a decision, and call Robin to tell her I'm calling in Sheep. I know she will take care of the kids just fine, I'm so lucky that way. I feel sooo guilty, but will feel worse if I go to work and come home to find a disaster. Sure enough, another ewe is starting up, "talking" her babies out of the womb, pawing the ground, getting up and lying down. First ewe is really taking her time. Little hoofs coming out tiny bit at a time. I don't want to intervene. I like to let nature take it's course whenever possible. There were times when I eased a half-born lamb out of an exhausted ewe, but that's only when she's lying down flat out and needs help. A hard, cold, snowy wind is blowing and the wood stove is back puffing despite the fan. Thor's door is frozen open six inches. Don't know how Matt let that happen. I saw him fooling with it last night. The lamb/kid kindergarten is getting a cold wind directly on them. Will have to stuff it with a blanket. Temps diving tonight. Winter has a firm grip on us and lambs are falling from the ewes. Prince William is back in the kindergarten after a night of bottle every 2-3 hours. He's wondering what happened, as I think he liked it inside. I know I liked his little baaings and touching me with his cold nose while I slept on the sofa. I could reach over to the bottle on the coffee table and pop it in his mouth. Surprisingly, mom was not happy to see him. Her one udder must have given out. Life on the farm...

Sheep Drama

Came home from work to find Prince William lying on the hay, stiff and cold. Got him inside and slowly thawed out. He must not have been getting enough milk from mom, who has one working udder. After a warm bath, and tubing, and electrolytes, and roasting in the oven and by the wood stove, Prince William started to come around. I went out to do chores with Matt, who met me at the door excitedly saying we've got lambs! Miss Mamie gave birth to a pair of huge, beautiful ram twins. She is an old rescued Rambouillet ewe who I was concerned about but seems to be fine. Miss Mamie was too tired to get up and wash her babies so we put them by her nose to lick off. She's a fabulous mother who adores her boys. Mom and boys are snug in the jug with everything they need to be happy. I am giving Prince William his night-night bottle, then crashing hard. Last night's three am session with twins set me back a little. I wouldn't be surprised if there is another one tonight. Sweet lambie dreams...

Twins at Three AM

As he went to bed Matt told me there was a ewe "talking" at the end of the barn and pawing at the ground. That's a sure sign lambs are coming. He did chores for me last night so I could sew on Mia's bridesmaids capes and saw the ewe acting unusual. Since he told me the barn was so warm he was sweating like crazy, I knew I could get some sleep without worrying about lambs freezing. Ewes will "talk" to the lambs as they are being born. I woke up at two and listened to the monitor. Lay there for a while, listened some more. Sure enough I heard a little maaaa, maaaa. Had a hard time talking myself up out of bed. Finally got up and made myself a cup of herb tea to help get me going. There they were - twins dancing around their mom who had given birth right next to Chris. Tiny little things. Got them in a pen okay, put sweaters on the teeny tiny ram and ewe, although it was still nice and warm in the barn. What the heck...Anyway, got the cords cut and navels dipped in iodine, Nutri-Drench swallowed. Mom, unfortunately, is a wild nutcase and went psycho when I tried to nurse her out. I tried my leaning her up against the wall of the jug and using my weight to hold her still, no good. I succeeded in getting 3 cc of colostrum - one swallow for one baby. She busted away from me and stepped flatly on the ewe twin. Enough I said. It will have to wait two hours until Matt gets up. Gave Mom a bucket of hot molasses water to get her milk going, which she drank in one stretch of sucking loudly. Good night - or, Good morning I should say. It's 4 am now and I'm going to try to get an hour of shut eye before work.

Frozen Foghorn Leghorn

Matt found this frozen Leghorn rooster in the duck's igloo outside. I put him in a box next to the wood stove to thaw out for a couple of hours. He felt better and jumped down to the floor. I put him in the chicken room in a rabbit cage where I can feed him separately and his buddies won't be able to beat him up. I got him by accident when the chicken company sent males instead of females last spring. Yes, even they make mistakes. He's a purebred Leghorn rooster and very handsome, but has frostbite on his beautiful waddle. I'm not fond of roosters but I like this guy.

Hurray It Fits

Mia picked out half a dozen gorgeous suits and dresses for me to wear at her wedding. Smart girl - she knows I don't shop anymore, and she is a pro. I picked this lovely suit because I think Hannah, my granddaughter in Dallas, will approve of the color and like the sparkly beads. It wouldn't zip a week ago. My mother always said, It hurts to be beautiful. I'm hungry ALL the time but I'm much healthier than I've been in years. Can't remember when I last had ice cream. It's tough to ignore the giant freezer full of pork products in the tractor shed. I'll eat boiled shrimp when I go to the ASPCA benefit, The Fur Ball, next weekend. Aside from that, it's broiled chicken and boiled spinach for me. Matt says Belly is very unhappy but he's shrinking, too.

This is Why I Keep Him

I caught Matt in the dark, cuddling little Spikey, Monkey's baby, and talking baby talk to him. Angora goat babies are just the cutest creatures - and they love to be held, unlike lambs who try to wiggle away and get back to their moms (who are hopping around very nervously).

Thoughtful Gift

Matt went to get the mail this morning while I took a much longed for hot bath with shampoo. He came home with a present from Trish Barrows, an ex-Army bunny/sheep friend I know through Kimmie Cornerstone. Trish didn't lamb this year and is following my lambing adventures online. She knitted a beautiful dark green neck warmer with a nifty pass-through hole for me. It's so exquisitely knitted, with cables and fancy stitches I don't know how to do. The yarn is 70% musk ox and 30% cashmere, and is very light yet so warm. I'm so humbled and thrilled to get this present. Trish is a teacher in a Christian school when she's not raising critters. I really appreciate this lovely and thoughtful surprise, and all the support and encouragement Trish sends my way. I need all the help I can get...

Sewing Today

I will be sewing all day, after I try to make some sense out of this place. With at least three hours a day of barn chores, working three days last week (thank you, snow), the house is in a bit of disarray. No matter, keeping the critters alive and well is more important. I'm on Cape Four for Mia's wedding, which is bearing down on us very quickly. I'm so happy for Mia and Andrew - I know I should be nervous about the wedding but I see it more as the beginning of their happy life together. They are two people who are so well suited and matched for each other the likes of which I have never known. They have only dated a year or so but already act like they have been married for years.

Lilly Smooch

Lilly took advantage of the "family moment" and gave Matt a hot, wet smooch. Lilly should be having a lamb herself very shortly. She had Luna, a healthy ewe lamb last year, and Forrest and Denzel the year before. Lilly's mom, Harmony, is also expecting. Harmony must be 12 or 13 years old. She was a member of my founding flock, purchased from Lisa Rodenfels as an adult ten years ago. I lost the paperwork in moving to tell exactly what her age is. I'm feeding her extra grain and hay in hopes that she will have a viable lamb. She would be a hundred years old in human years. Lilly is my very favorite sheep, after the passing of my sainted Baby Thunder.

A Good Morning Surprise

I tiptoed out and there she was - lying next to her mom, all dried off and curled up against the cold. I held my breath until I saw her move - a healthy ewe lamb, getting ready to stand up. Got her in the jug, sweater on, a shot of Nutri-Drench, and a belly full of colostrum from mom. It's like playing with baby dolls! I got mom fed and a bucket of warm molasses water, and I was free to cuddle for a while. I can't think of a sweeter place to be - in the jug with a healthy newborn lamb on a Saturday morning. What bliss.

Six Below

Six below at 6 am. 32 in the barn. Not too bad. No babies last night. No frozen bundles or shivering babes next to their moms when I ventured out into the barn. Took an hour to do chores moving as quickly as possible. Enya is blaring from Moby Dick, warming up in the driveway. Hope I can get out again. Getting back up the lane was difficult after work last night. Saw neighbor farmer driving by with plow but he never came, thank you very much. Better jump in the tub pronto. Matt is home from Rochester tonight. I know he's tired of room service and those annoying chocolates on his pillow. Back to Reality Bites Farm for him.

6 am

No babies last night that I can find. Sheep still "in bed." Wish I was, too. After two mugs of Strong Coffee I pushed a foot of frozen snow off Moby Dick. Now to see if I can get him out of the driveway. Had hoped neighbor farmer would come to plow but not this time. I should have turned the truck around but I didn't. Matt is still at RIT in Rochester, looking at pictures of crushed construction workers, etc. I have an eye appointment immediately after school and want to keep it. My eyes are getting worse and my 3 year old glasses aren't cutting it. I noticed I haven't been reading the NY Times anymore and maybe that's why. I can't see the print! I got three black velvet capelettes on hangers. Four more to go, then Mia's big Kinsale (Irish) Cape. I'm excited about it. We decided I would leave off the fancy hood, as she would never pull it over her hairdo with the tiara. It can be added later with buttons. OH, she will look like a princess. Don't know of any other brides who had a long black velvet cape to wear to the church, and then the reception. I didn't see anything like it in the magazines anyway. She will take pictures with the bridal party on the square in front of the church, then walk two blocks to the hotel in her cape. What a sight that will be. I'm trying to let a minimum of cat/dog fuzz get on the velvet as I sew - not an easy task. Whoops, 6:09 - better get to chores NOW.

Wind and Cold

It's blowing real hard out there. Knut was very unhappy under the pine tree with everybody else inside so I brought him in. He can't stay inside too long as he gets very antsy and nervous. Tonight, he's happy to be in. Chores are done except for the second load of firewood I need to bring in. In all likelihood we'll have school tomorrow. Matt is still at RIT in Rochester receiving OSHA training. Don't know how I'm going to get my truck out. Guess I'll run it a while and see if I can four wheel drive out of the snow...that is, if the barn isn't full of lambs during the night. The thought of it makes me want to go to bed early - very early, like right now.

Farm O' Plenty

Libby was kind enough to send me this picture of my/her goats enjoying the plentiful bounty of Inverness Farm. It really put my mind at ease. With 500 acres, six tractors, team of sons at home, Libby gets the hay in. Now the goaties don't have to compete with sheep for hay. Libby's had five baby goat kids so far. She got them home to her farm just in time.

Without Animals We Are Not Human

I was pondering why we, I mean people like me, feel a compulsion to raise our own fiber, and reject the commercialism of so many yarn companies. There is brand after brand of fiber-of-unknown-origin. They tell us what kind of fiber it is, but we have no idea where it came from. Who raised it? Was it a loving, caring farm or was it a commercial operation where the sheep are shorn, then put on a trailer to the slaughterhouse, or on a steamer to be shipped to the Middle East to be sacrificed in a brutal, bloody way in a religious ritual? What kind of practices are supported by our yarn purchases? Are we supporting an American farmer, or contributing to global warming by shipping it from who-knows-where? I prefer to know where my yarn comes from, and I like it to be as local as possible. If I have to buy fiber I buy it from someone like me, who is hand-raising the animals and caring for them in an ethical way. All those glitzy labels are seductive, and you can buy as much as you want of any dye lot and be sure to have enough for your sweater. We can knit away and never think of what practices are behind that yarn. And it's not only the ethics - it's the satisfaction of taking our craft to the most fundamental level. Like a potter scraping her clay from the banks of a stream instead of buying it from the art supply house. An old sheep friend put it oh, so eloquently when he responded to something I said online. I don't think he will mind me quoting him here. Harry Kelley said this about why we raise sheep...

"There is some yearning, deep down inside each of us, that longs to
journey to the beginning, when the magic of twist made everything
that is, seen and unseen. Raising sheep, shearing, skirting,
washing, carding, combing, spinning, weaving, knitting: it's all
going back to our home among the stars. Raising your own sheep is
putting the universe back in order. Without animals we are not
human."

Thank you, Harry, for saying what I could not put into words but what I feel so deeply in my soul.

No New Babies

I woke up with a start and saw 6:30. Panic set in. How did I sleep so long??? Rushed to the window and the early light didn't show me much more of a snow build-up. What happened to the formidable snow predicted? What was going on in the barn? Did I have to go to work today? How could I get everybody in the barn taken care of in time to get myself bathed and dressed? I had closed my eyes assured of a snow day today. What a relief to turn on the computer and get the message from Gretchen, co-teacher, that our school is closed. Joy! Euphoria! Clicked the coffee pot on, got the kitty oatmeal going, suited up and got the doggies out for a quickie pee/poo. Had to jump a drift blocking the back door. Doggies in, out to the sheep. All quiet, everybody lying down. I stood quietly listening before I ventured to the back of the barn. I can walk along a corridor next to them so I don't have to walk through them. Nothing going on. I decided to count the pregnant sheep - 32! I knew there were a bunch, but exact numbers are startling. Have to buy ear tags quickly. I have scrapie tags, but they are only required for sheep leaving the farm for food. I like colored tags that tell me at a glance what year sheep were born, and right ear for ewes, left ear for rams. And names, I need names! I kinda started with British Royal Family names - Prince William and Kate Middleton. I thought of star names but some of them are really weird. Shakespeare characters are always good. Movie stars? I have Brad and Angelina goat twins, and Monkey's buck kid is Spikey. So glad Kimmie Cornerstone is knitting more coats. She's coming in two weeks for farm sitting while I go to Mia's wedding. Luckily she'll have Darryl, Jared and Lindsay on board. All those goffers and toters to bring her this and get her that. Love those Canadians - they are so laid back and not afraid of hard work.

Sewing Today

I'm sewing for most of the afternoon between barn checks. I've got three wedding capelets cut out and five more to go including Mia's big Folkware Patterns "Kinsale Cape." Won't the bridesmaids, and Mia, look fantastic in all the black velvet over their chiffon gowns. It's been a long time since I sewed using patterns. I just cut fabric when I'm making Bundaflicka Bags and go from there. I'm so happy I can do this for my beautiful daughter.

Disaster Averted

Luckily I found this pregnant ewe when I was tending to Lola's baby at 3 am this morning. She had rolled over and gotten stuck, which can result in death. The lamb/s act as an anchor to hold her down and she can't breathe. No wonder shepherds become obsessively diligent around lambing time.

Snowing Hard in Brookfield

And to think I used to accumulate sick days - before sheep that is. I even left unused sick days at my old school in New Jersey. It's snowing hard and fast in Brookfield. I was afraid to go to Norwich in this weather and not be able to get home to the farm. There are brand new babies in the barn and with Matt gone all week, well, it's scary. I have to go out there now and somehow get Lola trimmed enough so Ray Davies can find the teat. She is pawing at the ground and moving him back to where her udder is, which is precisely how moms get their kids to nurse. Trouble is, her udder is concealed with a ton of thick mohair. Yes, I know, she should have been trimmed prior to kidding, but here we are. "My bad" as they say around here. I'm thinking I will tie her to a stanchion post and straddle her while I trim. Lola is a mean old goat - good thing she is so beautiful. This will be interesting - another chapter in the story that is Maggie's Farm.

3 AM !!

I tiptoed out at 3 AM and found Lola standing over this little guy. If she's going to get me up at 3 AM at least she could have given me a doe kid. Oh, well, all babies come from heaven, even buck kids. I made a quick cup of chamomile tea for myself, got suited up, stepped out with the doggies for a quick pee, grabbed my kit and got Mom and baby situated in a pen filled with fresh alfafa hay. Lola was thrilled with the hay but not happy about me reaching under that mass of mohair to pull on her teats in the middle of the night. Her form of protest was to lie down on top on my hands while I was trying to nurse her out. I was persistent and managed to get a nice jar of warm colostrum for the handsome fella I am calling Ray Davies. I filled up his belly, got Lola a bucket of warm molasses water, then gave some milk to Monkey's baby, Spikey, who is smallish and not as strong as Ray Davies. Staggered back inside to find my fire is out. I'm going back to sleep. A sleety, icy snow is falling steadily out there.