Ask me...

how today went.

I dare ya!

It went sh*tty.

Literally...

It seems some lambs have bacterial issue .

I had to catch all who are not handled as much as they should be.

They were then brutally held down by a monster and forced to swallow toxic poisons.

Or so their loud constant screaming would suggest.

However I gave them meds and need to repeat for next few days.

Oh joy...

At the same time a ewe stuck her head through a cattle panel and stayed stuck for a time.

When I noticed I freed the *%$#%^ Ewe.

She thanked me by spewing diarrhea everywhere.

Most likely from stress but I dosed her with meds as well.

They are some namby pamby little beasts for sure.

At the slightest sign of change or stress they lose their minds.

She stuck her head through the panel not me.

Of course I may have be a little rough getting her unstuck as she slammed my fingers repeatedly.

Maybe...

Otherwise today was a good day.

I saw a friend and caught up over lunch.

And then to end my day I mowed my lawn.

So exciting NOT.

My neighbor lives to mow.

He mows at least 3 times a week.

So often you cannot see any lines of progress to follow.

Please tell me why?

What purpose it serves to have butchered grass ? 

In the heat of the summer it turns brown from excessive mowing.

I like to walk bare feet in my taller grass.

He is not impressed and mows a little more of the separating ditch line each time.

Go right ahead, no skin off my back.

Off my lawn, well yes.

Summer Heat

It would seem we skipped Spring and went to Mid-Summer weather in DE.

The nights are cooler which is spring but days are already approaching 80* most days.

Tarnation, drat, phooey....

Today I scurried to get some before summer jobs started but alas I had issues.

The riding mower battery isn't staying charged and I forgot and shut it off 

therefore I had to be towed out of the pasture .

It is on the list to check alternator and/or battery to fix.

I didn't complete all the riding mower work because of above.

Then I switched to the tractor and we hooked up the mower and off I went.

The pasture could wait some more but buttercups are starting and grass heads are up also.

I figured I'd mow it off and then pasture the ewes after weaning and after the fencing job that is coming up to divide the large pastures into three sections for better rotation of grasses.

But alas and anon to be.

After 3-4 passes which didn't constitute 1/4 of total area I heard a "metal" grating sound.

I looked back and saw the sleeve of the mower PTO shaft and part of the shaft flying off .

I watched as it sheared into 4 pieces while trying to shut the PTO off and the blades.

So thats a repair that will stall the mowing a bit longer.

But...

I did get to start the enormous 8 yr old at least burn pile roaring.

I am a pyromaniac at heart.

I watched it and kept it controlled after alerting 911 I was burning in case some moron  concerned citizen called in.

We have had that happen.

It is visibly out but will probably smolder all night.

At least something was accomplished today.

Just gotta sometimes...

... get off some money to do it right.

I have reached the stage where I am tried of rigging everything.

I need to spend money on a new shearing machine for our sheep.

I am tired of piecing things together.

Here's to smoking my charge card.

The flowers are still pretty but won't last long in this heat.

80* in April is ridiculous.

I am over this spring weather.

Season stopper...

Nice set of lambs out of first timers on both parents.

The ram was only 7 months old and small but he got the job done after a few heats.

Momma was a yearling when bred.

The lambs are big and healthy.

The yellow one was first and is a ewe.

The boy was 15 min later and a bit smaller but still nice sized.

Up and at em...

The milk spickets that is.

He is a cutie.

Mom went right to work cleaning them up.

What a way to usher in the night (1:30 am).

As long as everyone survived and is healthy I am happy.

I will sleep well tonight I imagine.

All over for another year.

5 ewes bred, all took.

8 lambs

2 rams

6 ewes

3 Border Leicesters

1 ram

2 ewes

All White

5 Lincoln Longwools

1 white Lincoln ram

4 Black/Natural ewes

What a jumbled list but wait till I have to arrange show season pens and pastures for all.

Young and Old...

GOODNIGHT

Reminding myself...

Between lambing and working part time doing taxes on top of my fulltime business I am beat.

It is only for a few more weeks I keep reminding myself.

Only 1 lamb to go I keep reminding myself.

They are so cute I get over being tired quickly.

 I still have alot of a friend's plants as she doesn't have enough room in your temporary digs.

I have never had an orchis before .

There are 2 small ones and if you look close to the pot you can see a bloom.

This is a west facing window which seems to be the key for blooming.

I have played around with the plants I don't have experience with.

I have found a few that prefer the west windows more.

I will try to take a better photo. 

The bloom is so pretty.

Maybe I will forget to return this one ;-]`

A very "sweet lady" gifted me a spool string of lights for my sewing room.

So cute I almost want to move them around with me in every room.

MamaPea you are such a nice lady and so thoughtful.

You certainly brightened my day when the delivery van pulled in.

Now to make space and hang these where I can enjoy them.

Off to check my remaining ewe once more before bedtime.

New set...

of lambs are doing great.

Yesterday and today they enjoyed the sunshine and a bit of pasture time.

They are 5 days old.

A hard birth for Momma Ewe which ended well.

The dark lamb is a ewe and the white a ram.

I had to pull both because they were so large.

The ewe lamb had her head turned sideways and her second leg back.

It took some finagling.

The ewe lamb is marginally smaller and was first thus paving the way for her big brother.

The ram was a struggle for me to get out with his giant head and long limbs.

Both struggled to nurse the first 12-16 hours mostly because mom's teats were swollen and bigger diameter than normal.

With patience (which I am limited on) they/we persisted and succeeded.

Alot of milking out, trying to bottle feed and finally cramming the teat in the little mouths while holding them in the correct position.

The Momma ewe developed a fever within 24 hours and needed to be treated so that was a late night run to get meds from the vet and run back home to poke her with needles.

The fun never stops.

Lucky for LN she was home to experience the  trauma  drama of it all.

I nicely woke her up to help.

She'll return to college on Sunday so it was a nice break to be able to take care of her sheep.

Now I wait for the last ewe, the above Border to lamb next week.

Then I sleep the sleep of the DEAD.

???

Does anyone else have a problem with 

"Watch Movie Online "

showing up repeatedly in their blog roll?

It is happening so much I cant stand to read blogs for long.

I have 10 of their posts before I see 1 of the blogs I follow show up.

A few more...

baby lambs have arrived.

A teeny , tiny pair of ewe lambs born at 11:00 pm.

I heard the Mom groaning in labor on my baby monitor.

Luckily I woke up and was able to assist the lambs.

They were so weak they didn't stand for about 12 hours by themselves.

I held them up to nurse every 2-3 hours till they were strong enough to toddle around.

Miss A "lubs" all of them.

She kissed and held each one and told their Moms "Good Job Momma".

This is a rare orange colored lamb.

This cat is a year old and spends alot of time in the lamb/sheep pens.

She is always underfoot but the sheep do not seem to mind.

This is a single Lincoln lamb she is greeting.

 The size difference is apparent here even though Lily is standing a foot in front of the 3 others.

The white border is only 15 days older than the 3 Lincolns.

She was a whopper of a lamb and is benefiting from being a single nursing lamb.

The others will catch up quick though and surpass her as their breed is inherently larger. 

 
Miss A takes her dolly everywhere now , even to the barn to see the lambs.

Inside the house she carries around this large resin ewe that for some reason she likes.

It's the 1st thing she collects when she comes to my house.

I am training her right ;]

Almost and finally ....

The color of the self striping skien didn't exactly match up in width of stripes.

This caused me to be short of the blue colorway on second sock.

Therefore the toe on the second sock is pieced together with remaining yarn from sock one.

It doesn't bother me a bit.

LN seemed to like them when I sent her a picture so shortie socks have found a home.

Spring break is coming up so she can take them back to college with her.

Now what???

Hmmmm...........

Meanwhile last week finally....

The first lamb was born to one of our Border Leicester ewes.

A fat and sassy ewe lamb weighing in at 16# named Lily.

Hopefully the rest of our girls due over the next few weeks go as smoothly as this one did.

I saw her mom digging a nest in the straw.

I moved her into a jug and left her alone for 20-30 min.

I came out to a partially dry lamb trying to stand.

She walked on her front knees to the teat and latched on for quite awhile.

After her belly was full she finally stood and shook off.

"Guess I'm good", she seemed to say. 

End of weekend...

 means the finish of another set of  socks...

The self striping color is hard to see but a deep rainbow colorway I would say.

These picture is more accurate on color I believe.

I like the pattern , a k3p1 repeat. 

it keeps me occupied and interested more than a plain knit.

Therefore I finish faster ;}`

I rolled some yarn balls for the next pair but didn't cast on as it's sport weight and I don't know what size DPN I want to use.

Tomorrow or this week I'll play around with it and search patterns.

Friday me and Lil Miss A took a ride to the beach for lunch.

It's a 45-60 min trip south of me.

My truck needed a longer sustained mph trip to clean the exhaust.

Without LN around daily I do not take many longer than 20 min. trips like I have before.

No soccer, no 4-H, no field hockey, no college visits, etc, etc, etc.....

Makes me sad to think that.

Anyway me and Miss Sass went for a ride and lunch.

She decided she hates the beach and is afraid of the water.

Mind you this kid doesn't stay away from the waves any other time we have been.

I carry dry clothes with us for that reason.

I am guessing she was hangry!

She probably was tired to as she laid down at the place we ate till our fries came out.

She devoured them.

"Death fries"

French fries with bacon and cheese and  ranch dressing and bar-b-que sauce drizzled on top.

Worth the drive trust me.

The waves were exploding and the sea looked angry.

It still relaxes me no matter the weather and conditions.