This and That

Gracie peering in the chicken house door. She has jumped in there with me before, much to the consternation of the chickens!

Not too much of note going on here right now. Keeping busy with everyday tasks and the rush of Spring. We got a really hard rain last night---several inches worth. We needed it so I expect the grass will really take off now. The grass has been slow to recover from the freeze, so the sheep are still picking over their winter pasture and eating hay. I had to un-wrap the wire panel from their big bale earlier in the week, since with the rain we got a week or so ago, the bale was heating up and I was afraid it might start molding. I keep a tarp wired over the top, but moisture will still seep in from the bottom and cause the heating/mold this time of year. This was the last big bale of the season, so for the next week or so, I'll have to feed the 'extras' (those w/out lambs) from square bales. I have some bales I bought during the hay scare that are a bit less quality and will feed them first. Mostly they just need something to root around in and feel like they aren't being abused and neglected. :-)

I'll start moving them onto pasture probably next week. I'm moving panels around at night now, working to get the ram's pen set back up and also some fencing around the lilacs to protect them. If I can get that all done, then I will be able to turn the girls and lambs out in front for awhile in the evenings so they can 'mow' for me. I always start them off a little at a time to avoid bloat problems. Fifteen minute increments is usually how it works. I'll also get them some bi-carb of soda, which they can eat free choice. This seems to really help them out when they are on new pasture. They will really scarf it down during this season. Anyway, a few minutes out on the front pasture until they are up to an hour or two, then, hopefully by then their main pasture will be ready for them to turn out on . (Trying to convince them that 15 minutes is long enough can be quite a fiasco!) Once they are out on the main pasture, things will settle down again. It'll be noisy and chaotic for a week or so as the girls demand to be on new grass ALL the time before they are ready.

It seems its never just 'turn them out' and forget about it---a person has to plan everything---like making sure the rams pen is fenced and ready so they can be put in there, before the girls are turned out into the pasture that adjoins the ram's current pasture, etc. etc.! :-) Step by step.....

I sure would have been in a pickle if my hay guy hadn't come through for me at the last minute! With the hard freeze, even some of the cattle farmers had to go back to feeding hay. I did talk to the guy the other night at a neighbor's visitation. He said that he was pretty sure all the lesepdeza got frozen off and probably was killed out. I told him I didn't care what kind of hay he puts up I just want some of it! I think the other options are brome and maybe some bermuda. We will see what happens. I plan to order about 50 more square bales and likely 10 more rounds just to make sure I don't run into the hay shortage situation again!

With the heavy rains last night we got a bit of thunder and lightening. There was one dramatic lightning bolt that took out my answering machine. I think this is the second one to expire in the last six months. I'm going to try and get a surge protector and see if that will help any. It's not that they are that expensive, but if you have to replace one every few months--well that is just silly and a waste of money.

I now have four little wethers looking for new homes! I made the decision to go ahead and band them since although they carry the potential for spots, they none had anything outstanding about them either. It's easier for me, since I don't have alot of acreage to raise a few wether's instead of rams. This way they can stay with the ewes until the head off for their new homes.

I'm hoping to get some of my garden planted soon, now that the weather has (seemingly) stablized. The yard needs its first mowing, the hay barn needs some cleaning out, the dogs need bathes and there is roving to roll and fleeces to pick! So much to do, so little time. :-)

Apple Cider Bread

For those not to proud to use the humble bread machine I'm going to post a great recipe for Apple Cider Bread. It takes about a cup of Apple Cider so hence its name. It has a nice light sweet taste, but isn't what I would consider a 'sweet bread'. I use it for sandwiches and it adds a nice flavor.

Many, many moons ago, when I had the time and was actually at home more, I baked bread from scratch. I loved to make it and eat it. My Grandmother had given me several recipes for wheat, rye and mixed grains. I used those for years. But as time went on and I started working most days, I didn't have time (or energy) to knead the dough and let it rise so I quit making homemade bread.

Being the cheap (or perhaps to put it in a more positive manner--being the frugal) person I am, I didn't even dream of buying one of the much touted bread machines. Besides I was a bit of a snob about it----I can make bread from scratch after all! Ha So one fateful Fire Department Fundraiser day, I was cruising the tables for the umpteenth time (you do this when you are the one 'watching' the sale for the day and you are bored out of your mind), seeing if perhaps I had overlooked something I couldn't live without. I passed the bread machine, looked at it, passed it again, and again. Finally something snapped and I had to have that machine. It cost $5 whole dollars and looked new.

Now two years later, while I don't use it a whole bunch, I do 'bake bread' much oftener than I was. I have several recipes that I really like, several that I'm still fine tuning and nothing beats the smell of bread baking. The best most absolutely wonderful part is no fuss, no muss. Dump it in the pan, turn it on and later wash out the bread pan. Ta-da. Having a small round hole in and a funny shaped bread is a small price to pay, I think. :-)

Of course 'real' bread from scratch will always be better, just because anytime food takes time and love to prepare it has a better taste. But I think my homemade bread sure rates over store bought and I hope you enjoy this recipe if you are a 'bread maker convert'. The smell is lovely in itself!

Apple Cider Bread

1 1/4 cups Apple Cider

3 cups Bread Flour

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbls Brown Sugar

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

2 tbls butter

Assemble and bake as per your bread machine directions. Bake on white/light bread setting with desired crust.

Enjoy!

What's Wrong with this Picture?

It's what, mid April? Spring? So what's this all about?

So, Friday, we get off work at noon. As we head to our cars its starts this wet sloppy snowing. All thoughts of working outside went out of the window. It's not like I don't have plenty to do in the house, its just that its SPRING and that means working outside. Right? Planting garden? Mowing yards? Playing with the lambs? Nope. It was cleaning the house, doing laundry and ack.... catching up on paperwork for the Fire Department (I'm secretary for our local Voluntary FD).

Along comes Saturday, hmmm... it's bound to be better. Nope. See above pictures. It rained alot (which we did need) and then this is what I was greeted with when I went out to do chores. Snow. Real snow. Acting like it meant business snow. Sure it was pretty. All that white stuff on a green background. Pretty enough to bring out the camera. Were the sheep impressed? Nope. They weren't a bit happy about it all. (And for those thinking poor sheepies, why didn't she feed 'em inside---the barn isn't big enough to hold 18 (+ lambs) pushing, shoving, hay hogging sheep without someone getting squished in the process. The barn is plenty big enough for normal 'let's all take a nap' peaceful sheepie behavior.) I broke out the good stuff for the sheep--even the rams got some of the good stuff, because it's hard to say no to their poor naked little selves. The sheep all hung out in the barn (except for forced hay grabbing) for two days. The baby lambs were worse than a bunch of school children on a rainy day. They got into all kinds of stuff that I didn't even think the sheep could reach. They used the feed trough's for giant sheep litter pans. Once in awhile they or their mom's would drift down to the Shetland barn, then everybody would lose everybody else and much wailing would ensue. Rouen's little ewe lamb 'somehow' got into Blue's (the merino ram)pasture---his pen adjoins the barn. I wasn't sure I was ever going to get her out of there. The boys were remarkably patient with the little brown squirt.

It was with great relief that I watched as the sun warmed up the world on Sunday... and saw 29 sheep trot out to pasture! Yes! That night it was a different world. Drowsy and content quiet sheep stood or lay around, soaking up the last rays of the sunshine.

We needed all the rain and I'm sure the nitrogen in the snow will help. It's warm and springish now and has been since Sunday. The grass looks funny though. It looks more like the grass in a late, dry summer. The emerald green of the early spring is gone, now its a washed out green, with swatches of pale gold running through it. I suspect it's damaged from the hard freeze we had the week before. The grass growth has been set back at least a week or two. I'm so very thankful that I have enough hay to last a while now.

We are all still working on cleaning up from the ice storm. We've gotten several of the majorly big brushpiles burnt. I've raked and reseeded them and am hoping the grass grows on them. It's starting to look a bit better around here, although there are still a couple of areas that need cleanup around the farm. It was quite exciting for a little while around here the other night, when one of the burning brushpiles set two trees on fire..... Everything is fine. Really. :-) No Fire Department's were involved in this incident.

Ariel posing as the Collieable Snowman

Rain's Twins

Here they are---a little over a month old. How soon they grow up. I believe that the little ewe is going to be a moorit and is not musket--I'm really glad about that! The little boy (sorry for the blurry picture) is quite a pretty little fellow and very friendly. He is Ag so will eventually fade out to a medium grey. The little girl seems especially leggy, which seems surprising since both parents are on the medium to small size. The boy is for-sale--most likely as a wether. Enquire if you are interested! Their sire is a moorit smirslet, sokket.

Two Sisters Again

Suzy, two ewe lambs, Melody

I thought I would update you on the Merino X twins and their continuing adventure in motherhood. They have actually been doing a good job. The little babies are quick on their feet and smart. Melody and Suzy both know they are moms now with responsibilities--albeit in their own time frame. Even though the little girls are out of the twins and have the same sire, they still have quite a different look to each other. Suzy's has more of the 'shetland look' and even had a slighty shorter tail, whereas Melody's little girl has a tighter curled fleece with less fluffy guard fibers. She also has more of the merino type of longer face and ears.

The little girls are quite bright and quickly caught on to the fact that they needed to follow mom(s) into their stall at night (unlike some little Shetland rats who shall remain nameless...). I banded their tails a couple of weeks ago as they are still too long to allow them to keep them as adults.

The little girls hang out together, although they both do play with the shetland babies to. It is nice they have each other though, as they are always poking about together.

Anyway, it looks like "The Twins" are gonna be good mommas after all!

Weather

The sheep snuggled into the hay and enjoying the sunshine.

They look so little and so clean!

What a strange year we have had in regards to the weather. Of course we had "The Ice Storm" to start the year off. Then winter set in and didn't let up for what seemed like months and months. Finally a warm day here and there, then suddenly a stretch of 'spring' weather. We were all so grateful for the warmth, sunshine & beautiful green grass that I think we refused to think of it as an 'early spring'. Then suddenly Spring was gone! Five days of sub-freezing weather--nights in the teens and twenties, days in the forties---once again devastated the trees and all things that bloom. Not to mention the grass. The grass was growing like crazy and then with the hard freeze it was suddenly turning brown on the ends and stopped growing. More hay to feed. All the fruit trees, flowers and blooming shrubs were nipped off. Even the hardy iris and lilies are now drooped to the ground. The new leaf growth on the trees hangs in doleful tatters. Not much escaped damage, but only time will tell how much it will effect things.

Earlier in the week we got some much needed rain--now if it would warm up the grass should start growing. I sowed quite a bit of grass seed (a mixture of tall fescue and lespedeza) in the burn scars where we have burnt some of the brush piles. I need to do a little more seeding this weekend as well.

Today it is raining a slow steady cold rain. There is a possibility we will get snow mixed in with the rain today and tomorrow. I'm very glad lambing is finished, and feel for those who are just starting to lamb in this muckty weather. I've had a fire in the woodstove since last Friday. On the plus side this has been an 'easy' way to clean out the woodbox. I normally keep a week and half worths of wood in the woodbox in the breezeway. I rarely use much of it, since its for really 'emergencies'---like the outside wood getting wet or lets say an ice storm..... Anyhoo, come Spring, I usually end up carrying most of it back to the woodpile to clean out the box. This year, it was nice to wantonly burn the wood from the woodbox! ;-) Now I will clean out the woodbox really good, spray with bug spray and then store the fleeces in it after I skirt them.

Yesterday we had a lovely day--it warmed up into the 50s and the sun shone. The sheep were content to lie around and doze in the sun, tucked up in the hay piles. I expect tonite won't be as quiet or pleasant as their naked little bodies will force them to hang out in the barns all day, and not forage the pasture. And as usual I expect I will give in and give them some 'good hay'.

That's all for now. Sounds like a wet weekend--time to get busy rolling roving or some such thing!

Easter Sunrise Service

At our very small country church we have an Easter tradition. I don't know when we started this, but its been going on for awhile.

We meet for Sunrise Services on Easter morning. What makes it really special is that a local camp lets us use their outdoor 'inspiration point' to meet. We literally meet on top of a bluff, surrounded by trees with the river audible but barely visible below...way below.

It's beautiful, it's quiet, it's serene. A place to just sit for a little while and rest and rejuvenate. To remember what our Lord did for us so long ago.

You have to hike in, although there is a service road that you can park on and eliminate the hike straight back up the hill if you want. The seats are rough concrete and often cold. The times we have cancelled and had services back at the church instead were usually because it was raining.

We dress casually and warmly, wearing sturdy shoes, and bringing blankets to sit on and perhaps cover up with. It's nothing fancy. A few songs, and brief talk from the pastor, but to sit there and commune with other believer's and behold the majesty of God is truly a gift. Some people never step a foot inside a 'real' church, but they will come to this.

Afterwards, usually with frozen backsides and numb faces and fingers we hurry back to our cars. Then we re-assemble at the church where we enjoy a hearty breakfast---biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast casseroles and more. The pastor has to bring a lively sermon when we meet back for our regular church time to keep his well fed and sleepy congregation awake.

This year is one of the coldest I remember, with around 15 degrees. But the scenery was gorgeous, the air crisp and the sunrise lovely. Wild turkey's and geese added their voices to the singing birds and gurgling river.

What a beautiful time.

From the fullness of His grace we have received one blessing after another. John 1:16

Shearing is Finished! Yahooooo!

What's the deal? Why are we in this little pen? The older girls seem to know what is about to happen and remain calm, while the youngsters fidget and pace around.

Here are the Dorsets/Merinos on their side of the divided pen, with the young Shetland ewes in the front half. To the left is the two little Merino/Shetland cross bred ewes in the dog crate.

And so it begins......

Deep sheep discussion........(yes, there are still sheep in there)

Here are the fleece skirt-ers extraordinaire! Fleeces that are already done are lined up along the fence in the bags behind them.

Rouen on the shearing floor---she doesn't look like she could do much, but she is quite the little sly fox in sheep's clothing!

Blue, Merino Ram--the last of one on the floor.

Well, its done for another year. Whew, am I happy and relieved. The sheep spent a pretty chilly night, but things should get better now, as the weather is suppose to continue to warm up. I know they will be more comfortable in the heat as they were getting pretty itchy and hot. I gave them extra grain last night, bedded the barns in deep straw and gave extra hay, so hopefully that helped. They were a bit shivery this morning and greedily gobbled their grain down. After that they turned to their hay and se

emed to be coping well.

Such a shock to see these formally enormous sheep turn into these tiny little things that don't look much bigger than the lambs! I'll try and get some pictures of them in their newly shorn state in the next day or two. Everybody really looks in good shape this year. No one was too skinny, although a few (who shall remain nameless) were a bit tubby. (lets just say there were a couple who screamed at me all winter that they were staaarving---well obviously they lied!)

I was afraid that it would be quite chaotic during shearing with all the new babes, but we worked out a system that went quite well. About an hour before the shearer was suppose to arrive, my folks came up and I let all the girls in the barn out, including the two Merino crosses and their babies and the girls who didn't lamb this year. (15 in all). The plan was I would lure them down with a bucket of grain to the garage. My folks would walk in slowly behind them and shut the gates. It worked pretty well, altho a couple of the Shetland yearlings were a bit spooked, and one didn't get in the pen. I was able to finally put up a wire panel and pen her in a corner. Once they were all in the pen, I got in and slowly (this took awhile, before I got 'em sorted out) moved the Shetlands into one side and the big white sheep into the other, and then we cross fenced it with another panel. I don't like to pen sheep together that have such a difference in size. I also got the two babies out and handed them over the fence to my Mom who stuck them in a wire dog crate right outside the ewes pen. This kept them safe but still near their moms so they didn't panic.

Once the shearer came we helped him get his catch pen set up and all his gear in place, then I went in with the Dorset/merino's and with some 'added incentive' (someone they didn't know standing at the other end of the pen) they finally funneled into the catch pen. Once in there they are pretty easy for the shearer to pull out one by one. I had him do the two moms first so we could get the babies out of there as soon as possible. After the big girls and Rocky the wether was sheared we then moved the five Shetland girls that didn't have lambs into the catch pen.

After we got those 13 done, then I went up to the barn with halters in hand. I then caught two of the ewes, haltered them and handed ones twins over to Tom one of the helpers for the day, and the ewe over to my Dad. Then I got the ewe that was left and her single and we all trudged down to the garage. It really, really helped to have the babies to hold hostage as an incentive for the ewes to walk well on the halters. Rouen was the first one that we led down on the halter. Once down there I tied her up in the pen and she never got off the halter til the shearer had her! Last year she first tried to knock the shearer down (this worked for her the night before when she tried the maneuver on me), and when that didn't work, she waited til there was a gap open under the gate and dove under. We spent about ten minutes trying to corner her and finally she ran up and pushed her way through the gate and into the sheep pasture. I left her alone for awhile and then finally was able to lure her into a long alleyway but it still took awhile to catch her. Anyway, she was not going to get a chance to cause a ruckus again! While the ewes were in the pen and getting sheared their babies were stashed in the dog crate where they could touch noses and see mum. When the ewes were nearly sheared then Tom would get the babies and put them down at the edge of the gate. Dad would guide the moms towards the babies and they would all head out to pasture. We repeated the above process with the three other ewes and lambs in the Shetland barn.

Then came the two Shetland rams and wether. We had barricaded them into their shed the night before. I was really surprised that they fell for this a second time (after I penned them up for the first shearing date). I put hay in their barn and they all three came trotting up and right into the barn, whereas I slammed the wooden gate and then Dad helped me wire a panel over that as well. On shearing day I would reach in a grab the one I wanted and then we would try and pull him out and keep the others from barging out at the same time. I started with the wether and then the second in command ram and lastly the head ram. There was a little fussing and fighting but it never escalated to real knock down and drag out fights. Because the rams are so hard for me to separate and manage I usually do their toes, shots and wormings on the shearing floor.

Lastly were Blue the big Merino ram and his buddy wether (and son) Lanny Wilson, who is probably bigger than Blue! The night before my folks and I had built an alley way our of panels from their pasture to the garage. I had set up a divided pen in the garage earlier in the day. The plan to get them from point a. to point b. was fairly simple. Lanny tends to be rather spooky and flighty so the trick was to get Blue down there and not lose Lanny back to the pasture on the way. I took a bucket of grain and got Blue's attention then ran for my life to the garage. He chased me until he hit the green grass around the garage and then stalled out. In the meantime, Dad was shutting panels behind Lanny as he tentatively crept after Blue. Finally Blue couldn't stand it and tried to chase me some more, but by then I was safely behind a panel and he saw his grain and rushed for that. Panel shut and Lanny came right in and we got both panels secured and sheep in place. I have to keep them in separate pens as Blue tries to beat Lanny up if he is confined. On shearing day the only trouble we had with these two was Lanny was not going into that scary catch pen ---no way! So when I tried to open up the pens and herd them out, I ended up kinda in the middle of a sheep and panel sandwich. Finally I got Lanny turned and Blue went out right behind him and the helpers slammed the gate and we were in business. Once those boys are on the shearing floor they behave wonderfully and it was beautiful to see the shearer swiping that lovely white wool off in long graceful blows. I think he appreciated working on a nice big sheep instead of those squirmy Shetlands!

I remember at one point trying to count how many we had to go and we weren't even half done! Depressing! Then suddenly we only had two left, then we were done! It went allot faster this year and there was very little rodeo action. It was much quieter too, since we were able to run extension cords from the house instead of using the generator.

For the last couple of years my co-worker Vickie and her husband Jo have come and generously helped out on 'shearing day'. Vickie helps my Mom with the wool on the skirting table and Jo mans the gates. Last year we also had another neighbor lady come and help with the skirting. This year, because of the re-scheduling it was looking like it would just be myself and my Mom and Dad. We would have been able to handle it, but it would have been more work on each individual, and the fleeces would not have gotten much attention before being stuffed in the bags. However, another couple that I go to church with and who live just down the road expressed interest in coming to help this year. I was very grateful that they were able to come and they did an excellent job. My Mom and Nedra "The Skirters' kept well ahead of the shearer once they hit their stride and the fleeces looked well 'picked' and nicely packed. My Dad and Tom handled the gates, babies and moving the sheep in the right direction after being sheared. I'm usually here and there, helping a bit where I can, and trying to anticipate what needs to be done next. I also do the hoof trimming/vaccinations on some of the sheep after they are sheared. I so appreciate the help I have received on shearing day from friends and family. It seems to be an interesting event for those who decide to come. We keep everything low key and I try to do most of the hands on work (like moving them into pens etc.) myself, so the sheep don't become anymore stressed than they are. Once the shearing is done, my helpers are always willing to get right in and help tear down the shearer's equipment and help him pack up, as well as all the panel pens I've set up, move the wool bags into the garage and even clean up the area spic and span from stray wool wads. The shearer rarely has time to stop and eat with us, but I always offer him some sandwiches 'for the road' and he always accepts---my version of 'fast food'! I don't vary the menu from year to year, since I need something that will be ready once shearing is done. I usually cook a couple of roasts in the crock pot the night before, shred it, and the the next morning I take it out of the refrigerator, add BBQ sauce and let it simmer in the crock pot until 'lunchtime'. We then have BBQ Beef sandwiches on Onion Buns or Kaiser rolls, with baked beans, cottage cheese, cheese slices, chips and dip and condiments like pickles, horseradish etc. Everyone fixes their sandwich to their own taste. Then we all collapse onto various chairs and eat quietly for awhile and take a well earned rest! The shearer usually arrives around 9-9:30 and we go until we are finished, with a few short breaks for the shearer. I have snacks, sodas and waters available but its normally too hectic to snack or take too long of a break. This year we got done by around 2:30 which is earlier than normal. I'm thinking because it was so much cooler that it was easier for the shearer to keep up a steady pace. This year I sheared in April and it was 20 degrees in the morning and only got up to 40 in the afternoon. Last year I sheared in March and it was high 70s by the afternoon and we all were wilting--sheep and helpers, and the fleeces were falling apart because they were so warm. A big difference this year!

While we finally ate our meal, the sheep are enjoying filling up on some nice lespedeza hay and finally relaxing after their busy and stressful morning.

Have I mentioned that I'm so glad shearing is over! :-) Now I will start working on the fleeces, going over them again for second time and skirting them more heavily. The first time around the skirters will remove the dung and lanolin tags around the edges of the fleece, and usually the neck areas which are heavily contaminated with VM. Later I will go back and be even more picky and make tough decisions on each fleece. I will evaluate and weigh as I go so that once sacked up they are ready to price and hopefully sell. Some I will send off to be processed, but most will be sold.

Thats it for now! Except another great big THANKS to all helpers from this year and years past! I really appreciate you!

Thursday Friday

Suzy's Ewe Lamb--April 2007

(1/2 Shetland x Merino)

We get off an extra day this week since its Good Friday. Am looking forward to that. Shearing is scheduled for Saturday---again. Praying that this time it happens. The weather has been gorgeous for awhile now. In the high 70s and 80s, with the grass growing like crazy and the lilacs and fruit trees in full bloom. That all changed Tuesday night when a cold front came through. The temps are now highs in the 40s during the day and its suppose to dip into the 20s at night through out the weekend. I'm glad now I didn't buy any of those tomato plants the other day!





There is a slight chance of snow tomorrow. I'm hoping that it doesn't as any moisture can cause problems with the shearing. The cold will actually be nicer for us as we shear. The sheep won't get as hot standing around waiting and the shear-people-helpers won't get too sunburned and wilted. It will be rather cold to start off, but hopefully be decent by late morning. I'll have to deep bed the barns for the newly nekkid sheep and make sure they get plenty of good food to eat.





The lambs will go crazy running and wailing about as they search for mum. They won't recognize their moms for awhile, even though the ewes will be running after the frantic babies to try and claim them. There will be fights among the ewes as they won't recognize each other either. Soon though they will all settle down and shearing will be finished. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post on Monday.





Then it will be time to re-skirt and pick the fleeces...one by one. I hope to have some helpers who will do the initial picking and skirting to remove the nastiest bits before sacking it up. Since I had to reschedule the help situation is a bit iffy. But it will be okay. I know my Mom and Dad will be there and they are good help. They usually help me with some of the setting up of the catch pens and moving of the sheep the night before as well.





I'm working on a couple of posts of two of my Shetlands that I hope to post at a later date. One is a (possibly) Mioget and the other is a Musket. I have pictures uploaded of them from birth through their first year, and hopefully some after shearing and of their fleeces. There is so much confusion surrounding these colors that I hope to have some input from other folks to help clarify.





After shearing I will start working on getting panels set up and getting all the sheep onto new grass. There is still alot of clean up to do from the ice storm, but that is going to be happening for a long time.





Last night I put in some temp. electric fence posts that we can string a haphazard fence from to help funnel the sheep back to pasture. Then I picked a bouquet of lovely lilacs since they are all going to freeze anyway. I always looked for more morels (mushrooms)harvest since I'm sure they will all freeze too. My Mom and Dad really like them and every year there is a small 'crop' of them on my front pasture. This year though there has been a bumper crop! I had read in an outdoorsy column that there would be alot this year because of all the downed trees and limbs from the ice storm, but I'm not sure what the correlation is.





As you can tell, this is a 'random-thoughts' blog. Usually I have the sheep sheared during the first of March--pre-lambing. This year though I scheduled a week and half later (which has turned into 4 weeks!) and about half of the lambs were born before the first shear date. The rest of course are already here as well. While there was no major problems with lambing 'in fleece', I certainly plan to have it done before lambing next year. It is so much easier to tell what condition the ewe is in, and when she starts showing eminent signs of labor. The babies have it much easier too, not wading through all that wool to find the milk bar. Lastly the fleeces have really suffered, as its very hard not to add more VM contamination to their fleeces when you are putting hay in the jugs for them. The space is cramped, so your options are limited--momma is dancing around trying to place herself right under where the hay is going and the outside ewes are trying to push and shove to get it before it goes over the fence. Its a bit distressing! We will see how the fleeces are once shorn. One amusing incident happened when I went to the barn to check ewes and lambs. Blackberry saw me coming and got to her feet---not paying any attention to the small black thing that clung to her back. As she stood up, her baby slowly started sliding off the side and landed with a thump and surprised look on the ground. Fortunately the stall was deep in straw so nobody was hurt in the process.

That's it for now!