Signs of Spring

Coltsfoot, daffodils, maple tree blooms, bulging bellies and finally…
Little Mister 1401 – born on Saturday, out of Maire (my+ra), one of the yearlings, and an unidentified suitor.  He is small, weighing 7 lbs 8 ozs but really just the right size as Maire is a yearling and not yet producing much milk.  We were a little worried, but he is gaining weight so we’ll let him continue to ‘encourage’ her to produce more.
The remainder of the lamb arrivals will be pretty spread out as it took as several weeks to get all the breeding groups in place last fall.  The timing should be pretty good as the pastures are just beginning to green-up after the long, harsh winter.

One of These Things

We’ve been playing a lot of “One of These Things Is Not Like the Other” for the last week or so.  With the heavy snowfalls and the apparently inherent ‘es-capability’ of hoggets, there has been an on-going game of musical pastures.  Each morning at feeding time everyone is moved back to their appointed pasture, and the next morning everyone is back in the barn paddock.  This wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing except for the varying nutritional needs of the different groups.  We didn’t really have the time or energy to discover and repair the escape routes before the next round of snow began.  So for now… musical pastures it is 🙂

Weekend Blues

What a blessing to be surrounded by these blue skies!  Most of the weekend was filled with the most beautiful February weather, and although it began to snow again Sunday afternoon, the air was filled with hope.  Because, you see, there were ROBINS! Not just one lonely, lost, what-am-i-doing-so-far-north robin, but dozens and dozens of ROBINS!  They were busy as can be in the hayfields and pastures.
So… we’re calling it.  It is officially Late Winter!  Late Winter!  (Please don’t tell us any different.)