Scenes from the Open House

Sunday morning dawned foggy, damp and a little dreary, but it wasn’t long until the farm was filled with…
sheeps…

and peeps…

bake sale goodies…

happy painted faces…

wonderful 4-H’ers…

equally wonderful music…

solar dyeing…

very merry wagon riders….
spinning….
 
and many, many happy faces

(Many thanks, once again, to everyone that attended our open house! We are also very grateful to all the family and friends that pitched in helping out. Photos courtesy of Jonathan and Megan.)

Tending the Flock

Over the weekend, we brought the ewes and lambs from the paddock near the knoll back to the barn for CD+T vaccinations and FAMACHA checks.  We brought them through a moving lane on the outside of the perimiter fence as that was the easiest and shortest route.  We had one lamb escapee, but it ran alongside and found its way back in before we got everyone in to the barn.  All the lambs had full bellies, and they and the ewes were ‘all present and accounted for’.  We only had to treat one lamb (which may have been stress from getting its head stuck in a wire panel) and one ewe; praying that the rest of the summer goes as well!  

When we finished, we made the return trip back to the knoll paddock where we had oats and corn waiting in the feeders and vinegar in the watering trough.  By the way, we bought our first shepherd’s crook this spring, and we honestly don’t know how we ever got along without it.  We bought a fiberglass one since it would be lighter; such a great investment!

We also moved Belladonna to the large adjoining paddock.  She is very excited and happy to be right next to her charges, and she has a very large space to patrol.  There are squirrels to tree, and all kinds of new things to explore.
Samson continues to guard the barn paddock where we hope to encourage Mr. Foxey Loxey to develop new stalking grounds.  He is also guarding the yearlings and the triplets but more about that tomorrow.

Hot! Hot! HOT!

Just like the rest of the Eastern U.S., it has been hot! Up here, high on top of our mountain ridge, we rarely see so many hot (90+), humid days in a row. It was so humid during one of our hay-making days that the in-home weather station reported that it was raining outside.
All of us, animals included, have been seeking the shade and trying to catch any breeze we can. The sheep do very little grazing during the day. It is just too darn hot. It finally rained a little bit yesterday, our first rain in July. We are grateful that it has cooled off some this morning, but hoping there is more relief in sight. We need rain, and the heat has been very stressful for the animals.

Busy with lambing

The barn is a very active place right now, all 10 lambing jugs are full and a makeshift pen is waiting in the wings.100_8075 Total lamb count so far is 21, with many unexpected twins to first-timers!100_8079 Some are nearing ready to be turned out to the pasture to open up jugs for new lambs, and some have already been released to enjoy the sunshine of the great outdoors. 100_8076We are enjoying the sounds of mommas calling to lambs, and the little baas of the lambs answering. We are also enjoying the peacefulness of them resting calmly together.100_8078It is a very tiring but rewarding time of year. Everyone is anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first colored lambs as the first 21 have all been white.

Stranded


Saul’s group stranded at the bottom of the hill, luckily at the end of an old logging road


10-month old lambs stranded at the bottom of the graveyard field


Samson stranded at the middle shelter (note the perimeter fencing in the foreground)


Liam’s group stranded in a small circle at the top of the hill


Remaining sheep stranded in a small area, but luckily at the barn… the two goats are also stranded in this area… this is pleasant for no one
(to be continued…)

Happy Trails

The sheep have created many, little, happy trails through the many feet of snow – trails to the feeder… trails to the watering trough… small bowl-shaped areas semi-protected by the wind…

These trails are very narrow… one-lane really… and throughout the day this results in many traffic jams like the one above. We have been following these happy trails also and have discovered that one small bump by an impatient sheep results in a struggle through thigh to hip high snow to either side.

Juliet Loves Company

Juliet has an open-air condo where she can enjoy the outdoors safely. (Thank you Jonathan!) She seems to like it even better when she has company. It is a very popular hang-out. Kinsey came to visit Juliet and got to help feed her 100_7379 and play in her condo. 100_7381 Rufus the Naked Mole Rat Rabbit has been spending the days with her and really enjoys the exercise and green refreshments. 100_7384 Lena and Harley stop by quite often for some ‘tent time’. 100_7383 Juliet loves all the attention.