Shearing 2013

Shearing 2013 commenced late Friday evening.  We were a smaller crew than years passed, but experienced, so all went well.  I did feel a bit bad about keeping my "seasoned" relatives and friends working until 10:30 at night, but we were able to get all 25 sheep sheared. 

 Grandma Butchy, Daisy, and Jeri.

 Our favorite shearer: Brian F. who estimates he has sheared 60,000 sheep.  "You get the hang of it after the first 10,000."

 The crew is ready and waiting to bundle freshly shorn fleece.

 Auntie Linda and Daisy got in lots of loves.

 Auntie Linda and Grandma Butchy teaching their tie technique to Isaiah.

J.J, 1/2 Shetland, 1/2/ Icelandic girl was the last to be sheared.  She is one of the largest sheep in the flock anyway, but looked especially huge next to the nakeds.  Notice Annafleece, black ewe, to the back right.  She was carrying her baby belly off to the side after being sheared!

If anyone is interested in some nice fleece let me know.  Now we begin the baby waiting game.  I don't mind waiting, given our lack of spring weather.  It was -10 degrees on Friday morning! 

Cooley Update & New Lamb

After the barn drama of last night, I slept fitfully, worrying about Cooley.  As I walked down to the barn this morning the first thing I see at the gate is Pamela, cleaning off a newborn lamb.  What a peaceful, happy image to replace the birth trauma of last night.  She is now in a jug with her beautiful moorit krunet ewe lamb (brown with white on her head, girl.) 
In the jug next to her Cooley is still with us.  Sore and swollen, I hope she makes it.  She had another dose of Prevail and antibiotic this morning.  She has passed the afterbirth, but still weak.  Enough energy was present for her to stand up and stomp at me once when I went in to give her a shot.  Time will tell.
That leaves five ewes still to lamb.  Our current lamb count is at eleven.  We lost Time's ewe lamb, Foxface, on Saturday in the electronet fence.  First time we have ever lost a lamb to the fence, and we've been using it for six years.  Nate, the boys, and I spent Saturday evening replacing the electronet fence with hog panels.  Won't make my goal of twenty lambs this year.  Hopefully everyone continues to be born healthy, and no more difficult births. Such is life on the farm.

5 MInute Update

Yes, I actually set the timer for five minutes and am typing a quick update post.

Calves- still only Choice. Not sure what the rest of the girls are waiting for. The bulls are not happy about their separation, but it will last for a few more months at least.

Pigs- Would you believe Gertie and Gwennie both went into labor at the same time? On a Monday morning, of course. Between the two we have 16 beautiful baby red wattle piglets, over half of them are already spoken for. We haven't decided if we will be raising any feeders this summer or not, we'll see what the demand looks like after Earthfest. A new pasture area for the pigs is in the works, as soon as Nate and I get time to fence.

Sheep- Shearing went well, our assistants all oohed and aaahhed over the wool, there may have been some wheeling and dealing, and plenty of claiming, but at the end of the night 10 of the 20 fleeces had new owners! Sandy C. has already begun working with Darla's fleece, and claimed it for next year! She even sent a skein of it over for me. My poor spinning wheel hasn't seen any action since last summer.

Boys- The boys are both doing well, getting anxious for summer and more time at home with their animals. Isaiah's having a rough day of it today- his ear tube (place two years ago) is coming out, and causing him some pain. They spent time this morning at the local easter basket extravaganza, and both came home happy.

Growing things- I have heirloom tomatoes, herbs, and peppers under lights in the back porch, my seeds and potatoes should get here next week. Now for more warmth in the soil so things can begin to grow outside.

My five minutes is up, More to come!

Hi Don M!!!

I know,,,

7 years old!

4 years old!

Our newest addition, Purry.

yes, it's been way too long since I've blogged. No excuses, though I have to blame pinterest for some of my computer time being pulled away from blogging. It's addictive!

Quick recap of Fall: it was filled with busy times, kids' activities, lots of butchering, lots of chores, breeding groups arranged, and a few birthdays.

We finally had the opportunity to enjoy our home-grown red wattle pork. Five pigs were butchered in November, and were delicious! I can honestly say that it is the best pork I have had (especially the bacon!) We have been enjoying it!

Ten lambs were also butchered this fall, with less satisfactory results- the meat was great, just not a lot of it. The lack of rain in the end of summer and poor pasture management on my part led to lambs that were smaller than average. We did butcher a 2 1/2 year old ram, and he tastes very good. I was skeptic, but other than a bit tougher meat, the flavor is excellent! Plus the chops are more than one bite.

Lyle was moved back in with sows Gertie and Gwennie in November, and Hero was moved to the herd of 17 ewes in November too. It will be a busy spring! The goat girls- Nora

, Brie, and Pippa just made a trip to Jackie and Will's farm this past weekend for a visit with two of their bucks. This puts goat kids arriving in June, but that's ok. T-Rex our berkshire boar also made the trip to visit their gilts.

Our weather has been so mild that the cows are eating a lot less hay than projected. Nate has been spending time at some workshops to increase his expertise on the beef and marketing front. I'm just happy he's so willing to do extra chores before he leaves. Doing chores by headlamp has its challenges!

School is going well and I am still very thankful I made the move. Learning how to deal with sixth graders on a daily basis has its challenges, but we are managing! The realization of how much stress I was under at my old position is more evident now that I have some time to step back and look at it. I take the time to relax and enjoy my family more now. The biggest difference is probably my ability to leave work at work.

With our crazy warm weather this January well up until today, (it was 41 yesterday, but 8 degrees right now) the spring bug has definitely imbeded itself in my skin. Seed orders, planning for the farm, lots of ideas. Our biggest challenge right now is determining how fast to grow the size of our operations. More to come on that front!

Going Well

Things are going well, if as crazy busy as ever. Kohen and I have both adjusted to our new school, though he still misses many of his friends. Isaiah loves his new day care, and has done well with the transition.

I can say that I love teaching sixth grade. I also love the convenience of working so much closer to home. The boys and I only travel to Virginia one day per week, and that is for violin lessons, and errands.

Nate is staying busy with plenty of varied jobs. Roofing, log restoration, and building. We still have to roof our house and plenty of projects to complete around here, but it's tough when he is working seven days a week! My parents are making progress on the garage/apartment they are building next door. Right now the boys walked over to "help" so I have five minutes to blog!

Animals are doing well, though we are again struggling with deer liver fluke infecting the sheep. I've lost three since July- two ewes, Shrek and Splash, and one ram lamb. The breeding stock is now on a five week rotation of the only two wormers available that kill adult liver fluke. The animals being raised for meat only have one or two weeks until processing, and I do not give any chemicals to our meat animals, so I'm crossing my fingers.

We are currently at 15 pigs. Lyle, Gertie, Gwenie, and pigs we are raising for meat. Last week Nate made a trade of boars, one of our young red wattle boars for a berkshire. He definately stands out in the group! Black and white with erect ears compared to the dark red and floppy ears of the red wattles. The plan is to do some crossbreeding next year. The May litter has a few more weeks of growing before processing, but I'm getting anxious. We are finally purchasing a large pig feeder so I don't have to crawl over the fence with buckets twice a day. Will lighten the labor load as the weather changes.

Speaking of weather, it has been beautiful. Isaiah and I even enjoyed a boat ride/lunch with Carlsons on the lake yesterday. I know that soon it will be a memory so we are trying to enjoy it as much as we can. The amount of waterfowl that have been passing through on the river is amazing. I love doing chores in the morning as they are beginning to take off from the water.

The picture above is Northwestern yesterday. We have the ewe flock in an area along the river that has some brush, and they have never been in before. When I checked the sheep yesterday morning, Northwestern was sporting a bright orange fishing lure firmly attached to her fleece. Mom and I were able to remove it before it worked its way to her flesh. One hazard of the area that I hadn't planned on!

June

Really. It's June. Our weather is not attesting the fact, but the calendar is. Today was the last day of school for students at my school. I have one more day of inservice tomorrow, and then I'm free. Well, not really. Then the whirlwind of summer activities start.
The gardens are patiently waiting for some plants to grow. We had awful wind for two days, and then frost last night, so I'm not rushing it.
The summer looks to be filling up fast, but with fun activities:

• Annalise will be coming for a visit next week


• Kohen has a week of orchestra camp


• Timber Days in Cook, with the popular pet show


• Bible School


• Gardens, gardens, gardens


• Pigs, pigs, pigs


• Weddings


• Family Reunions


• Visits from Friends


• Farmers Market


• A new ram


• and plenty more.

I just am ready to develop a summer routine, but it will have to wait a bit. I am anxious to just be able to soak in the days on the farm. Nate and I both agreed that we enjoy vacations, but are perfectly happy being able to stay home with the boys and all of the animals we enjoy. We've expanded our nightly routine from cups of tea in front of a dvr'd program, to include last checks on the pigs and cows. The cattle are not scared of my headlamp anymore, they know that treats accompany it. The little pigs have grown so much they rarely use their ramp into the shed anymore, they just jump.

Kohen has his heart set on bringing a pig to the pet show. But you may not know this- little pigs have a BIG voice. They squeal, grunt, and scream when you pick them up now. Even the ones we've handled daily. I'm hoping a harness and leash will be the answer. That's on the schedule for next week: pig leash training. Never would have thunk it. Isaiah cannot decide his victim-er-entry. Yesterday it was Darla, today it was Daisy. For some reason I don't think Daisy (who has never been farther then her pastures) would do well. I can't hardly get her to move from one pasture to the next if she doesn't want to. I'm encouraging chickens, chicks, poults, lambs, baby goats... Hey, it's not like the kid doesn't have options. We are excited to share our options with Brody, Cam, and Annalise. Maybe I should get some tshirts printed for all the kids. Might make some other local kids feel left out if they don't have a matching t-shirt though.

This weekend I get to learn something new. More on that later.

Thankfully we have not lost any more sheep, though we are constantly on guard. The goats are all out in the north field now, with access to the barn at night. So far they are doing great with it. My plan is to start milking on Monday. We are all anxious for fresh, raw, goat milk.

Well, that was rambling enough wasn't it. I better go and get some housework done before my husband gets home (he took a day trip to Rochester for farm supplies) and accuses me of spending all my time on the computer.

Shearing 2011

Thor with Annafleece, he jumped right in and helped.

Since there is a break in the lambing action (darn it) I decided I better post about last Saturday's shearing. We have had Brian Fitzpatrick shear for us each year, and he always does a great job. He lives a considerable distance away, so he usually only makes one or two passes this far north each year. Shearing was set for Saturday evening. All the sheep were in the garage, tables ready, sheets and tags ready.

We had a good crowd this year: Judy and Jerry, Jeri, Tim & Karlene along with Thor and Autumn, Sandy, Nate's mom Jan, my parents, Auntie Linda and of course Gramma Butchy.

After a good meal of bbq beef, salads, mac and cheese, onion casserole, and other goodies, we got to work.

All 19 sheep were shorn, and everyone had a good time. The rams were brought back to the pasture and decided to put on a show for everyone since they didn't recognize each other. I appreciated all the help. Nine fleeces were sold fresh off the sheep, so heading in the right direction there too.

Snow Flying

It may be March 12, but in northern Minnesota the snow is flying, the wind is blowing, and the "feels like" temperature is 7 degrees! Even that fine forecast doesn't daunt me from preparing for Spring, at least the necessities.
This morning found Nate, my dad and I along with pockets of vaccinations, in the sheep pen. It was time for CD & T, and BosE shots for all the sheep. This is the first year I've vaccinated everyone with BosE prior to lambing. Last year we lost two lambs from white muscle disease. We are in an area that is severely deficient in selenium. Even with free choice mineral, we made the decision to have some added protection this year.
The process actually went quite smoothly. (After three years you would hope that we would start to figure it out!) I caught and vaccinated, Nate handed me syringes, and dad held up a piece of plywood over the exit to the pasture. Along with a donkey. Daisy has been very loving lately and wanted her share of attention. She did get some pats, rubs, and loves, along with a dose of wormer.
Of course the infamous Shrek was too smart to be caught easily. She saw us block her escape and headed into the sheep shelter. Saving her until last, I still had to bite the bullet and crawl through the small door (all the snow has made the opening a lot smaller than it was in October!) and corner her and Cocoa. Cocoa was an easy catch and I vaccinated her inside the shelter. Before I could even turn her lose Shrek headed out the door. She is a sheep with some serious intuition. Once Nate grabbed her she stood calmly for her two shots. She may be a headache but she gives us beautiful fleece and lambs. She's also managed to survive with far less wormings than the rest of the flock. I'll admit, I sometimes give up before catching her when vaccinating. Nine out of ten times she won't even come near the feed when we are watching.
I took the opportunity to feel udder development on all the girls. My hope is at least fourteen of them are bred this year. April will be busy!
I just looked back at pictures from March 20th of last year. Darla Gay arrived then, and the field was bare of snow. The picture will be slightly different this year.
Besides vaccinating I managed to get some seeds planted, and some spring cleaning started. Tomorrow will be another meat shop day, with plans to make 100+ pounds of sausage. Potato sausage, venison/pork snack sticks, and italian sausage are all in the works. This means the smoker will be fired up tomorrow too.
Come on spring, I want to see geese flying, not snow!

Spring...where are you?

Kohen with the red girls Gertrude and Gwendalyn.

I've got it, the spring bug that is. Yesterday I sat down with my calendar and realized it is less than four weeks till lambs could arrive. Not a happy thought when every outside surface is buried under snow and ice.

Our plan is/was to lamb in the barn this year. Novel concept right? The past two years lambing has taken place in the garage. Nate the great does a nice job of converting out two stalls into a large pen and four lambing jugs. The concern now is if the snow will be gone enough to move the hogs out of the barn and into their pasture pen, easier said then done. From there we would set up jugs (small pens the ewe and lambs are located to, assists with observation and bonding) and move the sheep into the barn. I admit the garage had its advantages, namely an eight step walk from the house, convenient on middle of the night checks.

I do realize that we live in Minnesota, where the weather is known to make crazy shifts, but I don't want to count on that.

Vaccines have been ordered, the shearer called, I'm trying to get the pieces I can control taken care of, and hoping that the weather turns around. Unfortunately, our forecast includes snow in the next few days.

The animals are getting ready for spring. Turk is currently in the tree gobbling and displaying for the hens, who happen to be on the ground. The chickens have increased their egg production, the goats are getting fat (they aren't due until May), my seed starting materials have at least made it to the back porch, and the boys are talking about novel things like gator driving, grass, and mud. I spent some time with the sheep yesterday, and felt udders on a few of the friendlies. Darla surprise me most of all. She has some good development. I'm excited to see what Isaiah's favorite sheep and Marshmallow will present us this spring. It will be Darla's first lambing.

I get anxious to get the sheep sheared, it's so much easier to see the condition of everyone. It looks like Jacobs is carrying twins again, but I'm a bit concerned about Pamela, she's one of our oldest girls and has started to look a bit swaybacked. She also lost one of her horns which had been cracked since last spring. I get so excited at the thought of new babies, and watching my ewes with great mothering abilities take care of their babies. Nate thinks that all the lambs should be market lambs this year, and that our flock should shrink a bit. I refuse to make any decisions yet.

One of the things I am most looking forward to is June, and not having to use 2 1/2 gallons of gas each day to drive to work. Mukwah will be much happier when he gets more free time too.

Today is a busy day too. Nate and my dad are headed out to pick up our beef. We bought a whole this year and it's been hanging for nine days. The guys have converted a side room of the morton building into a meat shop. I'll spend the day with freezer paper, a sharpie, and tape, lots of tape. Tonight will be capped off with some fresh cut steaks on a wood fired grill (coals taken out of the outside wood boiler and thrown in the webber.) My mouth is watering.

Yarn...8250 yards of it!

I came home to a big box today. A box of Beautiful, shetland yarn. Made from our sheep.

In December we made the decision to send out all the fleece I had left to get it processed. I knew I would not have time to spin it all. I decided it would be better to send it off and get processed into something to sell, instead of listening to a husband gripe about all the bags of wool. (I didn't remind him we would have 19 more bags of wool come April!) Lots of picking of fleece, with help from the Sunday Spinners crew who labored over it one Sunday afternoon. We shipped it to the Stonehedge Fiber Mill in Michigan, and are not disappointed with the results. It is SO soft. We decided to split it into two colors, moorit and then all the gray/white together. The result is wonderful. So I now have 12 250 yard skeins of moorit shetland, and 21 skeins of gray/white/oatmeal. The best part is, I don't know how to knit. So, anyone looking for some yarn? I have hopes to sell some at EarthFest, but wouldn't mind a few preorders. Poor Nate's just hoping that Grandma Butchy will make him a hat!

New Year...New Ventures

As we begin a new year, we are organizing and planning new ventures. In our quest to diversify, we are soon going to be adding a new dimension to the Rice River Lamb Company. A red one. Not nearly as woolly as our current inhabitants. Red Wattle hogs. Google them, they are pretty unique, pretty rare, and pretty cool pigs. We visited a small group of them yesterday, and made the decision to purchase two gilts (young females.) They will arrive in a month.

The Red Wattle met our requirements for friendliness, flavor, and a breed that will do well on pasture. We are excited to soon add this element to our small, niche market farm. Nate and the boys had a conversation on the way home about ham, bacon, and sausage all with a bit of drool and gleam in the eye. The plan is to sell some feeder pigs and pork along with filling our freezer.

As we develop our farm goals they remain simple and straightforward. To supply ourselves and others with top quality, naturally raised, respected, cared for food. To know that the lamb, chicken, or soon pork that I put on our table was able to have a quality life, grown in sunshine, good feed and love. To keep it small enough and simple enough that we can continue to enjoy doing chores. To see our boys learn lessons that television and the classroom cannot give them. (As a side note, Isaiah wanted to bring one of the five week old piglets home yesterday, on his lap. He's an instant gratification guy, and didn't want to wait a month and then bring home 7 month old gilts. Though he was OK with leaving the babies on the farm when he heard the squeals they emit when picked up!) Our plan to start is two gilts and a boar, a small breeding group. I had to give Isaiah a promise that when we do have babies, he will be able to hold them.

I am in love (call me a romantic in mud boots) with the idea of raising our lamb, our pork, milk goats, along with a few turkeys and chickens and a garden that contains more edible produce than weeds. The sheep provide us with meat and wool (my first order of yarn is being processed at the mill right now), the pigs will provide us with meat, the goats provide milk for our family for drinking, cheese, yogurt and soap, with extra for the hogs and chickens, the chickens give us eggs and meat. It feels good to know that we can achieve a balance with our small bit of a farm. To be able to produce enough to share with others is an added bonus.

As I write this I think of how busy this spring and summer will be with the animals and gardens. Others might get excited about planning a vacation, me, give me some animals to take care of. Though I must admit that the care taking is much easier in the sunshine, grass and mud than it is right now as the snow flies outside my windows. Chores right now require down jacket, boots, my new super cool "ponytail" hat, mittens, shovel, five gallon buckets of warm water, and a willing husband doesn't hurt either. Speaking of, we better go shovel a path out the mud room door. Happy New Year everyone!

Forked Eyeball Party & Sheep Huggin'

Today we hosted a Halloween Party for twenty little ghosts and goblins. It was great, I'm exhausted but it was worth it. I think (hope) that all the kids had a great time. For a great Halloween Party mix together the following:

• forked eyeballs (Family Fun recipe)


• putrid punch


• sloppy joes


• pin the wart on the witch


• pumpkin bowling


• pumpkin bean bag toss


• weaving a web


• treat bag decorating


• feely box filled with gross feeling things, and kids courageous enough to stick their hands in!


• monster mash freeze dancing


• "looking for Dracula"


• ghost poop toss


• sheep hugging


• turkey chasing


• hay ride


• sunshine


• lots of happy, excited little kids

We also took time in the day to celebrate National Hug a Sheep Day. Annafleece was well loved today.

Multi-tasking: Hug a Sheep & Halloween

Saturday's a big day at the Rice River Lamb Company. Try a Halloween Party for twenty plus children, plus celebrating Hug A Sheep Day. Since I know the kids will want to hug and love the sheep, it's only natural that we participate. So far I think Annafleece and Opilio will be the lucky ones.
I gotta go... my plan is to have the whole house clean tonight so tomorrow evening is reserved for cooking and game organizing. Wish me luck!

Sheep Shape

It's the time of year when I start making flock decisions. I am excited with the progress we've made with our sheep, and for what's to come. Last weekend saw four ewes leave for a new home; Manda, Gabbiewe, Sugar, and Seaa headed south. Two of my ewe lambs from this year will also be going to a new pet home soon. Add in seven ram lambs to be butchered, along with Jimmer, and our flock size will be down to 16, a number I am comfortable with for winter. Fourteen ewes, one wether (Opilio) and one ram. It looks like Marshmallow will be our one sire this year, though I've been eyeing up a moorit ram lamb on another blog, but not sure that now is the time to make the jump.
I have commitments for five of the seven butcher lambs, which is a good feeling too. My main goal for this fall season is to develop a sound plan for dealing with the deer liver fluke that continues to haunt us. Fecals come back clean for all "regular" parasites, but last winter we lost three ewes to liver flukes. Worming with valbazen in the fall prior to breeding season takes care of mature liver flukes, but not all the immature ones. I've got an email into Pipestone Vet to discuss options for dealing with this problem. We had planned on being selective on how we grazed late in the season, but all the rain this summer has caused snails to be present everywhere. Even in my raised bed gardens!
We continue to make progress on the barn and are currently modifying fencing around the goat shed. Feta has turned into a big pest and escape artist. Not fun. Nora and Brie are much more mellow than she is. Nate keeps mentioning sausage. Our breeding plans for the goats look to be a boer buck with milky lines owned by Jackie Clay. Next spring will bring lambs and goat kids to the farm.
Our second crop is getting baled as I speak, Nate is in the field alone this time, while I get to stay home with napping boys. We only ordered up 80 bales, my goal is to have it for late gestation for the sheep and goats, I am so excited about having a full hay loft, it is a good feeling!
I better go and accomplish something while the tag-a-longs are slumbering. Sometimes it is much easier to get things done without help!

Current Residents/For Sale

Our little bit of a farm has grown a lot in the last four years. It currently houses the following:
31 sheep: 2 rams, 13 shetland ewes, 1 icelandic ewe, 1 jacobs ewe, 14 shetland/shetland cross lambs.
1 donkey
3 goats: saanen/nubian crosses
18 turkeys: (Turk and Henny, along with 4 poults hatched Friday, and 12 2monthers that joined us yesterday.)
20-something chickens, standard and bantam
1 barn cat
1 farm dog
1 house cat

Now that the barn is going up I need hay to fill the beautiful hay loft. In order to fill the loft I need hay, in order to buy hay I need money. SO.... I'm offering for sale the following:
ewes:
Fiona (icelandic) $150, black iset
Kizzy (3/4 shetland) $100,
Sugar (7/8 shetland) $100,
Plum (7/8 shetland) $100
Manda (shetland) $100
rams:
Marshmallow (shetland) $150
Jimmer (suffolk/shetland) $150
lambs:
I may also have some lambs for sale. I have to contact past lamb meat customers to determine how many we are butchering this fall.

I still have not decided on my keeper ewes for this year. Depending on how many adult ewes I am able to sell/butcher I will decide. My goal is to be down to 15-17 sheep to winter.
If you are interested in any of the above sheep, please let me know. We would also be open to trades for beef, hog, or hay. Please contact me at tifanybriggs at yahoo dot com.

Updates

Isaiah: Isaiah had his surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids last Tuesday at Mayo. Surgery went well, though he was a wild child when he was coming out of anesthesia and pulled out his iv and other monitoring devices. I ended up sitting in the recovery room rocking him for over an hour before they would let us head to a room. After an overnight stay we brought him home to Nate's moms for a couple of days before making the drive home. So far so good, though it's a challenge to get him to eat, drink, or take his medication. It will all be worth it if we don't have the periodic fever and other symptoms.
BWCAW: Before Isaiah's surgery Nate and I had a quick trip to the Boundary Waters with our friends Andy and Mandy. It was a short camping and paddling adventure, but overall a good one. This was the first time Nate and I have gone camping together, along with the first time we have been away from the boys for that long of a stretch.
Animals: While we were gone we brought Feta to Geri, one of my spinning friends farm for a stay. She took good care of her and was happy with the milk. In other goat news, Feta's sister will be coming to live with us on Wednesday. Lots of goat milk here, anyone have any ideas? I'm currently perfecting a goat milk fudge recipe.
The baby turkeys finally hatched while we were gone, and then were eaten by a fox (assumed) before we ever saw them. My parents said they were a variety of colors, hopefully we will get one more batch this summer, and this time they will be caged.
The sheep are doing well, the lambs are growing fast with all the good pasture and clover this year. Nate took time tonight to go and mow down the thistles in the south field.
Daisy the donkey has been busy protecting her charges. She actually killed a woodchuck this last week. She loves when the goats are in her pasture, though Brie sometimes annoys her enough to get in a game of chase.

Love

Kohen with Opie.

Isaiah with Darla.

Now that school is complete for another year, my goal is to spend more time with the sheep. Since turning them out to pasture they haven't been socialized much. They are getting fat and lazy on all the grass and clover. Last night Darla and Opie received extra loves from the boys. I believe the feelings were reciprocated.

In other news, I will be on KAXE on Wednesday morning for an interview for their local food beet. KAXE is a community supported local radio station that I listen to every morning on my commute. If you are in the area tune in around 7:15 am to 91.7, or http://www.kaxe.org/. Kohen's favorite part of the morning show is Tuesdays for the phenology report, but hopefully he'll listen to his mom on Wednesday!

The Waiting Game

Not my favorite game! Nate is now convinced that all the ewes will lamb next week after I go back to work, not while I'm off. So, while we wait for more new lambs to photo, here's a wrap-up of what's going on around here. In no particular order. Kohen holding Johanna, Plum keeping a close eye on both of them.

Darla loves a good rub on the head from the boys. I didn't have my camera ready moments before when she had leaned over and laid her head on Kohen's lap. Isaiah was jealous and tried to pull his chair in closer, and ended up pushing Darla back.

The boys love their new sheep. Thanks Sabrina!

Kohen riding his new Christmas bike for the first time. Hopefully the training wheels can come off before the St. Judes trike-a-thon next month.

This is sweet Kohen "checking Anna" to feel for her baby.

"Checking" Kizzy's swollen belly. My hopes are for twins from this one!

Nate and my dad finished the second of three sections of the hay loft floor last night. The forecast is for rain today, so they worked while they could last night.

Isaiah taking a break in the sheep fold. His favorite place to be right now is with the sheep. I've finally taught him to move slower and not chase anyone. Progress!

If you remember back to Christmas, we bought the boys a john deere gator ride on toy. Kohen promised me he would do lots of work with it. I put him to the test yesterday, having him haul hay from the shed up to the ewes. They did well.

Our newest tenants. This pair of honkers has been residing in our big pasture for over a week. They are bravest in the evening and come up quite close to the chicken coop.

Some friends came over last Sunday, with their gator. Alex, Addison, Kohen and Isaiah enjoyed cruising together in their matching wheels.

Ok, time for another barn check! Have a GOOD Friday!

Busy Day with an extra surprise!

Backwards order on the photos, darn blogger.

Johanna, first lamb of 2010.

Kelly, Kohen, and Lily supervising Brian Fitzpatrick's work.

Fleecy girls, before.

Poor Jacobs, look at that swollen belly and growing bag. It will be less than a week for those babies!

Setting the last beam on the barn.

So, in the past 15 hours we have been busy. The garage has been converted to a lambing barn, complete with four jugs, and the ewes have been moved on in. All 17 sheep have been sheared and given CD&T vaccinations. The barn now has beams on top of the posts. With some nice handworked mortise and tenons. I also squeaked in time for a batch of yogurt, 2 loaves of bread, and lamb stew. Add that on top of the regular chores of milking the goat, feeding the chickens and turkeys, and you can understand why this is the first moment I've had to sit for more than ten minutes today.

Add in one brand new lamb as a surprise to this eventful day! Earlier this morning I had noticed that Plum was down at the bottom of the pasture alone, I thought it a bit odd, and even said something to Nate, but when she saw me approach the fence she quickly came back up to join the others. I moved the ewe flock to the garage (thank goodness for portable fencing and a husband and dad assisting!) and then went into the house to make lunch for the guys who were busy placing beams on the barn. We ate, and headed back out to work on the barn. You can imagine my shock when I check on the ewes and there was a brand new, wet lamb in the middle of the flock! She was walking around trying to figure out which of these wooly critters was her mom. I quickly realized Plum was her mom and we moved them into a jug. Nate and I were gasping in shock and shaking our heads the whole time. Plum came to our flock 1 1/2 years ago along with her mom Kizzy, and twin sister Sugar, from Rayna at Northstar Shetlands . She was not bred last year so this was her first lambing and she was a trooper! The ewe lamb is a bit early, the rams weren't put in until the last week in October. (Of course I can't remember the exact date unless I looked back on the blog.) I've checked bags on my usual early lambers- Jacobs and Kizzy and was expecting either of them to be first this year.

Well, after shearing it was obvious that we have a number of very pregnant girls! Jacobs and Kizzy are both much bigger than last year, as is Scar. Fiona looks smaller, but is bagging up nicely so it is anybody's guess. I was most excited to see Anna's rounded belly and growing bag. Our little girl is finally going to have a baby! It feels much longer than two years since we were coaxing her through life in the mudroom.

Back to the baby! Nate's buddy Johann brought his mini excavator over today to help set the beams on the posts for the barn. He also cleaned up what will be the inside floor of the barn, did some ditch work and scraped up all the excess hay that was left in the field from feeding round bales this winter. That was disheartening, well over $200 worth of hay wasted by my picky sheep. Not sure it was worth it to feed lower grade large bales, even though it was much more convenient for us. They just wasted so much. I know that they were able to get enough good feed out of it because they all look to be in great condition, but what a mess to clean up.

Ok, I have a lot of barn and sheep pictures to post, but they'll have to wait till tomorrow, even my fingers are slowing down now!

New Face in the Flock

Anyone recognize this adorable ewe?

If you follow Sabrina, you might. Yes, it's Darla Gay. Sabrina's precious love, who is quickly finding her own spot in our hearts. Thank you Sabrina!
Her fleece and nonpolled (that means she carries the trait for horns) did not fit with Sabrina's goals for her flock, so she moved northeast in Minnesota a bit. We were excited to make the drive to Boston Lake Farm to pick up this sweet girl. My boys also had a great time running around and playing with the big boys.
She is settling in well. I usually quarantine new arrivals, but do to pasturing constraints and the fact that none of my girls have had spring 'work' yet (worming, CD&T shots, hoof trimming, or shearing) I felt comfortable enough to move her in with the other ewes.
There was a bit of sniffing, and much maaing, but no severe antics. I was more distressed to look in the ram pasture and realize that Daisy has started my shearing a week early. Bright fluffs of Marshmallow's fleece are littering the pasture. You might remember that she was kicked out of the ewe pen for harassing Scar with much of the same treatment. I had hoped that the boys would be a bit more assertive and curb her nasty ways. She has toys, and lots of room to run, but loves to torment which ever sheep she has singled out. If I weren't so worried about fox and wolves (my dad just spotted one within a mile of our place) I would not feel a need for her presence.

In other flock news, we are shearing one week from today. Brian Fitzparick again has the honors. The following week brings the first possibility of lambs. Lots to do in a short amount of time to be ready. Tomorrow brings another spinning day with a local group of ladies, and I also am registered for a booth at the Iron Range Earth Fest on April 17th. Plus planting a garden and general spring farm work, but more on that later.

On the drive to Sabrina's the boys and I were discussing Darla. Isaiah could say her name well. However, when we were at Sabrina's and I asked him to tell me the name of the new sheep his response was "Mine!" We'll see how that plays out...

si