The Dog Wanted a Puppy...

I said that she had to prove to me that she would play with it. I sent her out to the rams. It was the funniest thing that I have ever watched!! Even funnier than Tom's rant about Aps and Zerts on Parks and Recreation (Google it). I couldn't stop laughing to catch the best part on video but here are some pretty good moves. No animals were hurt or scared during the making of this video. 

and her face afterward!

Exciting things in purple and green.

This week has been good. Last week ended on Wednesday, with such a perfect day. You are thinking man, this girl is messed up, but Wednesday is my Sunday and sometimes you have to savor a Sunday and take it as it comes. Last Wednesday was oh so sunny and warm! Derek was away working so I walked the dog, spent hours on my in-laws porch having tea until lunchtime, cleaned the pen from the rams all winter and gabbed in my garden this time about all things blooming at this address. The weather forecast was calling for rain most of the week so I cut all the deep purple-black tulips I could and put them in beautiful vases on the kitchen table. I picked all the asparagus in the garden as well. Between Sunday and Wednesday it had grown like stink.

With all the asparagus I called for backup and Derek's mom came and rescued me from some of it! I made asparagus soup! I found a recipe that is so simple and so tasty! It can also be frozen so I plan on making it again and freezing a few bags for the winter. Here is a link to the recipe http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/asparagus_soup.html . I also made an asparagus spinach fritatta with goat cheese. I ate the soup with a spoon full of sour cream, a slice of fritatta and a piece of grilled steak out on the back deck in the sunshine. Just me, the dog, a good meal and a great book! I loved this book and just finished reading it today. I am sad thats it's over, what a beautiful book to fill your soul. Read it. It is called The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food and Love by Kristin Kimball. As you can see from this picture of my nightstand I have a few more excellent books to go this summer. Most of you are thinking, Michelle does not read books, well this summer it seems as if I do. So far I have finished 2!!

This week as has been good as well. More tulips were picked, they are on of my favorites obviously. We have a large section in the vegetable garden dedicated to these purple tulips so there is no sense leaving them out there when they could be showing off in the kitchen. 

Also something very exciting in the woods this week!! My favorite woodland flower is blooming! Last year a big tree fell in the woods right where I usually see them. I was devastated but it seems that these little guys survived and they seem to be multiplying!! I usually walking looking down because thats where all the flowers are. Here is what you should look for when walking through the woods. Be carefully not to step on them! 

...and here they are from below!

Beautiful isn't it!! It is a Jack-In-The-Pulpit! Apparently they are poisonous to eat, but who would want to eat something so amazing looking!!

Lastly, here is a peak in at the growing lambs!! They are getting pretty big. The weaning date has been circled on the calendar :( don't tell them that though. They will miss their mothers and I'm sure that the neighbors will be able to hear the sad cries! 

  

 

I Felt I Was Being Watched...

The Rams Went Out To Play.

The Rams were relocated to their new house where they will be for the next few months. Lots of grass and room to play! They seem joyous after the short walk across the road, but I am not sure how I will like having them in the backyard. Sometimes they can be a bit rude. Lets keep our fingers crossed for polite rams. 

Naked Sheep!

Saturday we had our great friends come down to shear our sheep for us again. Our friend Tyler does all the hard work while we stand around and chat about sheep and life and when hes done we pick up the wool and get ready for the next sheep. This year we had 12 sheep to shear here at the farm. I love when they are sheared! It looks so much cleaner and I like to think that they are more comfortable, but who knows. It is amazing how much space all that wool takes up! It was crowded at the feeder Friday night and by lunch on Saturday I could have fit at least 2 or 3 more sheep at it. All the sheep were well behaved and everything when pretty smoothly. The lambs were well behaved too when their mothers were getting hair cuts. Nutmeg was the last ewe to be sheared and her lamb Macey sat on my lap quiet as can be the whole time. Here are some pictures from the big event. 

Poor Stella did not look too impressed.

And here is the flock after the event. They look about half the size that they were before!

Here is Peas looking good from behind!

Our friend Maple after her first haircut ever! Turns out she is a full grown sheep under there! (Click on the picture to see the little Tunis lambs in the background).

Here is only half of the wool that we collected. I am going to call some local fiber mills to see if I can get some of it made into yarn. So get out your knitting needles and crochet hooks everyone! 

Here is Peas' little ewe lamb! She's getting big just like the rest of the lambs! 

 

Ready for shearing...

All the sheep feet are neat and trim. We are ready for shearing but hoping that it dries up and gets a bit warmer. We went and bought the sheep scale. It needs a bit of oil according to Derek but it seems fine other than that. Here is the chick picture as promised (It's hard being a chick, the little one in the front is passed right out!), the scale in the back of the truck and a garden picture.

Update!

Yes, I have been a bit distracted and tired lately, but here is an update for all of you wondering what is going on around here!!

The sheep started trimming the lawn a few days ago. We fenced off an area for them and are working to fence off their next meal before they are done the first. The dirt pile was love at first sight for the lambs! They try hard to get to the top and then run down as fast as they can. 

Shearing day is Saturday! I can't wait to have these ragged fleeces off and start growing new ones! Hopefully it is not too cold for them. It has been rainy and damp here for a few days so they have had to stay in to limit the amount of water in their wool. They need to be nice and dry for Saturday morning. Once they are done the boys are moving into the backyard for a much needed vacation from the barn. This week I have been working on getting everyones feet trimmed up so we don't have to bother with it on Saturday. I think I have 6 girls left to trim.

Today I am driving up past Campbellford to buy a sheep scale. Hopefully it is the same one that was in the picture or I will be mad! haha. It looks like it is in great shape and it will give me a batter idea of when the lambs are ready for market, as well as accurate weights for all the sheep when it is worming time. I will post a picture if I can bring it home with me today. Hopefully it will go in the back of the truck and hopefully there is someone there to help me get it in there!

Maybe I should stop at the sales barn on the way home? Tempting!!

We filled the chicken barns with chicks yesterday. 45,000 because everyone always asks. I have not visited them yet, but I can take some pictures for you later today. 

The ponies started going out to the big pasture this week, and yesterday was their first overnighter. I will probably bring them up tonight because they should have a bit of a break. They are looking nice and trim this spring and I would hate to see them explode into massive monsters too fast. Here is a picture of them on easter weekend. Photo Credit to Double E Photography. Aka. Aunt Liz.

Garden update: Grape Hyacinths are blooming. Bleeding Hearts are just about there. Tulip heads are trying to open and Daffodils have. Magnolia is just starting to flower as well. 

Lastly. I found a link to this website today and I think it is hilarious. This link goes out to my Dad because I am sure that I could find a photo of you that would be suitable to send in!

http://dadsaretheoriginalhipster.tumblr.com/

A rainy day.

Today it is raining and things that were supposed to happen got cancelled/delayed. I can't complain, apparently I wouldn't have been strong enough to cart wheelbarrows full of concrete around anyway. The dog has finally decided to go outside and do something. She has been hiding in her bed all day. The cat is still asleep, I don't think he will be awake any time soon. The pansies are drenched.

 And so are these little guys. 

 But look, Good news! The bright pink day lilies that I took a chunk of last year from a friends garden have returned from winter safe and sound! Can't wait to see them bloom!

Look what else I found out on the lawn! Sadly misplaced.

I found it just as I was thinking about doing this on the weekend...

Lamb update!

They're growing, running, learning to eat solid food and generally seem to be having a blast. Here are a few pictures of the growing babies!

SHE POPPED! and now I can sleep through the night again!

After 15 days lambing is done for the year! Tonight the alarm will not be going off at 2:30am! Heck, maybe I will go to bed right now! haha.

Last night I went to the barn at 9:30 pm and then again at 2:30am and Peas was just hanging out like she has been all along. Then this morning I slept in until 7:45am. I thought oh well she wont have had them anyways. I went out and she was just quietly laying down. I started to feed everyone when I heard quiet new baby cries! WHAT!? I looked again and there they were! A little boy and a little girl! everything went smoothly and they were up and had full tummies. The ram lamb has Crazy (!) black markings! He has a big patch of black on one leg, black near his feet and the patches on his face make him look like some sort of drag queen/evil clown/rockstar. The little ewe has a cute spot on her nose, one on her ear and another under one eye. Peas aka Black Eye Peas always seems to give us some interesting markings. I wish I knew what her breeding was!

Here is her ram from last year. 

 And here is her new Ram lamb this year!

I am not going to lie to you guys, looking at this little ram kind of freaks me out. I started calling him the joker because he reminds me of the Joker from Batman aka an Evil Clown! Hopefully I can get a better picture of this guy when he is out in the sun and a bit less new looking.

Here is a picture of his sister. Her spots are a lot less dramatic! Yes she is peeing in this picture but it was the only one I could get of her face hahaha. I am calling her Fergie after her mother!

And here are a few more pictures of the three of them that I took tonight in the barn. That should explain the bad lighting and glow in the dark eyes. Stupid flash! I will get some more during the day when everyone is out and about. 

Peas was chewing her cud in this last one, thats what the lump is in her cheek.

Ps. On a bit of a sad note, little Ram Jam seems to have hurt one of his legs. probably during a lamb race or possibly he was hit into a wall by his best friends mother. Hopefully he is feeling better soon. I felt it and it doesn't seem broken so hopefully it is just a pulled muscle. Poor little guy, he is getting around just fine on 3 legs though. 

Where were we?

So right after my last post about the two girls having their lambs at the same time and then us losing one. I went back out to the barn and there was Alien and her new lamb and Peas was right there helping her clean it off. I separated them and noticed that there was another lamb hanging out of her. I then had the unexpected chance to redeem myself for the loss of the lamb earlier that day. Aliens lamb was coming out breech as well. I helped it out and he was just fine as I thanked the heavens! She had a nice set of twins, a little girl and a little boy. Derek named them Black Betty and Ram Jam. They are very nice active lambs and are doing well. Here they are...

 Black Betty above and Ram Jam below.

The next day I went to work with 3 ewes left to lamb. When I got home from work I fed them and Nutmeg was not interested. I left her alone and came back after half an hour and she was uncomfortable and getting up and down and up and down. I left her a bit longer because she didn't seem to be pushing yet. About half an hour later I went back out because my in laws were in the barn checking out the lambs. By this time Nutmeg was pushing and pushing. Finally I decided to check her out. There is was AGAIN, a head with no feet. After a bit of repositioning we got the lamb out and it is a beautiful all chocolate brown girl. She is such a cutie. I named her Mace, but I think I will call her Macey. Mace and Nutmeg. haha. Get it?

Here she is, not the best picture but there will be more to come I am sure. 

I am very pleased with her. She came out of their pen today and is running around with all the other lambs like a pro. 

After Mace was born there was only 2 girls left to lamb. I went to bed and when I went out at 2:30am there were Peas and Tootsie cleaning up Tootsie's new lamb. Another ewe lamb. She was already up and had a belly full of milk. It took me awhile to find a private space for them but I made one up so that Aunt Peas couldn't help them out anymore. I don't like Peas to help with the other lambs because it might confuse the first time moms. Today I let Tootsie and Smartie out of their pen. That little girl is a trooper! She is running around exploring and having a ball. Here she is when they were still in their private pen. I will have to get better pictures today or tomorrow. 

Today all the lambs and their mothers are together running around having fun and Peas is still waiting around to have her own. She has a huge luxury suite now that all the dividing walls are gone. Her udder is getting pretty big and I'm thinking that it CAN'T be TOO much longer CAN IT?!

Here she is in all her current glory from the front and the back. 

And here are some more pictures of the other lambs doing lamb things. 

Being protected by their mothers.

 Sleeping under the hay bag and almost disappearing.

 Climbing on their mothers.

 Drinking at the milk bar.

Sleeping in the sunshine.

Hanging out with their peeps.

And running away from the Shepherd.