Moon Pie ...again

Well I just have to share this sturdy little guy as he grows....what a doll! Can't decide wether to keep him or not. Socks finally had her baby two nights ago. A little white ewe. It was a rough delivery, but both mom and baby are thriving. I am happy to say ... lambing is over ...whew!

Meet Moon Pie!

Our first Olde Babydoll Southdown ram lamb!

Look closely...he has a half black, half white tail!

We Are In Hobby Farms Magazine!

On a cold February day, a wonderful photographer named Dusty Perin, and her husband visited us to take pictures for the May-June issue of Hobby Farms Magazine. It was during one of this spring's cold snaps and I was shearing the next day...and hoping for warmer temps. She spent a great deal of time taking pictures of my Babydolls and then joined us for tea and cookies to warm up. Joker, my ram was a fairly good boy, though her husband played matador for a few minutes while we picked hay off from the ewes heads to make them look presentable.

In the end, it was Joker and I that made the cut. Thank you Dusty and thank you Hobby Farms Magazine! :)

Lamb #5

Without showing any signs of having her baby, Lucy ate her grain and laid down. A few hours later she delivered a ewe lamb. It has to be the most lively lamb I have ever seen! It is black and has a few tiny little white sprigs of white wool on it's head. We are waiting for it's owner to name her....I think it might be Penelope. :)

In this photo she has dirt on her nose that makes it look white.

My How Fast They Grow

Well, our first two sets of twins are a week old. They are gaining weight, bouncing around the paddock and quite curious! Lucy is close to lambing. The signs are there and she is quite restless. Socks and Annie, our Olde Babydoll Southdowns are both due on the 14th.

It is snowing hard here and I am praying that they wait until this storm is over! :)

Pictured here is my daughter Kathryn holding a fast growing Issabelle. This lamb is a Romney/Babydoll Southdown cross.

Introducing.....

Wallace ( black) and Gromit ( speckled) !

10 pounds each! Well done Judy.

Lambs!

After great anticipation ... we have lambs! And it was not Judy who lambed first, but Millie! Two, black, ewe lambs. Isabella ( in the front ) and Fiona ( in the hay) .

WIDE Load

Well here is Judy ... and we are still waiting .....

What do ya think? Twins? Triplets? :)

Thinking Ahead

I am still waiting on those lambs to be born. Fortunately there is always something to be done around here to keep me busy.

The planners of The 7th Annual Maine Fiber Frolic have been doing a great job organizing classes, and have asked me to teach again this year. I had so much fun designing the vest ( look a few posts back January I think) I made from my photos, that I decided to teach a class on my technique.

These photos show a finished pillow and a knitting needle holder in progress. I will also be teaching this class at The 2nd Annual Fiber College in September. Now... off to the greenhouses to go look for some babies!!

Mud Season

Well it is officially Mud Season here in Maine. I hope you can see the legs and feet of our oldest chicken Ethyl. I had to laugh when I saw her on my deck this afternoon.

Adapt and Overcome

Well winter has reared its ugly head for one last time. My poor frozen sheep and had to adapt and overcome the cold with a little help from Old Navy and L.L. Bean. I sure hope the predicted 40 degree temps arrive on Friday. I spent last night hooking up heat lamps in the greenhouses to try and create warm spaces for my shorn sheep. We certainly get spoiled quickly when mild weather appears early in the game.

Shearing Day

Today mother nature cooperated and gave us a fabulously warm and sunny shearing day. All together we sheared 7 of our 12 sheep and after skirting the fleeces we have a whopping 52 pounds! We will wait until it is just a bit warmer to shear the smaller Olde Babydoll Southdowns.

Here is a comparison of Mabel "before" & "after".

Now, after I pick out a few pounds for myself for spinning, I will take my fleeces to be processed in to wonderful Maine grown yarns!

A Good Dog!

Because we all need a good laugh every now and then ... I present ... Max The Arctic Explorer! My husband was folding laundry ( yes some husbands do that) and before he put the hood back on my coat, he let Max try it on for size. Max is such a great dog. We rescued him almost two years ago from a kill shelter. He was only 10 weeks old. He loved lambing last year, as a small pup he was in playing with the lambs everyday. Speaking of lambs .... 4 weeks to go!

The Gang

Every now and then I can get cooperation! Although I am missing Joe in this shot, most everyone is there. It is a diverse flock! :) It is very cold here today. A brief reminder to us here in Maine that winter is still here.

The cold makes my feel like spinning, so I have been creating some very unique hand-spun skeins for my shop. I am using up left over blends of Romney, Babydoll Southdown, mohair and Corriedale and more. Blending it together makes for a fabulous skein of rich color.

To those of you who post comments. Thank you! I don't know how to reply though. If you'd like to hear from me ( or help me figure how to do this ) Please e-mail me directly.

Enjoy your week!

Baby Dreaming...........

Looking back at my pictures from last year, I am reminded of how wonderful lambing time is. This is Blizzard at about 5 minutes old. It is amazing how strong the bond she and her mother have is. They sleep cuddled up together and are never more than one "baaa" apart. It is wonderful!

Like Mother ... Like Daughter

Look at this little cutie. This is Blizzard ( left ). She reminded me of a picture I took of her mother, Madeline, (above) two years ago. Blizzard was the first lamb born on our farm last spring ... of course I had to keep her! :)

Sledding

What kid doesn't like to sled? But how many sled in a paddock full of sheep? :)

Well my kids all sled on the ridge ...with the sheep. Yeah! Winter is here!

Ta-Daaaa!

Well, here it is!

Now look at the pictures in my last post and you'll see where my inspiration came from! Of course Millie is white, but I needed to break up the the colors a bit ... and I do have a brown Romney, Lucy.

Now I need to finish the trim and add the buttons on the front. I plan to add one of my Babydoll Southdowns and maybe Joe to the front panels.

Stay tuned! :)

My Current Project

Take a good look at these pictures.

Top - Mabel.

Left - Millie & Judy

Now watch and in a few days see what these girls inspired me to make! :)

Spring?

The temperature is 40 degrees. Has winter forgotten us? I keep looking at my shop ( which I closed in Dec for lack of heat ) and thinking I could be open. I have plenty of yarns and goodies for sale on my website, but I so love sharing my sheep with my customers and having them put a face on the yarns that they buy. Lambing is only three months away now. I cannot wait to watch those babies hopping around the paddock. Our new barn will be complete and new fences up in no time. I have missed the snow covered ridge, the frosted sheep, and the duck tracks in the snow. Ducks slide down hills in the winter you know ... I have seen them.

I took this shot of Mabel whose name means " a thing of beauty". Wouldn't you agree?