Smitten

Is it okay to admit it? Okay ...I am smitten with Katie. She is a little delight. He little friend Noah, who she paired up with a few weeks back, has been sick and is being treated in my basement. Noah had a bad case of coccidia which knocked him down fast. After over a week of treatment, I am seeing him show signs of recovery.

Coccidia is a protozoa that lives in the intestinal tract of many animals. It can come on fast,especially in lambs, and damage the intestinal lining resulting in improper or reduced absorption of nutrients and weight loss. The first thing I noticed in Noah was weight loss. I ran a fecal on him and wormed him for Haemonchus Contortus....I missed the coccidi....

Within a few days he started severe diarrhea. It is labor intensive and stressful to deal with a sick lamb. Keeping him clean was the worst.

This morning his little eyes were bright and his "baaa" not so weak. I will take him outside in a bit to enjoy some fresh air and then run another fecal. I cannot stress enough the importance of fecals. If you know what your animals have you can treat them correctly. I know Noah had another type of worm, which I treated him for, but I missed the coccidia.

We live and learn I guess ...fortunately this outcome should be good. I cannot wait to put Noah back in with Katie, she seems so lost without him.

Lookeeee....lookie!!!

Well this was certainly enough to make me smile! A blue ribbon at the Maine Fiber Frolic with my hand-spun mohair.... UMA! I am so pleased. Now I anxiously await Uma's first kid to be born.

One Angora goat is just not enough when you clip only twice a year. At least two goats will supply me with a bit more to spin and blend. Of course kid mohair is the finest and usually adult mohair becomes coarser. Uma however has stayed quite soft. It is a balance of grain, minerals and good hay that contribute to the fiber...you are what you eat after all! :)

1 HUMAN....0 GOAT

.....to be continued

Katie Grows......

I am a grateful "sheep mom" this afternoon as I feed Katie. She is growing as she should, bouncing, racing around the paddock, and getting in to trouble .... like any healthy little lamb should! She spends her nights with Noah, Millie's smaller twin, in a safe stall in the barn, and as soon as they are done with breakfast, they join a few of my more docile ewes in the paddock.

Sadly, Katie's mom is still not interested in her. We tried for three days to help her accept her new baby, but she just was not a good mom. That is okay though, Martha is a valued fiber producing member of this flock and will remain just that. I can forgive her ...after all she has given me a much needed little gift.

Katie

Martha, the last to lamb, surprised me this morning with a spotted little ewe lamb! Thank goodness lambing is done. Katie is just beautiful. She has white rings around two of her legs, white on her chest and white on her head and ears.

Strange ... her mom is a Natural colored Romney and her dad is a black Babydoll Southdown. :)

Progress

I am happy to report that our garden is growing nicely....no goat invasion ... yet.

My husband helped erect the 5 foot fence that will hopefully keep Romeo out for the season. We used 16 foot hog panels, green stakes and lots of zip ties.

Romeo watched as the fence completely surrounded the garden bed. He observed from the hill as I tilled, raked and planted beets, radishes, carrots, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers, dill, basil, sunflowers and chives.

His little goat mind churned with thoughts of how he could join me in the garden, where he could slither in, what small space he could squeeze his round belly through? But I, the victorious human have outsmarted the clever goat....... for now.

OPEN!!

I am happy to report that our Yarn Shop is offically OPEN!

This year's yarns are spendid!! I have spent the last few weeks dyeing and skeining ( with a little help from Romeo ) , painting, stocking shelves and cleaning up..... it is good to open the doors and "oooggle" over the beautiful colors!

My hours are mostly afternoons now while I continue to work mornings until school is out. Then I will change to summer hours. Please visit my websitehttp://www.romneyridgefarm.com/ and take a sneak peek!

HOT LIPS!!

After work today I decided to dye some wool fabric for wool pillows. The dye pot was still hot and contained some fabric when dinner time rolled around, so I set it out on the deck to cool. Who do you suppose wandered up when I wasn't looking?? You guessed it ... Romeo! Well it doesn't surprise me that he had to investigate to big black pot, and it didn't surprise me that he had to taste what was in the big black pot....

Last week I was painting the doors to my yarn shop and he slurped down some paint while I wasn't looking.

Last Saturday night we invited some friends over for drinks and s'mores. Romeo knocked me over for a glass of wine I was drinking, stole my husband's beer, and ate the marshmallows off the sticks!

I never have to ask "where for art thou Romeo!" It is well known that he is always where he shouldn't be....

BOYS!!!!!

So far we have 5 lambs....4 rams and 1 ewe! It is the year of the ram.

Thank you for all of the kind words you sent about Guinness. Time does start the healing process and ease the hurt. This is what makes it all better.

Letting Go

Every once and a while I make the mistake of thinking I can fix something that is broken. For the past three and a half weeks I have been consumed with a lamb that should have never survived. He was born to another flock, and when I saw him for the first time I thought I could help. I milked colostrum from his mom, dried him and left figuring he would not make it through the night. He did. So I took him home. From this point on I was mom.

Feedings were every three hours for the first week. He grew, but took a very long time to stand. We treated with Bo-Se, Nutra Drench, Vit B shots, daily physical therapy and lessons on how to stand every few hours. My energy was consumed by him, but I was determined that he would walk and live. My chiropractor even paid us a visit to see how he was doing and to see if he could help.

After the third week, there seemed to be a stand still. He did not improve, developed a sore on his side, and showed no interest in eating hay or grain... which he should have done within a few days after birth. In the mean time, one of my ewes lambed, two healthy ram lambs, both up and bouncing within a few hours....how unfair. I took my baby up to the barn to convince him that he was a sheep, but he only cried when I left. I could not leave him.

Tuesday night he cried a strange cry at night, his eyes did not seem right and he shook a lot. So yesterday, I took him outside for the last time in the sunshine. He stood and fell many times. Then he sat in the grass so innocently and looked up at me. I told him I was sorry and that I willed all of my strength to him every time I held him, but it did not work. I told him he needed to be free from his broken body and I told him I was going to let him go. He looked at me with is bright little eyes and it ripped my heart out. All about him was right except his legs. It may have been oxygen deprivation, it may have been nerve damage. I will never know, but I do know he was leaving me and I had no choice.

I think there are a few people out there who do not think I am crazy for feeling this pain. I cannot get through the day without crying four or five times. It is so wrong for the young and innocent to not have a chance. I hate to fail.

I can only believe that he is now bouncing around in heaven free from any pain and suffering. Maybe in a few days I will feel better but for now I am crushed.

Spring IS In The Air!

Her are "The Girls" enjoying the sun in the garden today. I shooed them away several times and then just gave up. They so enjoyed their dust bath.

We should see some lambs this weekend. Today I hooked up the baby monitor. It is so nice to hear "baaaas" in my kitchen while I am cooking dinner. Of course Minnie Guinea is a bit annoying with her non-stop "buckwheat...buckwheat ... buckwheat..." but I have learned to tune her out. She is the only surviving guinea hen on our farm. I felt sorry for her when the fox got her friend, and the chickens would not accept her into the group, but she seems right at home scooting around the sheep and pony.

Preparing

I took this picture on the morning we sheared. I just love how Lady Bug, our pony, fits so nicley into the group.

This afternoon I will muck out the barn ( though I have to admit, I have done well keeping up with it this year ) and prepare my lambing stalls. No more camping out in them once they are clean. The first lambs should start arriving on March 29th ... my birthday!! Guess that means I will have to keep at least one ... or two ...

I actually am planning on keeping at least one. I am so pleased with Blizzard's fleece. Her mom is Madeline, a Correidale, and her dad is Joker, a Babydoll Southdown ram. The combination of the two breeds creates a wonderful fleece as well as a sweet, smaller sheep. So I may keep Madeline's lamb again this year.

So I am anxiously waiting, watching, and reading, it is good to keep lambing procedures fresh in your mind for when the big day arrives.

Shearing Day

Unbelievably, the weather turned warm yesterday. My shearer came at 9 and by 11, we had shorn, vaccinated and trimmed the hooves of twelve of my flock. It sure is funny to see how small they actually are when they are "naked"!

My fleeces were still damp, so all twelve are spread out on my basement floor to finish drying before they are weighed and skirted, then packed into boxes to be delivered to Green Mountain Spinnery. Next week we will finish shearing the rest of the flock, then before I know it babies will start arriving! I am so excited!

February Happenings

I'l be putting a new slideshow together soon!

Kelly ...Where Have You Been????

I know, I know, everyone is asking me ..... have you stopped blogging??? Well no, not exactly ... I just have not had time. So here, in a nutshell is what's been happenin'.

I have been in a knitting mood, working on a few hats, making up the designs as I go. It is fun, easy and a good way to use up odds and ends.

Spinning has been off and on. My latest project is Uma. I have saved three clippings from my Angora Goat, Uma and had it carded into a beautiful soft roving. So far I have spun one 9 oz single-ply skein .... 2 to go.....

The sheep are all enjoying the warm temps, but not the wet weather. Fleeces are ready to come off and will, next Tuesday. Last weekend we moved the bred girls from the front paddock to the back paddock. I have kept the barn floor as clean as possible so that when we set up the lambing pens I won't have months of poo to shovel. :) We are keeping track of the days and to day makes 113 days of pregnancy!!!

I am anxious to set up my vegetable garden this year. I have been reading Elliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest. I bought the book about 4 years ago and planned my garden, but babies and life kept me too busy and over the past few years my tiny garden mostly consisted of tomatoes and cucumbers. This year I am designing a 16X20 fenced in garden. Of course I have plenty of nice compost to use, an ancient but powerful rototiller, and the most perfecrt sunny plot. My only challenge will be keeping Romeo the houdini of goats out!

My daughter Kathryn and I are enjoying the planning process as well as choosing plants from the Johnny's Seed Catalog. She is planning a corner for cut flowers and pumpkins.

Another project I am working on is the schedule of events for the Maine Sheep Breeders Association (MSBA) at this year's Maine Fiber Frolic. We are planning educational discussions about feeding, bio security, and fleece selection. Along with the Fiber Frolic events, the MSBA also has a wonderful line-up of farm tours, shearing schools and of course the ever growing Shepherd school. Visit their website for more information.

Whew! So that's my life up until now, when I have been knocked down with a nasty eye infection. Viral Conjunctivitis in both eyes, a massively swollen face, and now mega-headaches as this virus runs it's course. I am told I should see some relief in a few more days. Hope so....

My next post will be just photos. Enjoy!

Isn't She Lovely !

This is Sally O'Malley. She was created for the Maine Sheep Breeders Association (MSBA) booth during last week's Maine Agricultural Show in Augusta. She was quite a hit.

Susan Perrine created the the hand-woven poncho that Sally is wearing from all Maine wool. Her mittens were knit from Janet Seavey's natural colored wool, and her mobieus was knit by me. Sally was a fun project, as I was creating her, my kids kept saying "Mom...she looks just like you!" Must be the hair! :)

Winter Observations

After work every day I spend a hour or so refreshing water for the sheep. cleaning up poo, feeding, cleaning ... general chores, etc.

The best part of this time spent is observing. Is that one limping? Is that one too thin? Where is Isabella ( those of you who know Isabella know, that she is an escape artist sheep) How am going to set up my lambing pens? Is Pippin smiling at me? Mari...where is your mother? I talk to them as I do chores, or sometimes sing. Joe loves music. No, I am not crazy... he lays in front of the radio in the barn. He enjoys classical, and he only allows Vespa to lay with him in front of the radio.

Sheep establish buddies in the flock. The Columbia's, the giants of the flock, are pushy, the Babydolls are docile, the Romneys are calm and comfortable, and the Border Leicesters are endlessly curious. Belle and Blizzard, both Babydoll-crosses are like teenage girls, they "hang out" together play together and lay together. Both of their moms are off with Joker and the other breeding girls. It will be fun to see them greet each other again in a few months.

I am reading again, refreshing my mind, preparing for lambing. It isn't that far away and I always feel ready until the first little ones arrive. This year I am looking at installing a camera in the barn so I can observe what's happening from the kitchen.

Uma's Knight in shining Armour

Uma left our farm for the first time in her life today. She traveled comfortably in the back seat of our jeep with our dog Max, and was feed peppermint candies by my son Michael. Her destination was a rendezvous with a handsome fellow named Midnight, resident buck at Spinnakees' Farm in Augusta.

Uma actually came from Spinnakees' Farm three years ago, She has been a wonderful addition to our family. Since she is small in structure, we have waited for her to mature. This seemed like the right time... and I cannot wait any longer! :) So in three weeks I will pick her up and hope that in June a little "Uma" or two will be bouncing around the barn yarn. The best part though is they will be ours to keep.

Things to do......

Today was a day of things to do. Of course getting ready for tonight's game topped the list. I made dips, buffalo wings, and brownies. We picked up and unloaded two loads of hay, I finished clipping Alice, my Angora bunny, I checked eyes and feet of sheep, cleaned up pony "plops", cleaned water buckets and last but not least ... gave my son a hair cut.

Tomorrow I plan to work in my basement preparing my new, super-huge work table for my next project.

Oh and maybe I will deliver my Angora goat Uma to Spinnakees' Farm for a rendezvous with a handsome silver buck.

Now time to go to friend's to watch the Patriots kick some .....

Sledding with a Mastiff

How can one resist these warm days with all this snow!! Of course sledding at our house is a bit dangerous. Not because of the long, sloping, tree-covered hills that require a sledder to be on the top of their game when launching from the top.... no.... it is the Mastiff who thinks you are a ball to catch and pursues you to the bottom.

This is all you'll see before she catches you ... good luck!