Shearing Day

After cancelling the last shearing appointment due to poor human intestine health and very cold weather at night, we sheared yesterday.

Quick and painless, all the girls and boy sport a trendy short hair due which will last them 'til late October!

It takes the sheep a while to figure out who is who after they let down their wool. A lot of baaing and sniffing until everybody is finally satisfied with their identification efforts and settles down to munch on some grass or chew their guts after all that commotion.

Shearing always means bags of wool, with spring fleeces being considered 2nd class, since they have a lot more vegetable matter (hay, straw...) than the fall fleeces. Most of the time they are shorter as well. Still, they have to be stored and at some point put to use.

In front of my inner eye I see them converted into beautiful rugged rugs. Time will tell just how powerful this inner eye of mine is .....

Ever wondered if shearing is hard work? Take a look at my preteen son!

Flying high

They are not quite flying, but they sure would if they could. So for now they abuse the hoop barn for their first attempts to take off!

Much to my husbands dismay. The hoop barn used to be tall enough for me to stand in, now you only stand a chance to be upright if you are a midget or under 5 years of age....

This diminishing of height happened over the past three years, happy airborne lambs and heavy winter snow both contributed to the sad sagging.

And the loss of height is not all, the sharp hooves of these little buggers rip through the tarp and once a hole is in place the already weathered plastic will rip like a pair of nylon stockings... ( I only know this, because my daughter is a ballerina)

The solution would be a nice wooden barn, but those are future dreams. For now I will go buy new tarp and when hubby comes home from work will innocently wonder about his plans for tonight...

What's happening?

No new lambs to report. What is going on??? Well, my theory is blaming the ram, I am a shepherdess, so naturally I will blame the male! He is a young guy and not only is he young and inexperienced, but a bit on the short side, at least he was at breeding time. So this past fall he had a few obstacles to overcome. Amazingly he managed to get all the the girls pregnant, which we could confirm last weekend when we trimmed feet and noticed swelling udders on each and every ewe... all that is left to do now is wait and drink tea.

We did not only take care of feet, but gave the pregnant group their yearly booster shot of "covexin 8" which gives the unborn lambs protection as well, mostly against overeating.

This is the only vaccination the sheep get. While on a roll, I mixed up a garlic molasses concoction to drench everybody as part of my "organic" worming program. The girls truly appreciated all the special attention and one on one time they got.... :o) ....while my husband was greatful for the opportunity to jet again prove his strength to the shepherdess!

I spent some time on Sunday in the veggie garden as well, ridding it from pine needles, which we have in sheer abundance... They are great for the berry patches, everything else will wrinkle their leaves in disapproval. Wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow was hauled out of the garden and onto the burn pile.

Inside the tomatoes are showing their first true leaves and are ready to move into their own big pots. Instead of repotting I have been spinning Mimis (my only babydoll ) fleece. I spun it in the raw, which means it did not get washed before spinning. In the pic you see an unwashed skein of yarn next to a washed skein. This is the same fleece! Just imagine the wash water...

Then I dyed one batch with moss that the kids gathered at a camping trip a couple of years back.

You know what they say:

a good thing takes time, or something along that line!

Another batch got to soak in a cooked down solution of green walnut shells which my dad had brought me...... a couple of years back. This sounds like a pattern doesn't it?

The moss dye resulted in a nice,

well mossy green, all the walnuts did is turn bright white into a light beige (instead of a deep brown)

I conclude moss keeps better than walnut shells...

Now I am trying to decide what to make of mossy and not so walnutty Mimi......

What are the sheep doing?

All the ewes do these days is eat, chew their guts, and complain. They do a lot of complaining. As soon as one spots me she will start with an accusing bahh and no sooner as she is finishied all will join... bahh-hay, more bahh-hay always asking for more, just like my wee ones, when I get the ice cream out.

Yes,

I could just give in and allow them to have a steady supply of hay, but since the icelandics are a primitive breed, I really have to watch how much they eat during pregnancy. If they get to much, their lambs will grow rather big and they will have trouble giving birth.

So, I harden my heart and ignore all the baa hing and stick to the balanced morning and evening ratio. Well, I do

gather pine branches, they love to nibble of all the needles and than strip the bark....

While the sheep are happily taking in their fresh greens, I have been working on another pair of slippers. When you knit these they are really really big, then you throw them in the washing machine to felt and get them to the right size.

Hide them when friends come over because once they spot them they will declare that they are very much in need for new slippers..... and all you will knit for a long time will be ...... slippers!

Seaweed and udders

Earlier this week I filled up the sheep's seaweed supply. They are grassfed only, which means pasture or hay, no grain. I do supplement them with salt, minerals and seaweed. To round up this wholesome diet they get a squirt of good apple cider vinegar in their freshly pumped well water.

I know, I know it does sound rather granola, but it makes for very healthy sheep and it helps to keep their wool in top condition. And remember we eat our sheep as well. Since they live so healthy I guess we can skip a beat in our diets..... at least that's my husbands excuse when I find the occasional McDonalds evidence in his truck...

The animals are pretty in tune to what their needs are, so all the supplements are free choice and the last few days they were going for the seaweed. So while refilling I noticed the udders. Udders a sure sign of lambing time coming closer. The navajo churro ewes are the first ones to delight us with newborns. Usually they suprise me, but this time it seems I am ahead of them. These navajo ewes are so skittish, it is hard to get a good look at them. All the wool on their bellis does not help eather. We will just have to wait and see. Since it is getting close to lambing time tomorrow will be vaccination and garlic/molasses drench day.

I need to let my nighbours know, since I think this is one of their yearly entertainment highlights on the farm.