Honey - get out the saw!

Our rams horn has caused me a bit of a headache lately. When we got him as a lamb early last summer he had broken off one horn.

Since then it had grown back, unfortunately now pushing into his head above his eye.

So when my ever so helpful husband came home from work today I asked him to get out the saw.

Off course he was delighted upon the chance of cutting a sheep's horn instead of relaxing on the coach with glass of pineapple juice (well yes, he does prefer the juice over a cold beer)!

So while he looked for a saw I put a halter on the ram, tied him to the fence and pinned him in the corner. My only question was: would this turn into a bleeding mess?

There are no nerves in the horns, so no pain for the little guy translated into no struggles. At least not for him, it was a bit different for my better half. He did not feel all that comfortable performing the procedure. But, eventually off came an inch or so of horn and not a drop of blood.

Happy ram, happy me, happy husband - Happy End!

On the way to the house I found 7 eggs in the hen house. The chickens are in their yearly molt, were they are changing their entire feather costume. This takes a lot of energy, and translates into no eggs. 7 eggs means we are going uphill again and eggs for breakfast tomorrow!

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!

Signs of spring

Tomatoes are started and already peaking through the black dirt, Crocuses are finally displaying some color in the garden and the sun is getting warmer every day!

It feels and looks like spring is on its way.

Dipsy, the first and so far only lamb is growing as fast as all the spring bulbs. She is a fine lamb that likes to touch noses with the dogs, much to moms disapproval! Hopefully soon she will be joined by many more little sheep still comfortably growing in big bellies.

This spring we decided against baby chicks and went to pick up ten young hens at a friends organic farm. These chickens are a mixed bunch that just started laying eggs and will hopefully be sitting and hatching some baby chicks.

But, live in the hen house can be cruel. A pecking order will be established at any cost. In our case that meant one new hens got pecked to badly she ended up in the stew pot and since it is not worth heating up the kettle for one chicken, Tony, the mean rooster got chosen to keep her company!

Since there would be no baby chicks without a rooster, we do have a new little guy waking the farm in the morning. And not only is he little with a dainty voice, but he is friendly as well!

New life

The first lamb of the season is here, born Wednesday morning , already up and running by the time I went out to feed.

I had locked the gray Navajo up Tuesday evening just in case, and sure enough she gave my shepherdess confidence a nice boost by delivering her baby the next day!

A beautiful spotted ewe lamb, legs still a bit wobbly and the woolly curls wet from birth greeted me around 7.00am. Forgotten are the shoveling of straw and muck heavy with odor. The hours spent on mending fences, catching excited sheep, yelling at beloved family members for letting that one dang ram escape....once again.

One look at this healthy #12 baby fills me with happiness and makes me thankful for being able to live this life. Life on the farm!

Leberknoedelsuppe - all mind over matter

Oma and Opa are visiting from Germany.

Oma likes to cook and more importantly knows how to cook. I like to take advantage of this and pick up a few recipes along the way.

As a child I always liked Leberknoedelsuppe. So, much to my husbands dismay I thawed out lamb liver and ran it through the food processor, so today we can enjoy this traditional Bavarian dish!

We do indeed eat most parts of the animals we butcher, including innerds. I got the older kids started a bit to late on this food group and they tent to have plans for the evenings I serve kidney, liver or heart.

I truly believe this is a case of mind over matter.

If I was to serve you this dish not sharing the list of ingredients, you are most likely to enjoy it. If you help me prepare it, you will probably go hungry .

This would surely be my husbands choice, but since he takes being a role model very serious, he does slurp the soup with a content smile on his face, and so do the wee ones.

If you are an adventurous eater, please let me know, I would be glad to share the recipe for liver dumpling soup.

No lambs jet, but BIG udders, I am on my way out to get the lambing pen ready for the ewe that looks like she is about to burst. Usually they stay in the pasture, but it has been cold and snowing, so she will move where she has her own shelter, peace and quite.... and probably be the last one to lamb!

Tan your hide

When we butcher in late fall the local meatman sents the pelts of the lambs back home with us. Since I do not like to waste anything, they get tanned.
For some reason this year my oldest daughter aquired the job of loading the hides in the wheelbarrow and hauling them from the trailer to the barn (this makes for fond memories of growing up on a farm)
For me that meant out of sight, out of mind! Until a few days ago, when a friend of mine came over to get some fiber, which happens to be stored in the barn as well.
What a warm welcome we got, as several rams heads were peaking at us over the rim of the wheelbarrow, still attached to the hides along with legs and tails.
This left my wee ones to ponder over how we could put these sheep back together...
Luckily my friend and her son are farm people as well, so (animal) body parts do not alarm them to much.
Yesterday was spent seperating heads, legs, tails and specific male parts from the hides. All that was left to do is salt the pelts liberaly and leave them to dry. Then they will be sent off to finish the tanning process and returned as stunningly beautiful pelts - nothing attached!