Enjoy it while it lasts, ladies!

Today started out sunny and warmer than the past few days. That is about to change. The meteorologists are predicting snow to 1500' Tuesday, snow to 500' Wednesday (that would include us here on the hill) and possibly up to 4" of snow on the valley floor Thursday! That is a significant snow event for this area at any time, much less the end of February.

I would have gotten in a ride on Russell today while the weather was good, but he's lame. :-( Have you seen the tongue-in-cheek customer service sign that says "Today is not your day; tomorrow doesn't look good, either"? Apparently when it comes to showing my horse, "last year was not my year; this year doesn't look good, either."

That's life at . . .

Let the lambing contest begin!

The magnificent moon on Friday night inspired me to take "moon shots" of the four ewes who were in my breeding group last fall. The information provided in this post and the following photos are your clues. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to guess how many ewes will lamb at Boulderneigh this spring, and the total number of lambs which will be born here. Include in your guess how many will be ewe lambs and how many will be ram lambs.

Annabelle:
Katie:
Bronwen:
Bramble:
I used CIDRs (hormone implants) in all four ewes to time estrus. FirthofFifth Barish was in with them October 14-18, and Boulderneigh Blake was used as a clean-up ram October 30-31. No breedings were witnessed.

The contest starts now, and entries will be accepted through March 2, one week before my lambing calculator says lambs are due. The winner will receive a sheepy applique quilt wall hanging, made by yours truly.

Let the guessing begin at . . .

Wood in water, sheep in hand

This image captured my eye at chore-time this morning. Love the floating wood (courtesy of Brian) and the trees reflected in the ice.

This evening I sat in the fold near the heat lamp and loved on the girls, trimming up the shaggy tufts left by the shearer in the process. Bronwen (top) and Bramble were first in line for attention, as they always are; you can see how much Bramble appreciated having her back scratched - she's smiling!

Katie didn't want to admit her desire, but finally succumbed to a good, all-over rub-down.
"The shepherd-lady got awfully personal at times, but okay; it DID feel good." Yes, Katie, I AM looking for clues to help me figure out what to expect in a few weeks!

Even old Inky asked for her share of affection, which I happily provided:

Annabelle has yet to voluntarily seek human contact, but she's gotten a lot calmer about human presence since she's been here. Daily grain hand-outs have certainly helped - she gets downright pushy for her share! Today I caught and haltered her, and then proceeded to rub and scratch to show her that humans could please more than her tastebuds. It went well; she went from cautious acceptance of my hands to reluctant rapture when I found the itchy spot on her withers. After I slipped the halter off, she stood quietly a few moments longer while I gently stroked her face.
I think we made real progress!

That's it for today; a lambing contest starts tomorrow at . . .

Shivery shearing

This morning I looked out the window and saw this:
It was snowing snowballs!

It's only sticking to Jackson, but still, this is NOT the weather I ordered for shearing day!

For the first time I remembered to withhold feed from the sheep so being bent like pretzels wouldn't be so hard on them - especially ewes already round with lambs. But I sure did feel sorry for leaving them hungry on a cold and blustery day like this - especially when Jeannie and I went into the fold to do some pre-shearing skirting and Bramble was shivering and grinding her teeth! I was shivering and feeling pretty hungry myself before we were done, so I guess the shepherd got a taste of their trials, too.

My friend Jeannie came to help me today, and what a blessing she was! (Jeannie is my fabric/quilt-enabler and the owner of four Boulderneigh fiber wethers.) She pulled the fleece off the shearing mat after each sheep was done and picked off the second cuts and yucky bits while I put each freshly sheared sheep away and brought out the next "victim." Fortunately, there were no real victims today; I think I saw one or maybe two tiny knicks. As always, some sheared easier than others. I grabbed quick side shots of everyone before putting on clean coats and letting them finally fill their tummies with choice hay. Then Jeannie and I scuttled up to the house for some hot homemade creamy tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches!

Annabelle, who sheared like butter:
"Sticky" Blackberry:
Handsome Blake:
Blackberry's "sticky" sister Bramble:
Blurry Bronwen:
Well-fed wether Browning, sporting the only real knick of the day:
Bunker, who sheared nicely like his dam:
Clean Katie:
That's it for shearing 2011 from . . .