Saturday Night LIVE!

We were gone most of Sabbath for church, followed by dinner with friends and family at the pastor's house. When we got home, I turned the impatient girls out on pasture – two of them looking larger than ever. That's the thing about lambing season and watching ewes. You think they are looking big and bagged up . . . and then they get bigger and more bagged up.

Blaise started boinging around the pasture like a wild woman, pausing to head-butt the other girls. She and Sarai came to the gate; Sarai hung out for awhile. That can be significant, so I kept an eye on her through the windows as she went back to grazing. When I happened to see just four ewes,

I looked to see if Sarai was back at the gate. Nope.

 Do you see her anywhere? I didn't, not immediately.
Look closer in the lightened photo below.

 Aha! She had climbed between the boards to get in the shed!

Sarai was communicating loud and clear, so I ran down to the barn calling her name. She climbed out and met me at the gate so I could usher her into the maternity ward. Then I exited stage left for several hours while we did chores and watched Pete's Dragon on Netflix.

When I went down around 11:30 pm, Sarai was in active labor. In order to keep an eye on her progress without disturbing her, I went in the barn where I could watch through an opening in the wall (I had plugged in the heat bulb so I had enough light to see). After 45 minutes of pushing on and off Sarai hadn't produced so much as a bubble, so I headed to the house to wake Rick. He agreed that it was time to do an internal check in case of a malpresentation like last year, and got up to collect equipment and supplies from his vet truck. I grabbed some towels and headed back down – to be greeted by the happy sight and sound of new life! Sarai was vigorously cleaning off a LOUD brown lamb. Judging by its petite size, we suspected Sarai wasn't done, but I was no longer worried and sent Rick back to bed. Sure enough, in due time she pushed out lamb #2, a bigger black lamb with frosting on its face. By this time I had checked lamb #1 and knew I had a girl (YAY!), so figured the bigger lamb was likely a ram. But no, Sarai gave me TWO girls – one of them the black-based ewe I have been wishing for! Hallelujah; how abundantly I've been blessed!

Here is little Miss Loud-Mouth:


And here is Miss Frosting Face:

I have two pairs of official "B" names picked out, but deciding can wait for now. Oh, and no one picked March 26 for a lambing date, but Diane was only one day off when she chose March 27. She picked March 28 for Vienna, so I'm hoping and praying that Diane guessed one day late for her as well!

Then I could relax and enjoy our trip away from . . .

Tight-lipped

These girls aren't telling. They just keep stuffing their faces and crossing their legs (actually, they can't; their udders are too big). Rick is threatening to induce them; I'd rather not interfere. Yet. Ask me again three days from now if there are still no lambs.

As you can imagine, I spend too much time staring at sheep. Makes for plenty of blog fodder photos, though!

Oh, and I think I've settled on a pattern to start. A colorful Sheep Heid, made from leftovers. Maybe it will be my lambing contest prize!

That's it for now from . . .

At loose ends

My ewes are keeping me in suspense (will they or won't they lamb before I leave?); I can't decide what to knit next (MUST.HAVE.TRAVEL.KNITTING!); weather, work and Spring Break are messing with my routine and mental health mustang time; and undisclosed family issues are heating up again after a lull. Among other things. Somebody better bring a straightjacket!

That's it for now from . . .

A reluctant welcome

Shucks. The calendar says Spring arrived today; I really wanted winter lambs. Actually, what I REALLY want is for Vienna and Sarai to lamb well before we leave next week, so I don't have to fret about something happening that our chore person can't handle – or between the two times a day that she is here. I have had to intervene enough times in my relatively short tenure as shepherd to know there is risk. :-/

So I spend time coaching them. "Hurry up and lamb, Sarai. And I would LOVE it if a little black girl with your gorgeous, roo-able fleece is in there."

 "You, too, Vienna." (On the 'hurry up' part; no chance for black lambs from her!) "And Babette, I hate to burst your bubble but you're not going to be the baby much longer."

"Say WHAT?"

"I want to meet a big, handsome ram – I mean, have a baby; why don't you ever let me consort – I mean, have a baby?"

"Someday we'll find the right ram for you, Blaise. Just forget about that for now; let me rub your chin."

"Okay. Oh, that feels good. Can't . . . can't keep my eyes open. Hmmm; maybe rams aren't all they're cracked up to be...."

That's it from most of the girls today at . . .