Redux

Days ago I glanced over my last post and realized I have updates on many of the things mentioned there. As usual, it's taken days to round up the photos and the words but here I finally am, getting my dux in a row. Heh.

The weather continues to be colder and wetter than 'average.' The Blarney Woolen Mill sweaters I purchased off of eBay arrived, and I've been enjoying the two cardigans very much (I haven't done more than try on the pull-over yet). I love cables, and while yes, I could knit something similar for myself, it would probably take me the rest of my life and may not ending up fitting as well. Life is short; I'll buy second-hand Irish sweaters and admire Sara's productivity.

This weekend has been milder with rain conveniently scheduled at night, leaving the daylight hours available for outside activities. (I'll do a separate post on yesterday's 'waterfalls and wildflowers' hike.) Today Rick mowed the lawn for the second time this spring. We've let the fire go out – for now.

The sheep are still hollering at me. I'd say what they want most is to get out, but even then there is still a lot of yelling (see Exhibit A, above, taken right after I let everyone out). Ewes yell for lambs who run off; lambs cry for dams they can't locate after running off . . . and eventually they all want to be let in the fold(s) again . . . where they yell to be let back out, or for better feed, or is it ewes begging for lamb-sitters? It's a good thing the lambs are cute and the adults grow beautiful fleeces (most of which I still need to harvest – sigh).

I haven't charged the dog training collar yet or even opened the package. But after several days I did finally get my veggie starts planted in my 'garden pot':

The show with Stella a week ago went better than I expected. There will be a post about it on my dressage blog eventually, but here's a beauty shot I took between our two tests while a friend held her:

Next Sunday I'll be in the 'show ring' again, this time with Poppy. We're entered in our first agility competition!

In other exciting news, we were forced to shop in a hurry for a new fridge when our old one died. Our options were limited by availability (we needed it NOW) and space (most models were too tall). As you can see, we found one that JUST fits in the built-in space:

That's it for the redux from . . .

Not just a setting on the washing machine

Agitation. Man, have I been feeling it lately! Part of it has been the weather, a long stretch of rain and mud, mud and rain. Yesterday it didn't rain ALL day and we even got some sun breaks(!) . . . so of course I woke up to snow this morning. No, not really enough to write home about, but still. Rick mowed the lawn for the first time yesterday (after those sun breaks), for pity's sake! How are Stella and I supposed to prepare optimally – or much at all – for our first show of the season (which is this Sunday)???

through the dirty bedroom window

Another big component has been noise. I am not noise-tolerant; I crave quiet. I avoid crowds as much as possible, and when I'm alone, I don't turn anything on for 'background noise.' My husband is hard of hearing, so if he turns on the TV (which he often does when he's home) or radio (in his truck), he cranks up the volume and drives me to distraction. But I can no longer head to the barn for some peace and quiet – oh no. The ewes start HOLLERING whenever they hear or see me, and the din is enough to make my head explode. I'm not sure what they are whinging about, but clearly management is not performing up to their expectations.

You can see it in his eyes; this dog is CRAZY.

With atmospheric and auditory aggravations at a high point, it doesn't take much for the dogs to make short work of my frayed nerves. Leo is underfoot outside and maniacal inside; even Poppy wearies of him. I wonder if that is why she went AWOL during chores Monday. I gave her some time, figuring she was scouting for squirrels, but when she didn't show up after a couple hours in the steady rain and my repeated summons, I got worried. I got in my car to drive the nearby lanes and sent texts to the two neighborhood groups asking people to keep their eyes peeled for her to no avail. She had never been unresponsive for that long, and I was certain she was somehow incapacitated, dognapped, or dead. It wasn't until I decided to walk our property line in case she was caught somewhere that I finally found her, ranging about in a stand of trees in our NE corner, well within earshot of all my calls, ignoring me even when I was within visual range. I took her up to the house, sat down with my laptop, read a bunch of reviews, and ordered a training collar!

I did some more enjoyable online shopping before that stressful day. I happened to read an opinion piece titled "What Are the Best Buy-It-for Life (and Beyond) Products?" and learned about Blarney Woolen Mills traditional Aran sweaters. The cold, wet weather had me craving warm clothing so I went to my favorite place to shop, eBay, and found quite a few very reasonable Blarney Woolen Mills sweaters . . . and may have purchased more than one. That will probably guarantee an immediate shift from winter conditions into summer heat about the time they arrive, but so be it.

Now that I have done a therapeutic amount of venting, I will close by counting my blessings – backwards.

1)  The small flat of vegetable starts (Bush Early Girl tomato, sugar peas, and arugula for my 'pot garden') I bought yesterday and left on the deck survived the morning's cold and snow!

2)  In spite of weather and a temporarily sidelined truck, I finally got a needed lesson on Stella this morning – and it went surprisingly well.

2)  These boots, waterproof insulated Keens also purchased on eBay, have gotten my feet through this extended winter warm and dry.

3)  Lamb races! Yes, the ewes have been driving me crazy, but their babies sure are cute. Yesterday when I turned everyone out, I was rewarded with the first lamb races of the season. That means the ewes 'raced,' too, not yet ready for their precious offspring to be that independent.

I'll close with more lamb cuteness. On Friday, the day after I went to my friend's to check on Spot's last 'girlfriend' yet to lamb, my friend's dairy ewe had a single striking ewe lamb. Prada bears a striking family resemblance to several of her full-Shetland half siblings!

Both days last weekend we had visitors who wanted to see the lambs; Easter was soggy so we stayed under cover, but on Sabbath we all went out to the pasture. I've been trying to get good shots of various lambs for interested buyers, too.

That's it for now from . . .

Eight is enough

Thanks for the title inspiration, Debbie!

After keeping me on watch with increasing concern for two days, Bernadette lambed last night. Around 8:00 I went down to the barn to give Bauble a bottle (more on that later), and saw a big bubble of fluid protruding from Bernadette. On closer inspection, I could see a lamb head and one front foot in that bubble, but Bernie did not seem to be pushing. So I broke the water bag and proceeded to pull out a flashy black ram lamb with one leg back. Bernie got busy licking him off; I spread some fresh straw, shut them into a protected corner, and proceeded with chores.

When Rick got home, I enlisted his help so I could check to see if there was another lamb; Bernadette didn't look settled. Sure enough, when I gloved up and reached in, I could feel another head and one leg – a back leg. Arghh; did she have TWO more in there??? Feeling around for front feet that went with the head, I was sure I felt a second head, and tried to push it back. Things were tight;  I finally found a front leg, but try as I might, it was just too tight to fish around for the other front foot, nor could I get a good grip behind the head. I struggled and Bernadette strained for what seemed like way too long; I was fighting panic and Rick was saying the lamb had to come out, one way or another. The thought of sacrificing the lamb was sickening; I prayed for help over and over to get it out alive. God answered "Yes" this time; when I finally managed with great effort to pull her out, the flashy moorit ewe lamb was still alive. Hallelujah and thank you! Reaching in again, I was a bit surprised to feel an empty womb; I was sure I felt a second head. Maybe it was the knee of the front leg I couldn't locate? Oh well; eight is plenty!

not a great photo, but the best I got of both lambs last night

By the time I got sister out, brother was ready to eat and latched on lustily. The ewe lamb was still recovering and it was getting late, so Rick tube-fed her some colostrum to get her through the night. Then I moved Bernadette and her twins into the corner pen under the heat lamp while Rick hustled Bette and her twins out to where Bernie gave birth. I was cold, wet, and smelly from my obstetric work, so I took a hot shower and then fell gratefully into bed.

This morning everyone is doing great, and I took the time to get better photos. Meet Bench (ram) and Bailiff (ewe)!

Cute little white tails!

Since Bette's black beauties were right 'next door,' I took a couple of photos of them, too. Bonnie, on the right in the second photo, is much bolder than Bitta.

Yesterday morning our farrier came to trim the horses' hooves. He and his wife have a flock of Texels and Border Leicesters, so I shared my concerns about Blaise's and Bree's milk supply. Their lambs are doing okay but I wasn't convinced they were thriving; Bauble often looks hunched and subdued to me. Troy agreed that I needed to supplement her. I mentioned that I had an as-yet unopened bag  of milk replacer; he suggested I return it and buy some from his wife, because they've had better success with the Premier 1 brand and she had a BIG bag. He also suggested feeding the mamas alfalfa hay to help with their milk supply. So I set aside my to-do list, wrote down all the other things I could accomplish in a run to town and beyond, and eventually returned home with different milk replacer, and a bale of alfalfa hay in my trunk!

As a testament to their hunger, poor babies, both Bauble and Bijou took readily and eagerly to a bottle. That's not usually the case with lambs who have been nursing. So now I am supplementing them at least three times a day, and Bauble is already looking brighter and more energetic. Some photos of the lambs in the nursery pen taken today:

three-lamb pile in the corner with Blaise looking on

Bridger in the 'alfalfa pan'

and tucked behind his mom Bridget

Our spring weather is still being erratic, running about 10 degrees below average whether it be sunny or snowing (we had vigorous flurries again Monday morning). We are running low on seasoned firewood but crave the cozy heat the wood-burner kicks out, especially after being outside. Nothing warms like sitting or standing (or laying) on the hearth in front of the fire!

screenshot from this morning

Last Sabbath started wet, but the sun unexpectedly came out in the afternoon so I turned ALL the ewes and lambs out on pasture for the first time. Bette was not comfortable about having her lambs in the great outdoors with the riff-raff other lambs and ewes, but I was able to get some pretty pictures of everyone before I let her take her girls back into the Sheep Sheraton.

VERY pregnant Bernadette in the middle

Bauble showing the hunched attitude that concerned me

Blackjack behind his dam Bree

Bridger and Bridget

Bette, too watchful and tense to graze

With lambing season over, it's time to announce the winner of the lambing guessing game! None of you got any correct answers (don't feel bad; I only got ONE!), but Marlane came closest. Her guess on who would lamb first (Bree) was the closest (Bree was the second to lamb), as was her guess on the date of the first lambing (March 26, one day off from Blaise's lambing date of March 25). For the record, there are eight lambs total, four boys and four girls, 87.5% (7 out of 8) of them black.

So Marlane, tell me your prize preference: a handknit headband or Fair Isle hat, a set of sheep photo notecards, or handspun yarn. We can discuss the particulars via email (mmcmillen AT macnet DOT com).

That's it for lambing season 2023 at . . .