All that excitement.
By the end of the afternoon they were all tuckered out.
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| Clementine zzzzzzzzz |
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| baby Harper and Dolly |
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| babies Hamlet and Hal with Emily |
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| Hiccup! |
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| baby Hercules and Ladybug |
Showing posts with label Clementine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clementine. Show all posts
Saturday, April 16, 2016
It's a hard life
All that excitement.
By the end of the afternoon they were all tuckered out.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
And then it was over
Disappointed doesn't begin to describe my feelings toward Mr. Nino right now.
I'm trying to remember the good times.
The cool, carefree days in sweatshirts and jackets. The cascading water, straight through the hose to the buckets. The easy flow of animals in and out of fields still tinged with green grass and bramble stems. In and out of doors that slid easily on their tracks, back, and yes, forth.
The bare hands.
The sleep without worry.
Even the mud.
The promise of an endless stream of the same simple joys, straight through the winter that wasn't.
Sigh.
Yes, yes, ok, I admit it.
He never actually promised.
We were warned.
They all said, "Mid-January -- after that we don't know. Other forces could drive him away."
Mr. Arctic Blast.
Damn him.
Two degrees Fahrenheit.
Right on schedule.
I'm trying to remember the good times.
The cool, carefree days in sweatshirts and jackets. The cascading water, straight through the hose to the buckets. The easy flow of animals in and out of fields still tinged with green grass and bramble stems. In and out of doors that slid easily on their tracks, back, and yes, forth.
The bare hands.
The sleep without worry.
Even the mud.
The promise of an endless stream of the same simple joys, straight through the winter that wasn't.
Sigh.
Yes, yes, ok, I admit it.
He never actually promised.
We were warned.
They all said, "Mid-January -- after that we don't know. Other forces could drive him away."
Mr. Arctic Blast.
Damn him.
Two degrees Fahrenheit.
Right on schedule.
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| George: We don't mind. We don't own any sweatshirts. It's parkas or nothing for us. |
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| Bo Sheep: Yeah, not so crazy about the mud actually. You try schlepping around in it all day every day in bare feet. |
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| Clementine and Pink: Really, it's all about the hay. Did you bring the hay? |
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| Clementine: Hang in there Mom. He'll be back. |
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Thanksgiving
These days I say a little prayer of thanksgiving every time I walk outside. I feel the unseasonable warmth and think fondly about my new best friend, El -- Mr. Nino to those of you in other parts of the country. Here it is December 2 and I bet I haven't worn my winter coat more than two or three times yet. I don't even know where my gloves are. No water buckets have frozen and I've barely touched my propane supply - which, by the way, is selling for approximately 1/4 the price it was two winters ago.
One quarter.
Yes, things are good.
Of course, no relationship is all sunshine and roses. Sometimes you get rain. And fog. And mud. Sometimes you don't see the sun for days.
Some of the sheep are more sensitive to the gloom than others. Clementine and Bumblebee were a little reluctant to join the fray this morning.
But look at that, Bumblebee is nearly as big as Clementine.
There's a blessing if ever there was one.
One quarter.
Yes, things are good.
Of course, no relationship is all sunshine and roses. Sometimes you get rain. And fog. And mud. Sometimes you don't see the sun for days.
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| Heading out for a day in the salt mines. No sunshine here. |
Some of the sheep are more sensitive to the gloom than others. Clementine and Bumblebee were a little reluctant to join the fray this morning.
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| Stragglers: Noona, Clementine, and Bumblebee |
But look at that, Bumblebee is nearly as big as Clementine.
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| Clementine and a nearly-as-big Bumblebee |
There's a blessing if ever there was one.
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| Clementine: I'm going back to bed. Call me when the sun comes out. |
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Born still
A couple of weeks ago, Clementine, the Lincoln ewe, had a bad case of the runs that I couldn't get under control, so I took her in to the vet school for help.
While we there, they did an ultrasound. I was sure she was bred.
I was wrong.
Despite living continuously with Johnny Blue, the Lincoln ram, for a good 18 months, she was definitely not pregnant. And for that matter, Emily and Devon, the two Icelandics, have lived with Johnny since last January, and neither of them have reproduced. And even though Johnny has had uninterrupted access to all the Black Welsh ewes since July, I noted over and over how many of them continued to cycle right through the fall.
All of which is to say, I'd sort of given up on Johnny Blue's chances of being a dad. And since macho man Jed, the Black Welsh herdsire, has been sequestered since shortly after doing the tango with Bo Sheep way back in August (resulting in Jack and Jill), I'd allowed myself to relax and start to believe that we were having no more lambs this season.
Dumb.
Dumb.
Dumb.
Maggie, one of the Black Welsh ewes gave birth to a little ram this afternoon. He was already gone by the time I walked in on this ridiculously cold day, though I think I didn't miss his arrival by much. He lay on the ground outside under the shed roof, where the Black Welsh ewes like to sit and watch the world. His umbilical cord and amniotic sac were still attached. It looked like Maggie had just walked away. Since she's an experienced mom, with three daughters in the flock (Jezebel, little Jethro's mom, and last year's twins, Loretta and Dolly), I'm guessing he was born still. Maggie seems to be ok -- eating, drinking, chewing her cud, and surrounded by her girls. I'll keep an eye on her for a few days all the same.
I don't know that there's anything I could have done if I'd been there, but I still feel badly.
I discovered two more ewes with prepped and primed udders -- Welsh Bo and Eve. Eve is one of the ones I thought I'd seen cycle repeatedly. Wrong again I guess.
At night check just now, Bo was hanging off in a corner by herself, so she may ready to go. Thankfully, it's not supposed to be quite as cold tonight as last.
While we there, they did an ultrasound. I was sure she was bred.
I was wrong.
Despite living continuously with Johnny Blue, the Lincoln ram, for a good 18 months, she was definitely not pregnant. And for that matter, Emily and Devon, the two Icelandics, have lived with Johnny since last January, and neither of them have reproduced. And even though Johnny has had uninterrupted access to all the Black Welsh ewes since July, I noted over and over how many of them continued to cycle right through the fall.
All of which is to say, I'd sort of given up on Johnny Blue's chances of being a dad. And since macho man Jed, the Black Welsh herdsire, has been sequestered since shortly after doing the tango with Bo Sheep way back in August (resulting in Jack and Jill), I'd allowed myself to relax and start to believe that we were having no more lambs this season.
Dumb.
Dumb.
Dumb.
Maggie, one of the Black Welsh ewes gave birth to a little ram this afternoon. He was already gone by the time I walked in on this ridiculously cold day, though I think I didn't miss his arrival by much. He lay on the ground outside under the shed roof, where the Black Welsh ewes like to sit and watch the world. His umbilical cord and amniotic sac were still attached. It looked like Maggie had just walked away. Since she's an experienced mom, with three daughters in the flock (Jezebel, little Jethro's mom, and last year's twins, Loretta and Dolly), I'm guessing he was born still. Maggie seems to be ok -- eating, drinking, chewing her cud, and surrounded by her girls. I'll keep an eye on her for a few days all the same.
I don't know that there's anything I could have done if I'd been there, but I still feel badly.
I discovered two more ewes with prepped and primed udders -- Welsh Bo and Eve. Eve is one of the ones I thought I'd seen cycle repeatedly. Wrong again I guess.
At night check just now, Bo was hanging off in a corner by herself, so she may ready to go. Thankfully, it's not supposed to be quite as cold tonight as last.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Last week's wrap up
Later and later I know. Let's just blame the weather shall we? Feels like I didn't do much last week except deal with cold and snow and ice or prepare to deal with cold and snow and ice. We're still looking at another week of solid freeze and endless toting of hot water buckets and hay.
On the fiber front I continued to weave off my linen warp with the silk left over from another project. I'm nearly done so maybe I'll get it off the loom and take some pictures of it this week.
I also washed two Pygora fleeces in a new wool shampoo I'm experimenting with. The fleeces are lovely, but I'm not yet convinced about the shampoo. I may have to give them one more wash. Both fleeces -- Rosetyler and Donnanoble -- unfortunately, have a lot of guard hairs. They are both classified as type B in the Pygora world, but I think they are on the very fine side of B. The new fleece that Donnanoble is growing right now even looks like a C to me - almost no curl at all, just very soft cashmere. In any case, the guard hairs mean they will have to be dehaired. I'm thinking about the best way to do that. Lock by lock would work, but is a little too daunting if there's some other faster method out there.
The box of Clementine's messy lamb fleece still looks every bit as full as when I started working on it awhile ago. I haven't weighed it, but the whole box of washed curls is probably 5 pounds. Because the curls aren't in the best condition -- cotted and full of gunk -- I lose about half of it to waste. It's such a slow process. I've only managed to produce about 2 oz of clean locks in the past week or two. One lock at a time. The major change in my strategy is to try to finish all the combing before doing any more spinning. This is hard for me. :) It's like being given a really delicious piece of candy and then being told to wait to eat it...indefinitely. Oy.
Finally, my coin purse/ wallet hardware arrived for the next iteration of the horse hair project. I've only just started tying the horse hair onto the smaller coin purse frame. I didn't take any pictures, but it looks promising. The other change I made in this project was to set aside the mane hair for the time being and use tail hair. Yes, poor Licorice, our little black and white paint pony, donated a chunk of tail fibers. He was not certain if he was on board with the plan or not, but he complied. For my part, I can say the tail hairs are definitely easier to work with. Though they're no picnic either. Pictures of this next week.
Now, it's time to get back to thawing water buckets.
On the fiber front I continued to weave off my linen warp with the silk left over from another project. I'm nearly done so maybe I'll get it off the loom and take some pictures of it this week.
I also washed two Pygora fleeces in a new wool shampoo I'm experimenting with. The fleeces are lovely, but I'm not yet convinced about the shampoo. I may have to give them one more wash. Both fleeces -- Rosetyler and Donnanoble -- unfortunately, have a lot of guard hairs. They are both classified as type B in the Pygora world, but I think they are on the very fine side of B. The new fleece that Donnanoble is growing right now even looks like a C to me - almost no curl at all, just very soft cashmere. In any case, the guard hairs mean they will have to be dehaired. I'm thinking about the best way to do that. Lock by lock would work, but is a little too daunting if there's some other faster method out there.
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| Rosetyler |
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| Rosetyler |
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| Rosetyler. This color seems a little too creamy. She's more grey I think. |
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| Rosetyler washed |
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| Donnanoble |
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| Donnanoble |
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| Donnanoble washed |
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| Clementine |
Finally, my coin purse/ wallet hardware arrived for the next iteration of the horse hair project. I've only just started tying the horse hair onto the smaller coin purse frame. I didn't take any pictures, but it looks promising. The other change I made in this project was to set aside the mane hair for the time being and use tail hair. Yes, poor Licorice, our little black and white paint pony, donated a chunk of tail fibers. He was not certain if he was on board with the plan or not, but he complied. For my part, I can say the tail hairs are definitely easier to work with. Though they're no picnic either. Pictures of this next week.
Now, it's time to get back to thawing water buckets.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Crazy spring
The only serious problem we've had was with one of the new lambs.
About a week after coming home, the ewe lamb started groaning. She groaned on and off for a day or so, all whilst eating and drinking and pooping and peeing normally. Then Tuesday evening I got home to find her in clear distress. Fortunately, we live within easy range of a vet school with a farm animal emergency clinic. The vet said it was an ulcer. Too much stress from being weaned and moved too quickly. Many treatments later, she's much better. I'm still giving her antacid meds twice a day, but she is no longer groaning. Poor baby. The vet warned me that she could seem better and then suddenly die ('decompensate quickly' I think is how she put it), but I think she's out of the woods. We're significantly poorer, but I think we dodged a bullet. We have named her Clementine. Her buddy is Blue. He was very happy to see her when she got home from the vet. They are adorable and far more cuddly and sweet than I expected.
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