Scenes of Summer

Walks through the daisies.

Cooling off in the lake.

One batch of new chicks.

Three weeks later, another batch.  Eight new chicks in all.

Garden flourishing.

Lots of homegrown food.

Lambs growing like weeds.

It is getting hard to tell them apart from their mothers.

Here comes the hay.

Lessons for the next generation.

The three musketeers.

It has been a good summer so far.  Everything growing and doing well.

Hope you are enjoying your summer days as much as we are!

Babies

That’s it…we are done.  All the babies are here.

Olivia had her calf, another fine-looking boy.

He looked like Jack, so that is what we called him.  Jack 2.

Then it was Birdie’s turn, and she had a lovely little heifer.

What a colorful pair.  Brother Tom’s grandson Jace named her Hope.

Last, but not least, Lily had a little boy.

Look at that face, and those long, white eyelashes.  We just had to call him Patch.

I thought that was it for babies this year, but then one of the hens decided she wanted to try hatching a few chicks.

She did a good job too, these four showed up yesterday afternoon.

We have had some pretty warm days here, but the animals are adapting.

I had to walk out and check on Paddy the other day.  I wasn’t sure if he was sleeping with the sheep, or if he was dead.

Just sleeping!

Henry was having a hard time getting comfortable, but finally found a position that worked.

I hope you are all enjoying the summer as much as we are!

 

Shearing Day

One of the advantages of the cool spring is that the sheep have not had to suffer hot weather while still wearing their winter coats.

Yesterday afternoon I got the call.  The shearer was on his way.

I called the sheep in from the field, they are so good about coming when called.  I put them all in the barn, babies too and closed the gate.

They were very patient, just relaxing while we waited for the shearer.

He arrived, got set up, and lucky PJ was the first to get trimmed.

The others all stayed back out-of-the-way, and watched the show.

It didn’t take long for a haircut and a pedicure.

What a difference.  I always worry a little bit that the sheep are getting too fat, but every year once they are sheared, I can relax.  It wasn’t fat, just lots of wool.

It must feel so good to have those big winter coats off.

And now I have three bags full of wool…again.

I really must get spinning and knitting…

Spring or Winter?

April 20th already, almost one whole month into spring.  This morning when I poured my second cup of coffee, I sat down with my box of seeds and starting sorting.  Time to plan the garden, and get some seeds started.

Flipping through the packages, I could taste the peas and beans, and the fresh bowl of salad.  The flowers were so beautiful and smelled lovely.

And then I looked up, and out the window.  What dream world was I in?

It was a blizzard out there!

The red-winged and yellow-headed blackbirds didn’t seem to mind, they just kept eating.

The garden looked sad and forlorn, it was so looking forward to my company.

As for me, I set the box of seeds aside, threw another log on the fire, and poured myself one more cup of coffee.

Spring on the calendar, and in my head and heart, but still winter outside.

Hay Crib

The lambs have discovered the hay crib.

Happy Easter!

The Gang’s All Here

It’s done.  The 2017 lambing season is over for Morris Brook Farm.

Late yesterday afternoon Abbie gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

They are both healthy and doing well.

I had a bit of a problem with Cotton’s two boys.  I noticed their eyes were weeping and looking sore.  I called the vet and then picked up some antibiotic ointment to put in their eyes.  I did that for two days and there was no improvement.

So off to the vet we went.  It turned out that both boys had an eye condition called  Entropian.  This is when their lower eyelids are turned inward and the lashes and hair rubs against the cornea.  The vet turned their eyelids out, and then put one little stitch in each eye to hold it in place.

I could see an improvement by the time I had them back home.

They triplets are doing well.  The boys are very cute and have the usual upright and pointy ears,

but their sister Blossom has to be the cutest lamb I have ever seen.

For some reason, her ears hang down, kind of floppy like a puppy  or a bunny.

They all look a little different, but they are all doing well,

just hanging out in the sunshine.

That’s it for this year…the gang’s all here!

A Farm First

Two years ago when I first brought PJ home, I wasn’t sure if I would keep her.  She is a cross between a North Country Cheviot and a Southdown Babydoll.  I worried that maybe she would have trouble lambing because of her smaller size.

Last year she gave birth to twins with no problem at all.  So I kept her.  I am so glad I did.

This morning she starting showing signs of lambing.  I kept an eye on her all morning, and around 12:30 she gave birth to a lovely little boy.  Yes…another boy.

I moved her and her lamb into a pen, and went in to the house for a quick bite of lunch.  When I went out a wee bit later to check on her I was happy to see her cleaning up her second lamb.  Hurray, it all went well once again.

Imagine my surprise when out from behind her popped another little face.  What???? Three lambs??? Triplets???

Yes, darling little PJ has given birth to two handsome boys, and a sweet little girl.

She is definitely a keeper!  This must be the year of the boy…4 out of 5 lambs so far are boys.

Triplets…a first for the farm.