Shearing, sheep, spring, fleece ... task accomplished.

Shearing is done. I am so glad that chore is accomplished. Now only if we find time to plant the garden.






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Sheering

Yesterday we sheered our little flock! I will post images later today. What an experience, I think it was more traumatic for me then for the sheep. They sure did not want to cooperate. As Martin said the more pets they are the less cooperative they are. And aren't these first class pets! All is well and they happily running around without all that weight of one year fleece. Speaking of their fleece- looks very very nice and very very soft. Now cleaning, all all the steps to turn the fleece to a nice yarn. Will keep you posted, documenting all the steps with images of course.

Spring Evening

First warm, sort of, evening, sunset setting over the hills.

A Studio with a View

My studio and my reliable assistants. Yes, those three wooly bears outside the window.

Spring Hair Cut ... Visit to Lee's Farm

Last Monday my friend Lee had her entire flock of sheep sheered. It was rainy in the morning but soon the wind pushed the clouds and the sun came out. The sheep very a bit cold but as Lee said today they are used it by now. See more image on my flickr page.

Working in the garden, feels like spring!

Easter Spring Time and Little Princess

My Little Princess Lamb Note Card made it to a nice treasury.

Orphans no more and how I became a sheep keeper

I was on the way home from the Saturday Farmers Market, this was last May, Memorial weekend. The pasture with the lambing ewes is located about 1/4 mile from our land. The ranchers were in the field working with the newborns. I chatted with them, as I have done numerous times during the lambing season. Early in the spring they brought 690 ewes and each had between 2 -3 babies. It was an exceptionally cold spring, rain, hail, many moms and baby lambs did not make it. I was going over there often, several times a week to help out. This rancher has (as I found out later) a common attitude towards life stock- it is a commodity.
That last Saturday of the cold and went May the guys carried three bummer lambs from the field towards the road. They put them down at my feet- Hey Lida these are for you. I resisted and asked the guys what are they going to do with them. Not saying much, they silently looked at each other. They knew very well how upset I was with all the lost moms and babies. And I knew, the lambs will be left in the field to fetch for themselves.

I took them home in the back of my Subaru, the ranchers gave me a half a bag of milk replacer and a bottle. I put them with the chickens, brought extra hay under one of the chicken coops and made them a nice small shelter to stay out of the cold rain. One was a half day old the other two, brother and sister, were about two days old. Next day we build them a little shelter in the woodshed, a couple of days later a friend drove over here from Lenore and did her vet procedures. The same day I drove back with her to pick up penicillin, looked like one of the lambs had a slight pneumonia, she also gave me several gallons of goat milk. I spend over four weeks feeding them every 4 hours, including nights, giving the sick one penicillin shots, spending countless nights in the woodshed keeping them warm on my lap wrapped in old jackets.

They thrived and as the weather warmed up and new grass started popping up they learned grazing and drinking water from the watering can. Now they have their own sheep shed, their own fenced large pen, but they still prefer to hang out in the open, play with the chickens and munch on their feed.

They are a wonderful addition to all our creatures. Everybody loves them and of course I love them the most.

A picture are worth a thousand words, check out the greeting cards I made out of the thousands of images I took and still taking. Enjoy.

Handmade Wedding Dress

Little Bo Peep bride marries in stunning dress made of wool from her own flock of sheep