Finally the rain has stopped

We have had a whole lot of rain here in here in Massachusetts, although I was lucky enough to get a reasonably nicer day for my show last weekend, and today it was nice enough for everyone to be in the larger pasture again.

Ulric and Uther and growing up very nicely. I will start halter training in a few weeks now that I have finished college for the summer.

Ulric is the bigger of the two and has much more impressive horn buds for his age.

He also really takes after his sire in his facial markings. This is Horseradish, and Vladamir our wether who has actually been sold. We are brining in a new wether who I am very excited about. More on him at a later date.

Uther is the shyer of the two, although he is small there is something about him that is special. His horn buds are almost non-existent right now. He should make a nice flock sire if he keeps heading in this direction.

This made me chuckle.

Eliza was asleep in the hole that the lambs normally play in! Silly sheep.

And here is Muppet and I at our first show of the year. It went pretty well with for the first show, lots to work on though. It is nice that he is growing up, he will be 10 years old at the start of next month.

Baby chicks are coming next week. I must start on the new coop this weekend. Hopefully the rain stays away for a bit longer. Lots of change going on in the flock this year. Looking forward to hopefully selling some sheep and brining some new ones in.

The good and the bad, but still here.

Sorry about my extreme lack of updates. I was very depressed over Binson's death and miss her terribly. Here's a list of things that have happened since then up to today.

Over Christmas we welcomed a new Jack Russell puppy into our family, we have called her Lily. She and Marcus get along like a house on fire which is great. Below is her a picture of her on the day we picked her up. I will dedicate a post to her soon. She has grown a lot!

Now the less than happy news...

We lost our other elderly dog Zorra in January. It wasn't sudden, and was almost a relief, but death is always sad.

We had to rehome our rabbits as my partner was having terrible allergic reactions to hay in the house all the time. They now both have great new homes and are very happy.

This week Eleanor (one of last years ewe lambs that we kept) became caught in the fencing overnight and was dead in the morning. Her pasture mate Eliza stayed by her side and wouldn't leave her side. It was all horrible and very upsetting for us and the flock. It does mean that this year I will be looking for gulmoget ewe lamb to add to my flock...and maybe a nice flecket.

Today everyone was sheared.

This is Vladamir our wether looking handsome.

And Horseradish our ram. I love him using his horns to scratch himself!

And never knew he had so many spots under his wool!

This is Eliza on the left, and Isabella on the right.

And a very pregnant Jewel, although my shearer thinks Isabella will lamb first. Any thoughts?

It is freakishly warm in New England at 68 degrees today where we are so I think everyone is enjoying their new haircuts and the sunshine. Here are some happy sheep pictures.

That's all. A mixed bag of ups and downs. But spring is here, and lambs will be here in a few more weeks. Happy spring everyone!

I've been busy

Very busy. Showing sheep and my horse, etc etc.

This past weekend was the Bolton Fair. Our very local country fair. I took along my ram and my two ewe lambs to show. My new ram Rad (Horseradish) did wonderfully winning his Junior ram lamb class, and then going on to win Champion Shetland ram at the show.

Eleanor and Eliza entered the ring, forgot their halter training, and promptly threw themselves down on the ground. My poor son had a terrible time keeping Eleanor on her feet, although even with this she did manage to second, and the smaller Eliza did alright and came fifth. Overall very nice and promising for next year. They're not standing well in this picture, but at least they are on their feet.

I did manage to squeeze in some time to watch events. I saw some very cute animals.

Oh, and we added 3 animals to our ever growing family. My son purchased a very young guinea pig (no picture yet) that he has called Teddy Bear. And my partner and I finally bought rabbits. So this is my rabbit Julius.

And my partners rabbit Octavian. We seem to have a Roman theme going on. A proper cage is on it's way.

I also managed to take my horse Muppet to NEDA's fall schooling show. Here's one of the proofs from the event. We also got Reserve High Score with a 68.75 which made me so proud of my horse. Time to start learning the Training level tests.

After all of this, I feel a little like Marcus my puppy.

So what have you been up to?

We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave

As I sit inside being blasted by a fan I thought I would post a quick update. We are suffering in a heat wave here in Massachusetts at 1oam it was already in the 90's. For my friends/family in England that translates at around 30+ degrees. Throw in some humidity and it's pretty yucky outside right now, and not much better inside with no A/C. In fact I am going to a movie theatre later today just to appreciate the cool for a few hours! The animals are doing ok, the fans are blasting in the sheep barn and there are buckets of water a plenty. The other night it was a little cooler (ok so there was a breeze), and I managed to get some halter work done on the lambs.

Eliza still isn't sure about it, but has started to eat animal crackers and I think this will help things progress.

Eleanor was even less unsure. But if a cookie happened to be dropped near her she might be tempted to eat it. Still a mommy's girl she has been the hardest to train, but still any progress is good right now (just realized the picture makes her look like she has 3 legs lol)

Rad is a delight to train. He has become friendly and curious about me and I can even play with his legs already.

My son Ian has taken over training and looking after our wether Vlad, the two of them get on very well, and I think it is sweet when Ian asks if we can "go and walk the lambs tonight?"

Fruit bushes are doing very well. We had so many strawberries this year that we made jam. I still have goosberries left to make jam from as well, when the weather cools down a little. Blueberries and raspberries have a little less fruit on them.

Wonder where the ripe berries have gone?

They are on the way to the pool, and might just get picked in passing on the way there and back again.

I also was busy doing another dressage show with my horse Muppet last weekend (sorry no pictures) and was so happy with him as we scored in the 60% in all 3 tests, he was also such a grown up and really listened.

That's all for now. I hope you (and your animals) are staying cool. Do you have any tips for how to beat the heat?

Happy 5th of July

I know it should be the 4th but yesterday I was busy falling off my horse (ouch), so I am a day late. Thankfully it is all just bruises and a little whiplash in my neck, which should all heal quickly. Things have been busy, with changes taking place. All the lambs that were being sold have left for their new homes, and we also made the tough decision to sell some of our ewes to decrease the flock. I was very happy to find such wonderful homes for everyone though.

We decided to keep the following sheep; Jewel, Isabella, Eleanor, Eliza and Vlad as a wether (he has an appointment next week with the vet poor dear).

That gives us 2 ewes to breed this fall.

Isabella

And Jewel

And 2 ewe lambs for breeding next year.

We have a ram lamb on his way and I will be picking him up on Sunday. I am excited to get him and think he will fit in very nicely here. Pictures will follow as soon as he arrives. This means I need to do more halter work with everyone, before I add another one to the mix.

I wanted to show you our black eyed susan. It appeared last summer in a crack in the asphalt driveway by the barn. I think it's rather amazing that it is thriving and flowering so beautifully. I hope to be able to transplant it in fall, and hope it does just as well in the garden. Isn't nature wonderful? We also have sunflowers that have sprung up around the chicken coop and one in a pot on the deck that the birds must have scattered. Does anyone else have plants that have just appeared in strange locations?

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.

A summer day

Happy first day of summer everyone! Still sunshine and warmth here in New England. The sheep are enjoying the pasture and love going out every morning onto grass. But look how lovely it is, I'd like to spend all day out there too.

All of the lambs that have been sold for the year have now left for their new homes. We have actually kept three lambs this year. The plan was to keep two, but Eliza has worked her way into our hearts. Who can say no to this face? And you should feel her fleece!

The chickens are also enjoying the sunshine in their run. They love the chance to go outside and scratch about in the grass.

Things are going well. We just got back from a vacation in the Berkshires. Very picturesque, although much of the landscape was lacking in livestock. A very lovely waterfall was found though. This is Bash Bish Falls.

We took Marcus and he had a lot of fun on his first vacation swimming in a lake. His life jacket came in handy with all the water around that area, and got a lot of use.

The garden is in bloom. Here's a selection...

That's all for now. Back to work.

Have you walked your lamb today?

That could also possibly be rephrased as did you drag your lamb today? Yes halter training started today. We only have 4 lambs to train as 3 ram lambs left today for their new home.

It has been a super busy time here with worming taking place last week, ear tags being put in yesterday and then CDT vaccination number one taking place today. Throw halter training in on top of that and I was very please with how everyone did.

Vaughan (who leaves very soon too) after a shakey start really did very well and should make fast progress. His favorite part was all of the attention he got.

Vladamir really took to it and didn't throw himself on on the floor once. What a good boy.

The same could not be said for Eleanor who didn't so much walk, as leap about or just play dead on the ground. Should be fun to train her not to throw herself around in the show ring.

Eliza (who we have also decided to keep) was not really sure about it at first.

But slowly got the hang of it...a little.

How's halter training going where you are, or do you not halter train? I can't believe how fast the lambs are growing up. Where does the time go.

Happy Memorial day

Too tired for words after a very busy long weekend. Here's some of todays lamb pictures as the flock tolerated the sudden increase in heat and humidity.

I hope everyone had a lovely long weekend!