What have I been up to?

Well not blogging, as is evident by my extreme lack of updates. That doesn't mean that I haven't been very busy though. It has been horribly hot and dry (until Friday anyway lol) in New England this summer. This has caused issues with our electric fence.

And because Isabella can jump the electric fence now - she has awesome form and I wish my horse had her jump!

And Edward is big so he just falls over the net fencing after Bella...yes ironic

We have been installing cattle panels to try for fencing. So far so good and the small flock is happy being out. Isis is particularly enjoying getting burrs around her face unfortunately.

Harvest Moon is just enjoying sunshine.

And as you can see by Horseradishes belly he is enjoying grass! I am planning to sell him this winter after he has bred my ewes, and bring in a ram lamb in spring next year. If anyone is looking for a lovely two year old ram that is so far very well behaved please let me know! He has good horns, conformation, and a very nice fleece that micron tested in the mid 20's last year.

The baby chickens are growing up fast and I love the variety we have now. I'm sure that their first eggs are just around the corner as well. Exciting times.

And just to show that we haven't really been slacking off we have also ventured out this summer and now own two piglets that we are raising organically for meat.

This is a new venture for us as we haven't raised an animal for meat before. They have been with us almost two months so far, and have another 7 weeks with us. They have so far been a lot of fun, and seem to really be enjoying their life now. They love being hosed down in on the hotter days in the evening, lying in front of the fan in their stable, eating grass and hard boiled eggs, and rotting around in the earth. We are thinking if it all goes well we might get 3 piglets next year to do this again.

Anyway summer is racing by, it has been hot and humid for most of it. I am hoping to get my hay in soon for fall, and look forward to the cooler weather and breeding season for the sheep. I am also hoping that my horse Muppet is finally getting over the lameness issues that have plagued him on and off since mid-May.

How has everyone else's summer gone?

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.

Seeing spots

Well Isabella finally had her lambs Monday evening. Very adorable and flashy twin rams. They are both moorit, although the patches on their backs look dark enough to be almost black. Mom and babies are both doing wonderfully. Today was my first chance to get pictures because the weather in Massachusetts has been horrible for the last few days.

This is the only slightly older of the boys. His name is Ulric (to continue our U theme) he weighed in at 6lbs.

Uther arrived only minutes after his brother, also weighing in at 6lbs.

I was sort of hoping for a ewe lamb out of Isabella as I would have liked to keep it, maybe next year? But who could be unhappy with these two cuties, although they are both going to be for sale.

Faina and Usher are growing fast, and both thriving under their mothers care.

Usher even showed off how he could scratch his growing horn buds.

The chickens enjoyed their first chance in days to get out and scratch up anything to eat. In a few weeks I will start work on making them a new coop, as we have baby chicks arriving soon.

I am happy with the conclusion of our tiny lambing season. 4 lambs. 2 sets of twins. 3 rams and 1 ewe.

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!

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.

Shearing day

Today was shearing day. The weather co-operated and the sheep seemed happy to get their fleeces removed.

It's always so much fun to see how the sheep look underneath all that wool, and have a feel of the fleeces. I forget how small Shetlands actually are underneath that amazing coat.

Everything went very well with only one nick to Sunny on his ear when he put up some ram like resistance. Everyone else, even Isabella who had her first shearing experience behaved.

The four bred girls don't look due for a few weeks more at least. They are large and happy though so I can be patient because lambs will be here before I know it. Jewel looks the largest, but only because Amelia hides behind everyone else.

I know I haven't been blogging, it has been a hard month or so on all fronts. Ending the other day with the decision to send Griffin to market. I am also still considering how to decrease my flock and will have Sunny and several ewes for sale this year (as well as lambs) so it should be an interesting year.

More snow, and more sheep (photos)

Well we got another 10+ inches of snow here last night, and after several hours of digging we now have a driveway and some walkways to the barns and chickens again. If we get more snow we will have to think hard about where to put it! The snowbanks already reach the top of the deck in the backyard which is around 10ft and most snowbanks are over 5ft here.

Anyway as promised here is the wonderful Isabella who is certainly living up to her name. She is from Twin Springs and it's hard to tell with the coat on, but she is a grey katmoget. She's also a HST with white markings on her head, legs, and tail. I'm looking forward to skirting her fleece in March as it feels so soft, and very excited to see her lambs next year.

Griffin just wanted to show you how deep the snow is (even though I shoveled paths for the sheep).

It's about this deep.

I'm not sure Sabrina thinks a lot of all this snow :)

At least it's not bitterly cold right now too. I hope everyone is staying warm and thinking Spring-like thoughts :) Lambs will be here before we know it.