More Legs

It's important to have a good leg rest :-).

Final Frontier Farm

Yesterday's Excitement

This sleepy, fairly small lamb was born first.  She cleaned and cleaned and cleaned on him.  He ate and ate and ate.  And no second lamb came.  I knew by the size of her belly and the size of her udder that she should have at least one more lamb.

I finally got nervous enough that I checked her.  I could feel two feet and a head, so I knew it was positioned correctly, but bigger, so helped her get him delivered.  If he'd been small as well, I'd have known there was a third.  With his size it was possible she just was just going to have twins.  

Nope, out popped a third, sort of.  A tiny little lamb she maybe didn't even know she'd had.  Or halfway had.  I saw her lying down...but cleaning on the second lamb.  That was odd because lying down, she should have been having a lamb.  If she was just cleaning the second, she should have been standing up.

I rushed over and saw the front half of a lamb, still in the intact water bag (!). I climbed over the gate, she jumped up and the rest of the lamb whooshed out.  I broke the sack and got her nose and mouth cleared as fast as I could, but I was worried she'd already drowned.

Nope, that little pipsqueak coughed and sneezed and shook her head, coughed and sneezed some more and even made a little cry to let everyone know She Was Here.  Whew!!!

She actually got nursing before the big second lamb did.  And she nursed and nursed and nursed.  To the point that both boys were full and sleeping and she was Still Eating.  It was almost like as the tiniest lamb in the "litter", she'd been getting the short end of the stick all along and was now making up for all those lost lunches.

The big boy.

Here's a short video.  If you are reading via email, apparently the embedded video doesn't show up. You'll need (an want ;-) to go to the actual blog to watch it.

Another Cute Leg

Wait for it...

See it?

Upside down pillow?

Final Frontier Farm

Leg Lounging

I love this lamb with her legs draped over her momma's leg.

And her sweet sister, tucked in behind.

And after a big stretch, an even cuter pose :-).

Final Frontier Farm

On An Otherwise Cold, Dreary Day

It was too hot two days ago. Now it's too cold. Stella and I are never satisfied ;-).

Lambs having some fun at The Training Center last week.

Almost As Sweet As Baby Lambs

I glanced out the back door yesterday morning and saw sheep in the driveway.  Wait, just one sheep, not shorn (waiting until hot weather is here aka yesterday and today :-o), it's Jester.

"Yeah, it's just me."

And he tootled around for a good while, grazing in the yard and in the meantime, I posted this to Instagram and headed off to Lamb Camp.

Momentary panic that I'd left a gate open and the sheep were loose. Not that that has ever happened before 😆. Jester has apparently moved from the Del Boca Vista retirement village to the yard. #theybrokethemoldwithhim #oldsheep #17yearsold

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Apr 19, 2017 at 7:54am PDT

Remember this.

My view coming through the gate when I got home.  Glad I had my camera handy.  I just love this scene - sheep, horses to my left, Jester back out looking around.

And there's Hank and even Amelia is there, right above Jester's head.  I think that's Hershey getting a drink.

Sigh...  A peaceable little kingdom :-)

And then I see the Ts walking across the driveway in front of the barn.  Unlike Jester, they do NOT have run of the farm...unless I leave a gate open.  

You just can't make this stuff up...

Keeping Watch

Even when they are really tired, good mommas keep watch.

Thank you all so much for keeping watch as well.  You have no idea how much that means to me.  As a tiny token of gratitude, a Punkin's Patch/My Favorite Sheep tote will be headed to Susan (and Smokey Blue in spirit) and Cheryl.  Please drop me an email with your mailing address :-).

And a fun, fairly easy puzzle :-).

Enjoy!

Tongue Out Tuesday

Since it's still Tuesday for two more hours, here's a series of pictures of a lamb doing something you don't often see.  I should have taken a video, but didn't think about it until it was too late.  

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sucking my tongue."

"That's a little weird."

"Well, I don't have a thumb to suck."

"It's fun.  See?"

"Well, it is."

Holy Moly!  I had no idea so many people were having trouble commenting.  I thought everyone was just doing Facebook these days and clicking "like" and not reading blogs anymore.  And I, being the queen of obsoletion, was just going to keep trudging along even if no one else was reading.  

I am blown away by all the comments!  There have been so many that I'm going to up the giveaway to two tote bags tomorrow so everyone has a little better chance.  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Here are a couple tips that might help if you are still having trouble:

1.  That stupid "prove you are not a robot" thing.  Sigh...  I can't figure out a way to remove it.  TRY just ignoring it and go straight to "publish".

2.  Okay, I only have one tip I guess.  This is more of a question I need a tip from you about.  So, on the new format, we no longer have the option to reply to a posted comment.  This makes no sense. Any thoughts?

I'm just not a fan of "improvements".  They so seldom are.  

Queen. Of. Obsoletion.  That's really a word even if blogger says it isn't.  And to prove it I went to Merriam-Webster online and in doing so, found that the word of the day (for 1 1/2 more hours) is grimalkin, which they say means "an old female cat".  I thought that was kind of sweet until I looked into it further.  There are a few more definitions ;-).

You never know what you'll find here, especially when I blog tired haha.

I'll Trade You This Sleeping Baby... A Different Kind Of Giveaway!

Well, a couple pictures of a this adorable sleeping baby for a commenting test ;-).  

I keep getting emails from friends about not being able to leave comments, but I haven't had the time/brain power/courage to look into what could be wrong.  I hate that not only am I missing your thoughts and suggestions, but when they are emailed to me (which is great, don't get me wrong!) they don't stay attached to the posts for my memories.

SO, I just did some googling and find that I am not the only one having this issue.  It was suggested to switch the comments from "embedded" to "pop up", which I have now done.  Could you take a few seconds to test this out, especially those who have been unable to leave comments in the past?

On Wednesday I'll have 20 draw for a prize.  It won't be this adorable lamb who I know just totally loved me and wanted to come home with me yesterday, but her momma said NO!  Along with that badger faced lambie from Instagram who has a mom and a sister who both said NO!  How about a Punkin's Patch tote bag?

Please leave comments for the giveaway on the "main blog".  Thanks!

When they fall so sound asleep that their heads fall back/over/down...  Just nothing sweeter than holding a baby lamb :-).

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had as nice a day as I did :-).

Just Another Crazy Day On The Farm

A year or so ago I found an antique goat cart on eBay.  The plan was to teach Ewen McTeagle or maybe Baaxter how to pull it, but last summer was so hot that it never happened.  I didn't want to wait too long this spring to try it out and in the meantime I picked a different sheep.

I've always thought there was something special about Andy.  He was constantly in trouble over at Final Frontier Farm, but it was like he was on a mission.  We'll never know what that mission was, but by late summer he'd made enough of an impression on me that I brought him home.  

I put Graham's collar on him last year and occasionally led him around the barn lot in the evenings, but nothing more.  He continued to get into trouble on our farm, but usually in ways that made you realize he was a sheep of above average intelligence.  A quick learner.

He was a little afraid of the harness at first, no surprise.  Valerie and I both held a lead to be safe and he settled into it pretty quickly.

We walked around outside.

Auntie Reg brought the cart around while Andy got a good look at it...and decided Reg was doing a fine job pulling it ;-D.

And then we walked around behind it so he could get used to the noise of the metal wheels on gravel.

And then we realized that we were missing 20!

I love this picture.  I'd normally not be wearing a pink shirt but I'd been over at the airport taking pictures in the morning and that's one of my airport shirts.  Great catch by photographer neighbor Jennifer!

We were all smiles here...until the cart came around behind him and he panicked and I couldn't keep hold.  We caught up with him in the barn, got him settled back down, put the harness back on and regrouped.  At this point I wasn't sure this was going to work.

I realized though that not only were we asking him to do something scary, but we were doing it in a place he'd never been before.  Since he's familiar with the barn aisle, we figured out a way to work in there.

At first we just got him used to the look of the cart behind him.  Then the sound of it moving.  Then the sound of it following him as he moved.  He figured everything out in no time!

We even set the cart shafts into the harness loops so he could feel the weight of the cart and then asked him to walk up and down the aisleway with Reg and Valerie holding the cart into place.  We didn't want to clip him in on his first day in case something scared him.  We also lifted the cart off of him to turn around at each end.

I have seldom been as impressed with an animal as I was of Andy this afternoon.  Obviously having really good help made a big difference, but still...this could easily have not been a successful venture. For him to have been so willing to give it a try...well, there's always been something about Andy...

Here is a short video:

Ear Drama

Just one ear though :-).  

Final Frontier Farm, Paris, Kentucky

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

By the time we got to the Jacobs on shearing day it was getting late, everyone was tired and they got shorted on pictures.  I love the sunbleached chocolate color of their full fleeces, but also love how black and white they look underneath.  We've had some lovely evening light this spring.

The T's.  Ts just looks wrong.  I'm in a grammar vortex :-o.

Sun to the camera face.

Sun to my back.

Billy Belly and Annabelly.  Both came through winter in good order.  I was relieved.  I was afraid they'd be thin.  They are both 13 I think.  Or, wait, Billy Belly is just 12.  Annabelly was the first Emily lamb.  Billy Belly and Baby Belly were her second lambs.

Time flies!

So Sweet They'll Make Your Teeth Hurt

I stepped out back in the nursery pen yesterday to get some pictures of a friend's sheep and new lambs and ended up getting more than my money's worth!

Pretty lambs for sure.

But wait, what is that little guy looking at?

Stella, the livestock guardian dog, not to be confused with Stella the beekeeper and enforcer of "If it's not right, Sara (and now half the rest of the knitting world ;-), you need to take it out and do it over."

Stella and The Krista Ewe came to Final Frontier Farm together a few years ago when their shepherd had to move out of state.  I've taken lots of pictures of ewes and lambs in the nursery pen and never seen Stella take any special interest in any of them.  Until yesterday.  

"We'll be back later, Stella.  It was nice meeting you!"