OPEN!!

I am happy to report that our Yarn Shop is offically OPEN!

This year's yarns are spendid!! I have spent the last few weeks dyeing and skeining ( with a little help from Romeo ) , painting, stocking shelves and cleaning up..... it is good to open the doors and "oooggle" over the beautiful colors!

My hours are mostly afternoons now while I continue to work mornings until school is out. Then I will change to summer hours. Please visit my websitehttp://www.romneyridgefarm.com/ and take a sneak peek!

HOT LIPS!!

After work today I decided to dye some wool fabric for wool pillows. The dye pot was still hot and contained some fabric when dinner time rolled around, so I set it out on the deck to cool. Who do you suppose wandered up when I wasn't looking?? You guessed it ... Romeo! Well it doesn't surprise me that he had to investigate to big black pot, and it didn't surprise me that he had to taste what was in the big black pot....

Last week I was painting the doors to my yarn shop and he slurped down some paint while I wasn't looking.

Last Saturday night we invited some friends over for drinks and s'mores. Romeo knocked me over for a glass of wine I was drinking, stole my husband's beer, and ate the marshmallows off the sticks!

I never have to ask "where for art thou Romeo!" It is well known that he is always where he shouldn't be....

BOYS!!!!!

So far we have 5 lambs....4 rams and 1 ewe! It is the year of the ram.

Thank you for all of the kind words you sent about Guinness. Time does start the healing process and ease the hurt. This is what makes it all better.

Letting Go

Every once and a while I make the mistake of thinking I can fix something that is broken. For the past three and a half weeks I have been consumed with a lamb that should have never survived. He was born to another flock, and when I saw him for the first time I thought I could help. I milked colostrum from his mom, dried him and left figuring he would not make it through the night. He did. So I took him home. From this point on I was mom.

Feedings were every three hours for the first week. He grew, but took a very long time to stand. We treated with Bo-Se, Nutra Drench, Vit B shots, daily physical therapy and lessons on how to stand every few hours. My energy was consumed by him, but I was determined that he would walk and live. My chiropractor even paid us a visit to see how he was doing and to see if he could help.

After the third week, there seemed to be a stand still. He did not improve, developed a sore on his side, and showed no interest in eating hay or grain... which he should have done within a few days after birth. In the mean time, one of my ewes lambed, two healthy ram lambs, both up and bouncing within a few hours....how unfair. I took my baby up to the barn to convince him that he was a sheep, but he only cried when I left. I could not leave him.

Tuesday night he cried a strange cry at night, his eyes did not seem right and he shook a lot. So yesterday, I took him outside for the last time in the sunshine. He stood and fell many times. Then he sat in the grass so innocently and looked up at me. I told him I was sorry and that I willed all of my strength to him every time I held him, but it did not work. I told him he needed to be free from his broken body and I told him I was going to let him go. He looked at me with is bright little eyes and it ripped my heart out. All about him was right except his legs. It may have been oxygen deprivation, it may have been nerve damage. I will never know, but I do know he was leaving me and I had no choice.

I think there are a few people out there who do not think I am crazy for feeling this pain. I cannot get through the day without crying four or five times. It is so wrong for the young and innocent to not have a chance. I hate to fail.

I can only believe that he is now bouncing around in heaven free from any pain and suffering. Maybe in a few days I will feel better but for now I am crushed.

Spring IS In The Air!

Her are "The Girls" enjoying the sun in the garden today. I shooed them away several times and then just gave up. They so enjoyed their dust bath.

We should see some lambs this weekend. Today I hooked up the baby monitor. It is so nice to hear "baaaas" in my kitchen while I am cooking dinner. Of course Minnie Guinea is a bit annoying with her non-stop "buckwheat...buckwheat ... buckwheat..." but I have learned to tune her out. She is the only surviving guinea hen on our farm. I felt sorry for her when the fox got her friend, and the chickens would not accept her into the group, but she seems right at home scooting around the sheep and pony.

Preparing

I took this picture on the morning we sheared. I just love how Lady Bug, our pony, fits so nicley into the group.

This afternoon I will muck out the barn ( though I have to admit, I have done well keeping up with it this year ) and prepare my lambing stalls. No more camping out in them once they are clean. The first lambs should start arriving on March 29th ... my birthday!! Guess that means I will have to keep at least one ... or two ...

I actually am planning on keeping at least one. I am so pleased with Blizzard's fleece. Her mom is Madeline, a Correidale, and her dad is Joker, a Babydoll Southdown ram. The combination of the two breeds creates a wonderful fleece as well as a sweet, smaller sheep. So I may keep Madeline's lamb again this year.

So I am anxiously waiting, watching, and reading, it is good to keep lambing procedures fresh in your mind for when the big day arrives.

Shearing Day

Unbelievably, the weather turned warm yesterday. My shearer came at 9 and by 11, we had shorn, vaccinated and trimmed the hooves of twelve of my flock. It sure is funny to see how small they actually are when they are "naked"!

My fleeces were still damp, so all twelve are spread out on my basement floor to finish drying before they are weighed and skirted, then packed into boxes to be delivered to Green Mountain Spinnery. Next week we will finish shearing the rest of the flock, then before I know it babies will start arriving! I am so excited!