Much Ado about Something

There has been much picture taking, discussion and general excitement on the farm today; excitement that actually started 2 years ago with a 4-H market lamb.  Bella placed very well at the Buckwheat Festival that year and was bought and given back to Lena to return to the farm flock. Lena decided to try breeding her (a Suffolk/Hampshire cross) to our Border Leicester ram to see what type of lambs would result, and if they would be anyways close to being a festival worthy market lamb, putting her with Liam earlier than our regular breeding season to get an appropriate aged lamb. As they say...the best laid plans often go awry. Bella ended up getting marked 3 breeding cycles...possible because of an oversite by us not realizing that Sampson, being the protective guard dog that he is, may not have been allowing proper breeding activity.

Well. today they arrived, the long awaited:

Two of the cutest little 'mule' ewes we have had ! Weighing in at 7 lb 10 oz and 6 lb 10 oz.

 

There has been a lot of excited talk and picture exchanging about the new ones....name discussions, buying offers, ...

Freckles and Speckles?  Alice and Renesmee?

 

Whatever their resulting names...those adorable spotted faces are sure to bring smiles to many.

 

We will be keeping a close eye on their progress over the next few months. Another 'donated back to exhibitor' market lamb, Katniss, awaits to be bred this fall. 

 

 

Katniss

Through the generosity of her buyer (who gave her back to Lena) Katniss came home from the Buckwheat Festival.  During the weeks of her quarantine we have discovered that

• she is quite the escape artist (this involved an injured leg and trip to the vet),
• she can wear a path along a fence line in no time flat
• she has a very great need to be a member of a flock (well, don't we all?)

On Saturday, we mucked out and cleaned out the barn preparing for winter and for fall shearing.  Early that morning, Katniss finally got to join the ewe lambs in the pasture.  She was so excited at first she wasn't sure whether to eat or get to know all her new sisters.  By Sunday afternoon, she had fit right in.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.

A single photo - no words - capturing a single moment from the week

A simple, special extraordinary moment.

A moment to pause, savor and remember.

Participating with the SouleMama blog.

It's Buckwheat Time!

Last week the carnival rolled in to Kingwood, and began to set up for our county fair, The Buckwheat Festival.  By now the rides are all set up, and the food trucks are warming up.  Things kick off this morning with the Market Goat Show.

The livestock barns are all spiffed up and ready for action.  Lena's 4-H market lambs, Katniss and Primrose, made their way to the fair last night.  They're all settled in and ready for the Market Lamb Show this afternoon.  Please be sure to with them luck! 

(We're going to try to post updates on Sheeps and Peeps Twitter if you would like to follow along!)

Headlines

More haymaking on Saturday and 762 more bales in the barn!

Sunday evening brought a good, soaking rain storm that lasted into Monday morning.  It was much needed, as growth in the pastures has been slow.  We are reminded once again that really, first and foremost, we are grass farmers.

Lena's 4-H market lambs have arrived.  Meet Katniss and Primrose!

Settling In

Bella and Edward were getting settled into their fair pen last evening.

So excited to have new metal pens this year in the sheep/goat barn!!

This morning they are getting bathed and all ready to be shown this afternoon.

It's Buckwheat Time!

Fall has arrived and that means that it's time for our county fair, the Buckwheat Festival!  All over the county young and old are making preparations to enter their best - best hay, best pumpkin, best canned beans, best handiwork- competing for blue ribbons and Best of Show.  4-H and FFA club members are getting their animals ready for show and will take them to the fairground barns today.  Lena will take Bella and Edward, her 4-H market lambs, this evening.  She broke her wrist last week so this is sure to be an adventure; please wish her lots of luck.

The fairgrounds are being readied, and soon we will all delight in the colors, the sights, the sounds, the parades, the pageantry... delight in all that is our county fair... the Preston County Buckwheat Festival!

Lena's 4-H Market Lambs

Lena's 4-H market lambs were shorn and taken to Kingwood for the weigh-in.  This information will be used to determine the 'rate of gain' winners at the Buckwheat Festival this fall. 

The daily walking of the lambs has begun.

Creep Feeding

For the first time we have installed a 'creep feeder' for the lambs.  It has an adjustable gate that allows only the lambs and the smallest of ewes into an area with oats and corn trough feeders.  They are free to...

go in...



and go out...

free to eat a bit of oats and corn without having to muscle their
way in between the mamas

In other news... Lena's 4-H market lambs have arrived.  She is off at Camp Luther this week so we will try to get her to tell you about them when she gets back.

Lena's 4-H Market Lambs

Rosemary and Ginger are getting all spiffed up for their trip to the Buckwheat Festival.  On Sunday, they were sheared, then bathed and then slick-sheared.  They will go to the BWF tonight, and Lena will show them Wednesday afternoon.  Wish her luck!

The Lambs Formerly Known As...

Recently Rosemary and Ginger (the lambs formerly known as Princess and Cinderella) made a trip to the county seat to participate in their first 'Weigh-In' and Livestock Show at the fairgrounds.

Here is our guest blogger, Lena, to share a little bit about this experience.

I had a lot of fun, but it is not all fun and games in the show ring. First I had to weigh my lambs. Rosemary was 71 lb and Ginger was 73 lb. I chose to show Rosemary because she had more muscle build up. They had two types of classes, the judging of the sheep and the judging of how well you show your lamb (showmanship).

This picture is during the first class which was judging of the sheep.

I am the one in the red shirt, right in the middle of the class

(which is a good place to be right now).

This is picture is during the judging of how well

you show your sheep (showmanship).

This is Rosemary and Ginger waiting outside the show ring.

In judging of the lamb you have to line them up with their side to each other and a little room between them so the judge can get through. He/she will examine them, then when he/she tells you to, you have to walk them in around the ring to the other side then stop and stay right where you are at. He/she will come around to look at them again . Then he/she will start place them in the order he wants them to be in. In judging of the lamb I got 4th place which is a good place to be right now because that means that my sheep doesn't have too much fat and that she needs to build up more muscle by the show/sale in September.

When you do showmanship you have to do certain things so that you can be a good sheep shower. First you have to keep a tight hold on its head. If you are using a halter (those yellow things that are around my sheep's heads) make sure they are not dragging on the ground. You have to pay attention to the judge because you are supposed to stay on the opposite side of sheep than the judge. That means that if the judge is on the right side of your sheep you need to be on the left side of your sheep looking at the judge smiling. You also need to make sure that your sheep's feet are in a rectangle like shape. In showmanship I got 7th place and that means I need to do a better job at showing my sheep.

This was my first show so I still have a lot to learn about showing sheep.

4-H Market Lambs

Great excitement over the weekend as Lena picked out her lambs for her 4-H Market Lamb project. These lovely ladies are making themselves at home in a pen in the barn... getting used to Lena and their surroundings. They sure were noisy for a couple days. So far, their names are Princess and Cinderella, but that is subject to change at any time.

The resident, handspinning shepherdess/s are having a hard time adjusting to the fact that these lambs are 3+ months old and their wool is only about an inch long... very different from our long-wool beauties.

We are trying to convince Lena to be a guest blogger this summer, chronicling her first 4-H lamb experiences. So keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned for her adventures.

Buckwheat Time - Favorites

Morning quiet


Black ponies on the Merry-go-round






the cow named Panda




Sharing the day with a just-turned two year old and an almost 12 year old






Quilts and canned goods made and prepared with pride

4-H exhibits

and an all-time favorite... pig-tails and freckles