Choosing this year's theme for naming the lambs was a lot fun but not so easy. Thank you everyone for adding to the pool of imaginative  and clever suggestions for names. With soooo many great ideas, choosing the right one was difficult, but we've chosen a naming theme that feels just right for this year, for several reasons (as you'll soon see!). Without further ado, this year's theme,  suggested by Lisa of New Hampshire,  is COLORS, which, as Lisa pointed out, feels especially appropriate with the release of my hand-dyeing book (Teach Yourself Visually Hand-dyeing, Wiley Publishing) later this spring. 
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Yet  again!  It seems last week's milder temperatures were just a tease. And we now return to our regularly scheduled winter. I kept an eye on the sky this morning as I made my rounds, hoping to make it to the village for a latte and Sunday papers before the pending storm.  First stop, the big barn. The bred ewes (above) are becoming absolutely rotund. They are due for shearing next week, and I'll be anxious to see if they are  heavy in fleece or heavy with lambs – or just plain heavy. It's so hard to tell under all
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Winter flexed its muscle last night but today held early signs that winter is losing its grip. After a fast-moving overnight storm and a snowy start, by 9:30 it was low 40's. By noon the sun's warmth had melted the snow from the barn roof  and the traces of last night's storm from memory.  Any seasonal shift infuses the barn with restless anticipation. Lots of jumping, jostling sheep as I doled our this morning's hay. Amy appreciated a quiet moment and a private helping of hay away from the frenetic energy in the barn. The newly shorn yearlings, who look
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It feels really good to have shearing round one behind us. Thursday was long day, but the yearlings were surprisingly mellow and the day was mild.  Here are a couple of cameo "before" shots: Issey, looking rather sober,  was first up. His fleece was a snowy white, soft, billowy cloud. You can see the line  at the neck where the jacket protected the wool and also how the coat slightly compressed the fleece. The wool expands like a marshmallow when released. And here's Pucci, looking more ready for a nap than his first hair cut. The "after" shot: a group
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Preparing for our first round of shearing involved a goat transfer. Holly escorted Butch and Gypsy to the Commons on the west side of Reynolds Road, which was looking pretty empty without the yearlings. There's nothing like a pair of goats to liven up a party. After weeks of segregation, Butch and Gypsy  are just plain thrilled to have some sheep to push around. With a glint in their eyes, they were quick to show the Border Leicesters who's in charge. I'm beginning to wonder if tomorrow's shearing day will be an endurance test of sorts. Mike's got two cracked
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First of all, I am overwhelmed by the number of fantastic suggestions for naming this year's soon-to-be-here lambs. Thank you to everyone who has written a blog comment or sent an idea via email. Some of you are thinking way outside the box. There are serious themes, cute themes, arty themes, nature themes, geographical themes, political themes, religious themes and literary themes. Clearly, we're going to have some fun with names this spring. I'm holding off on deciding for a few more weeks. Stay tuned here to discover this year's name theme – and the lucky winner of our contest.
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A story in yesterday's USA today states that a study conducted at Newcastle University in Newcastle upon Tyne shows that the more affectionate treatment of cows – including giving cows names – encourages them to produce more milk. It goes on to say this doesn't come as a surprise to dairy farmers throughout the U.S. who often name their members of their herd and call them by name. Jon Bransen of Double J Jerseys in Portland Oregon claims, "A cow that is happy and calm is going to produce more milk". This got me thinking about our practice of naming
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This week Holly took the reigns at the farm so Mike and I could escape to Orlando, Florida to celebrate our son's birthday. We left Monday and arrived just in time to experience a week of record low temperatures for this time of year. Lovely. Sunshine, green grass. palm trees and flowers made up for the lack of actual warmth. And it's always great to visit our son, Caleb, who works at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We often remind him that  we have our own little animal kingdom right at home, and he's welcome to work here anytime he wants.  Holly
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Temperatures rose above freezing for the first time in weeks as we turned the calendar page on Sunday. It felt like tee shirt weather. The sheep  who have been suffering from cabin (barn?) fever along with the rest of us were absolutely giddy. Lots of silly head butting for no reason and crazy side-ways leaps on the way to breakfast. They are still tentative about walking on the brittle snow crust, so I broke some fresh trails and told them to go play outside. Who needs a Thigh Master when you have a pair of snowshoes and a foot of
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