Monthly Archives May 2010

Llama Minus Pajamas

May 20, 2010 | 23 Comments

Shearing llamas is different from shearing sheep. The llamas are haltered and tied in a pen where there's not much room to dance around (but they dance anyway). They stand the entire time. Sheep are seated on their fannies for the whole thing. Andy can shear anything that grows fiber. For the llamas he usually does a "barrel cut" – which means just shearing the midriff from behind the shoulders to the waistband. It kind of looks like a poodle cut. Caitlyn got a barrel cut. I forgot to take my camera to pasture today but will try to remember
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Bottle Lamb Update

May 18, 2010 | 15 Comments

Mistral Mistral, Georgia and Garamond moved back to the big barn this week and are now free to romp and roam with the others. Lots of crazy leaping about when we moved them back into the main pen, then they raced the length of the barn with the rest of the rowdy bunch. Mistral has become quite agile romping on three legs, though still favoring her left front. She's finishing a course of antibiotics and then we'll see how she does. It's hard to take a good picture of her – her features get lost in all that black
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Shearing Day and Some Good News

May 16, 2010 | 16 Comments

Friday was a monster work day. And since I was preoccupied with Mishka's progress at the animal hospital and getting the last of Sheep Shares finally out the door, Holly and Andy tackled everything on their own: shearing (border leicesters, llamas, goats), deworming everyone, hoof trimming. All the spring flock maintenance tasks that could possibly get rolled into one day. I'm so grateful for their help, since I'm both physically and emotionally drained after the events of the last four weeks. Ben Barnhart was on hand to snap some photos for future projects. The border leicester fleeces are spectacular. I
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Out of the Woods?

May 13, 2010 | 30 Comments

Mistral is getting antsy in the milk room where she, Georgia and Garamond have shared a pen since Sunday. That's a good sign. Although her leg is still tender (see how she's holding it off the ground?), she's found her appetite for hay and her temp is down. When she was really sick, all she wanted was the bottle. But at five weeks old, she really should be making the shift to hay and grain. I'm glad to see she's finally heading in the right direction. It's now a question of how well her leg can mend. In the
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An Update on Mistral

May 10, 2010 | 26 Comments

I'm sorry to have kept you all wondering how Mistral is doing. It was an exhausting mother's day weekend caring for her, while trying to get Sheep Shares out the door. Since Saturday night I've been seriously concerned and I've held off on posting, hoping for positive signs to report. And there is some good news – her temp. is down from 105 on Friday (normal for a lamb is 101). But her front leg is still swollen, very sore and so she hobbles around on three legs and also has trouble finding a way to comfortably lie down. The
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Mistral

May 8, 2010 | 31 Comments

It seems it's a good thing I didn't go to New Hampshire this weekend, as Mistral has given me reason to be concerned. What started as a mild limp a few days ago has progressed to swelling in her left front leg. She can't bear any wait on it. After watching her barely able to keep up with the others in the rain in the pasture this morning, I've brought her into the studio for the day. Although I made a little corner in the kitchen with hay and some grain, she's mostly interested in resting where she can keep
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Spring Appearances

May 7, 2010 | 7 Comments

It feels very strange to not be packing a van to head to the NH S&W Festival today. Family circumstances, a book to finish on the heels of lambing season and a general energy lag are all contributing factors in this really tough decision. Sometimes you reach a moment when you say to yourself, "whoa – something's got to give." I send my love to everyone there and look forward to being back in my usual spot at the festival in 2011. Here's where you can find Foxfire Fiber this spring: – WEBS Fleece Market and Tent Sale, Saturday May
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Video – Morning in the Garden with Lambs – And Word about Sheep Shares

May 6, 2010 | 9 Comments

For you: Another morning with lambs in the garden. In yesterday's post I was mistaken about the timing of the school bus – you'll see it in this post. You can hear the bus rumbling down the road from 1/4 mile away. When it swooshes by, the lambs go flying. Same for motorcycles and tractors. Fortunately, we don't see much road traffic here. The slow-moving chunky little lamb tagging along after the others have taken off is Zap. Poor little guy is always getting left in the dust. His mom, Thalia, is great about staying near his side. You'll also
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Video – Garden Lambs

May 5, 2010 | 11 Comments

I'm immersed in shipping Sheep Shares this week so I'll be posting a series of short videos of the lambs enjoying the yard as we let them out each morning. You'll be able to spot the bottle lambs – just look for the ones congregating at the picnic table! At the beginning of this clip, the school bus rolls by which always sends the flock running for cover. Enjoy!
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Evening Chores!

May 3, 2010 | 24 Comments

Some scenes from this evening: three frantic bottle lambs at dinner time! I promise, this is the last post about the bottle lambs for a while, but couldn't resist sharing these pics. After playing in the yard all day, they are crazy hungry. Mistral wanted to skip the bottle and eat the powder milk replacer directly from the sack. Georgia and Garamond lost patience and demanded counter service. Dinner is served. Storming into the house is getting to be routine for this group – it's so funny to call them in from the yard and have them come flying through
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