Monthly Archives November 2010

Name-Storming?

Name-Storming?

November 29, 2010 | 60 Comments

Whoa, before you get too excited please know this is a photo from a few year's back. It has been suggested that it's not too early to begin "name-storming" a list of themes for next spring's lambs – since the work is now in progress with the flock. Here's a list of themes used in most recent years: 2005: Greek Mythology 2006: Herbs & Spices 2007: U.S. cities & towns 2008: Fashion Lambs 2009: Colors 2010: Computer Fonts & Typeface  We'll start a list of ideas now and then put it to a vote.  Let the name-storming begin!
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Young Love

Young Love

November 27, 2010 | 17 Comments

Courtship time. Rams snicker sweet nothings into the ears of ewes who batt their eyes coquettishly. The pas de deux that will bring new lambs to the farm next spring. And I'm telling you, with so many eligible ewes and four outstanding rams, it was very hard sticking to my original plan of limiting the numbers for next spring's lambing. Ultimately, we made sure each of flock matriarchs (Cocoa, Buttercup, Pansy, Charlotte) is represented by either a daughter or grand-daughter (or in the case of Cocoa, grandson). And then we took a close look at ram lineage to avoid crossing
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Gratitude

Gratitude

November 25, 2010 | 7 Comments

The group above is right outside my window. They've been eyeing me all afternoon as I bustled around the kitchen, but right now they're diving into their dinner.  I'm stopping to consider my many reasons for gratitude. It's a blissfully quiet holiday here, Mike, me, dogs, sheep. Family on the telephone. Patriots game.  Thank you for your friendship and support, especially this year. I'm sending my strongest wishes for a wonderful day to all – and a happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating.
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Moving Mountains

Moving Mountains

November 11, 2010 | 13 Comments

Fred has made my day. With bucket loader and spreader, he tackled the monstrous pile o’ compost in yonder bunker silo. Two year’s worth of soiled straw, hay and sheep poop equals a mountain roughly the size of the Matterhorn. Amazingly broken down into rich, dark organic matter, it’s now put to use fertilizing our hay field down on the Long Lot. This may not sound post-worthy, but trust me, it’s a big deal!!
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November morning

November morning

November 10, 2010 | 4 Comments

The majority of the ewe flock is now stationed in the high pasture, well out of reach of our rams at work. We're intentionally breeding fewer ewes this season to lighten the load for spring. I'll tell you more about that in a bit. Until then I thought you'd enjoy a glimpse of breakfast in the high field. Note the loaded apple trees; windfall apples are a sheep delicacy. BTW, Cognac is doing well and appreciates your get-well wishes. Her nose looks fine.     copyright 2010. Barbara Parry. All rights reserved. Feel free to share a link to this
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Quill-ogy

Quill-ogy

November 9, 2010 | 10 Comments

The calling card of an unwelcome visitor to the sheep paddock. Poor Cognac had a close encounter of the prickly kind Sunday afternoon. Mike found her with a snout full of porcupine quills as he was putting away the mower. Just in time for the Patriots game. We spent the next hour extracting a mess of nasty little barbs. Cognac winced with every quill but was otherwise quite stoic and patient. But her poor nose – you can some idea of how painful it was from the photo below! She seemed quite grateful for our help.  Now, how to extract
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