Archives for lambs

Fiber, Friends and Foliage

October 3, 2010 | 11 Comments

We love visitors! A few scenes from Saturday's Fiber, Friends and Foliage open house. Thanks to everyone for sharing a special afternoon with us (and to those of you who were with us in spirit!). Mistral & Georgia share an apple. Crackerjack greeted his fans. Lambs love making friends. Especially Mistral. Lambs also love pumpkin decorating. Georgia and Holly – naptime! A sneak peek at the Fall Yarn Shares. Local Hero Llama Tired lambsters. photos courtesy of Madeline Kennedy, Lori Parker, Holly Sonntag, and Mike Parry. thank you!!
Read More

Summer Shares

August 18, 2010 | 12 Comments

Returning from a blog hiatus and a trip to spend some time with my family and friends on the seacoast. We celebrated a very special birthday. My niece, Lilly, turned 1. And okay, I'm a little biased, but I'm telling you she is the cutest, happiest little girl in the world. It is such good fun being an Auntie. Going on vacation is an amazing amount of work. List making, shopping, packing, instructions for the house sitter, instructions for the farm – it almost doesn't feel worth all the effort until you actually get away for a few days. I
Read More

Lamb Camp

July 29, 2010 | 15 Comments

I'm always amazed at how quickly the lamb flock adjusts to free ranging during the summer months. With Crackerjack their trusty guardian, they're camped in the back pasture. We "stockpiled" it for them, meaning we kept other sheep out of it so the lambs would have fresh forage. In some places the grass is taller than they are. So when I go counting heads at day's end, it's a lamb safari! It's so different from the barnyard life they lived just weeks ago. The whole flock is free ranging for the summer. Although many lambs in this group are now
Read More

Lambs – Out to Pasture

July 22, 2010 | 8 Comments

It takes a llama to get the lambs going in the right direction. Just a quick post – I thought you'd like to see how we get them out to pasture in the morning. WE LOVE CRACKERJACK!! copyright 2010. Barbara Parry. All rights reserved. Feel free to share a link to this website. Please do not take content or images from this website without my explicit written permission. Thank you.
Read More

Weaning the Lambs

July 19, 2010 | 15 Comments

The lambs huddle around me in the barn. With the shift of independence from the ewes, they've become more interested in our comings and goings. When I arrive they press in like this. They butt me in the legs and nibble on my camera strap. It's a nice way to start the morning. This group has made the transition of weaning quite smoothly. Just one very noisy night and then quiet. Except for when we arrive. They shadow Crackerjack, their new leader and we count on his help in getting them where we need them to go. The mother's are
Read More

Big Moves

July 14, 2010 | 5 Comments

A few scenes from a busy day full of big changes. Weaning, Day One – We separated the lambs from the mothers this afternoon. It was high time. While I'm sure the lambs would nurse until they were yearlings (if the mothers allowed it), they are getting everything they need from the pastures now. And those mommas need a break. Holly led the troupe across the road: one llama, 20 mothers, 33 lambs. An orderly procession until we made it to the open barn where it was all craziness, noise and chaos. We sorted ewes from lambs and then
Read More

Keeping Watch

July 7, 2010 | 9 Comments

Hay is happening. Last week's string of sunny, breezy days kicked off a chain reaction. Every farm in Franklin county is making hay. You need at least 4 days to get it crackling dry. Norm mowed every field on the farm in two days and he and his family then spent the rest of the week tedding, raking and baling. Haymaking means juggling the pastures a bit, keeping the flock out of the way. Perfect timing, really, as Holly and I would like to wean the lambs next week. We plan to use one of the mown fields for lamb
Read More

Sheep Shares Lamb Visit

June 30, 2010 | 7 Comments

The lambs had company on Sunday. We got lucky with a picture-perfect day for our Sheep Shares Lamb Visit. The flock was on their best behavior. Mostly. They lampeded for guests before fanning out to graze in the field. Holly and Mike gave a farm tour. The bottle lambs scampered right over and hung out with us for the afternoon. Helena stole someone's plate of grapes and carrots. Crackerjack eyed the refreshment table but minded his manners. Mistral peed on the picnic blanket . . . yet still managed to win everyone's heart . . . while amusing us with
Read More

Sheep Shares Lamb Visit part two

June 29, 2010 | 4 Comments

More scenes from the day: Georgia and Mistral remained center stage throughout the afternoon. Even when the rest of the flock drifted back toward the barn and we settled down to knitting in the shade, they wandered from guest to guest. Mistral inspected the contents of every knitter's bag (for contraband bottles?), - and almost frogged someone's w.i.p.! Georgia just wanted to be spoiled. She was not disappointed. Like a pair of toddlers, into everything!!! When it was time for a group shot Georgia took her second nap of the day in the arms of her new best
Read More

Wake Up Call

June 24, 2010 | 71 Comments

Let me explain the pause in blogging – and please read this post carefully because it contains an important message for all my female readers. My agenda last week included prepping to teach handspinning at WEBS, dyeing summer yarn share samples, helping Holly give lambs their CDT boosters, getting ready for the Open Farm on the 27th, collecting sheep and goat fecal samples for inspection, sowing another round of salad greens and staking the tomatoes, attending my nephew's high school graduation in New Hampshire, working on my book . . . My "to do" list didn't include having a heart attack.
Read More