Ironman - Part 3

When I left Chris in the last post he had just finished the 112-mile bike portion of the Ironman Triathlon. It was the middle of the afternoon and the temperature was in the high 80's. Perfect timing to run a marathon (26.2 miles).The run course was spectator friendly although I don't know if the competitors liked the idea of running the same loop three times. I think this is about mile 6. Here is the ever-important support team. Dan had scoped out areas to watch for our runner.   

I took photos each time we saw Chris, but he doesn't look much different from one photo to the other (and that's a good thing in a 26-mile run). So I'll skip to the finish. First, a couple of photos of volunteers. There were aid stations at each mile along the marathon course. Some of the volunteers got a little creative with their outfits.There were even super-heroes helping out. While Chris was on his third lap we decided that we'd better find our place at the finish. Dan stationed himself to take a video at the end of a loop where the runners turn for the finish line. Kurtis, Katie, and Meryl stood in the bleachers right at the end. I stood just below so I could get photos in two directions (and I wasn't directly in the path of the blaring sound system).

Chris coming into the finish area with two turns before he sees the finish line.

It's in sight. As the runners cross the finish line the announcer gives the name and says "You are an Ironman!"

 First smile we saw all day.

Not quite finished with the support role. Happy sister & brother-in-law     Proud parents.

Ironman - Part 2

In the last post I described the day prior to the Ironman. Saturday morning we got to the swim site about 5:30. The first task was to have a volunteer mark numbers on arms. Next it was time to stand in the porta-potty line with 2,999 other competitors.Daylight now. Don't forget the chip on the ankle......and the sunscreen. The pros started at 6:45. The "age-group" competitors started lining up in the water during the singing of the National Anthem. Green caps are men and pink caps are women.The age-group competitors began their event promptly at 7 a.m. Chris told us later that he got kicked, punched, and knocked around. I can see why. I think there must be some strategy to avoid that--maybe get out ahead and stay there?This is a view from the bridge over the lake. The swimmers start out on the right, turn around the yellow buoy on the end, and then head for a channel that goes to the left of the photo. In this photo the swimmers on the left of the buoy are the pros who have already made the turn. The large group on the right of the yellow buoys are the age-group competitors and the group in the foreground are the swimmers who chose to wear wetsuits (see the black arms) and, therefore, had to start 10 minutes behind the non-wetsuit swimmers (see previous post about that). Speaking of strategy, it was important that the support crew developed a strategy also.Here is the support crew (minus me, the photographer). That's Dan, Katie, Kurtis, and Meryl. Our job was to figure out how to find Chris and cheer him on in as many places as possible, all the while keeping ourselves fed and watered and in the shade as much as possible. Oh yeah, and get good photos too. Katie and Meryl were able to spot Chris in the swim and get a photo there. They cheered him on as he emerged from the water after swimming 2.4 miles in just a little over an hour.  These are the bags in the swim-bike transition area that hold the gear necessary for the bike component. I stationed myself at the bike area to try and catch Chris as he started the 112 mile ride.

         Once Chris was on the bike we knew it would be about six hours before we would see him again. Time to find coffee and breakfast. I mentioned the infrastructure necessary for this event in the last post. About six hours before the winners would run across the finish line the equipment and structure was still being assembled.Security was also an important consideration and included dogs as well.The bike area before any of the cyclists have returned. While the others of our crew were waiting at the bike-run transition to see Chris begin the marathon I waited at the end of the bike course to cheer him on there. Do you know how hard it is to spot a cyclist in time to make sure you get a photo of the right one? White helmet, white jersey with blue around the arms. He wasn't the only one who could be described that way.Cyclists must dismount at a specified point and run with their bikes into the transition area and on to where their run gear is bagged. The last component is the marathon. I think that will have to be another post. Stay tuned.

Visiting Texas for the Ironman

I just got back from Texas where I visited my daughter and we watched my son, Chris, compete in the Ironman in The Woodlands, near Houston. Some of you may not know about the Ironman. Here is what Wikipedia says: "An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run, raced in that order and without a break." Chris prides himself in being in good shape for his firefighter job (USFS Hot Shot), but the Ironman requires even more. It requires a lot of planning and dedication by the athlete to put in the hours necessary to compete at this level. And it doesn't hurt to have dedicated family and friends for support. The infrastructure and number of staff and volunteers necessary to put on this event is amazing too.

Here are some photos I took after we got to Texas in the days before the Ironman.You can't do a triathlon without a bike, and we shipped Chris' bike to Katie's and Kurtis' house near Wimberly. Chris had to reassemble all the parts that we took off to fit it in the bike-shipper box.After assembling the bike Chris needed to ride to make sure that everything was working right. This is his introduction to the hills and humidity he was to face (although fortunately the Ironman was not in the Hill Country).

We drove to The Woodlands on Thursday so that we would be there for check-in. Dan, a dedicated teacher who rarely misses work, arrived early Friday morning (2:30 a.m). We spent Friday organizing equipment, driving the bike course, and resting up (as important for the support crew as for the athlete, it turns out).Bags ready to go. There is one each for swim, bike, and run. Making it through the transitions quickly is an important part of the competition. Once the event starts, there can be no support (other than moral) from family or friends, so everything the athlete needs for the transitions has to be in these bags.

Friday morning the athletes were allowed to go for a swim to get a feel for the lake. There are temperature limits that dictate whether or not wetsuits are mandatory, optional, or not allowed. It wouldn't be until 5 a.m. the next morning that the athletes would know for sure. (It turns out that the water was warm enough that wetsuits were optional, but if you chose to wear a wetsuit you would start 10 minutes behind the others.)After the swim practice it was time to deliver the bike and the bags of gear to the swim-bike/bike-run transition area.

Bike racked and ready to go.   There is room here for 3000 bikes--an amazing site when it is full.  Getting tips from Dad. Chris has a lot on his mind.Here is a preview of the Support Team. Stay tuned to see photos of the Ironman.

Getting to the Mountains

I am fortunate that I if I wanted a guided tour somewhere in the El Dorado National Forest and surrounding area I only need to ask my son and daughter-in-law (as long as fire season hasn't started). They live in Pollock Pines, work for the Forest Service, and spend a lot of their off-time enjoying the mountains so they know all the best places. Last week we took a short hike to Bassi Falls. This is an easy hike to take with dogs because you are never far from water.  I took my 44 mm lens--and I have to get used to it again when I switch. 

 This is Sam and Kirin, my grand-puppies. Here they are with Matt & Kaleena. Sam and Kirin pose better than Rusty and Maggie. By the way, Maggie did so well on this hike. It was only a couple of months ago when I got her that I wondered if I'd ever be able to take her somewhere off leash. This is probably the first time that she has ever had a chance to go for a walk in the mountains. She got along well with Sam and Kirin, who each tower over her.  Here is the only photo I got of all four dogs--like herding cats. Sam and Kirin go for the water, Maggie still tries to move away from the camera and Rusty comes towards the camera to watch shadows and sparkles. Sitting in a tree?On the way home we drove to Big Hill, where there is a heli-spot and fire lookout. That light spot surrounded by shadows in the middle of this photo is Bassi Falls.

A day in the mountains and a day with my kids. I need to do this more often.

Shearing Suffolks

One of my neighbors has Suffolk sheep and this was shearing day. Here are some photos.  

We're All Ears

Typical Jacob lamb:Blue-faced Leicester x Jacob lamb:     Here is Dad, below. Do you see a resemblance?

This is Onyx, one of last year's BFL x Jacob ewes, all grown up:Of course, if you really want to see ears, look no farther than here:   

Relaxing at Someone Else's Farm

A couple of weeks ago I went to Auburn, about an hour away, to the Shepherd's Picnic hosted by Dan Macon and Flying Mule Farm. I went as a visitor even though I brought a table with books and a few supplies. I did not set up a booth though, so I was free to enjoy the day at liberty. Dan had the day set up kind of like we did for Meet the Sheep, with activities scheduled every hour or so.  Shearing was first. Dan does his own shearing.  Here Dan throws a fleece onto the skirting table.  Beautiful, clean wool. Next was a discussion of pasture management and flock management. Another friend, Farm Advisor, Roger Ingram, also helped out. I recorded some of what Dan and Roger talked about because I thought it would be great to share with Farm Club and others. One of these days I'll get around to editing it so others can listen. One of Dan's former interns brought one of her milking sheep so that she could demonstrate milking. After milking she shared previously pasteurized and cold sheep milk. That was my first taste of sheep milk and it was great!  Dan's co-workers are invaluable assets to his farm. Mo, Taff, and Ernie have starring roles in Dan's blog as well. Dan, his daughter, and the dogs put on a herding demonstration. What a beautiful spring day in the Sierra foothills! This is gorgeous country, especially when it is so green this time of year. I will admit that during lunch I lay down in the grass and the warm sun and fell asleep. I don't do that very often!

It's a Jungle Out There

Here is a photo I took last September: I was trying to figure out why I had no power on the electric fence and this was one of the areas that I had to check. Even though my charger will carry power through thick vegetation like these blackberries, the branches could be pushing the hot wire into the old fence and causing it to ground out. (Yes, is a strand of electric wire going through that mess.) I figured it was time to deal with it.

This is after I cut away blackberry branches. You can barely see the insulator that holds the electric wire near the bottom of the post. I cut those branches but left them between the ditch and the fence thinking that I would drag them away later to burn them. Yeah, right. (By the way, this was not the problem with the electric fence. It was grounding out elsewhere.)

 So only a few weeks later I knew that I needed to deal with the dallis grass along that same fence-line. This is the same area, but looking from the other direction. There is supposed to be an irrigation ditch in this photo.This is after weed-eating the ditch. You can see the blackberries that were cut a few weeks before that I never got around to moving and burning.

Fast forward to this spring.  This is the same view as the last photo. The blackberries are growing back through the old blackberries branches that were never moved AND through the mounds of dallis grass. This year I have a residential burn permit instead of an ag permit. If I don't want to go get an ag permit then all my burning has to be done before May 1 (or maybe it's the 30th). But in any case, I needed to get busy. I took a rake and the pruning shears and spent a couple of hours at it.  This is what it looks like now with 2 piles ready to burn. Now hopefully the sheep will keep up with the regrowth of sprouts. When it is so thick with brush and coarse grass the sheep don't even try to get through it.  But there is more! This is the other fence-line--one that I did not deal with last year. See the two electric fence strands disappearing into it?Here it is from the other direction. Farm Club, where are you?

Fibershed Photoshoot

How does the Fibershed Marketplace get all those great photos? It takes a lot of work from everyone who is involved in the photoshoot but the photos are a credit to the skill of our wonderful photographer, Paige Green. I hosted the spring photoshoot and my friend, Jackie, organized everything. Here are some of my photos from the day.We arranged items that were to be photographed. These are my Jacob shawls and scarves. Jackie's hot pads and bangles.Katharine Jolda's felted jacketWe turned one of my stalls into a dressing room. Shelby is a Farm Club member who consented to be one of our models. First photos of the day were Sally Fox's sheepskins.  There is a lot going on behind the scenes to create these photos.  Alisa is Jackie's daughter and she became one of the models. Her boyfriend, Mark, was indispensable in assisting Paige with her equipment all day. This is Brooklyn, our youngest model. She wore a hooded jacket and wool socks. Meryl is being fitted by Marlie. Paige used a variety of settings during the day. In this scene Allie modes her rabbit-skin vest. Rusty was involved in the activity all day. He will write his own blog post about his involvement.  We used the sheep in the photos of my handwoven pieces. Meryl and Shelby modeled four shawls. Give us a few weeks and you'll see all of these items and more available on the Fibershed Marketplace website.

Farm Club Goes to the City - Part 2

In the last post I showed photos of Farm Club's trip to Hayes Valley Farm in the middle of San Francisco. After visiting the farm we thought about what to do next. Kathy asked us if we'd ever been inside City Hall. We could see the dome from the farm. We decided to go there. I'm going to admit something. I've lived in the country all my life (well, I don't consider my life starting until after moving from SF to Cotati when I was 10) and rarely venture into "The City". Sacramento doesn't count. After I pass Vallejo going west I leave my comfort zone. I don't know how to do negotiate public transportation because I never go there. It was good to have friends who have experience with this (and the right apps). So we caught buses and streetcars for this tour around the city. Way better than driving downtown. First stop was City Hall. It is a beautiful building. There are interesting displays downstairs... ...and there are weddings going on upstairs. We people-watched awhile on the front steps. It seems that wedding parties leave about every 15 minutes.  After hanging around City Hall for awhile we decided to head to the Ferry Building ... ...to see the "foodie" shops there. I found this book that I remember having as a kid and then reading over and over and over and... to my kids.We found the right bus back to the NDGW Home. Being creatures of habit, we ate at the same (wonderful) restaurant where we have had dinner the last two years. Then we spent the evening knitting and weaving and chatting. We had a leisurely breakfast of lemon pie we had purchased from the neighborhood pie store the day before and we made it back home by the afternoon.

This was a very welcome day off and it was fun spending it with good friends.

Farm Club Goes to the City - Part 1

This was the weekend of Farm Club's third annual retreat. Our destination was San Francisco because we have a wonderful place to spend the night. Three of us are now members of the NDGW (Native Daughters of the Golden West) and we (and our friends) have a fabulous place to stay in the city. Look here for some photos of the NDGW home. We arrived in SF shortly after noon and began our retreat with an excursion to the Hayes Valley Farm. There is a fascinating story here. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake collapsed some of the freeways in SF the sites were abandoned. This parcel of land holds what is left of the on-ramp and off-ramp to one of the collapsed freeways. A group of volunteers started this urban farm project a few years ago and turned the blighted landscape into fertile ground with unique collaborations and composting. (One fact I think I remember correctly is that Google supplied 15,000 tons of cardboard used to compost horse manure and wood chips on top of ivy that was growing there.)    We saw unique ways of using found materials to grow plants.

This is the seed bank, outside... ...and inside. There were other uniques structures...... built from unlikely materials.

But the most remarkable thing is the landscape itself.Look at that soil and the vegetation. You almost don't notice the city behind it until you look from another aspect:  That's the SF City Hall in the background. Yup, that's part of the old onramp.This is a bittersweet time for the volunteers here. It turns out that this is the last week of activities here. The site is being used under some kind of temporary permit and the city is now going to build condos there. The person that we talked to said that even as the Hayes Valley Farm closes, it is providing a demonstration and lesson to all. There have been no protests, no marches, nobody chaining themselves to trees. They are dispersing all the plant materials, greenhouses, and compost throughout the city--some to schools who have developed urban ag programs, some to other urban farm sites in the city, and some to individuals. They feel that the program has been successful as a model of what can happen with the partnership of cities and volunteers and the benefits to everyone. (Celebrating Blue Tape as opposed to Red Tape.)

I am inspired to try planting nasturtiums again as well as a garden with a bit more freedom from even rows.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our adventure.

The Bone Yard

I was cleaning the barn before Meet the Sheep and gathered up all the skulls and horns that I had collected over the years.

 I took advantage of the sunny day to clean everything and I matched up horns to skulls.   I sold the two horn skulls already, but the 4-horn skulls are for sale on my website. 

What do I do with these horns?Here is something that I think is interesting. Take a look at these horns in these two photos:  I measured the horns so that I could describe them on my website. The horns in the first photo are 23" long and they measure 9" around at the base. The horns in the second photo are 24" long and measure 10" around. I never think of the curled horns as being as long as the upright ones, but it makes sense that they are.

For comparison, the longest horn on the skull at the top of this post is 20" and the lower horns are 13". The longest horn on the second skull is 28". The longest horn on the second 2-horn skull is 31" and on the last skull is 21".

Meet the Sheep 2013

Another great day at the farm and another day that I'm so thankful to Farm Club and my other friends! Meet the Sheep is our annual spring Open House event. It is a big undertaking, but with the help of Farm Club and my family (and some luck with the weather) it went very well. Mary, Joy, and Gynna are three of the crew that arrived early to help with set up. Notice the threatening weather. Just before visitors were due to arrive I brought the sheep in from the pasture... ...and moved them to the pasture near the shop so that they would be ready to Meet the People.  Jackie set up a booth... ...as did Colleen. I resurrected some displays from my Shear Delight days.Shelby and Dona tried out the new photo station that was created by Dona and Rick.The scheduled demonstrations were very popular.  Alison demonstrated spinning. Colleen taught Solar Dyeing with Kool-aid......and how to felt a bowl using a balloon.   Julie brought baby chicks and bunnies and showed people how to handle the bunnies. I think she won in the Cuteness Category today... ...although Mary's triplets were popular as were the three bottle babies and the six newest lambs.  Julie also talked about dyeing fiber.Janis made this cool poster using wool from a fleece she bought in November. And that's it for my photos although there was a lot more going on. We were so busy that I was in the shop the rest of the day!Good thing that Dona brought brownies for lunch!

Field Trip Season

I found a new Season. Field Trip Season. I've had 4 field trips here in the last couple of weeks. I don't get very good photos during field trips because I'm the one who is leading the field trip, but I'll use a few. Today I'll share yesterday's field trip because I got to be a participant (as opposed to leader) of part of it.Fibershed sponsored a field trip for representatives of Smartwool, Northface, Lucy (and maybe others) to learn about our end of textile production. Many (most?) people who purchase and use fabric, individually or commercially, don't necessarily have a sense of where it comes from. The goal of this trip was to expand the awareness of fiber production--the animals, the farmers, the soil and plants--and the importance of supporting sustainable local farms, and the idea that there is plenty of wool grown in N. CA but not the infrastructure to turn it into cloth. That is a primary goal of Fibershed--to set in motion the creation of that infrastructure and to create thriving businesses that support farmers, designers, fiber processers, and consumers. Whew! Pretty lofty goals? I am always amazed at what Rebecca (creator of Fibershed) has coming up next. I really hope that you'll spend some time on the Fibershed website  because I think it's one of the most important non-profit groups you'll find. On to the field trip. I expected 5-6 people. There was a busload! First stop for us was the pasture. The sheep performed admirably. I had waited to move the fence for the day's grazing until the field trip was here. The sheep rushed to the fresh pasture just like they always do. This is the group in the pasture. We spent a lot of time discussing pasture management, irrigation, choice of breed, wool types, etc. Friend, Dona, brought this board over, getting ready for Meet the Sheep on Saturday. Some of the braver visitors tried it out.

The second part of the tour was a trip to Mary Pettis-Sarley's ranch in the hills west of Napa.  Mary has a variety of sheep, cattle, and alpacas who live in a beautiful setting. She creates Twirl yarn using unique blends of the fibers she grows. The yarns are all natural colored or dyed with natural dyes from plants that grow on the ranch. The "I" in these labels indicates that the dyeplants are invasive species.  A major challenge of raising livestock in the hills is the predator problem. Mary has 17 dogs, most of whom are various breeds of livestock guardian dogs (LGD). They can be intimidating when you drive onto the property, but aren't so scary once they know you're on the approved list (or maybe that you're not a 4-legged hungry visitor). Mary let out the bottle babies... ...and I think her part of the field trip won the Cuteness Factor award.  We were accompanied by two of the pets on the way to Mary's wool washing station.Now I'm jealous, not only of the property, but of this. Maybe I'd wash more of my own fleeces if I could figure out a set-up like this. Here is where the fleeces are dried. Mary had several fleeces spread out so that the visitors could handle them and feel the characteristics that we'd been talking about all day.  A couple of scarves knit with Mary's yarn. As I drove way I saw some of Mary's cows. As it happens, these cows are the daughters and granddaughters of Jennie, a Brown Swiss cow that Mary got from us when we left our dairy life in 1998. Talk about happy CA cows. These truly have a happy life.Look at their view of the Napa Valley if they choose to look up from all that grass. (Alpacas in this photo--they were right next to the cows.)

Wildflowers in the hills

Dan and I went for a hike today not too far from here. The loop is about 4.5-5 miles with spectacular views.It's been dry this spring, and the greenery won't last long, but there are a lot of wild flowers right now. Also a lot (A LOT) of poison oak. I love the effect of my new lens with the shallow depth of field, but it's sometimes hard to work with, especially when I'm trying to snap photos quickly.

"I'll catch up...Just taking photos."     Western Redbud is one of my favorites.

Felting Field Trip

Today I hosted a field trip of 4-Hers led by Carol of Joshua Farm Shetlands. They came to talk about Jacob sheep, pasture management and the fiber business and to do a felting project.  The morning started in the pasture. Most people that come to see the farm want to spend time with sheep, but it is very important to understand that we should think of ourselves as "grass farmers" first. I couldn't possibly have the number of sheep that I do without irrigated pasture and intensive grazing management.We discussed sheep, facilities and ended the livestock part of the tour by looking at the Dead Zone (I just thought of that name). There are ram skulls in that fence in various stages of decomposition. As we explained to the kids, we want to sell every part of the animal we can.  We came back to the shop for lunch and then a felting workshop. The idea was to felt a sheep.  Some of the sheep had morphed significantly into other life forms: Snail. Duck.Aren't these cool? Before they left the 4-H group was gracious enough to help my son out with his photography assignment. He is supposed to submit an interpretation of Social Awareness and decided to stage a family picnic in which it is obvious that everyone is more involved in their electronic devices than each other.

No one seemed to mind the time for this, but the girls crowded around the iPad kept asking for the password.

It Takes A Farm Club ...

I've thought about titles for this post for a couple of days, but I've been too busy and/or too tired to write it. It Takes A Farm Club to Run a Farm. Or Farm Club Experiences Life and Death. FC met here on Saturday. I am so appreciative of everyone in FC. I know that they are getting experiences they wouldn't otherwise, but I am benefiting tremendously as well. There was a lot going on that day. My day started with a ewe that I though might have milk fever. I treated her with calcium gluconate and put her with her lambs in a pen so I could watch her. The first FC members arrived as another ewe, Onyx was lambing. Lambing pens ......and the rest of the barn were cleaned while we kept an eye on Onyx. Onyx is a BFL/Jacob cross bred to a Jacob. She had a black lamb and a Jacob-looking lamb while FC looked on. I'm glad that she lambed in the barn. If she had been in the field I would have been looking all over for a Jacob ewe missing a lamb.Look at the horns on that lamb. Ouch! It's unheard of to irrigate this early in the year, but we have had almost no rain since December. The irrigation district charged the ditches so I put in a call for water. Gynna and Lisa helped by clearing debris from the ditch. We checked this ewe lamb's broken leg. I showed FC members my bone-yard ( a pen where I put skulls that are in various stages of decomposition). Shelby sat with the ewe who later died (not of milk fever, but  a metabolic problem similar to pregnancy toxemia, according to preliminary necropsy results).Then we had to bottle feed her lambs. (The day before I had just grafted the bottle baby I had onto a ewe. Now I have more bottle lambs.) And there are always plenty of lambs to hold. We checked all 70 lambs for split eyelids and number of horns and I gave them all BOSE injections. I don't have photos, but a guest of a FC member worked on my buttons--sanding buttons that I had cut out months ago.  We can't have Farm Day without Donna's brownies...and now Lisa's sheep cookies and  Mary's O'Henry bars.  Thank you to everyone who came and helped and then shared the warm afternoon sun.

Busy Busy

Here are some of the things that have filled this week:   These are 8-9 pound triplets. The third was already up and nursing. I pulled these. This is the lamb list so far. Purple for ewes, blue for rams.  I have a lot of new things for the shop, but haven't had time to play with them or get them on the website. Electric carder, blending boards, and batt rollers (and other spinning gadgets) by Clemes and Clemes. I also have new DVD's, books, felting kits, and gadgets. I had a big weaving deadline that coincided with the first week of lambing (which also coincided with my tax appointment). This is just a preview of an item that will be in an upcoming issue of Handwoven magazine. And a new dog added to the workload. You can read Rusty's blog to learn more about Maggie. There are still more ewes to lamb. I'm on my way to the barn now for the last check tonight.

Lambs everywhere

Eight lambs today brought us to 22 lambs in five days since lambing began. It was hectic today. I had a Lambtown Fiber Committee meeting scheduled here from 1 to 3. One ewe (Delilah) lambed with twins and I put another ewe (Belinda) in a lambing pen just before the meeting started. One of the participants in the meeting brought her kids and the kids needed something to do. They were charged with the task of telling us if Belinda started having a lamb. About half way through the meeting the kids told us that a different ewe had just had a lamb. That was Terraza and I brought her into the barn. By the time the meeting was over there were 5 more lambs (2 for Terraza, 2 for Belinda, and 1 more for Delilah, giving her triplets). The morning began with finding Summer's lambs. Unfortunately one was dead. (This is not a very good photo but it is of the live lamb.)The third of Delilah's triplets. Look at those horns.This is Belinda. It's no wonder that lambs and ewes get mixed up when lambing in a confined area. Belinda was desperate to have a lamb, any lamb.Delilah and her triplets.Terraza and twins. Dona came for the meeting and she took some photos. I like to weigh the lambs so I have an answer when people ask me "how much do they weigh when they are born?"Here are the official Lamb Watchers of the day. This is one of Eliza's lambs, born a couple of days ago. Hot Lips and one of her lambs.The Lambing Board.

Lambs are Here!

Lambs were due on Thursday, 148 days after the first breeding date. I've started watching for early arrivals. Last night I went out at about 12:30 a.m. (after finishing bookkeeping for the night) and found two ewes with four lambs. I brought them into the lambing pen area and tried to sort out moms and babies. I finally assigned two lambs to each ewe and they all seemed happy. In the light of day I realize that the sets of twins are split up. But that's OK as long as each lamb has a happy mom. This is a beautifully marked ram lamb. Meridian Celeste x Kenleigh's Matrix. The two parents are both lilac (the color of this lamb) and they should have lilac offspring.  This is his adopted twin, but he is black so I think belongs to the other mom. (Meridian Zoey x Meridian Fogerty) Here is a lilac ewe lamb (although in the photo she looks black) so this is the twin to the first one.  Meridian Loretta lambed with twins in the middle of the day. I put Loretta in a pen and came back an hour later. No muss, no fuss. Twins clean and nursing. This is a ewe lamb. Meridian Loretta x Kenleigh's Matrix. Here is that first lamb again. I usually just number the lambs and let buyers give them names.  This lamb is tempting me to name all my lambs. I don't have his name yet, but I'll think of one. Lambing season has started.