Lotsa Lambs

I made an appointment for 9 am on Saturday as Rich was home to monitor the barn.  And of course Itasca (X Nitro) starts labor (which usually lasts around an hour) at 8 am.  Fortunately she is an old pro and quickly popped out a pretty black ewe and moorit ram, so I made it to my appointment.  It never fails.

Very sad to report that in the time between I wrote the passage above and when I got to photograph, Itasca's little ram passed away.

Then Elara (X Nitro) had an enormous black yuglet ram while I was gone.

We had some visitors stop in to meet the new arrivals.

After dinner, our blessed Reawick (X Oberyn) gave us two perfect white ewe lambs.  So happy, we have wanted a white ewe lamb for the longest time, and here we have two.

I woke up at 5 am on Sunday to find that our very capable first time mother Sybil had moorit ewe and ram, all cleaned and fed (by her - thank goodness), so all we had to do was pen them up and care for the umbilicals.

Day off from lambing

So no lambs yesterday which means I made good progress in the workroom.

Finished spinning Oberyn's fleece into this two ply yarn.  This was all I got from his fleece as it was pretty chopped up for whatever reason.  Not the shearer's fault, the wool just didn't want to come off!

Oberyn

Oberyn 2 ply, will wash today

I washed Elinor's fleece, this pretty grey Kat and will finish drying outside today - looks like we will have a warm day with no wind, perfect for outdoor drying.  Then I plan to spin into yarn.

Sensible Elinor.  Except that she stole and ate a plastic glove out of my lambing kit when my back was turned during Lambapalooza 2

I am carding Mrs Hughes, I just love this fleece.  She has 3 different levels of grey and a good amount of all three so its a lot of fun to work my way through all the variation.  This will go into batts for my spinners.

Medium grey on left, steel grey in center, light grey to the right.  No "shades of grey" jokes please...  Oh all right, if you must.

Ever proper Mrs. Hughes

Started a white hat from the yarn left from the Bousta Beanie and Knitted Knockers- thank you Elara.  Used my new cast on technique, German Cast on which I learned from making the fingerless mitts.  Should make the ribbed band a little more flexible, we'll see.

I always think Elara could have gone a little less with the eyeliner.

And working on spinning another self striping yarn, 3 colors, shades of brown.

Lambapalooza II

Yesterday afternoon had three ewes lamb.

Blue Sapphire (X Nitro) had 2 very flashy rams, both look black based.

Just after getting her lambs cleaned, iodined, first feeding witnessed, went in the house, sat down and thought, "Well I'll just check barn before I start my next project" and there was another ewe going into labor.  Put back on my barn clothes, ran out to the barn, and there were two ewes in labor! 


Siena (X Oberyn) had a pretty moorit ewe and a black ram. 

Lady Mary had a little black ewe and a spotted black ram.

Did a quick check on Ivy's little guy, he seems to be catching up nicely, bouncing around in their cozy little pen.

Lambapalooza

Three ewes lambed yesterday between 6-11 pm last night, almost felt like we were a commercial operation!

Mrs Patmore (x Nitro) had a very nice brown spotted ram. 

2 hours old, resting after his big introduction.

Pretty flashy little fella!

Fanny (x Nitro) very quietly and with no fanfare popped out this sweet little moorit ewe.  

Just getting a bath soon after birth

And Pearl (x Nitro) had fawn kats, ewe and a ram.  

Still have 16 ewes to go.  Looking forward to seeing an Oberyn lamb, he got a slow start apparently...

Lambing update

No lambs yesterday, so kept myself busy with some wool projects.

Washed my first 2018 fleece, Mrs Hughes, a beautiful grey Katmoget

Pretty lock from Mrs. Hughes

Finished the fingerless mitts from my self striping yarn.  One is longer than the other, but you get the idea.

For once I sewed the loose ends immediately after finishing knitting them - I hate the sewing part so usually put it off as long as possible.  Wonder how much time went into raising, shearing, washing, carding and spinning these little bits that are going to be tossed in the trash bin.

I am carding and spinning Oberyn

Oberyn's carded locks ready to be spun

Lambs

English Garden (XDarcy) had a Grey Kat Ram and a Fawn Kat ewe Sunday afternoon.

Fancy Kat Ram

The first ewe of 2018 

Only a few hours old.  Wonder if this was their position in the womb?


Dowager and her boys got kicked out of the jug and into the open area for the ewes and their lambs.  The boys really enjoyed the extra play space.  This was the only photo I could get as they couldn't stop frolicking.

More lambs

Sarin (x Darcy) had her black ram lamb this morning.  I checked at 3 am and didn't see anything, then at 6, this tiny little shadow was on the tv.

Sarin doesn't like it when you come near her lamb.  Keep your distance lady.

Then I came home from work at lunch and Ivy (xNitro) had her little grey katmoget ram.  He seems a little bit preemie, so we tube fed him about 3 oz of mom's milk to give him a little kick start.  Will keep an eye on him.

Few hours old

Later in the evening

OK, bring on the ewe lambs!

Lamb cam

No lambs yesterday, but lots of suspicious activity on the lamb cam.  We have a wireless camera set up in the barn so we can watch the bred ewes pen 24/7.

Note the group on the upper left, they are scrummed to stay warn.  The upper right corner is where the ewe that is typically next to go will hang out.  We don't know why, but practically every time this is where they lamb.  We call it the lambing corner.

While waiting for lambs I am working on a 3 ply self striping three color yarn - cream/fawn/brown from neck wool from 2017 clip. 

Lambs

Dowager Countess X Nitro had twin ram lambs last night around 6:30.  Fawn katmogets with spotting.  The first one out had eaten his fill and was resting, the second one was still working on finding the udder and getting his belly filled.  They are about 1 hour old in these photos.

Shearing day final

Thought I would share a video of Georgianna being sheared. 

Such riches - can't wait to get in there and play with my fleeces! 

All finished, now time for breakfast.  Thanks girls!

Shearing Day Part 2

Photos today are in the thick of the shearing process.  We started at ~9:30 and finished at 1:00 or so.  46 sheep sheared.  We didn't do the adult rams because they are outside and it was raining.  We will have to shear them on Aaron's next run through WNY.

Hannah happily displaying Reawick's fleece - she knitted a cowl with her wool last year.

I am bringing a sheared and inoculated ewe lamb from 2017 back into the fold.  Rich got shots done on all the sheared sheep as part of the process.

Mayhem when you introduce a sheared ewe into the flock.  Who is this new girl, she smells different!

Aaron does a wonderful job keeping the fleeces intact as he shears.

I wish blogs had smells, cause this smells wonderful.

1/4 of the way through.

One of my favorite ewes from last year, Brienne of Tarth.  She is a beauty