Spring Frolic and Romp

This is one of the twins born as a surprise back in December. He and his brother are the oldest and largest lambs in the flock and are teaching the younger ones to romp and frolic.

The black lamb with white markings on her face and all four feet off the ground up on top of the hill is one of quadruplets. She is the smallest of the three survivors, but is doing well. We have been keeping an eye on her and attempted to supplement with milk for a while. Even through I knew she was hungry from her cries, she had her own opinions on that nasty tasting rubber nipple that did not remind her of mama at all and refused to drink. It takes a while to wait a lamb out and if they are hungry enough they will eventually decide to take the bottle even if it doesn't look or smell like Mom. Warm milk being dribbled down a hungry baby's throat is a pretty convincing tool. This stubborn little girl never did concede to the bottle, so I stopped trying after she was about 3 weeks old. By then she was nibbling hay and I figured she was obviously getting enough grub to get by. Her growth rate did not match her siblings, and she could have been a little plumper, but she wasn't crying like when she was younger, so I stopped putting us both through the tortuous milk dribbling ritual.

And down they go! They love to race down off of this hill, over to the next one, around, and around, over and over, leaping, and jumping.

Oh what a beautiful morning!

This is Daisy's lamb. He is the only one this year who was an only child - no siblings. There are 18 lambs all together, though, so he has plenty of cousins to play with.

Slowing down.

Getting tired.

Nap time. I believe this ewe is the mother of the quadruplets. She still looks pregnant with that big old tummy! She and her sister look quite a lot alike, both are three years old now. One was born to Daisy and the other's mom was Ivy, but we switched ear tags and now I am not sure which one is which. Daisy's daughter was Pansy and Ivy's Holly. I am pretty sure it was Holly who had the quads. Ivy had triplets last year and raised them to maturity without any help at all. She is a very good mom. We have actually culled out all of the ewes who were not good mothers now and have kept all of the good moms and easy lambers. It sure made lambing season go a lot smooher this year.

Until next time, may you find time to frolic and romp in the spring sunshine.

Coon Dog

Taking a walk through the woods this morning, Roxy discovered a tempting scent. We hurried to catch up to her frantic barks.

Look, I found a critter! It's right here, under this log.

OOOOOH, it is in here. Come on guys, let's tear this log apart!

Okay, it is growling awfully fiercely. But can't I please tear the log apart?

We can go home now, all that barking and digging made me tired and it is just a small coon anyway.

We are thankful to see Roxy feeling so frisky as she was a pretty sick dog about 3 weeks ago. We were hoping for some puppies from her, but instead she contracted a serious infection. She was droopy and not herself, but we had no idea how sick she was. The vet said if we had waited another day to bring her in, he probably would not have been able to save her. She had to be spayed, so no puppies, and the treatment was expensive, but Roxy says she is worth it. She also says we should let her sleep on the couch, but I have to draw the line somewhere!

Until next time, may someone love you enough to let you sleep on the couch!

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The inseperable brothers have been cut from each other. At about 3:30 this morning, I awoke to a loud squawk coming from the front yard fence and immediately jumped out of bed, flung open the door and knew some dirty dog was stealing one of my pets. I slipped on a robe and slippers as it was quite brisk out of doors, and went on a starlit hunt. One Barred Rock rooster came running toward me through the front yard, so I was a bit relieved to see him and sent our dog, Roxy, out on the trail of the other, heading up the hill behind the house. At one point she must have run into the fox as she let out a warning bark and set out on a chase. I was hopeful with all of the commotion, the fox might drop the rooster as his plump frame must have been quite the burden for a delicate fox, but alas, we followed for a bit and no such luck. It has been my experience that a fox will usually snatch a bird, carrying it off to kill in a safer location farther from the house and barn. Chickens struggle only briefly, then resign themselves to the inevitable and I have recovered chickens from foxes by scaring the fox into dropping the bird with the chicken having only minor wounds, recovering fully. I continued to call for a time, hoping to hear the answering cluck coming from under a sagebrush, but eventually returned to the house, half frozen. The remaining rooster was sitting in the middle of the yard, so I carried him to the porch, felt for any injuries, and finding none, perched him on the porch near my bedroom door. In the past, the brothers would sometimes be diligently scratching for bugs and tasty morsels throughout the yard and find themselves lost from one another's sight on opposite sides of the house. They would crow to each other until they were together again, happily scratching and preening side by side. All roosters fight each other at times, but I never saw these two get into a scuffle. They were together constantly. In the picture posted above, he had just crowed and was waiting and listening for an answer from his brother, but all he heard were crows from the barn banties. He must walk into the dawn of a new day alone, with only memories to sustain him. And with a chicken, that won't be long.

Happier times - cold weather, warm hearts.


Until next time, may you never walk alone.

Gifts

It has been difficult to get a good shot of the lambs as Salty is such a friendly mama and will be sniffing the camera before I can get it focused and clicked. She is really always looking for a handout and hoping I may be bringing her some treats! Here I caught her snuggling with her kids before she jumped up and came over for a scratch on the head. If you look closely, you can see just a bit of the black lamb laying right bihind her. He is snuggled up as close as he can get and the white lamb had been doing the same on her front side. They are growing like bad weeds and begining to play king of the mountain on the hill inside the sheep pen, jumping and twisting in the air on their way back to mama. So far they are still the only babies, but it looks as if there will be more soon.

I wanted to draw charcoal portraits of the kids for Christmas, and here are how they turned out. This one is of Taylor giving KP a well-deserved look. I named it "Uh-Huh". I intentionally left KP only sketched and did not fill in detail on him, so he is a bit hard to make out in this picture I took of the framed drawing. In the original, you can tell by the tilt of his head, he is trying to be sorry for whatever it is he has done now. Get him, Taylor!

This is KP and Roland and I named it "My Way" as they each have an opinion on which way to go, and they are definatly not the same way! I think KP won as he appears to have the more determined look, but Roland is giving his opinion on the matter through his body language.

Jordan and Sebastian were coming to "An Understanding" here. Jordan is just cracking the whip as he asks Sebastian to begin moving into a circular lunge pattern. Sebastian is not sure he wants to comply and is giving Jordan the eye, but Jordan is standing tall and will only increase his request should Sebastian balk.

I was pleased with the outcomes of the drawings and made them into notecards, along with the drawing I did in 2007 of the barn which I am using as the logo for my PawleyFarm site. I think I will name this notecard set 'Lessons' as Roland, Sebastian, and KP are all learning in these portraits and old barns always have lessons to teach if only we are quiet and listen. I will offer them on both the PawleyFarm site and my Etsy shop, which will be the most public I have ever gone with my drawings. A bit scary, but a bit more exciting! Taking the time to draw before Christmas made me realize how much a part of my soul that creative process is. Drawing is one of those activities where I am totally unaware of the passage of time. I don't even think about eating while in the midst of the thousands of decisions about where to put the next mark, how light, how dark to make it . . . . It can be enough to drive a body mad! Don't worry, I plan to keep both my ears attached to my head!!

Until next time, may you be blessed with a pursuit in which time flies in swift, sweet enjoyment and may you be sent the gift of time enough for this life-giving nourishment to feed your soul brimming full to the top.

Surprise Arrivals

If you read my last post, you might remember I said the lambs were staying snug and warm in their mamas and we were not expecting any babies until the first part of February?

Apparently, Salty had a secret and somebody was sneaking around on the wrong side of the fence last summer! She had two nice, healthy, full-term ram lambs this afternoon. Come to think of it, Salty seems to be the early lamber every year . . .

Salty is the sweetest ewe in the flock. She was raised on a bottle as a bummer lamb, and, like many of our animals, spent her first summer providing therapy to special needs kids at Western Trails Therapeutic Riding Center. Last Christmas, she performed at our church's Living Nativity, only to pop out a nice set of twins about 2 weeks later. Again, with no warning and unexpectedly early. Many of the ewes grunt and groan and look as if they are going to pop for weeks ahead of time, but Salty has always just snuck her birthing time in when we aren't looking. By the time we have found she has lambed, she has them cleaned and dried off and they have been up and had a bit of rich, nourishing milk. She has never needed any help with her babies, always knowing exactly what to do. Tonight I was watching her for a few minutes after I put her in the barn. The white lamb appears to have been born first and is figuring out the dinner thing pretty well, while the black lamb hasn't quite gotten it down yet. Salty kept talking to him and nudging him in the right direction until he found the dinner table. Oh, did his little tail wag in satisfaction as the rich, creamy milk warmed and strengthened his little body!

I remember my father-in-law routinely tipping over every ewe and squirting a few drops of the rich colostrum into the baby lambs as that swallow or two would often make all the difference and determine if the baby would live or not in the harsh Wyoming cold. I am glad Salty is a good mama and I don't have to take her on in a wrestling match! Even though Salty takes great care of her babies, even wrapping them in a sheep hug by snuggling her large, wooly body as close as possible if it is cold out, all ewes should be penned up to bond with their little ones for a few days to eliminate any confusion as other lambs are born. Sheep are notorious for stealing other ewes' lambs, then forgetting their own. They also need a bit of molasses shortly after the birth to ensure their calorie count stays high enough to keep them healthy as they produce the extremely rich milk the newborns need to build their fat reserves.

Hey, you don't suppose Salty got word of my last post and wanted to get in a good practical joke, do you? Or maybe she was just jealous of the cows with all of their new little bundles of joy?

Regardless of the reason, somebody was still doing a little bit of slipping around last summer, and sneaking in the dark will always catch up with you eventually!

Until next time, I hope your sneaking always turns out as a nice surprise!!

A Blessed Season

The ice sparkled and glowed, adding extra cheer to Christmas this year. A white Christmas seems to be so much sweeter than does a brown. We often make do with brown over white, living in the Columbia Basin of Eastern Oregon, but have been blessed with two weeks of winter this year.


We had lows down as far as -10 and it snowed nearly every single day. Roads were closed, schools shut down as the drifts piled ever higher. The frantic pace of our everyday lives was suddenly interrupted. Mothers with young children played out in the snow instead of bundling babies off to daycares. The snow angel population grew by leaps and bounds. The squeak of the snow underfoot tinkled like tiny enchanted bells. Gallons of rich, creamy hot cholcolate were consumed, toasting tummies from the inside out. The woodstove in our living room puffed and chugged along, warming many a backside and drying out snow pants and work boots.





Deer and antelope moved down from the higher country to eat alongside the cows.



While the new lambs stayed warm and snug inside their mamas, not quite ready to be born yet, flurries of calves arrived along with the snow squalls.






The goats enjoyed their daily snow walks, but enjoyed more returning to their deep straw beds in the barn!




KP and Roland found a little time to play in the snow. Roland is KP's Unimog, easily plowing through the chest deep snow they ran into back up the canyon, with never a slip due to being born out on the range to a wild and free mama Mustang.

Roland and Jordan also got to help move cows down from the upper pasture a couple days after the canyon jaunt. I was unable to capture any photos as I rode Roland part of the way, then helped via 4-wheeler after I traded Jordan as riding bareback with the leg brace was proving to be a bit much. I have resigned myself to using the saddle next time as I can't get enough grip with the silly brace in the way. Pooh!




Elmer and Sebastian were content to much hay while Roland was off adventuring.


Roxy had snowballs all over her body after following KP and Roland. Adventuring is great, but I do beleive she hears the call of the rug in front of the crackling woodstove!




All of the wise banty chickens moved into the barn to cozy up, but the silly Barred Rock roosters adamantly remained at their post, roosting on the fence rail in the front yard. For several days, we dilligently moved them over under the shelter of the the huge Douglas Fir tree, but, realizing they would not get down during the day, pity was taken upon them and they were moved onto the front porch along with feed and water until the storms abated. They soon found a favorite chair, but every couple of days would wade through the snow and roost again upon the freezing fence rail. Their combs are damaged from the cold, and one of the boys has lost some weight, but they have survived this round. Now to wean them from roosting on the front porch . . .




We awoke Saturday morning to warm winds and dripping eaves as a Chinook blew in, bringing spring in the middle of winter.




By Monday morning, most of the snow had turned to mud on the ground, but had freshened the trees up nicely.






And the roosters were ecstatic to be freshening up with a good dirt bath. This guy kept turning around, throwing dirt up on himself, then would snuggle down into the good, brown earth as if he thought he may never see it again.



Hmmm . . should we let him in on the forecast? Possibility of snow showers again on Thursday. We'll just let him enjoy his bit of springtime for now!



Until next time, may all your seasons be blessed.

Snow Trophies

It has been snowing nearly every day for two weeks now and has really dumped a lot on our litle banana belt of Oregon. Jordan has a new pickup which he has just been itching to try out in the snow, so it seemed like the perfect time to see what it could do. He, of course, was alone here on the farm that afternoon when he headed up the canyon behind the house. He followed the Rhino tracks for a ways, but even they soon ran out and still his pickup was plowing forward, albeit, somewhat slower than at the lower elevations. Before he knew it, he was just pushing too much snow and could no longer move forward. So he tried backing up, but, hmmm . . . Too late. He walked back to the house in the dark and the next morning, he and KP headed up to unstick him. KP was able to get him out with his pickup, but in the process, the deep snow pulled off both bumpers. My reaction would have been - OH No, my truck is broken! But the boys see it as an opportunity to make new bumpers!
Until next time, may you be blessed with the ability to see the opportunity in adversity.