Home Again

Molly graduated from Utah State! Not one to miss a cross country road trip I flew out to help her drive her car and "stuff" home. The car was so tightly packed that I was instructed that all I could bring was a change of underwear and a bottle of Febreze. Fortunately with some shipping and donated items Molly created enough room for me and a small squishy bag. After spending night one in Salt Lake with some great transplanted East Coast friends we were headed southeast to Colorado. Our planned route included a few sights and friends we wanted to see and over 2000 miles. We got a sheep fix with the Lloyds in Colorado and headed southwest( yes, southwest) to Mesa Verde, a place I've always yearned to see. Refusing to obey the Garmin, we took the Colorado Mountain route instead of the Utah route. Big mistake... 12 inches of snow got us stranded in Telluride,Co. Never dreamed we'd spend a day there but it turned out to be a beautiful stop. When the Lizard Pass finally opened, we were off to Mesa Verde. There was no snow on that side of the Rockies. Had we listened to Garmin we would have been to Mesa Verde already but what a ride we would have missed. Touring the cliff dwellings of the early Southwest tribes was as great as I had hoped. History comes alive in our National Parks for sure. From there we listened to the garmin and took this amazing mountaintop road to Taos, NM. to see Bill's granddaughter and her husband. Sarah and John were surprised that the road was open due to recent snowfall. Garmin would have been thrown out the window if we had gotten all the way to the top of that mountain only to find the gates closed and the road snowcovered! Our stay in John and Sarah's adobe desert home off the grid was cut short due to time lost in the snow but every minute with them was perfect. I am determined to go back to Taos again soon. We hiked up into the Carson National Forest and walked the Rio Grande Bridge. Beautiful. We're home. Back to sheep duties and life in general, but it was a perfect escape week.

Maryland Sheep And Wool This Weekend.

My booth will be in the Vendors North area. I am no longer near the info tent. I missed so many people last year. Hope you find me this year in cooler temperatures. I will have both Shetland and BFL products as well as 4 Leicester lambs for sale. Here they are.

Shetland Lambs

The Shetland lambs do their crazy morning run while the Blues look on. do you think they laugh like I do?

Happy Easter

Beautiful sunny day. Looking out the open kitchen window I can see flowering trees and my lambs. Hearing the lambs call to their mothers makes me smile as I get dinner ready. My favorite season for sure.

Almost Done

I was so worried when I realized Lilly Loo, just a yearling was bred. Well, my worry was for naught. This is what I found last night. Momma and baby girl are doing fine. Only one more Shetland to lamb and lambing season will be over. PHEW.

The Day Keeps Getting Better!

The day began with more rain. Out to the barn by 6:45 to sort lambs for my ethnic lamb customers. They never arrived after I spent an hour getting ready for them. GRRR. That pushed my too far button for sure. The customers called at 8:15 to arrange another time but once my too far button is pushed I'm unforgiving. To paraphrase the soup nazi..." no lambs for you."

At 10 the 4H group to whom I had donated a BFL/Shetland fleece for the PA Sheep to Shawl competition arrived to give me a beautiful shawl that they had made from the last locks of the fleece. It is spectacular and I am overwhelmed with their thoughtful gift. Can't wait to wear it. The attached photo does not show the true beauty of the weave and the colors.

Christine and I drove to the mill to get my yarn and roving for MD Sheep and Wool. I'll be in a frenzy dying skeins for the next two weeks but the yarn is beautiful and the roving is awesome. Christine treated me to lunch for my birthday. This day just keeps getting better as the sun comes out and the pastures look lush and green.

It's Great to Be a Shepherd..Rain and All

It's raining, cold and miserable. 2 Shetlands lambed simultaneously in the exact same spot in the barn. Of course,it's impossible to sort out who belongs to whom. All lambs are nursing from both moms and both moms are licking all lambs. I put them all in a pen to let them sort things out. I know from experience that human logic never allows you to match the correct lambs and ewes so I don't try anymore. Shetland babies always make me watch in wonderment at how quickly they get up after birth and head right to the bag for milk. No bumping around in the wrong plces... straight to the teat. Pictured are one of the moms with what I think is one of hers and one from the other set.

Shetlands settled I went to the BFL barn to find Clueless baby missing. Mom was bawling but there was no sign of her ewe lamb. In the pouring rain, I searched the fields finding her under the rolling water tank in the very upper pasture. She does have enough sense to come in out of the rain but not enough to follow mom back to the barn. Again I carried her to a reunion with her mom and brother. How long is this going to take? She is so cute but still clueless. Molly and I have named her Mitzi....aka Ditzi Mitzi.

Back to the Shetlands. The sorting out isn't going so well. We still have any lamb nursing on any teat available. Still don't know who the correct momma is. Maybe by tomorrow?