Lamb Updates

The last lambs of the year were born yesterday.  Dixie had twins, a ewe and a ram. They're all healthy and doing great.














The other lambs are really getting big.

The ewe lamb on the far left is really impressing me.  She's the biggest of all of the older lambs, and she's a triplet.  I hope the kids decide to take her to the fair so I can see how she does.

Here are the three triplets together.

The Suffolk influence gives a few of these lambs an interesting face...I'm used to the woolly faces of the Southdowns and Romneys, and these lambs have woolly faces but they've got bigger patches of hair around their eyes and mouths than I'm used to.

Here's the ram, below.  He sure is a long boy.  And see how big Dixie was (in front of him) before she lambed?

Random Stuff

The sky was crazy one day a few weeks ago.

The kids 4-H club glazed ceramic piggy banks during their last meeting. The piggy banks will be fired and returned next meeting.

There's a bulk foods store near us that sells cereal marshmallows.  Cereal marshmallows in popcorn....a great invention!

We met some friends for dinner one night recently and had some delicious sushi.

I voted in the primary election. Yay for voting!

We split a beef with a few friends and this is one of the steaks. The thing was HUGE.  David and I each got about 2 meals from it.

The crop plane flew something over the fields next to our house, so I got a few good pictures.

I filled up the incubator with some eggs from my friend's hens and some from mine.  I was really excited to hatch these, because they are mostly Marans eggs (some Black Copper, some Blue Copper, Cuckoo, and Birchen).  

The eggs that weren't fertile or developing were tossed out, and the remaining eggs got put into compartments to keep the breeds separate.  Unfortunately, I didn't make the walls high enough and the chicks that are currently hatching (7 so far) are hopping all around like the cardboard is just a minor inconvenience.  

Kylee was sitting on the counter this afternoon, watching the eggs hatching and the chicks bopping around.  

I ordered these chicks (above) from the local feed store.  I got an assortment: 6 Ameraucanas, 5 Welsummers, 2 Speckled Sussex, and 2 Cochins.  The Cochins came in an assortment of colors, and I was so excited that there were 2 blues available. I've wanted Blue Cochins for a long time, so I scooped those two up so fast!  Some of these chicks are going to a friend, and I think I may end up selling some, because I'm running out of room in my coop!

Woolly Stuff

I've knitted a few fun things lately and wanted to show them. First up is Oink, by Susan B. Anderson.  It's the cutest little flying pig!  I love how it turned out.  

A while back I found Susan B. Anderson's reversible patterns.  I knit the little Egg-to-Turtle a few months ago.

 












This time I made the Mini-Reversible Duck to Bunny.  

They're such fun little patterns and take hardly any time at all to knit up!  You have to like fiddly things though, because some of the pieces can be a bit fiddly.

Remember the roving I dyed with Easter egg dye?  I spun it and it turned out really well, if I do say so myself.  I ended up spinning up the colored roving and some white roving, then plying them together.  Stripes!  I really enjoyed the dyeing part, and I can see a lot of that in my future!

Sheared

The dark lamb is Barley's, a triplet and a ram.

Barley's lamb, the only ewe of the trio.  She's the biggest lamb of all 5, and a nice looking girl.

The lamb above on the left (Split Ear) is Darla's ram lamb.  He lost his tag. The one on the right is Barley's ram lamb.

Darla on the left, and Dixie on the right. It's harder to tell them apart now they're sheared.  Dixie has another couple of weeks until she lambs.

Barley, above.

Darla left, Dixie right.

Dragline, the ram. He could use some fattening up this summer.  He's grown height and lengthwise, but now he needs to fill out.

Split Ear

Darla's ewe lamb above (right).