Back at the Library

Hi again--library, same story. This was funny--Emily and I went home from the library on that sunny Wednesday afternoon, and from the driveway, could see Little Red Oak Malicious (oops, Mallow) bending over and licking a brown lamb clean. It was a lovely day, so we waited for her to finish up outside-- and she did, delivering a second ram a few minutes later.

Then we noticed her grandma, HH Bluebell, groaning on her side on the lawn nearby. We jugged Mallow and sons (both brown, one with white tufts behind the ears and cheeks) and gave Bluebell a few minutes. She can only produce Ag or Awt lambs, so. . . a brown (musket, then) ewe popped out first, a big girl, with white tracery around her head, identical to her older sister, Yarrow-- and then, a white ram lamb. My first white lamb! Same brown speckled legs and face and tail tip, like his mother. The fleece is what Bluebell's all about, and I just don't know, yet, about these two. The musket ewe is curlier than big sis, Yarrow, and the white ram has super-soft curls, but not tight.
So it will be exciting to see them both grow up and develop.
Library's closing, gotta go!

Lambs all around and I Can't Blog

Lambing, and I can't blog. . .
Grrr, how frustrating.
Something about cookies being disabled, blah blah-- I am so mad at my computer. I am at the library today, accessing my blog remotely.
But my photos are at home on that computer, so they will be added when I figure out Blogger's persnickety problem. (I DID! on Friday, 4/26!)

We've had some lovely lambs over the past 5 days. Things began on Friday night, 11pm. JustaLit'l Sarah produced twin boys. She has a (locally)favored fawn fleece, and one son is milk chocolate colored (fawn, I'd say) while one is dark chocolate (moorit). One has tight little curls in his fleece, I think the milk chocolate guy. One has a tiny white spot on his head (indicating spotted recessive gene? We can hope.) They're tall, good looking boys.


The next day, Little Red Oak April had another set of brown twins, but one is M and one is F. Adorable, friendly and approachable lambs from Day 1. Now bouncing around in the field.
Sunday was a day of rest, and then:
Monday,
1am, Little Red Oak Yarrow delivered two ewe lambs: one a moorit HST, the other a musket with white tracery all over her head. Yay! Looking just as Yarrow did 2 years ago. And their fleece looks curlier, too-- Yarrow's is only wavy, but very thick.


6am, Amy twinned, 2 more fawn/moorit rams, just like Amy's mother, Justalit'l Sarah.

6pm, just before the thunderstorm began, Ferah produced black twins, M&F.
More about that later.

Tuesday, little yearling Abby produced a little spotted ram.

Now, waiting for the next wave (and ready to fall asleep at this computer.
So I'll sign off and come back when I am not SOOO SLEEPY.
Happy Spring, all.

Still waiting for Spring, and lambs. . .

But we got the shearing done, last Sunday! Here's a photo of Little Red Oak Mullein's fleece.
He's the son of Highland Hollows Bluebell and Little Red Oak Frazier; I posted photos of him and spotty Alex together in a field, last November. Mullein is light gray and apparently inherited a significant part of Bluebell's wonderful, crimpy fleece. So I was happy to see the fleece at shearing day-- he is not one to let me sidle up to him for a look just anytime, you see. He keeps his distance.

I can't go further without saying a word about our old Jake-kitty, who passed away this week. On Thursday, my daughter and I sat weeping in the vet's office with our big, white, purring kitty in our lap, waiting while all the other cute little dogs and cats of Norwood got taken care of. I think we gave all the other folks pause, but it seemed as natural as rain to do what we did. We'd already seen the vet and knew we had a decision to make-- and after holding him quietly that long time, we let him go. . . and now there's one less white kitty at Little Red Oak Farm.

So here's a memorial photo of a fine kitty, with his favorite girl.


And now on with the weekend, and when the lambs start coming here next week, I'll write about every one.