Farmer + Sheep + Lamb

Here's my Farmer working hard feeding hay to the sheep and lambs in the pole barn. This is a never ending job two to three times a day. It's good he doesn't mind repetition because this is a daily physical grind. 

Here are some more lamb and sheep photos from the barn. Lambs in all sizes!

I put up a second post earlier today with more process photos of my Knitted Farm Project from my World Knits PDF Collection's Ethnic Gift Collection. Check it out if you are interested in watching the progress. 

Late February Lambing Update

We've got one day left in February - and it is a gift of an extra day. Do you have any plans to celebrate Leap Day? 

Lambs are still being born down at the barns. We are up to 98 lambs and still expecting more. Lambing has been slower than in past years but that has made it easier on The Farmer. I'm happy to say he is able to do all his chores by himself and is feeling much better than the past couple years. This winter, He has a young woman named Hannah helping him a few days a week. She purchased her own sheep last fall and has never gone through a lambing season yet. She is getting lots of practical knowledge. She has a veggie CSA in the summer and her Mom has an on-farm bakery. You can check out her lovely website Every Day Farm here. 

As you can see from today's photos, the lambs are all different sizes. There are new borns and lambs that are over 8 weeks old. It is amazing how fast they grow. Generally, a single lamb will grow much faster than a twin because its mama's milk is only feeding one baby. Male lambs generally grow faster than females. Because harvesting lambs is a size thing, generally the male lambs are ready for processing much quicker than the females. We harvest the lambs at around 100 lbs. The first of this winter's lambs should be ready in June. 

Generally, we do not keep any of the male lambs because of problems with in-breeding. We do keep a large percentage of the females as replacement ewe stock. Of course this depends on how many ewes we want to run in our flock. When The Farmer was under the weather two summers ago with bad hips, surgery and recovery, I had to cut down the number of ewes because I couldn't handle it all myself. I'm not sure what his target number of sheep is at them moment - I'm afraid to ask! At last count last fall at shearing, there were 165 adults. It's a lot of mouths to feed. I can't imagine the farmers in Australia who have 20,000 sheep. 

We've had some crazy weather - swings from 1 degree up to 60 degrees and back down. Mud season has come and gone a few times. When it comes back each time, I hold my breath that I will get up the hill. Living on a dirt road has its challenges. You can't imagine how muddy and mucky it is at our barns when the ice melts and it turns into a quagmire. Muck boots are definitely needed. 

This is the manure pile that the lambs like to climb up and down from. In a few weeks, they will be using it as a launching point as they fly off it during the nightly lamb races. I hope to get a video of that, if I am lucky. I haven't been able to catch those events the last few years. All that manure came out of the barn in December and after this year is over, there will be the same amount. Once it breaks down and composts, The Farmer will spread it on his hay fields. 

We have two barns for the sheep - our original greenhouse barn and a wooden pole barn across the farm lane. The Farmer would love another greenhouse barn because it is so much more pleasant to work in and nice and warm for the sheep and lambs. That isn't in the budget though so he makes do. When a ewe has twin lambs on the pole barn side, he moves them into the greenhouse. The photo above is of the ewes in the pole barn. 

We are starting to think about the upcoming Farmers Market season. I attended a meeting for the Amherst Farmers Market last week. It was nice to see all my fellow vendors. I'm not looking forward to getting up a 4:45 on Saturdays but I am looking forward to seeing my customers! I've been designing new tea towels for the upcoming season. I have to get to my pottery making too. So much to do! 

I hope you have a nice Leap Weekend! 

Lamb Cuteness

Ever since I got a newer phone a couple summers ago I haven't been picking up my DSLR camera too often. It's big and bulky and isn't in my pocket. When I've been at the barn lately, I've only had my phone with me. Although it takes decent photos, I knew it wasn't doing justice to the cuteness of the lambs. I dug out my DSLR and then spent days looking for the lens that takes nice close-ups of the lambs. I finally found it. That's what happens when you have an Open House at your place! I put things away in safe places and then can't find them when I need them. I'm still looking for my extra battery - do not have any idea where that is. Maybe I will find it one day. 

At any rate, here are some nice photos of the lambs. It is amazing how fast they grow and change in their looks. The first ones were born just before New Year's Eve and lambing has been slower than normal. This morning there were 4 born. We are up to almost 70 which is much less than we normally have at the beginning of February. So many of the ewes are not quite a year old yet and they may not lamb this year or they may lamb as late as April.



We've had an unexpected snowstorm today. We were supposed to get an inch and now there is at least five. Makes it all look pretty. It is supposed to be very cold this week. 

Have a good week everyone and enjoy the lamb photos. As always, if you want to use these photos as screen savers or to paint a picture - that is fine with me. 

Look how huge this one is. It is a single (I can tell by the blue number on its side) and most likely a boy. 

If you haven't followed along during lambing season, you are probably wondering about the painted numbers and the stripes on the lambs and ewes. The number is the order the lamb was born in. Both the mamas and babies get the same number. If she had twins, the number is green; if she had singles, the number is blue. 

The stripe down the back gives the 2 week period the lamb was born. First 2 weeks it was blue. Second 2 weeks it was green. Now we are onto purple. 

The paint we use is a spray paint that washes out. Normally it fades away with the weather. By April, there is barely any colors on the sheep. 

This little lamb is not nearly as scared of me as some of the others. When I am taking photos, I always find it calmly staring at me. It is part Suffolk - I can tell because of the speckles on its face and legs. We have a cross-bred ram that has some Suffolk in him so some of the ewes have this speckling. 

Sweet New Lambs

I got to the barn the other day and this mama had just delivered a beautiful set of twin lambs. It looks a bit gory but that is the afterbirth that comes out after a ewe has delivered. 

Here are a couple of close-ups. Nice healthy babies. They are in their own pen now and in a couple days they get let out to fun with the others. 

And here are some of the older lambs. Such a size difference quickly in the beginning.

We are up to 49 lambs so far with many more to come. We are having a break in the cold weather. All the snow has melted. That is good and bad because it does get disgustingly muddy when the ice starts to melt. Our dirt road has been in such terrible shape there have been times when I didn't know if we would get home. This too shall pass but it seems like we have had a lot of melts this winter and then back into the freeze. Still a couple months to go but I am looking forward to seeing signs of sugaring season coming soon. 

From 2019 to 2020 - Happy New Year and Decade

A new year .... a new decade too. If that doesn't cause some reflection and thinking forward with hopes and dreams, I don't know what will. Welcome 2020 here to Leyden Glen Farm. 

Just before the turn of 2019 into 2020, we welcomed a new set of twin lambs. If there is one thing I have been thankful for living on a sheep farm, it is the yearly calendar that keeps it all real and turning over and over again from season to season and year to year. We are going into our 21st year living here on our farm. It is hard to believe - two decades seems like a long time. 

Our year on the farm is quite dependable. Lambs come in mid-winter and it keeps my Farmer very busy and on his toes feeding animals, watching over birthing ewes, researching maladies and sheep obstetrics, and more. He is feeling so much better physically after the hip replacement surgeries of the past two years. It is fantastic to see him bending over, picking up hay, and actually thinking towards the future about how he can keep this all going so his body doesn't fail him. I'm hoping he makes some good choices but you know men -- can't tell them anything! 

He is really enjoying watching the sheep farming videos by Sandi Brock in Canada. She has a YouTube channel which has 101,000 subscribers. Evidently many people are interested in sheep farming. She keeps it very real and talks about all the things that happen on a farm including some of the sad and dirty parts that most on-line sheep farmers don't show on their IG feeds. I appreciate this because so much of livestock farming is so different than what the public perceives it to be or let's say wants it to be. 

We wish you a Happy and Healthy 2020 -- and beyond. 

Fruits of my Labors

Here's a sneak peek of the small vases that just came out of the gloss firing in my kiln. I will be debuting them on Saturday at the Amherst Farmers Market in our Leyden Glen Lamb booth. The hours are 8 to 1:30. I'll try to take some photos of the set-up so you can see how the vases are displayed.  

I ordered a small wooden display rack from this shop on Etsy. It looks like mini stairs and was designed for selling homemade soaps which are a brisk mover at many farmers markets. I made sure that all my vases would fit on the stairs. It is very well made and was ready for paint. I painted it yesterday and it is all set to go tomorrow. 

Here's a close-up of some of the vases. This is all a grand experiment. At this point I don't plan to put any of them on-line but we shall see. I've got to concentrate getting more work done for the Garlic and Arts Festival at the end of September. 

Have a great weekend everyone and maybe I will see some of you tomorrow. 

Lambs + Big News! with Reflections

I'll share the Big News first. After a month and more of working tirelessly, I have a new website! Ohhhhh - I have been dying to share it with you all. It went live this weekend. Hop on over and check it out here. 

I hope you like it, find it somewhat informational, and also easy to navigate. I have known for a while that I needed to do something about my website. This is the 3rd iteration of kristinnicholas.com - the 1st was in 2002, the 2nd was in 2013 and now the 3rd is in 2019. Boy have things changed. 

1. My first website was mostly an info only site built by my friend Lori Gayle. It had a couple of patterns for sale via something called Payloadz. This was before Ravelry came along. The first site lasted a very long time -- eleven years! - I am amazed to reflect on that for sure. 

2. My second website was built by my friend Mary Hager. She did it just before my Craftsy class launched in something called Cold Fusion. The purpose of the site was informational and also commerce driven. I would be able to sell the Crewel Embroidery Supplies for my Craftsy (now Bluprint) class on-line. That site was built just before everything went mobile and it was very serviceable but I couldn't easily change things myself. That site lasted six years. 

3. This third website was built by ME! on a platform call Big Cartel. I interviewed 3 different shopping platforms - Shopify, Squarespace and Big Cartel. I went with Big Cartel because it seemed to be artist friendly. Also, when I sent them questions, they answered sometimes within an hour. There were several themes to chose from and I chose one that I thought was easily navigable. They also have a sliding fee scale so that if my number of products changes, the monthly fee can be adjusted. 

So that is my big news. Check out the new site here and if you have any comments or critiques, I am glad to hear them. The website has categories and you can search by "newest" and "most popular" items. At the bottom of the left hand column, I have added several pages that are informational. 

Now - on to the lambs....... They are still coming - maybe not as fast as a couple weeks ago but still being born. We had snow and ice this week so it is a bit treacherous at the barns now. These photos were taken when the last batch of snow had melted. I'm not sure if you have noticed but many of the lambs still have tails. The Farmer decided to only "tail" the females. We have many Muslim customers and they will only purchase male lambs. Last year we discovered that they prefer lambs with tails. Always learning. 

Just born that morning outside in the sun.

This little lamb has the craziest ears - they curl backward. Never seen anything like it. She is very vocal too.

Nice set of twins with a very attentive mother.

Outside on top of ye olde manure pile. 

This little guy was loving the sun. 

Mama and one of the older lambs on top of ye olde manure pile.

I hope you all are having a nice weekend. Maybe you have the day off tomorrow. Lucky you! I have some more news to share tomorrow so pop on back then. 

More from Lambing 2019 + Happy Valentine's Day

Here are some photos I took over the last couple weeks at the lambing barns. 

There is something so reassuring about little lambs and mamas together - watching the mamas take care of the new ones.... watching them grow and flourish and become teen lambs... moving them out onto pastures to see them grow larger and figure out the world they are born into.  

Enjoy everyone and I hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Brand new twins. 

Another brand new lamb.

Getting ready to feed one of the big bales inside the barn. 

Gotta be careful with that big tractor. 

Those twins from the first photo outside on their second day. 

  

Triplets.

Nice cushiony bed.