WOOLLYSHIRE'S BAAAAd EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

February 15, 2020 Woolly

WoollyShire’s BAAAAd Employee of the Month is Donuts.

To be a BAAAAd Employee, one must truly excel on holding one’s own under pressure, lend a helping hand and cause just enough mischief to not anger others.

Donuts is an unsung hero of WoollyShire. He goes to work when most are heading to bed. He is a guardian dog who does it all for belly rubs and two square meals a day.

Here are a few of Donut’s admirable qualities:

Adult man barker
Fills the air with fluff
Not so secret admirer of deer
Holder downer of straw
Britches’ role model
Prized vole hunter
Layer downer eater of food
Perfected ignoring Britches’ antics
Guardian of sheep
Can recognize up to 100 faces
Wants a kitty cat of his own
Prefers belly rubs
Groomer of Freddy D’s handsome mug
Member of the Night Watch

After reading that impressive list, I am certain you can understand why he is WoollyShire’s BAAAAd Employee of the Month. For being our BAAAAd Employee of the Month, he will receive no additional compensation-only more demands from Lady Puddin’ Pop.

Enjoy past photos of Donuts on WoollyShire Farm!

A COUPLE WEEKS IN REVEWE: MAY 26-JUN 8

June 9, 2019 Woolly

Life on WoollyShire has changed. Sweet Pea aka Barky McBARCington passed away. I have felt her absence especially when doing chores. She always followed and even at 15 1/2 years old never seemed to tire of spending time outside unlike my old dog, Peanut, who takes lots of breaks. Sweet Pea enjoyed barking to let me know it was time to eat and to throw her some kibble for a little treat & hunt.

Tried my hand at making yogurt with sheep’s milk…turned out to be more like milk instead of yogurt. Sure it tasted like yogurt but its consistency made it hard to eat with a spoon. I will try again and let it ‘set’ for longer.

Donuts & Britches went to the vet. Donuts back leg has been bothering him for a little while. First, we thought he might have a sprain but as the weeks panned on, it was not better. X-rays confirmed he did not have any broken bones so he likely has a tear in his ligaments. So extra rest and some inflammatory meds are in his future for healing.

Britches had his first puppy visit complete with vaccinations and treats. It took him all of two minutes to warm up to his new pals with the use of biscuits. Working for food, he soared through his visit with little to no apprehension. Both dogs were pooped and ready to nap in the barn.

The chickens are upset with us. The garden is officially closed to them and open to vegetables, fruits and flowers. Negotiating with mini dinosaurs is a challenge. I convinced the omnivores of the future bounties of fresh vegetable bars coming their way. They demanded hard delivery dates but I was able to divert them with a slice of fresh watermelon.

As if closing the garden to them for the growing season was not harsh enough, we have integrated all of the different groups of chickens together. After weeks of slow introduction, the teenager chicks have moved to Cluckingham as well as Team Kevin & Team Checks. All parties have moved in rather peacefully.

Enjoy a couple weeks in revewe!

Going to need a bigger hay feeder inside the barn!

A WEEK IN REVEWE: MAY 19-MAY 25

May 26, 2019 Woolly

The Great Hatch of 2019 kicked off this past Sunday. Competition was fierce and stakes were high. Team Checks swept Team Kevin with a ONE chick win! Team Checks hatched two chicks while Team Kevin hatched only one. Both teams are demanding an investigation on whether Old Man Jernigan’s roosters are on roids because the fertility of the eggs given were lacking.

Farm life hurts. Parfait the Grand Mouser decided to play cards in the road and lost. Stripes & Parfait work the night shift and when I come down in the mornings, they are ready to clock out and come inside. However, Stripes was the only one on the back porch so I did chores and looked for Parfait. Unfortunately, she was no match for a vehicle.

On Monday, I left for a work trip to New York City. I have been a few times before and I was excited to meet up with my pal from Dallas. Her and I toured around the city on Monday evening and then ventured on to a self-proclaimed selfie tour on Tuesday morning before the work on our project began. Wednesday, we rode a subway and traveled to a new state for me, New Jersey. I made a lot of friends and talked incessantly about the farm. Pretty sure Belinda started hearing the same stories over and over as we met new folks! #SorryNotSorry Tommy kept all the animals and plants alive while I was gone. However, I saw Puddin Pop sigh in relief when she saw me.

In less than 15 hours of arriving home, I was saying goodbye to Tommy for his ULTIMATE bro weekend-The Indy 500! Him and his pals have a RV campsite, no access to showers, and tickets to the race. I can only imagine the farting, burping and sticky sweat going on there.

So what have I been doing on this holiday weekend…I began harvesting peas. I got about a half a cup yesterday and have a few more pods left to mature. I learned that I should plant more peas in the future if I want any to stock the freezer! I watched a few movies, moved Checks to a pen with her two new chicks, and just lounged around.

While I do miss Parfait, life is good on the farm. Cheers!

Team Kevin-What do I do with this thing?

Trying to make me homesick with selfies like this

Lavender on the left-Potato tower on the right

A WEEK IN REVEWE: APR 21-APR 27

April 28, 2019 Woolly

Puddin Pop and I are working on our rhythm for milking. As if someone was about to steal her cornbread, she gobbles her grain up so fast that I barely have had enough time to begin milking. Slowing down a millisecond, I have been able to milk about a pint each day.

Oh the possibilities with fresh milk! I made banana ice cream, half & half and drank the rest of it. I pulled out recipes for butter and cheese for next week. This isn’t milk related…I made mayonnaise from fresh eggs as well. It will keep for a week and the creaminess was heavenly.

Tommy installed an electric hoist to replace the manual pulley system for getting hay down from the loft. Weighing in at 60-90 lbs, the bales practically tried to take me down with them with the pulley system. And boy, what a workout trying to pull one of those suckers into the loft for storage! But now with our new fandangled technology, my death defying acts are finished. I no longer dread getting hay down from the loft.

Enjoy our WEEK IN REVEWE!

Donuts & Hamburger discussing the pros & cons of tennis ball tossing & frisbee tossing

A WEEK IN REVEWE: APR 14-APR 20

April 21, 2019 Woolly

Mr. T getting his fill from his mom, Marmalade

I don’t want to jinx anything but I think spring is finally here. The regular barn swallow inhabitants have checked into their rooms in the barn and most nights stay in the low 50s. Time to really dig into the garden and wage war on weeds next to my tomato plants.

Monday kicked off for the adult sheep with a nice shearing session from Southern Grit Shearing Services. What would have taken us days to shear took them about an hour with setup, chatting, feeding peanuts to the ladies and actually shearing. With their baggage dropped off, the woollies look like awkward teenagers without all the drama. What a relief to have that task checked off the list!

Donuts did not want to be outdone by the sheep so he made a trip to Nansemond Veterinary Clinic for a sprained ankle. At the vet’s office, he laid in the lap of all who would let him as long as they ran their fingers through his luxurious locks. Last summer he weighed 115 lbs. and this time, he weighed in at 121 lbs. He enjoyed the car ride but was very happy to be back in the field with his charges.

We managed to get the weed block off of one of the squares in the potager garden. We piled the mulch high and plan to plant this square within the week.

Enjoy this edition of ‘A Week in Revewe’!

String Bean was first up for some ramscaping

All the Single Ladies & Ralph in the back

3 WEEKS IN REVEWE: MAR 24-APR 13

April 14, 2019 Woolly

I will lamb when I am ready to…Banana Pop

What a whirlwind the last 3 weeks have been! Lambing season at WoollyShire has come to an end. I just have to keep these buggers alive. The season ended with a grand total of 7 lambs (4 girls and 3 boys). The flock has grown to a robust 13.

Banana Pop was the last to pop and she lambed before I woke. My normal morning routine is to let the dogs out for the usual business and then walk over to the barn to make sure no sheep are hanging from the rafters. I saw a lamb laying by Banana Pop and thought to myself, well, isn’t that cute..one of the lambs is hanging out with Banana Pop. As if getting hit over the head with a shovel, my light bulb turned on and I realized that Banana Pop had a lamb. Having no clue as to where we were at in the lambing process, I ran back inside and hollered, “Banana Pop is having babies. This is not a drill.”

Grabbing all of my recently sanitized gear, I ran back to the barn and sat on a straw bale in my llama pajama pants waiting to see where we were at in the process. Anti-climatic…Banana Pop and her mini me just sat there looking back at us. Another shovel must have hit me in the head because I realized there was nothing to see here. Banana Pop had finished lambing and she did not need any shepherd’s assistance. HOORAY! She must have lambed over an hour ago because the baby was already beginning to dry off and was in a milk coma. Tommy and I weighed the female lamb of 11 lbs. and settled them into the lambing jug with grain, alfalfa hay and molasses water.

That morning I finished up feeding all of the other woolly & feathered friends and made myself breakfast. Washing up after the excitement, I became flushed with emotion and cried. Not ugly crying but tears of accomplishment. Four years ago, I began my journey of trying to figure out if I was enamored by sheep or if I truly desired to have sheep. Bringing any animal home should never be because of infatuation. I did my research by attending a sheep workshop, dragging Tommy along to interview local farms, and deciding on what type of sheep is the sheep for me.

Before the sheep workshop, I had never handled sheep. Often I am asked WHY SHEEP? Well, they aren’t too big-I am only 5’2” so the intimidation factor is lessened. My sheep are dairy sheep and I love milk and cheese. And something about a sheep’s personality rang true to me-not too personable at first but always interested in food. Sounds like I should have been a sheep!

I am sure I did some other stuff the past 3 weeks. Plotted out the potager garden, dreamed about lambs, broke out the weed eater, acquired 7 baby chicks, baked my first homemade loaf of bread, set up a shearing date for the sheep, procrastinated and saw the Barn Swallows move back into the barn to have summertime babies.

Besides hanging out with lambs, my next week will be filled with gardening and devising ways to keep the chickens out of the garden!

Happy Gardening, pals!

Hard to tell if Donuts is excited about his new charges!

How many lambs in this photo? I counted 6.

Marmalade with her 2 lambs, Sugar Cookie & brother

Front Page News...Puddin' Pop finally POPS

March 31, 2019 Woolly

Puddin’ Pop does not conform to any set of ideals I have in mind for her. She is a rowdy gal who has taught me not to bend too low with my hair in a ponytail unless I want a good ponytail yank. She loves a good back scratch. With her, I have learned several lessons in shepherding when it comes to assisting with lambing and milking. I always know when it is feeding time because her bleating can be heard in the back of the woods. If you can’t tell yet, she is not a bump on a log.

So why would her lambing be any different this year? Don’t worry, Puddin’ did not disappoint. Lambing has occurred at night this season. I am not talking 5 o’clock in the evening…nah, more like 8 at night and beyond. I could hear her bleating inside my house and I was trying to get my warm work clothes on as fast as possible. I nearly hit my head on the lavatory trying to get on my wool socks.

If you have been following along with the other lambings, 30 minute timer was set when I officially confirmed the water bag had presented itself. Two hooves and a lamb muzzle appeared but unfortunately she did not progress as she should. Tommy guided her on her side against his lap while I suited up with gloves and lube. Right after this moment, if someone stepped out of their home-the noise coming from Puddin’ Pop would send you over to see what in tarnation was going on. She bleated & bleated while I lubed around the behemoth of a lamb. I pulled in a downward arc as she pushed. The struggle was getting the baby out past the eye part of the skull. If we didn’t make more progress soon, I would have to cut the opening to give her a little more room. Whew! No cutting necessary and out came a 13 lb. girl lamb. This lamb looked like a giraffe with gangly legs and long body. 13 lbs. is the largest lamb ever delivered at WoollyShire. The girl giraffe was up in 7 minutes and cruising for a teat. As if trying to break a lambing record in 10 minutes from the first delivery, the water bag had presented itself. Game on! Here comes the 2nd lamb.

In true Puddin’ Pop fashion, this wasn’t going to be easy either. One leg came out about 4 inches like an earthworm coming out of the ground. I thought to myself…that is weird and I knew in my heart it wasn’t right. Then the one leg was sucked back in. I read my book for guidance and waited the 30 minutes. Alas, no progress just bleating distress. Maybe I should have intervened sooner instead of telling myself that maybe the lamb was readjusting.

Tommy held her while she stood. Before I went in, I said trembling, “I don’t know if I can do this. If the lamb’s heads is turned around-I am going to have to push the lamb all the way back in and adjust. We might have to call a vet.” If you know Tommy, he doesn’t always have a lot to say and the best thing he could do was not say a word. Right after I said that, I got on the ground and started to feel around on how the lamb was positioned.

Feeling around in a sheep’s birth canal is similar to reaching around on the side of your car seat while driving looking for the chapstick you dropped. Adrenaline coursing, I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears. I felt the lamb’s head and it was not turned around. Now I have to find the other front leg and make sure the one leg that was reaching out was actually a front leg. I found the front leg that was tucked back further. It seemed to be caught on the birth canal. I don’t remember how I got it loose. It popped out and met the other leg as soon it loosened. Now the head needs to catch up with the legs. And we are back on track, I pulled in a downward arc as she pushed. This lamb came out with more ease than the first girl lamb. In no time, a 10 lb. boy lamb was out and up in 7 minutes looking to nurse.

Armed with warm molasses water and alfalfa hay, Puddin’ was ravished. She cleaned her lambs while snacking. Due to the labored births, the amniotic fluid was orangey which is a sign of a hard or long delivery. It also made the two lambs resemble giraffes! Tommy and I waited for the boy lamb to nurse and for the afterbirth to present itself. Not for lack of trying or shepherd assistance the boy had not nursed for almost an hour. That was my cue to get the bottle ready and to milk Puddin’. GREAT…she totally loved being milked last summer (not really).

We were able to milk her with Tommy holding her and the boy got right on the bottle without much hesitation. And his milk coma soon followed. We waited to see if he would nurse on his own however his milk coma had him out for the long haul. The afterbirth had begun to present itself so we loaded the single mother and her two lambs into the lambing jug where they will spend three days bonding and resting.

When I came out the next morning, the boy lamb was nursing on his own and Puddin’ had practically eaten all of her hay. I learned valuable lessons and came to the realization of two harsh truths that night. I will not be breeding Freddy D and Puddin’ Pop again because after two seasons of two hard lambings-maybe Freddy D is too big of a ram for Puddin’. I will breed Puddin’ with a smaller ram this fall but if the same difficult lambing takes place, I will hang up Puddin’s lambing days and let her cause ruckus with her personality until the sheep come home. It was scary that night and I know, one of these times I will lose a lamb or sheep. I will keep trying to prevent the fateful day from coming.

Enjoy the photos of Puddin’ Pop and her two lambs. We have one lambing left and Banana Pop is not giving me any signs of when she is going to POP.

BREAKING NEWS: Marmalade lambs before Puddin' Pop

March 25, 2019 Woolly

My, Oh My! Marmalade came in for the upset.

Yesterday afternoon Marmalade was giving me the ‘Zoinks, Scoob’ eyes. I tried not to read too much into her alarmed look. You know, the look when you can’t believe what so and so said. The tell tale sign that lambing night was going to happen was when she no longer wanted her favorite snack-SHELLED PEANUTS.

Trying not to jump to conclusions, I did start checking on her from a distance every 30 minutes. So it is safe to say, I jumped to conclusions…My helicoptering shepherding paid off. She was pacing back and forth in the barn and the next time I spied on her, the water bag had presented itself. I ran back in the house just like Tommy did on Friday night and hollered, “IT’S HAPPENING!”

Tommy and I started the timer. During the lambing process, we follow the 30 minute rule. We want the lambing to progress every 30 minutes-meaning: soon to be born lamb makes it way into the world not stuck in the birth canal after the 30 minute window.

One of the coolest things I witnessed was after the water bag hit the ground, Marmalade’s new personality as a mother kicked in. She would return to the spot the water bag broke and coo in a soft chatter looking for her newborn lamb.

Some sheep stand during the lambing process, some sheep lay on their side and some do a combination of both. Marmalade is a layer. In our straw bale front row seats, we witnessed the exhausting birth of her first born. She pushed and pushed for a healthy 10 lb. jet black boy. Did I mention we had front row seats? The whole ordeal made my insides cringe. All I could think was-there is no way her birth canal is ever going back. I suddenly had ‘Zoinks, Scoob’ eyes. I didn’t have nightmares last night however, my hat is off to all the mothers out there.

Practicing self restraint, I do not intervene and help the lamb as soon as it is born. What do you do when the longest minute goes by and Marmalade is still laying there and not cooing to her lamb? Aha! Light Bulb turns ON! I had prepared for such a moment. I knew to give her a squirt of a pudding like energy boost. What! It actually worked and she was up in the next minute. As she was pulling herself together, we began assisting her boy lamb with what I like to call sticking a turkey baster up his nose and cleaning the phlegm out. I was not aggressive enough with the phlegm removal so Tommy took over. Guess who will be in charge of basting a turkey in the future…

After we felt confident about the boy lamb’s state, Tommy went inside to make warm molasses water for our ‘Can someone throw me a life line’ new mom. During what might have been 5 minutes, Marmalade arcs her head back and goes right back to laying on her side. BAM! She spit out a 6 lb. white as snow girl. It happened so fast that I had not even finished making the call to tell Tommy to come right back out.

The molasses water came in the nick of time, Marmalade slurped half the bucket down and without skipping a beat-started cleaning up her new lambs. Once a lamb is born, we start another timer. A timer for how long it takes for the newborn lamb to nurse-Ideally in the first 30 minutes but no longer than an hour. Now you have to get to that teat while your momma is cleaning you up so it can definitely be a struggle. Just think trying to walk up to the top of a down escalator. The boy had no problem nursing and was so full of energy that I felt he was sipping on the molasses water. Where was his milk coma at?

However, the 6 lb. girl was trying her hardest to nurse but couldn’t make ends meet in an hour. So we milked a little bit of colostrum from Marmalade and bottle fed it to her-jumpstarting her battery. I was unsure if this was the right call but it was for this little girl. She went into her milk coma for maybe a minute and then turned into the Energizer Bunny. She bounced all around and began nursing all on her own. Whew! What a relief!

I am happy to report both lambs are healthy and have spent most of the day napping. Marmalade is a fantastic first time mother. Tommy and I even got to bed at a halfway decent hour on Sunday night.

The verdict is still out on when Puddin’ Pop and Banana Pop are going to pop. Tongue Twister! Time will tell.

Enjoy our adventure below!

Donuts helping Marmalade with cleaning duties

Donuts standing watch over the vulnerable mother and lambs

Checking on her lambs before resting herself

A WEEK IN REVEWE: MAR 17-MAR 23

March 24, 2019 Woolly

Lambing season has begun…

By Friday morning of last week, I was sure my friends were going to give up on my ability to read the signs of lambing and begin calling me the ‘the girl who cried LAMB.’ I was confident that the Super Worm Moon was going to push a lamb out but alas, it only pushed a lot of rain into my region which hindered my ability to even see the Super Worm Moon.

Saturday, March 23rd was the expected due date/beginning of lambing season. I have been watching sheep farm friends have lambs by the truckload. The lamb bumper crops had me green with envy. Everyone knows that I was rooting for Puddin’ Pop to go first because she is the size of a small school bus and her milk bag is the fullest.

However, Tootsie’s milk bag seem to become engorged with milk overnight. Lickety-split…her milk bag was touching her back legs. Friday evening when I came home, she ate her grain and dropped her muzzle in the clover pretending to eat it. She was just smelling the clover. She pawed the ground here and there. She didn’t want her regular rump scratch. So I began the every 30 minute check on her from a distance.

At 10:15, I had practically given up. Tommy was taking the last lamb check of the night and sent me upstairs to bed. He came back in hollering like Chicken Little except the sky wasn’t falling, lambs were falling! Let me tell you, you cannot get on your warm clothes fast enough or keep your balance while doing so when you hear the words of IT’S HAPPENING!

Last year’s lambing season was my first and I had to learn on the spot on how to deliver lambs who were in difficult births. I am proud to say, I did it but would rather lambing to be less dramatic. You can read about last year’s lambing here.

Tootsie is the proud mother of two lambs. Born first was the boy at 11 lbs. and then a girl at 10 lbs. They were both up and nursing within 25-40 minutes of being born followed by milk comas. Tootsie slurped her molasses water down and finally laid down an hour and a half after her lambs did. What a relief to her shepherds.

Even though the week seem to slowly trudge on to the excitement of Friday night, Tommy and I completed the barn and the lambing jug which is totally old news compared to newborn lambs.

Now begins the infamous Puddin’ Pop Lamb Watch of 2019…

Enjoy our photos of excitement!

First lamb dropped in pasture. Donuts keeping watch.

Donuts & I waiting on the next lamb to be born

Banana Pop & Marmalade checking on their momma

Peanut’s dating profile photo

A WEEK IN REVEWE: MAR 3-MAR 9

March 10, 2019 Woolly

Dreaming about lambs and gardening. I have been watching other farms that I follow online having their lambs which is causing lamb envy. Major lamb envy…Around Daylight Savings Time last year was when Puddin’ Pop had her first lambs. And for two weeks, I cried ‘Wolf’ that she was going to lamb that I no longer believed the signs. I have not seen any signs yet!

Blast from the Past…I had a friend, who I worked with in 2002, and his family come over and give me their self-taught education on gardening in Suffolk. I ran into my old friend at a farmer’s market selling heirloom tomatoes last year. As I was beginning to plot out my spring gardening, I began to confuse myself with when and what to plant. He encouraged me to plant my potatoes and peas now as well as begin my tomatoes indoors now. Tommy and I have begun to build our potato towers and are filing them up with Yukon Gold, Red Pontiac and Kennebec. I pulled out my pea seeds and once I complete the potato towers, I will plant the peas. I always thought that peas needed to climb but my friend taught me-peas naturally spread on the ground so I am going to use them as ground cover between the towers. The advice given to me was invaluable.

I have a potager garden that is definitely on the 5 year plan to complete. I have arborvitae trees on the ends and while I could put boxwoods on the outer edge of the other ends, I have decided to plant dwarf blueberry and raspberry bushes. A lot more cost effective for the space. I could only find limited amounts of these bushes near me so I enlisted the help of a few friends to check their local stores. Which has proved to be very fruitful!

Egg production has picked up which creates excitement for me when I collect eggs in the evenings. I count out loud while the ladies watch me. The ladies are either learning to count or are helping me reinforce my counting skills. Either way, i am sure they are proud of my education!

Enjoy our week at WoollyShire Farm!

A WEEK IN REVEWE: FEB 10-FEB 16

February 17, 2019 Woolly

Spent most of the week daydreaming about what to plant in the garden this spring. I got around to perusing my favorite seed catalog and now it plagues my thoughts.

Marmalade had a clogged scent gland which was causing her to limp. She seems to be on the mend. Lambing season should be underway in five weeks so she needs to be in tip top shape.

One of the items to prepare everyone for lambing season is a good ole hoof trim. I use a tool that looks like garden shears and lop off the parts that have grown past the pad. I would say the sheep mainly agree with the process of their hooves being trimmed but getting them to the agreement stage is sort a like taming a chicken. Slippery to catch but once you got them…you can hug them and squeeze them and call them George. Not really, they might rear up their head at any moment!

When a sheep has lambs, I put them in their own private area for three days to bond-this is called a lambing jug. That big ole barn has 4 horse stalls. One stall is my potting shed. One is the feed and hay stall. Two stalls are scary and full of stuff. I have decided that I will turn one of them into a lambing jug-a nursery in a sense. Equipped with my tetanus shot, I began my journey of did I see something move clean out.

The Ladies of Cluckingham Palace are starting to come over the mountain of hiatus and laid 7 eggs in one day. Now if the sun would stop hiding behind the clouds, the strike would really be over.

Oh and guess what….It rained. Thank you for joining me.

Have fun…

WoollyShire's BAAAAd Employee of the Month

February 6, 2019 Woolly

WoollyShire’s BAAAAd Employee of the Month is Tommy.

To be a BAAAAd Employee, one must truly excel on holding one’s own under pressure, lend a helping hand and cause just enough mischief to not anger others.

Tommy was a tremendous helping hand when my schedule had me away from the farm more than usual. Heck, he cooked dinner a few nights. The biggest miracle of all is he managed to get zero vehicles stuck in the mud in January.

Here are a few of Tommy’s admirable qualities:

Bee soother
Sweet tea aficionado
Excellent builder of animal enclosures
Can head butt a sheep without getting a headache
Stockpiler of firewood and sometimes gets upset if the pile diminishes too quickly
Can’t pass up a mound of free wood chips
Loud sigher
Loves hanging with chicks
Haggles on tools at yard sales
Sheep shearing machine
Professional digger of holes
Probably has a tool for it but has to find it first

Enjoy past photos of Tommy on WoollyShire Farm!

A WEEK IN REVEWE: JAN 27-FEB 2

February 3, 2019 Woolly

The chatter online was all about the polar vortex. The blustery chill was here in Suffolk but it was nothing compared to farms I follow online. I watched folks moving chickens into their garage. Chickens were knocking items off of shelves and having a real home wrecker of a party! If I had to put the Ladies of Cluckingham in the garage, I would not expect anything less than the chickens plowing through the garage door with the lawnmower.

The finishing of the attic is nearing its end. Who knows…I may actually pack up Christmas soon. Our cool neighbors came over with their ditch witch and helped us dig a ditch for the last piece to the automatic gate opener. The last piece is a magnet that detects vehicles leaving and opens up the gate automatically.

Seven weeks left until our first round of lambs! The ladies are filling out their wool suits nicely. During the last 8 weeks is when the lamb is built in the womb. Meaning: high demands of energy and protein are needed by the mother for a healthy lamb and easy birth. Sometimes getting energy and protein correct is a tricky business but I am working on it. So far…so good.

Toodles…

Did EWE know?

January 30, 2019 Woolly

Donuts, the livestock guardian dog, is part Akbash and part Great Pyrenees. As a livestock guardian dog (LGD), he can catalog up to 100 familiar faces. He is a full-time member of his flock. At the ripe age of 2, he has a skilled approach in detecting and deterring predators.

By having a LGD, I can get a good night’s sleep because nighttime is Donuts’ primetime.

A WEEK IN REVEWE: JAN 20-JAN 26

January 27, 2019 Woolly

What a roller coaster of temperatures! Two days were randomly in the 60s, Freddy D was laying out working on bleaching his wool. Then four hours later, the temperature had plunged back to freezing. The hard freeze interrupted the chicken’s training for a Tough Mudder race. We moved straight past the summer sports to the winter games. Next up, Sheep on Ice!

Tommy had a business meeting in New Orleans during the week. When Tommy goes out of town, I totally bachelor it up. I am talking no dishes until right before he comes back (Who am I kidding? I hardly do the dishes when he is home.) I dedicate my bachelor time to perfecting my Dagwood sandwich, playing Destiny 2 with my brother, Joshua, and never getting the items completed that I promised myself I would do while he was away. In the words of my favorite cartoon character, Garfield, “It’s not a pretty life but somebody has to live it.”

I finally took down the Christmas decorations in the front yard. I have started to assemble the Christmas pieces inside to pack away. You could say, I procrastinated. Tommy has been working on completing an attic space for the storage of our decorations. I mainly get on the ladder and let him know he is doing a great job. Because HE IS.

We are officially in the final 8 weeks to lambing season. Puddin’ Pop, Tootsie, Banana Pop and Marmalade are sheepspectin’. Will they have singles, twins, triplets or more? Only time will tell.

Enjoy the photos from WoollyShire Farm.

Lamb Announcement: Twin Boys

March 13, 2018 Woolly

The night was cold. I mean, real cold for coastal Virginia. Around 5 p.m., snowflakes larger than chicken eggs were pelting through the evening sky. In a swift four hours, the snow had accumulated to three inches. What happened to the 70 degree weather a couple of weeks ago? Oh, Punxsutawney Phil had it right about his prediction of 6 more weeks of winter.

Earlier in the day, Lady Puddin' Pop was not interested in her usual treat of peanuts. I thought to myself that it was a sign. Over the last two weeks, I had seen so many signs about her getting ready to lamb that I began to label myself as a failed astrologer.

When I came out to feed Puddin' and Tootsie, labor was in full force. The water bag had presented itself, Puddin' was bleating the sky was falling and she kept pawing at the straw to build a nest. I have never ran back inside so fast to get my real farmer overalls on in my life. Gasping for breath, I wrestled with the legs of my overalls and called Tommy to tell him the news. Of course, Tommy was out of town. Practically the story of my life but we will save that for another day.

I ran back inside several times from the barn to gather my just in case lambing supplies and my trusty lambing manual that a fellow shepherdess said she couldn't live without. After 45 minutes of slow progression of birth of the first lamb, I knew I had to get in there to assist Puddin'. Tootsie was doing great at moral support but she lacked the ability to hold Puddin' so I called my neighbor, Madame Barnmorska, to see if the offer still stood on helping me lamb. The cards were in my favor, she was over in ten minutes.

After reading the section to Madame Barnmorska about how we were going to go about this, we suited up our hands, grabbed the towels and pulled the first lamb in a downward arc. Now the first lamb was presented correctly but Puddin' needed human intervention to get him out the rest of the way. Puddin' got right in there and started cleaning her baby up while cooing to him. He was up and about in less than 10 minutes. I stripped her teats of the wax plug and the colostrum was flowing.

Everything seemed to be going great and then she started to show signs that she was in labor again. 30 minutes passed....45 minutes passed...no progression but 1 little hoof. There should have been two little hooves. Back to the lambing manual.

Suiting up with OB gloves and a lot of OB lube, I felt around for the other leg while Puddin' made bleats of how she was going to bite me next time I gave her a peanut. I never felt the other leg in the high stress situation. So we went back to the manual and it instructed us on how we could deliver with one leg forward as long as the head was forward as well.

Two hands in, I wiggled the leg that I could see and reached in to find the other leg which happened to just be sitting farther back with hoof facing forward towards me. Wiggling, pulling downward and worried if this lamb was still alive, the lamb came out with another hard, bleatin' push from Puddin' Pop. The second lamb was alive and breathing. Momma got right to it with cleaning him up.

Exhausted, wet and cold, Madame Barnmorska and I stood in awe. But the shivering of the lambs was a big concern. We moved them to the jug (a bonding pen for mother and lambs) and suited the boys with sweaters compliments of Peanut the dog.

We waited for signs the lambing was over. As the afterbirth started to appear, I was relieved because if there was another complicated birth I felt my luck was running out on saving lambs. We gave Puddin' Pop warm molasses water for energy and a pad of hay to eat. We made sure the boys found the teat to get the beneficial colostrum.

Now while all of this is going on, it snowed three inches. The breezeway of the barn turned into a wind tunnel. But Madame Barnmorska pushed me along and we put up a tarp to block the breeze.

I am happy to report both boys and momma are thriving. The snow will begin to melt today but they will be comfortable and dry in the barn. I do not have much of a clue when Tootsie will lamb but it should be a few weeks later because she is a month younger than Puddin' Pop.

Thank you for following our adventure and special thanks to my Madame Barnmorska. She is mine so back off.

Enjoy the photos of their first day together.

A WEEK IN REVEWE: FEB 4-FEB 10

February 11, 2018 Woolly

It's official. We have moved on from speculating to SHEEPSPECTIN'! Sure, we were confident a few weeks ago when we announced Puddin' Pop & Tootsie were pregnant but now their udders are visible. When I saw Puddin' Pop's udders the week before, I told myself I was making it up. But then this week rolled around and all the wishes came true.

Seeing their udders this week sent me into a panic. I felt like I had read that once their udders begin to fill, I only had one week before lambs would be born. At that particular moment in time, I was feeding the sheep & Donuts dinner. Hyperventilation along with a tightening of my chest as I was digging through every stored fact in my sheep memory catalogue. Where were my Dewey Decimal Skills now? Why weren't these sheep eating faster? Is Donuts playing with his food? I couldn't get inside fast enough to revive my sanity and refer to the lambing manual.

Hard to admit...but I overreacted in the field when I saw those udders. Since I technically saw the udders on Puddin' Pop the week before, I have four weeks left until Puddin' Pop Jr.'s are born. And little Tootsie, who I feel is a few weeks behind Puddin', has just started to fill her udders.

Needless to say, we have been assembling our lambing kit and clearing out the lambing area. We have designated the breezeway in the barn as a good place this year.

Toodles to last week and on to the new week.

Convincing Freddy D I am out of peanuts.

A WEEK IN REVEWE: JAN 28-FEB 3

February 4, 2018 Woolly

Who is excited about Punxsutawney Phil's prediction? Boy, I am. He could predict the sky is falling and I would giggle. I love that far and wide, we all wait in anticipation for a groundhog's prediction. I am going to Gobbler's Knob for Groundhog Day soon. If six more weeks of winter means no mosquitoes, I am game.

Time to step up my shepherdess skills...I have been researching what I need for the lambing kit. I am going to try to prepare for every scenario but it is overwhelming. Note to self: Do not read the complications of lambing before bed unless you want nightmares. I started to hyperventilate and I am sure I started to feel a touch of dizziness.

A couple of weeks back, I advertised that I was selling WoollyShire Eggs. As soon as I delivered those eggs, the Ladies of Cluckingham went on strike. The daily clutch of 5-7 eggs turned into 1-2 eggs a day. I brought out the chalkboard and gave an educational session about the correlation of eggs, their feed and where money comes from. After demonstrating their feed money does not grow on trees, I felt satisfied my message was understood. However, I was given a false sense of security. With wool in their ears, the egg strike went on for two weeks. It seems these freeloaders have ended their strike, I have been collecting 4-7 eggs a day for the past four days. And the chicks from September have started laying their first eggs.

I have been daydreaming of what to plant this spring in the garden. It is only a matter of time before I head up to the study and break out my collection of seeds. My Precious!

The week ended with selfies and hijinks. Freddy D is my most willing victim. Of course, I had to oblige with neck rubs but anything for a selfie! The selfie stick took Freddy D's and I relationship to a whole new level.

A WEEK IN REVEWE: JAN 21-JAN 27

January 28, 2018 Woolly

Kind of boring. No ill animals, no surprise guests and temperatures were warmer than normal in January. If anything, the only oddball here is Freddy D, who was more affectionate than normal.

Freddy D was working the system hard for a full body massage morning and evening. His wool is luxurious and warm so it was easy to get my hands to work. And then, when I thought I was finished, he followed me around the pasture begging for more. It is hard to turn down a fan who wants your undying attention. However, when it came to selfie time, he was less amused this week.

Tommy worked on his project of turning an old futon frame into a hay feeder. It drives him bananas when the sheep drop their hay on the ground. I tried to explain to him that they do not have hands and fingers to hold it close. Hooves crossed, his new contraption will give him peace of mind.

On Saturday, I worked on refreshing the straw in Cluckingham Palace. You know, earlier on Saturday, we did have a surprise guest-a Coopers Hawk. I wouldn't say the hawk was a welcomed guest, since the crows and I were chasing the hawk out of trees and banging items for scare tactics. After all that passed, I let the Ladies out for their afternoon of foraging.

The Ladies rush to their favorite spots for a good dust bath and the ducks waddle with quacks of excitement to their pond. Hamburger played in the wood pile-climbing and searching for tennis balls.

The week ended with Sweet Pea, our foster dog, laying on me a bit. She is a nervous dog and after two months of being roommates, she decided to put her front legs on me. It was a tender moment.

Why are you laying on the ground, human?

Probably not his favorite hide and seek tennis ball game

Did EWE know?

January 22, 2018 Woolly

All eggshells are white as they cruise through the oviduct. So why are some eggshells different colors?

Seems to me the Easter Bunny is going to be out of a job soon... Different breeds produce their own dye to be applied to the eggshell. While the eggshell is being dyed, the egg is rotating.

With the addition of the fall chicks, an entire rainbow of eggs will be falling out of Cluckingham Palace. Peach ones, white ones, chocolate ones, olive green ones, blue green ones, brown speckled ones...