Spring Calling

Yesterday we worked outside all day doing various spring chores. The sounds of spring were all around us. The brook is full of water this time of year as the snow has receded and filled its banks. The noise of the water can be heard constantly. The chickens are all out and about making their little clucks and crows. The trees are full of the birds returning to the north for the summer and their chatter seems never ending. The sheep and goats talk back and forth to one another discontent with their hay as they watch the grass begin to grow. Squeals of joy can be heard from the summer home below our farm where local families have discovered the pond for the first time. Spring represents new growth and new life reminding us that we have all survived another long winter.

How different the spring time noises are for families living and working in New York City where my daughter and I visited this week to take in an opera at the MET. The familiar sounds of spring that I am so familiar with were not found there. The constant sounds of traffic, horns, sirens, people shouting, and construction filled the beautiful sunny afternoon. Central Park seemed to be the only place to find the new season amid the bustle of the city. There families could find lush green grass, birds, flowering trees, and the joyous shouts of children who were thrilled to be outside in the sun. There is even an area with various farm animals for families to see and a lovely pond where little toy boats bobbed along. It wasn't surprising that I found myself drawn to Central Park. Though I loved our stay in the city and was intrigued by all that city life has to offer, I found myself happy to be back home where all I can hear is spring calling.

Cats and Fleece

My cats think there is just something irresistible about a dirty, smelly fleece. This week, while skirting and dehairing Mama Llama's fleece, I had two cats helping. They found much pleasure in rolling in, crawling under, and smelling the fleece.

The fleece is now on its way to the mill to be washed and blended with our wool. I will have roving made so that I can hand spin it. The llama fiber will be blended with lamb's wool from our ram named Cairo. His fleece is very soft with a fine crimp. I still have a couple of CSA shares of this hand spun yarn available. Visit our online shop to read about and purchase our Yarn CSA Shares.

Daisy

Daisy was a triplet born on a snowy cold day. She was Ina's third lamb with two ram lambs ahead of her. Her purple sweater kept her warm the first few days.
She is a sweet little lamb and...

...is never far from her mom's attentive care.

A Day of Firsts

Well today was the day for Ina to have her lambs! The day began with Ina isolating herself from the rest of the flock. Ina has always wanted to be alone when she labors and we respect her choice of birthing spots. Last year she had her lambs on top of the manure pile in the paddock. This year, she chose the llama shelter. Poor Mama Llama had to spend the day out in the blowing snow.

She gave birth to a big completely black ram lamb around noon. He was strong and sturdy. Her second lamb was another gorgeous black ram lamb. Sadly, he did not live. He was born breech and his cord was cut while his head was still inside. It was so heart wrenching knowing that he had suffocated just moments before birth. Ina cleaned him off and I wrapped him in a towel and just held him. With tears streaming down my face and Ina calling to him, I held him close feeling the warmth of his body against mine. This is the first lamb we have ever lost on our farm. Once Ina seemed to understand that he was not going to live, I took him away.

Then about an hour later Ina began pushing again. I thought that perhaps she was passing her placenta. But out came a perfect little white ewe lamb! This is the first time we have had triplets here on our farm! She was slow to start as it was snowing and windy when she was born. We wrapped her in a wool sweater and held her until she quit shivering. Finally, after about an hour,she was strong enough and warm enough to nurse.

About another hour later, Ina began pushing again. We wondered if she could possibly have four lambs. She pushed out a very large object which I could not identify. It was a little scary as it looked as though she was having a uterine prolapse. I called the vet. From my description he said it sounded like a uterine prolapse as well. He was only 20 min away so he came up to the house .

Much to our surprise, it was not a uterine prolapse. Instead her placenta had stayed in tack collecting blood inside of it. As she expelled it, the placenta had ballooned out looking much like a prolapse. The vet said he had never seen anything like this but he was very relieved that it was not a prolapse.

I am exhausted from a very long and emotional day. Ina and the lambs have been moved to the barn and are resting and doing well. Luke has named the ram Doughnut and Emily named the white ewe Daisy. And I am totally exhausted
.

Our Biggest Sap Run!!

On Friday, we collected our largest sap run yet of 200 gallons. We hang 125 buckets which must be dumped by hand into a 5 gallon pail and carried to a "dumping station" where it is dumped into another 5 gallon pail that has a line running down the hill and into our large storage tank.

Usually, four of us go up the hill to empty sap buckets. If we carry 200 gallons of sap, that is a total of 1600 pounds of sap, which averages about 400 pounds per person working! Wow! Then we will boil the sap for countless hours. After all of the water is evaporated out of the sap it will have taken 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. So this Friday's run will give us approximately 5 gallons of syrup.

So the next time you eat our maple syrup dribbled on your pancakes, think of the hands that carried all of that sap and the numerous hours of boiling it took for you to enjoy your breakfast!

Rewards and Disappointments

This is one of our busiest times of year with shearing, sugaring season, and lambing happening all at one time. Shearing day is like a gift giving occasion when the sheep peel off their wrappings which we use to spin into wonderful yarns. Underneath all of their wool their swollen bellies and udders reveal the quickly approaching lambing season when once again the ewes will present their little bundles to us. We only bred three of our ewes this fall and have anxiously awaited the arrival of spring and their new lambs. Much to our surprise, shearing day only revealed ONE bred ewe. Ina is quite large and very near to her due date but the other two ewes, Bonnie and April, show no signs of being bred. This was one disappointment we were not expecting.

The sap flow has been good this year and after only boiling a few nights we have enough syrup for our own family's needs. Our 11 year old son, Luke, as stepped up to bat "running the rig" as they say. "Running the rig" is not an easy task. It requires careful attention at all times to the fire, the temperature gauge, and the sap level in the front pan. Just a few seconds neglect could result in burning your front pan, a very costly mistake. It is such a pleasure to step back and watch your children mature and grow embracing each experience with enthusiasm.

Amidst all that is happening here, we have had another disappointment. This week we have been nursing our llama. Last Sunday I noticed that she seemed to favor one back leg. My initial thought was that she had slipped in mud and retreating ice injuring her leg. But as I watched her more closely on Monday morning the symptoms looked too much like meningeal worm. Much to her dismay, we have been treating her for meningeal worm all week keeping her confined to her shelter. She has not been an easy patient and we have been unsuccessful in getting all of the various medications into her that she needs. Now that a week has gone by, she has not gotten as bad as I had expected she would and so I am beginning to wonder if indeed she hasn't injured her leg. We are hoping for a recovery and will continue to keep her activity limited and to treat her for the meningeal worm as well.

Life is always full of hidden blessings and unexpected disappointments but sometimes I think there are more of them when living on a farm. From each of them, we gain a little more wisdom and knowledge as well as a little more appreciation for the lives we are leading.