Hello from Maybelle MaMa. 
It's Saturday May 29th and this last Monday May 24th little tiny,white Percy (new ram lamb) was born........whewwww.  Arly did very well and I'm so relieved that she did such a good job.  She is a wonderful mother and little Percy is such a tiny little boy.  He is bouncing around the farm and doing super.  I just wish she could have had a little ewe to go with Percy.  I just have to be grateful that Percy is here and all is well at the farm. 
Now I have to kick in to overdrive to get ready for next Sunday June 6th.  Its the Strolling of the Heifers Farm Tours and I want the farm to look spiffy.  Darcy, Rowan, Declan and I went to Newfane and bought lots of flowers and plants. I'm going to fill the flowerpots by the Fiber studio and my son David is going to rototill Darcy's garden. 
I went up to Toby hill with my cousin Judy on Wed. to put in the garden for my little Catherine that I take care of.  It was 93 degrees when we finished planting and that is way too hot for Vermont!  Wed. evening we had a severe thunderstorm and it rained very hard and lots of trees were blown down and electric wires were down.  On the news it said that 17,000 people were without power.  We happened to be in a very lucky area and only lost power for about 2 hrs.  I also have to get ready for my Tap Dance recital that is this coming Friday June 4th.  I have the program done and the dance line-up and costume changes.  It is alot of work and very stressful but totally worth it.  The children are so excited and it is being held at the Townshend Town Hall.  That is where I used to have my dance recitals years ago so its exciting for me too.  Got to stop now and go get busy at the farm.  So long from Maybelle MaMa.

Hello again from Maybelle MaMa. 
It's Saturday May 22nd and still no new little lambs at the farm!  What is up with that? Maybe Arly is just fat like me and isn't really going to have lambs!  I have been going out to the barn during the night all this last week and there is always this beautiful white face with a little pink nose looking thru the gate at me. She is looking like  "O.K. just bring on the food and go back to bed". 
Today is my nephew Chuck's wedding in Websterville, VT. We are suppose to leave around 9-10 a.m.  I have my cousin coming to stay at the farm to take care of everything.  That includes my dog Lettie, Darcy's dog Kara, new baby chicks, the sheep and possibly help deliver lambs.  I am very torn about leaving Arly because she is a triplet and I worry that she could have problems and I won't be here to help.  I am going to call my brother Everett and ask him to be on Maternity watch while I'm gone.  What would really be nice is for her to pop those little babies right out without problems!  I guess I'm just an old worrywart and can't help it, these are my four legged children. 
We are also having an issue with coyotes now.  They killed one of Darcy's beautiful barred rock hens in my backyard last Sunday and they have been coming through the millyard when my brother is running the lumber mill.  They come up the bank right by the tractor shed and that is very,Very close to the barn.  Well, here is my problem.  What do I do about the coyotes?  Do I get a llama, no because I don't want one.  Do I get a guard dog, no because I would have to sleep in the pasture with the dog.  Do I get a donkey, no because I have been around enough  _ _ _ _ _ in my life so I don't need that.  Do I get a gun, no because with my luck, I'd shoot my sheep and miss the coyote.  So far my solution has been to shut everyone in at night.  That means alot more work for me mucking out the barn but at least I can sleep at night. 
Sunday night as I sat here at the computer at 10:30 p.m. I was lifted out of my chair by a pack of coyotes, right down the bank from my house.  They were howling and made the hair stick up on my neck.  I yelled and woke up Jon and he went to the barn with me to shut in 8 ewes that I had left out.  They were huddled in a corner by the barn and about knocked me down when I slid open the barn door.  I didn't have to ask twice for them to come in!
On a much happier note, I taught my needle felting class last Sunday afternoon and we emade a gnome.  It was so much fun and having classes in my fiber studio is a dream come true for me.  We have such a great line-up of classes this summer and people are signing up almost everyday.  If you are interested in any of the classes and would like more information than is on our website, please e-mail me with your questions.  Got to go take a shower and go to the barn for one more check on Arly.  Good-bye from Maybelle MaMa.

Hello again from Maybelle Mama.
It's Saturday night May 8th and I finally have a few minutes to write a little news.  The Wet Felting class with Cheryl Flett was absolutely wonderful.  We made flowers and they came out so well.  There are pictures and I will add one to our site.  The next class is Sunday May 16th and I will be teaching needlefelting to make a gnome.  They are so much fun to make and they have such comical expressions. 
Well, I'm on maternity watch as Arly is getting very close to having her lamb/lambs and I am a little anxious because she is a triplet and could have triplets.  There is always the chance of the lambs getting tangled and also the third one might need extra help, not getting enough colostrom and Mama's milk, so there could be a bottle baby.........oh my goodness, what a chore!  NOT! There is nothing so cute as a little tiny lamb and I love having lambs, just very glad when its over and everyone is alright. 
It has been a busy week and all the sheep are doing very well.  I've had all the sheep out on nice pasture but brought everyone to the barn last night except my ram Luther and his three Amigos.  I knew there was really hard rain coming  so I can sleep better when I know they can be in the barn.  Luther and his buddies have sheds and they get in them during a storm. 
My sweet little Catherine (who is 96!) is up this week-end to her summer home in East Dover.  I was so excited to see her that I only slept about 3 hours last night.  She is up for the week-end with her garden planting group and today the rain stopped the planting.  Hopefully we can plant tomorrow.  I just love taking care of Catherine and she will be up a lot this summer...... OH BOY, I can't wait.  We make jams and jellies and go on little trips and basically play all summer.  It is the best job I've ever had and I cherish every second I have with Catherine and her family. 
This afternoon I went to Brattleboro with my daughter Darcy and my grandchildren Rowan and Declan.  We went to lunch at the 99 Restaurant and had a very nice meal. Next we went to Hanneford's and I took the children to the "Thomas Store" that is actually Baker's Bookstore. The children have always called it the Thomas Store because of all the Thomas trains and the nice play table that the children can be entertained with.  Declan slept all the way to Brattleboro and Rowan fell asleep on the way home.  I did chores about 6 p.m. and Arly is still just munching away and getting wider every day.......soon little lambs, soon....
Well I'm going to bed early tonight and will go back to Toby Hill in the morning.  We are going to try to plant some stuff but it depends on the rain.  I bet the black flies will try to carry us away. 
Goodnight from Maybelle Mama.

Hello from Maybelle Mama,
Well I survived shearing for another year and it went well.  Thank goodness for Darcy and Todd, they took care of everything in the barn while I hid in the house and for a little while put a few fleeces in bags.  I will weigh them all tomorrow, because today is just tooo beautiful and also its too hot to work up at the barn. 
I'm sort of in a dishrag mode today, haven't accomplished a whole heck of alot.  I did set up a roll of electric net chicken fencing in Darcy's back yard and let the sheep in there.  Oh yes, exciting news, Arly is going to have lamb/lambs in mid-May and I'm thrilled.  I so hope she can have at least one little ewe to be with her.  We have chosen the letter "P" for lamb names this year so if you want to send in a suggestion, please do so.  My two little Finn lambs that will come to the farm in June are named Pansy and Peter Pan, they were named by Rowan. 
O.K. now back to today.  I put Arly,Tinka and Juliette out in the portable first but they could only stay out about 10-15 minutes because the sun is so hot and Tinka was starting to look a little pink.  The poor white sheep really can sunburn easily.  I put Tinka,Arly and Juliette back in the barn and let out another group, they were out just a few minutes and between the heat from the sun and the black flies........WHEEEE they were back in the barn.  I have my Geriatric group in the middle stall of the barn.  Last night Tally,Willow and Maura all got buffered aspirin and they will again today, they were very lame.  I'm sure from being wrestled around makes them as lame as if I rolled down the hill in a wooden barrel!  I also gave Java buffered aspirin this morning because she is limping very badly.  I am making my three pastures over by the garage my geriatric pastures and I'm going to put up a sign  "EWE TOO OLD!"  I shouldn't joke around, I'll be in there with them before long! 
Darcy called me out to the barn when they sheared Juliette because she has such a beautiful fleece. She is a coopworth/shetland cross and its her lambswool this year.  Its going to be hidden in my "secret stash".......sparkly charcoal gray and just the most amazing color. I have never had a fleece like this and I now know that I will breed both Tinka and Juliette this coming fall.  Oh yes, my big old Tinka (Coopworth) had a 16.5 lb fleece!
Well, I guess I will sign off now and go read for a little while.  I need a little rest and I'm dyeing some wool to make colored sheep for the Jamaica Fiber Festival.  So long from Maybelle MaMa.

Hello from Maybelle MaMa,
Well here it is Wed. April 28th and I'm getting myself super stressed about shearing.  Craig and Philo Marcotte are coming this Friday April 30th to shear my 30 sheep.  I do not enjoy this part of raising sheep at all.  Thank goodness Darcy and Todd will corral the sheep and help with the actual shearing, while I will either hide in the house with my grandson Declan or be upstairs in the barn putting each fleece in a labeled bag, weigh each fleece and line them up to be skirted.  I will make donuts early Friday morning, for the shearers to take home and enough for all out help.  We get sandwiches made at our local store and break for lunch.  Last year we sheared the sheep on April 5th and they almost froze to death!  I really thought my poor old Tally was not going to make it.  Well, it looks like this year Friday and the week-end are going to be very warm.  That isn't good either because then the sheep get sunburn.......hmmmmm  do they make sunscreen for sheep?

This past Saturday April 24th Jonathan and I went to the Connecticut Sheep Breeders one day Fiber fair in Vernon, Ct.  It was really nice and of course I bought two bags of fleece!!!!!  Do I really need to be buying fleece with a barn full of my own?  Well, I just couldn't walk past a bag of the most beautiful sparkley white Cormo "Tony".  I swear, it just jumped into my shopping bag and said "Take me to Vermont".  Next I spotted a beautiful very crimpy medium brown/gray border leicester fleece and once again, it jumped into my shopping bag!  After that I did manage to control myself and I could have walked back thru each building but I knew more fiber would be coming home with me.  I saw Alison Schantz there and we were both on fiber overload and trying very hard to control ourselves.  I think Alison did much better in that department than I did!

Sunday was a very busy, successful day at the farm.  Darcy, Jon and I moved Luther the ram and his three amigos to the upper pasture.  Jonathan then fertilized alot of the pastures and I repaired broken electric insulators.  I had set up portable on Darcy's front lawn so there was very nice grazing for the sheep.  Jonathan repaired the broken bridge out in the gully so my big group of girls had some very nice grazing too!  It so nice when all the sheep have good grazing and I'm so happy that my sheep are happy.

My little granddaughter Rowan turned 6 yrs. old on Friday April 23rd and Stella, my black ewe was born on Rowan's birthday.  Stella was six yrs. old too and she was the one that was blind and must have had a concussion from head butting another sheep about two weeks ago.  I'm thinking of making a helmet for Stella to wear, and I will write "Buttheadon the helmet.  Well, enough nonsense for today.  I will write an update of how the shearing goes and oh yes........WET FELTING CLASS is this Sunday.  I'm so excited for this class to happen at the farm.  I am going to take the class because believe it or not, I have never done wet felting.  So long from Maybelle MaMa.