Hello from Maybelle Farm. Its Tuesday April 17th and we yes we survived another shearing day at the farm!!!!!! WHEWWWWWWWW!!! Craig and Philo Marcotte arrived at noon and we finished at 5:45 p.m. They sheared, wormed and trimmed hooves on 37 sheep and I am over the moon excited about some of the fleeces. I love every fleece but it's so exciting to see the fleece from some of our Shetland cross sheep. Clementine and Chet are a Coopworth/Shetland cross from Tinka and Luther. Clementine had a 9 lb. fleece of stunning white lambs wool! Chet had 8 1/2/ lbs of charcoal sparkling lambs wool. Chloe and Cecil are twins from Juliette that is a Coopworth/Shetland cross. I bred Juliette with Thistle and so Chloe had a dark moorit 8 lb. lambs wool fleece. Cecil had a dark charcoal sparkling 8 lb. lambs wool fleece. My beautiful white Custer that is a pure Shetland had a lovely white lambs wool fleece with an incredible crimp. I have some amazing fleeces this spring and can't wait to skirt some of them.
Maggie, Cedar and Flopsy from the Hoos Farm did a wonderful job being sheared. It was Maggie and Cedar's first shearing and they look like little fawns now. Bill, Agathe, Olivia and Emma Hoos arrived at 10:30 a.m. to help us with shearing and I am so grateful for all their hard work. I know Darcy and Todd appreciated their help and it made the day go a lot quicker and easier. Darcy and Todd have their own system down to a science on shearing day, so to have extra help is always so nice. I got up early and made 6 dozen donuts and had juice, soda, bottled water, brownies, etc... Then Agathe arrived with lots of chips, cookies, etc... I ordered grinders and bulkies from the store for lunch and it was a great day. Oh yes, about 20 minutes after I got home, my phone rang and our neighbor said there was a sheep running down the road out in the gully. I called Darcy and said I would be right up. By the time I got to the farmhouse, Darcy was out at the barn opening a gate and letting Vinca back into the pasture. Vinca had let herself out under a gate in the front pasture that Darcy had cleaned, spray painted and put back without the rabbit-wire. That meant that Vinca could scoot out under the gate and go for a little stroll around the farm!
I was not quite sure I could get out of bed this morning but I'm up and functioning.......sort of! My poor Java has very sore front hooves and I gave her some Banamine and shut her in a stall with Aphrodite for a couple of days. Poor Old Tally was shivering so I let her out mid-day to warm up. I want them to be out in the sun but then you have to worry that they will get sun-burned! Tonight the temp is supposed to drop to 28 degrees. Yesterday in the high 80's so no wonder the sheep are shivering. I'm going to shut the barn tonight and possibly put a sweater on Tally!
Craig said he thought that Colby will have her lambs in this next week. Star probably will be next and Lyra doesn't look very big but maybe she will just have one small little lamb. It will be a very good feeling when lambing is over. I'm always so glad when shearing and lambing is behind us.
This is school vacation week for Darcy, Rowan and Declan. They are going to Johnstown,NY to visit Todd's mother and so I will be on lamb watch here at the farm. I will be busy here setting up portable fence and moving sheep around for grazing. It's supposed to rain this weekend and we certainly can use it. I hope it will make the grass grow fast. The sheep certainly can take the grass down very quickly.
Tomorrow is my son David's birthday and I think I will make him a pecan pie for his birthday. My granddaughter Rowan Kathleen will have her 8th birthday this coming Monday April 23rd. Well I have to go start something for supper and then go do chores. It has been a very nice day here at Maybelle Farm. So-long from Maybelle MaMa.
Maggie, Cedar and Flopsy from the Hoos Farm did a wonderful job being sheared. It was Maggie and Cedar's first shearing and they look like little fawns now. Bill, Agathe, Olivia and Emma Hoos arrived at 10:30 a.m. to help us with shearing and I am so grateful for all their hard work. I know Darcy and Todd appreciated their help and it made the day go a lot quicker and easier. Darcy and Todd have their own system down to a science on shearing day, so to have extra help is always so nice. I got up early and made 6 dozen donuts and had juice, soda, bottled water, brownies, etc... Then Agathe arrived with lots of chips, cookies, etc... I ordered grinders and bulkies from the store for lunch and it was a great day. Oh yes, about 20 minutes after I got home, my phone rang and our neighbor said there was a sheep running down the road out in the gully. I called Darcy and said I would be right up. By the time I got to the farmhouse, Darcy was out at the barn opening a gate and letting Vinca back into the pasture. Vinca had let herself out under a gate in the front pasture that Darcy had cleaned, spray painted and put back without the rabbit-wire. That meant that Vinca could scoot out under the gate and go for a little stroll around the farm!
I was not quite sure I could get out of bed this morning but I'm up and functioning.......sort of! My poor Java has very sore front hooves and I gave her some Banamine and shut her in a stall with Aphrodite for a couple of days. Poor Old Tally was shivering so I let her out mid-day to warm up. I want them to be out in the sun but then you have to worry that they will get sun-burned! Tonight the temp is supposed to drop to 28 degrees. Yesterday in the high 80's so no wonder the sheep are shivering. I'm going to shut the barn tonight and possibly put a sweater on Tally!
Craig said he thought that Colby will have her lambs in this next week. Star probably will be next and Lyra doesn't look very big but maybe she will just have one small little lamb. It will be a very good feeling when lambing is over. I'm always so glad when shearing and lambing is behind us.
This is school vacation week for Darcy, Rowan and Declan. They are going to Johnstown,NY to visit Todd's mother and so I will be on lamb watch here at the farm. I will be busy here setting up portable fence and moving sheep around for grazing. It's supposed to rain this weekend and we certainly can use it. I hope it will make the grass grow fast. The sheep certainly can take the grass down very quickly.
Tomorrow is my son David's birthday and I think I will make him a pecan pie for his birthday. My granddaughter Rowan Kathleen will have her 8th birthday this coming Monday April 23rd. Well I have to go start something for supper and then go do chores. It has been a very nice day here at Maybelle Farm. So-long from Maybelle MaMa.
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