Monthly Archives: July 2011

First off, let me just say that things have been crazy busy in my life the last few weeks, hence the delay in posting.  There’s been a lot going on, from adding new animals, to house guests who totally redid my kitchen, living room and dining area.

A few weeks ago, I took a day trip down to CT to Harlequin Farm, to pick up my new Finn sheep.  I got a yearling ram, named Skippyjon, and 12 week old ewe, named Lorelei.  They are a breeding pair, and the start of my flock of registered Finns.  I’ll also breed my shetland ewes to this ram, as my very favorite fleece to work with so far was  a shetland/finn cross from Harlequin Farm.

 

These are the friendliest sheep ever, they come when you call their names, like dogs.  Skippyjon walks on a lead beautifully, Lorelei, not so much :)  They have been introduced to the rest of the flock, and everyone is getting along very well.   I’ve been trying to separate Skippyjon and Four from the girls, but they keep breaking out of the boy pasture.  So, for now, they are happily cohabitating, and I’m nervous about lambing in January.  This afternoon I hope to fix the short in the electric fence and try again.  But, either way, these new sheep are the beginning of my flock of registered Finns, and I can’t wait to see all the colored lambs next year.

 

 On the kid front, all the kids are doing great!  This shot of Promise captures a rare moment of inactivity.  They are tough to photograph as they are so so fast, all my pics come out blurry.  But, I can report that they have all had their first hoof trimmings, FAMACHA checks (all 5s still, yay!) and Persy’s boy bits have fallen off (he was banded a few weeks ago) so he’s officially a wether now.  Hope and Persy have been being fed well and they are just about as big as Promise now, go Nola!  They are all growing strong, swift and unbelievably cute.  It’s a wonder I can get anything done around here at all.

 Other very exciting news is that my house got a redo!  My dear friends Kirah, Kathleen and Eileen came up for a girls weekend at the end of June, for what I thought was a weekend of thrift store shopping, cooking and wine drinking, and they totally surprised me by making over my house.  I met them in Boston on a Wednesday for a Red Sox game, then we went up to Rockport for a lobster dinner.  We came back up to VT on Thursday, and I had to work on Friday.  While I was at work, they got to work.  They took every single thing out of my kitchen, cleaned the floor, walls, shelves, cabinets, appliances, everything.  Then they painted all my cupboards, and washed the windows.  When I got home from work, it was like a new kitchen!  They reorganized my pantry and cupboards, it was amazing to come home to that.  Then they continued all weekend, for 3 full days, they steam cleaned, they rearranged furniture, washed walls and windows, rehung my artwork, a total redo.  They inspired my neighbor Aaron to finally come fix my dishwasher too, I’ve been waiting for that for over a year.  They even manifested a new red couch!