Aztec and Rue

Lambing season was quick and relatively uneventful, and we now have two new lambs here at the farmette! It took a while to settle on names, but they're going to be called Aztec and Rue.

The first born was Rue, and she was Rita's first lamb. She came early in the morning, quietly and just minutes before I got down to the barn to let everyone out for the day. I have never seen another lamb like this one; she is incredibly friendly and has a tremendous amount of strength and energy already. Hercules is probably a huge part of this lovely little disposition...and, while she does not have any spots, her fleece is already fluffing up and feeling soft.

Maya's little ram lamb, Aztec, arrived in the middle of the night on April 12 - a week after the first lamb (shepherd's nirvana again!). And, unlike Rita's easy lambing, the painful sounds coming up from the barn, from Maya, woke me and kept me up for a good part of the night. She had a difficult time and the ram lamb has been slow to gain strength and energy, so the past several days have been somewhat challenging as we deal with record breaking heat in Maine - new lambs can become dehydrated quickly, and while the worst seems to be over and little Aztec seems to be gaining weight, it's good to be home from the day job this week to keep a close eye on him.

Hercules and the wether have joined the girls in the big field, and things are starting to green up quickly. We are in desperate need of rain, and the forecast finally has some predicted for this weekend. Before we know it, the hay will start coming in and gardens will be planted. Even though it was a quick and easy winter here, the feeling of Spring is still intoxicating. Cheers to the season!

April!

Henry!

The first day of April always feels like Spring, even though last year we were having a blizzard and lost power for hours. It was my first full day with Henry, and I remember feeling thankful to have the day off from school to stay home with the new puppy. He's still so much a puppy a year later. Hopeful that the destructive side will wear off with age...

Maya and Rita, the two ewes who spent a couple of months with Hercules last fall, are looking round and getting closer to lambing. Both have good sized udders coming in and have started to lay around more than usual, often times in the barn alone while the rest of the sheep are outside (beginning to graze, which is crazy at this time of the year). It will be exciting to have spotted sheep here at the Salty Ewe again, after starting with the Jacobs over ten years ago now. And, if they're anywhere as adorable as the spotted babydoll lambs that I have seen from Kelly's Romney Ridge Farm, we're in for a treat here on the farmette. I can't wait. They are, after all, the real sign of spring.

A younger Hercules. He still relaxes in this position!