Mud Ranch's Real Dirt » Nature

Out with the Old, In with the New

mudranch — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 22:16:01 +0000

Today is a much nicer day with lots of sunshine and warmth. Two more ewes lambed early this morning, Serenity and Boudicca. Both had twins, Serenity’s sired by Tristan; and Boudicca’s sired by Raider. I quickly cleaned out the stall the older lambs were in and moved the two new moms in with their lambs.

The new mama’s are happy with fresh hay and water, while the lambs enjoy the warm dry straw.

Meanwhile outside isn’t as peaceful of a setting. The “older” lambs are outside terrorizing the world and discovering all types of new things while their mama’s eat breakfast.

They zoomed every which way they could — especially these three; Fleur, Aster and Columbine. Little Marigold is a “princess” according to her mama so she’s not allowed to get involved in too much silliness. And Chamomile, well, she’s not exactly allowed to join in much either but not due to her mama –

More like Annie can’t seem to let her go! Chamomile certainly takes after her name, she is calm and loves to snuggle. Just a little sleepy time tea in lamb form.

Finally Chamomile was let loose and she got to enjoy some romping with her sister, Columbine. I don’t know what it is about feed pans, but lambs are instantly attracted to them!

–Enjoying a sunny day here at Mud Ranch!

A Snowy Start to Lambing

mudranch — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:46:15 +0000

Of course the weather would have to hit while I’m in full-swing-lambing, right? On the 29th we woke up with a few inches of snow on the ground and when I tried to actually walk outside, I realized that rain had fallen on top and then frozen. It was a sheet of ice in our parking area! I was so thankful to have been able to get all mamas with lambs in to the barn and locked away.

I was surprised, however, to find that Sophia had her two ram lambs in the night but am very thankful she is a ewe with sense and went in to the barn to have them. I love ewes like that, and they can be hard to come by. Later in the day Sprinkles had two ram lambs sired by Kenleigh’s Wrangler. She had just what I was hoping for, a four horned ram lamb that I’ll keep my eye on as a possible future flock sire. I’ve named him Fennel, and his brother is Mallow. Both have nice fleeces and in hopefully keeping with previous years, I’m counting on nice horns as well. With Jacobs it could go any which way.

Fennel, Sprinkles & Mallow

The one thing I really enjoy about having the lambs locked in the barn is that I get to play with them more. The friendliest in the “girly” stall (well, plus Aster who is the only ram in that particular stall), is Edna’s lamb Chamomile. As soon as you pick her up she mellows in to your arms and falls asleep. She’s been known to give kisses too. Her sister, Columbine, is not as friendly. She’s very inquisitive but not a snuggler — more of an explorer.

Columbine checking out the water bucket

We woke up again with snow on the ground so I kept the ewes in all day today as well… They’re getting awefully fed up with me right about now. I’m hoping for a beautiful day tomorrow so they can enjoy it outside with their new lambs. The rest of the ewes that are free to roam go and eat and then head back to the barn to chew their cud and hang out. I enjoy just sitting with them and watching.

Selene

So far the count is 5 ewes with 9 lambs — the snow has melted off (except what is in the shade) and Princess, Stephanie and Boudicca look like they’re coming close to their lambing time.

Stella, Hazel & Beltie

Off to go do the chores and hang out with the lambs — AND reassure April that tomorrow looks like a better day!

April with Aster and Fleur

Crocus and the Snowy Trail

First Snow of the Season!

mudranch — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:29:06 +0000

We’re really happy to have this snow, we need it desperately here in Northern California. Our mountains were without a snow pack, period, and this will certainly help that out. It started snowing some time in the early morning hours and is continuing steadily (I’m writing this at a little after one o’clock in the afternoon PST.) We currently have around 5-6″ and building.

Going out to feed this morning was pretty humorous. Here is Blanche (gold colored) and Bonehead (Leghorn) coming out to see what on earth happened… then promptly they turned and went back inside. All the chickens demanded warm water and breakfast in bed. They got their food container filled, a sprinkling of scratch, and a fresh flake of hay to scratch around. Hopefully that will all keep them entertained for a while.

My favorite little flock of Cackler Geese circled over head, honking and deciding how to read their instruments for a safe landing on the pond.

Penelope was racing around like a crazy woman. It was a double jacket morning, especially since her legs are so stubby. She is technically a medium sized dog weighing in at around 55 lbs., but her legs are very short at around six inches long. She didn’t care though, the smile on her face was priceless while she played.

Despite the cold, Penelope and snow get along quite famously.

I decided to get some photos of our “Dudes” before I threw out a big flake of hay for them, this way they would actually pose for me rather than be stuffing their faces. And though I thought it was a good idea,…

…Lancelot wasn’t impressed. “Come on, Lady. Throw the stinkin’ food already.”

Tristan was being a little fussy about the snow settling on his wool.

After that, he was perfectly fine. He doesn’t get upset easily. Lancelot just has a little bit of a ‘tude.

Here’s the girls, diving in to breakfast.

And Hazel, enjoying every morsel.

The best part is that Annie has a friend over, which means mommy can stay warm and dry without fully participating in the activities of snowball fights, snow angels and the like. I get to just enjoy taking photos, which is perfectly alright with me!

Tid-Bits

mudranch — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:11:20 +0000

The worst part of blogging for me is giving a title to my posts… That’s where my writers block comes in hard and heavy (thank you for the suggestion, Linda!) Anyway, I wanted to share a couple little tid-bits from our weekend.

On Saturday and friend who started out as a customer came over to pick up her sheep.

The lovely Miss Francine was bred to our very handsome ram, Lancelot. I can’t wait to see what they produce together. Francine is a very pretty girl with a primitive build and a striking face. Since her sire was a lilac, we have high hopes that the babies she carries are lilac as well. Since that is a resessive gene, it is a bit like playing Russian roulette.

Speaking of lilacs, here is Miss Camille. She will be a year old this spring and is joining Annette over at Daily Grace Farms.

And thirdly, this is Sicily, another yearling. When my husband picked Sicily up to lift her in to Annette’s truck he said, “Wow, what a nice fleece! I could snuggle with this one, she’s so soft!” I love her face. I hope and pray all three girls will be more than pleasing to their new owner.

Yesterday Annie and I went on a little hike to check on the pond. We spooked the Canada geese almost immediately and they decided to take off. The Cacklers and the Coots stuck around an entertained us with their funny antics. The Coots were hilarious, chasing eachother around an basicly policing eachother and the geese just the same. We also were amazed that this large pond is mostly frozen. The geese had no problem walking on top of the ice but any of us, including our dog Penelope (who actually tried), would fall through in an instant.

Annie was very proud to carry her backpack with her baby animals, a water bottle, and a granola bar. We stopped at her favorite tree to pretend “Milk Store Lady,” which translated means, “Starbucks Barista.”

Then today I decided to take a picture of all the eggs that are stacking up in the refrigerator. Currently we have about four dozen. They make such pretty pictures… Can you tell I’m proud of my Farm Fresh Organic Eggs??

My favorite egg that I get is the one front and center, the chocolate chip egg. It is laid by our Welsummer named “Welsie.” Original, I know, but it fits.

Hope everyone out there in my blogosphere is doing well!

Flowering Acts of Randomness

mudranch — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 05:35:24 +0000

Wild Carrot Bud

Feverfew

Hollyhock

Calendula

Heirloom Poppy

Heirloom Climbing Rose

A Bountiful Cherry Harvest

Two Hungry "Barn" Cats