It's a girl and Posie's Polar Bear!

Well little Pansy is still napping...you know that birthing stuff is tiring business!  But Posie had one lamb this afternoon, with my help.  She's a first time mom so a single is no surprise.  Her lamb is a little ram, all white!  I decided to name him Polar Bear, P for Posie, and polar because he's all white, and Bear because he is descended from Wooly Bear's line.  Polar Bear is a Friesian, Shetland combo!

Little Polar Bear, you're so CUTE!

It's a girl! WooHoo!

Sweetie had her lamb about 1 am this morning, and she singled like we thought she would, but it was a girl!  And she is all white!!  And I think she'll be very photogenic.  We are so pleased, as Sweetie is a special ewe that technically doesn't belong to me, but someone else, who has wanted a white ewe lamb for four years now.

Sweetie is an experienced mom so we didn't need to do anything but get her in the jug and dip the little lamb's navel cord.  Her name will be Wheely Wooly Pansy, and she is out of Whirly!  Whirly is black, Sweetie is white...how fun is that!

More news!  Posie surprised me this afternoon with her own little surprise! I was heading out to shear when I noticed right away something was up, and the whole flock was upset.  Then, I saw two little hooves!  Posie is a first time mom so I've been keeping a close eye on her and good thing!!!!!  She needed help so it was a good thing I was around.

I'll get pictures up as soon as the little lambies are done with their naps!

OMG-If you're afraid of bears, don't read this post

Being afraid of bears is no unreasonable fear here in Wisconsin.  Here is the news today:

Bear Attack Story in Wisconsin, USA

Wisconsin's bears have been getting aggressive.  Awhile back, a homeowner near Eau Claire, Wisconsin was having trouble with a bear breaking into her house and walking around (making the floors creak) while her toddler took a nap!  The bear had gotten into the house more than once.  I don't know the outcome of that story, but there are more stories.  Also maybe two summers ago, a bear was killing calves that were housed near a farmhouse...because of bear problems.  That bear killed a calf, then came back for another one later.  It also threatened the owner of the calves, who was living in the house with a family.  These are not normal bear stories in our state.  The bears are on the defense, even when there is not a real threat to them.  I think I know why, but I'll keep my mouth shut.

Our farm is quite a ways south of where this bear attacked, more than a "bear's stroll".

We had a bear in our front yard just before we moved in.  Neighbors have a picture of it.  Then, a couple of years ago, a bear was circling my ram pen about 9 pm one night.  I hid in the barn until I could jump in the truck and try to get it in my headlights.  I think I shook the rest of the night, long after it had run away, and long after I had returned to the house.

And one night, on a late lamb check, I drug along DH.  He is always telling me I'm too scared!  Then, while we were in the barn awhile, we did hear deep growling.  It happened a second time.  We shushed each other and stood very, very still...hair raising on the backs of our necks, wide eyed and staring at each other, trying to make out the growling.  I saw a flash of genuine fear realization cross DH's eyes that night!  But it was only brief...turns out, we were hearing a cow push out a calf next door!

I think my zipline to the barn is gonna have to be a gondola...

PS...Sweetie is in labor.  She'll probably single a ram...still...can't wait!

LAMBS!, Wildflowers, and AAARRGGGHH!

Lambie photos!  I actually got some today so here is a start!  I'll tell you who they are, then, after getting out my handy dandy NASSA Handbook, I will do my best to describe their markings for you! :)

 Wheely Wooly Chicory...Gwendolyn's ewe lamb...a cutie!

She's dark brown with a white spot only on top of her head.

So that makes her a krunet (which is dark colored with a white patch on top of head).

We are keeping her for future breeding as her bloodline is very special to us.  Krunets are wonderful for spinning, as their body wool is all one color.  Thus, she will make good sweaters and larger projects if so desired, but will also be really nice for many other projects.

Little Wheely Wooly Peat...Gwendolyn's ram lamb...another cutie!

He's also dark brown but notice his cute white markings!  Gwennie's lambs typically have this, even with different rams.  Peat's markings would be called smirslet (which means dark colored with white around the mouth, head, or neck).  In these pictures, Chicory and Peat are only 5 days old and they are VERY smart little lambies!  Tonight, they ran in with the flock like they'd been doing it for years...except they are so tiny!  Don't ever underestimate the intelligence of little Shetland sheep!  They are fast learners!

Wheely Wooly Peat will be for sale if his horns grow properly.  He has a gorgeous head, just like his sire's, with that genuine Shetland ram profile.  He is out of registered stock, so will be registered upon sale.

Side note:  Gwennie's lamb from a ways back, Wheely Wooly Splash (see right side bar) is another example of the color she throws.  He's tougher to describe as he remains dark, with white on his nose, forehead, ears and neck.  My guess is he'd be called a blettet smirslet, but don't know for sure!  Another thing about Gwendolyn, she is remaining a richer moorit color (not fading really), but had in her first two fleeces wonderful lightened tips, NOT caused by sun or element damage.  It was BEAUTIFUL, and made knock-out yarn!  Tips like that are known as blaeget, which is "a lighter shade of the outer part of the wool fiber, especially in moorit and dark brown sheep". (quote from Colors and Markings page, NASSA Handbook, p. 7).   It is my hope that Chicory and Peat will have the blaeget tips on their fleeces!  

 This is Wheely Wooly Moorwyn!  I'm positively SHOCKED at how much he's grown already!!  Just like his big brother, Lerwick, this little guy is very personable and friendly!  He will politely ease up to you and let you touch him under the chin for a sweet scratch.  His horns are starting to grow already!  He's all black, and 19 days old in this picture.  He's out of Mona, our flock matron/mascot and Wheely Wooly Moonlight.  Notice the extra fur on the sides of his nose?  All of Mona's ram lambs have that! :)  He is a twin, the other lamb being a ewe we named Wheely Wooly Mousa.  (Mousa is an Old Norse word meaning "mossy".)  She looks exactly like him, except the extra fur on her nose is not there like he has.  Moorwyn MIGHT be for sale, we'll see!...also out of registered stock.

 The other lambs were VERY hard to get pictures of with the limits of my camera!  So here is a good attempt!  This is Wheely Wooly Gansey (left), Peerie (in the middle), and I believe Rapport on the right.  Gansey and Peerie are Gracelyn's twin ewe lambs, and Rapport is the twin ram out of Lil' Rainbow this year (his sister, Rapunzel, looks similiar to Peerie).  We are keeping all of the girls, and Rapport will possibly be for sale.  (Rapport's sire is Wheely Wooly Whirlwind, Mona's ram lamb from awhile back, also a twin...to Maewyn!  Confused yet?  I'm surprised I"VE got it all straight...thanks to my pages of notes! lol)  He is growing very fast!  He has white whisps on his head around his ears, but probably not enough to give him a special Shetland markings name.  His horns are already growing!  Let's see...Rapport is one month old in this picture, Gansey and Peerie are three weeks old here.  Gansey has a slight bit of white on top of her head, Peerie is all black.  Will they fade or go greyish?  That's the fun of Shetlands!  I have no idea! :)  Gansey and Peerie are also Whirly lambs.  Whirly has dreamy fleece and an outstanding temperament.  He'll fade to soft gray in time.

 Trillium, one of Wisconsin's treasured wildflowers!  I love looking for these each spring!  They grow in deciduous forest floors and bloom just before leaf-out of the trees above.  Trillium stand about 9 inches tall (roughly).  The name comes from tri, meaning three petals.  They are always white, but can at times have a pinkish blush to the petals.  They can grow in 'colonies', creating gorgeous masses of flowers on the sun-dappled forest floor in mid-spring.

 Jack-in-the-Pulpit...see him in there?  Peep under the top leaf, and you'll see him in there, ready to give you a sermon on the importance of preserving our wild spaces!!!

Grows about 9 inches tall, but this one was tiny, only a few inches tall.

 Wisconsin's state flower, the wood violet.  These are tiny, but can grow larger.  This wild space is alongside a road near our farm. 

AAARRRRGGGHHH!  Sophie!  Get out of that wool! :)  Ok, but last time, though!  How am I supposed to spin it when you are in there, purring away????

Wool:  Kitty tested....and approved!

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of our lambs!  I still don't have a picture of Maggie Mae, Mousa, and updated pic of Daisy (she is CUTE!), Lark, and Rapunzel.  We are still waiting on Sweetie to lamb, and she looks about ready to go.  And Posie is STILL looking huge, with her udder FINALLY filling out! And Claire, well, we'll see yet!  Don't forget Primrose!  There is lots to come!

Last note: the whole group of 'black' lambs has drawn quite a bit of attention to our farm, and neighbors are all commenting on them with great surprise and delight!  Need advertising for your farm?  Buy Shetlands! :) (...ok...maybe I'm a little biased!)

Shetland Ponies in Cardigans!

THE cutest thing I've ever seen!!!!!  LOVE ITTTT!!!!  WANT ONE!!!!!!!!  Hugs to those CUTE ponies and to all of their talented people!!!!!!!!!

Go to www.hazeltindall.com then click on her wonderful blog, scroll down to the pony post (it's titled 'missed trip to New York').  Click on the post, then click on Shetland Ponies.

(Can you tell I've always LOVED Shetland ponies?  In the summer of 1986, I was working on a ranch in the Colorado Rockies as a wrangler.  We ran a string of geldings up into the high country near Long's Peak, Colorado's highest peak, every day with tourists aboard.  Left behind in the corral near the barn was this tiny little white pony named Sweetheart...you guessed it, she was a Shetland pony.  None of the other wranglers could handle her.  She bit people, stepped on people, was terribly hard to catch, and could throw out a swift kick if you passed by unawares.  But Sweetheart and I bonded.  I loved her!  She never bit me...not even once (or kicked me), always let me catch her, and as a result, I loved brushing her and caring for her.  She was delegated to me for the duration of the summer, and I loved every second of it!  She was very sweet!  She didn't like it when people treated her like a 'big' horse, and she didn't like that the barn's hay mangers were too big for her.  I understood that and found a way to put the world to her perspective, and she was very happy with that. One day, the boss told me to saddle her up for a little boy (a toddler, really) to ride.  With reserve and caution, I did what I was told.  The minute Sweetheart saw the little boy, she softened and turned into the gentlest, kindest pony I've ever seen.  She was very careful to not move her feet around or swat a fly on the boy's side with her tail.  She stood perfectly still when the boy petted her, and was slow and careful when he rode.  I saw in her a gentleness that is rare, and I loved her even more that day!  At the end of the summer, it broke my heart to leave her, for I had to move on with the next thing in my life.  I never did get to see her again, but I have photos of her stashed away in a box.  She was a very special pony that I've never forgotten.)

My DH knows...and is forewarned...that if a cute little white Shetland pony ever crosses my path...well...you know what will happen! lol  I'm just waiting for the day!

Have I also mentioned how much I admire Hazel Tindall's work?  I can only hope to aspire to be half as good a knitter as she is someday!  What a joy it is to see her knit in the videos!  I knit the same way, only not nearly as efficiently and graceful as she can! lol  Maybe someday I'll get there. I loved seeing the knitting belts on her blog, so be sure to check that out, too.  Oh, but the patterns!!!!!  They are amazing!  WAAANNNTT OONNNEE!!

Now combining knitting and ponies?  LOVE IT!!!!!!!!  Thank you to Hazel Tindall for posting these amazing photos of ponies, knitting belts, sheep, patterns, history, and things Shetland!

Later edit...again!...I forgot to mention that today Gwendolyn was taken outside with her twins for the first time.  I put the halter on her (she's been halter trained for years) and gently led her out the gate of the jug.  I have this wonderful fence panel system this year that is improved each year for jugs.  Previous years I had my lamb pens around the ewe loafing area in a circle on the outside, which was really nice for tending the new moms and interacting with the little lambs!  This year, I moved the ewe and lamb pens across the barn to a side that has better natural lighting, more security, less draft, and more peace.  Love it!  So anyway, I took Gwennie out and gently guided her out the door, being sure her little lambs learned to follow.  Once out in the sunshine (it was quiet and lovely outside this morning!), we walked down the 'runway' to some delicious grasses.  Little Peat was delighted and began boinging right away!  I stayed with them for another couple of hours as I needed to unhalter Gwennie and let them mingle with the other sheep and lambs on the pasture.  Plus, Peat and Chicory had to learn how to find their mum if lost, and how to respect the fence.  Moorwyn was VERY curious about his new playmates!  If Peat baaed for his mum, Moorwyn came a runnin'!  Silly lambs!  As the day progressed, I needed to get some spinning done, but had to check on the sheep every little while to make sure no one was caught in the fence.  Meanwhile, Goldie the farm clown (cat) watched while rolling around on the edge of the chicken coop roof!  SOMEDAY, he's gonna roll right off there!  That's how I spent my morning!

Chicory and Peat

That's what I've named Gwendolyn's little lambs!  Wheely Wooly Chicory for the ewe, and Wheely Wooly Peat for the ram.  That is not a spelling error.  Do a search for the word peat, and you will learn more than you ever thought possible about the stuff!  It has such major historical significance for a number of reasons, including heating the homes of shepherds in the Shetland Islands in times past.  After watching a marsh burn near our farm last summer for weeks and weeks, I realized the value in boggy materials in sustained fires!  Peat not only provided warmth, but also a means for cooking in a land without trees.

Chicory is a wonderful plant that is good for livestock to eat, if you can get it to grow well in your pastures.  It is plentiful on the roadsides around here, blooming with outstanding beauty in July along with the white, lacy Queen Anne's Lace.  (It's flowers are a brilliant bright sky blue...very cheerful!) It seems to like dry, gravelly areas and doesn't mind the blast of breeze cars make as they speed by!  But that's not why I named this cutie little ewe lamb Chicory.  She was given that name as a way to remember her special bloodlines for us.  Little Chicory is a very special ewe lamb for me and I hope to propagate her line as she matures!  And I noticed something.  She's not black!  It's darker in the barn on a cloudy day.  Right after she was born, we had very cold air move in and lots of rain.  In the dimmer light, she seemed black, but upon seeing her in brighter light later that day, it was obvious she will be a moorit, possibly fading to musket.  Peat is a little like that as well.  We'll see when I get them out to graze in brighter sunlight.

In the meantime, I'm working on getting pictures and shearing!  Always hectic on a sheep farm in spring!  And I'm lovin' every minute of it! :)

Sheep Milk Soap-LOVE IT!

Over the winter, sheep milk soap has become something I don't ever want to live without again!  Being on a farm means we go through the soap, but I was so sick of chemical burns from fake soaps!  No more!  I also like goat milk soaps.  Both are wonderful and a true pleasure in hectic days.

Find Sheep Milk Soaps on this etsy link here!  www.etsy.com/shop/MapleHillFarmWi

Enjoy!