Lambs!

Last evening (while I was blogging and saying we were still waiting for lambs!) The Brain and Tucker presented us with 7 total lambs. Unfortunately two of Brain's quads were dead when we found them. It's hard to know if they were stillborn or not. She was so quick - we'd been checking every hour or two and noticed nothing imminent, then bang! there were four!



Funny, I got to the barn and each of the live lambs had 2 Finn ewes fighting over them. It took a bit to sort them out and jug the white ewe lamb and black ram lamb with mom - The Brain. Tucker was in the process of lambing at that time, and quickly presented us with black triplets - two rams and a ewe. The rest of the ewes took the night off (thank ewe, thank ewe!), then Niblet had a set of nice sized twins late this morning - a white ewe and black ram.

Brain and her two remaining Quads - white ewe and TINY black ramlet.

Tuckers two ram lambs. These guys look a LOT alike. They may need ear tags now.

Tucker's ewe lamb - tucked back behind the post and feeder. She was firstborn. We were hoping for more like her :-\

Then there were photo opportunities in the TV room. Thom and Villa shared one of the dog beds. He wasn't too sure about this cuddling stuff at first, but he's getting used to it.

Clifford sometimes even gets close to Villa. She's a real interloper - taking lots of Mom's time away from him. Every now and then he even plays with her. I tell him there will come a day when she seems REALLY attractive - and we're not looking forward to that!

- Franna

Still no lambs - but SOON!

...at least as independent life forms. So I'll post a few more photos of the Ewes in Waiting.


In the "Sheepie Hilton" are the "smaller" ewes, young'uns and first time moms. Eve is one of our "mystery" ewes - the mystery is when she was bred. She was obviously bred (!) but I wasn't stealthy enough to observe when. My guess was sometime this weekend - I was wrong.

Next is Snowflake. Snowflake is looking very uncomfortable and like a "double" sheep. The photo is a little bit of an illusion, although her "lamb lump" is pretty good sized when she lays down. She looks like she'd really like to get on with it! Just wait, Snowflake, be careful what you wish for.

Asa is the other Shetland that we AI'd with Gotland semen. She's looking very pregnant and we expect her to deliver late in the week. Last year she went 147 days. She's looking like she wants to get on with it, too.

Bossie is one of our Gotland/Finn lambs from 2007. She was also AI'd and looks like she took!!! She should give us 75% Gotland lamb(s). She actually seems fairly comfortable still.

Take a closer look at Bossie's fleece. This is why we're doing Gotlands! Too bad you can't feel it through the photo. ;-)

Charcoal, another Gotland/Finn, still seems somewhat comfortable, too. I saw her bred by Kibbles, though, so she has another couple weeks to wait.

The other group of ewes is in the Barn. I call them the "Upstairs Sheep" - the barn is up a bit of a hill from the house. Here are the 6 adult Finnsheep and the two BFLxBL horses... errrr, ewes.

This photo shows Niblet and her well developed udder. Niblet was restless all morning, and deserves watching as she was first to deliver in 2007 - on day 141 - that's TODAY!

Last, and certainly not least, this photo shows "The Brain" and her very swollen udder! I hope she's okay. I expect her to lamb very soon from the looks of "things". (Yes, her udder is pixelated - to maintain our "G" rating... or should that be "PG-18"....?)

So now we wait.
- Franna

No lambs yet.

I have an excuse... Really!

It's new! Its USB ports work! Software is getting loaded! I can print directly from my workstation! I can upload photos to my own computer for the first time in months!!! Happy Shepherd, Happy Doc :-) :-) :-)

We'll see if it really makes a difference in more timely blog updates. Well, the ewes might have something to say about that, too. It is Day 141 since we AI'd 15 ewes. Last year the lambs started coming late on Day 141, with the Finnsheep delivering first. Three of the Finns are very restless and uncomfortable. One of the Shetlands is, too.

Congratulations to Michelle at Boulderneigh on the arrival of her first 2008 lambs!

Last week we had a very unseasonable event - snow!

I tried to "track" the flakes with the camera, so the background is a bit blurry. The flakes were huge and wet, so I thought it would just fall and melt... the above photo shows the ground getting white.

Villa watched her first snowfall and tried to catch a few flakes. She doesn't know that it just doesn't snow in Western Washington in late March.

Mom, you're just foolin' with me. Look! Here is snow and it is late March. So there.

The rams stayed under their shelter, such as it is.

About 5" of snow accumulated and actually stayed for about 24 hours, then it snowed again a couple days later. It didn't accumulate, though. We're going to start some chicks this spring. I'm really glad I waited to get them. My original plan would have them on pasture by now - chicks don't do that well in the cold and snow! Maybe in another week or so. We're planning to raise broilers and a laying flock for meat and egg sales. YUM!

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The Black Sheep Creamery Auction update:

DH just finished his donation to the auction - a custom model. Just look at this awesome piece of work!

Al Showalter chose the "Woodie" model and wanted it customized for his blog - Lake Boren Rapid Transit Report. It's detailed with mirrors, door handles, spare tire, customized license plates, customized signage, hot rodded hood and exhaust, gages, and on and on.

Check the engine detailing with wires, carb and hoses!

I know there are more custom items that were donated to the auction, and items made from the items won. Send photos and updates and I'll keep the page updated. :-)

...out to check the ewes.

- Franna

Here's A Rambling Post

Ain't she Cute????!!

I've been saving up photos for a blog. Villa is asleep - or at least quiet - giving me an opportunity to post uninterrupted. Not even the cat is laying on my arms right now!

Villa's favorite chew toy is Thomas! They get into fierce looking and sounding battles with no marks on anyone.

She is such a smart puppy. She runs through tunnels already, spins, does Sit, Down, Stand, Come, Fetch, goes over jumps (really just the ground bar) and even did her first "back cross" yesterday! She waits for supper, runs into her crate, and is *almost* potty trained.

She is a little puppy in a big world, as she accompanies me doing farm chores.

Farm chores are something I can't do with Clifford, as he is so obsessed with the birds. I've failed to break him of chasing, catching and killing them. :-(

Thomas is a great chore dog, too. Both Villa and Thomas follow along as far as they can, then wait at fences and gates while Dave and I go in with the sheep and camelids. Villa thinks the sheep and camelids are all potential friends. She's going nose to nose with Acclaim, our alpaca.

Do you notice "something" about Acclaim?

He rooms with the ram-boys and recently was discovered bending down the electronet fence to get at the succulent new grass on the "other side" of the fence. As he's overdue for shearing, his long neck fiber was protecting him from getting shocked. The last straw was one afternoon when Dave came home and asked "Why are the rams loose?" When we rounded them up, Acclaim got some special treatment:



We weren't ready to completely shear him, so he got a custom cut. It sure solved the fence issue!

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We're in Waiting mode. Waiting for lambs, that is. Waiting for warmer weather. Waiting for construction at ERN (EverRanch North). Hortense is waiting (usually for her lunch/breakfast/dinner/snack) and lambs.




She's bagging up and broadening nicely. We're hoping for twins from her this year out of the Gotland ram, Daniel. Hortense gives us a wonderful fleece each year. I try to shear her every 9 months or so, sometimes I keep the coat on her, sometimes not. Coated, she has a beautiful variegated grey fleece. Uncoated the grey is tempered with some sunbleaching and it comes out a heathery brown-grey. I've got several of her fleeces ready to weave into "something".



The "Hilton" ewes are waiting. I'm guessing Eve will be our first to lamb. I'm guessing this weekend. Her lamb(s) will combine all three of the Scottish rams we imported semen from.

Scattered around Eve are 4 ewes expecting Gotland lambs from the ram Daniel, 4 ewes expecting Gotland cross lambs from our backup rams, her cousin - Sweet Pea, and the 4 Shetland ewe lambs that weren't exposed to a ram. No, not all of them are visible in this photo.

Here is the handsome ram that Eve was bred to:

This is EverRanch Butch Cassidy. He's the guy who was splinted for several weeks as a young'un. His leg appears to be completely healed.

Shetland ewe, Cinnamon shows what happens when Shetlands are sheared "in the rise". It is really difficult to get the shears underneath the old/new fiber mat when it's so close to the skin. These patches will either shed off, or I'll trim them off as her fleece grows out more.

And Gotland/Shetland Bunny is waiting.

Bunny should be "incubating" 75% Gotland lamb(s). We're hoping for twin ewe lambs from Bunny. :-) We'll know in a couple of weeks.

...lots to do while "waiting".

- Franna

B - U - S - Y !

I was going to name this blog "Chaos in the Kitchen" but I thought Michelle's comment was more fitting since it's been a long while since I've posted a new blog.


It's hard to believe that Villa has been with us for two weeks! She's 10 weeks old and growing like a weed. She's so smart it's scary - and fun. She came "programmed" to sit for her supper and anytime she thought she might get a treat. She's learned to "down", "stand", touch the end of a touch stick, push a box around, run into her crate, walk on a leash, wait for me outside the sheep pens, bring back a toy, go to the door to go outside, and many more essentials. :-) She's still a little timid about loud, strange noises and new things. I hope to get her used to as many "strange" situations as possible in these critical first 3 months.


Meanwhile, here's Villa watching the action (just a brief rest on her part). Clifford and Thomas are wrestling over the tennis ball tube while Lonie wonders about joining in.

3 Big and 1 Little dogs in our very tiny kitchen create quite an uproar. Villa is confined here until she's more reliably house trained.


Villa gets into the act with one of her favorite toys - brother Thom's tail! She actually prefers Lonie's very fuzzy tail, but Lonie has things to say about that! Thom spends a lot of time with his own tail in his own mouth, so maybe it's been desensitized somewhat.


On Saturday, we had a shearer come in to do the whole flock (less 2). He sheared 32 of our sheep and 4 sheep and 4 Angora goats for a friend in less than 3 hours. It was amazing to watch. We didn't get much time to watch, because all of us (6 of us!) were kept busy supporting him - putting sheep in pens, getting them out of pens, sweeping after each shearing, rolling fleeces, keeping cords out of the way....

It was great getting them all done, but since I wasn't the one rolling fleeces, I don't know what they're like. I get to skirt them all in the upcoming weeks and months, for buyers and competitions and for myself. :-) Hortense and Captain escaped shearing this time, as they were both sheared in November and need to grow out a little.


Here is Bunny, our Gotland-Shetland ewe. What a beautiful color she is! She is also expecting :-) Her lamb(s) will be 75% Gotland and should arrive in about 3 weeks.

These are 4 of our Shetland ewes. On the left is Asa, Bunny's dam. Asa is expecting 50% Gotland lamb(s). She gives us a lovely taupey fleece. One year I spun and knitted her fleece into a vest for DH... before he was the "H". He wore it at our wedding. :-)


Electra is the grey ewe. She's given us very personable lambs in the past years, though with fleece not quite as soft as I'd like. She's bred to Bubba (Gotland/BFL/BL) for market lambs.


The two blacks are "almost" yearlings, Pepper and Midnight. They look so skinny next to the pregnant ewes.

This lovely (almost) yearling Scottish Blackface ewe is EverRanch Eve. Eve has beautiful breed type, and especially lovely horns. Her sire and grandsire both live in Scotland, making her 75% UK bloodlines.

She's been bred to Butch - the SBF who broke his leg at 4 days old. His long-healed leg was no hindrance to settling her!

So there's a bit of what I've been up to. This coming weekend I'll be near Sacramento, California, judging an agility trial. Then back to the farm for more puppy and sheep fun.

- Franna

Photos as Promised

Heeeere's VILLA!

She had a very exciting day. After coming home and resting with me a little, she met Dad. She figured his beard and ears needed washing - or maybe pulling.
She met Lonie first of the resident dogs. Lonie was a little intimidating but very intriguing.

Her first supper was a big hit!

What a look! And yes, she has a demanding bark, which she uses infrequently - thank you, Villa!
Here's Brotha Thomas, looking very haughty in his "Hound Hat". There's a pretty solid family resemblence, as they have the same dam. Their sires are pretty much unrelated, though.

Here's what I wrote to her breeder about "Villa's first day":

"... Well, Villa's had an exciting first day here. She met Acclaim, the alpaca, Morata and Amy, the llamas (all from the safely of my arms) and many of the sheep, on actual sheep level, through the fences."

"She met Grizabelle, our "senior" cat, Lonie the 12 y.o. GSD, Clifford the Welsh Springer and, of course, Thomas, the Wildman. She also met Squeeker, the ex-feral barn cat. Of all the critters, he was the least happy about meeting Villa - and of course, she wanted most to pounce on him."

"Villa wants to play with Thomas. I figure she sees him as familiar looking, but he's just too over the top for her to be comfortable. Clifford wants to play, and is the closest to her size, so they'll probably be the first to really play. She's still a bit intimidated by Lonie (the size?), but really, really wants to cuddle up in all that fur. Lonie's not so sure she wants to be laid on, but tries to play, with big paws and bigger nose."

"She is much less bold than Thomas, first deciding to exit stage left when meeting the other residents, then quickly letting her curiosity get the better of her, coming back and checking them out."

"She slept through to about 5:00 (I didn't look - it was still dark) which was a blessing! She's been very good in her crate, with only small bursts of barking, then settling down."

"She met the chickens and ducks - is fascinated with the ducks! She rode in the wheelbarrow to go out and feed the birds - sometimes the turkeys can get aggressive - even Thomas gives them a wide berth!"

"She waded in the pond while Thomas made wild dashes back and forth and tail tucked around in big circles. The level's gone down enough that it isn't swimming water, even to her, though that also meant it wasn't very cold."

"She's followed me around the farm, feeding sheep a couple times, expressing her unhappiness (briefly) when I go inside the pen where she can't go. I'm quick (she's not accompanied me on the longer tasks), so she's not alone long, and can always hear me and mostly see me."

"She's baby gated into the kitchen, which means I am, too, when she's up. She *almost* is asking to go outside, and so far hasn't had an accident. (I'm of the opinion that they need to make at least one mistake and get caught, to know not only is it "good" to go potty outside, it isn't good to go inside.)"

"We're playing games with food. I keep a small handfull of kibble out while her food is soaking and feed them to her but only if she's not trying to get them from my hand. Good choices. She's letting me set the bowl down and waiting a split second to be released to eat... well, not quite yet on the first try. ;-)I'm attaching a few photos. It's not easy getting photos when she's mostly underfoot, especially when I'm looking at her. ;-)"

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So there you have it - Promised photos and even a play by play of her first 24 hours here at EverRanch. :-)

- Franna

She's Here!

At 2:45 Villa arrived at the Alaska Air Freight counter. She let everyone know she'd much rather get OUT than sit on the counter in the crate. She kept her tail wagging and wrapped herself around my feet multiple times before getting down to 'business', then we could drive home.

At the feed store (well, yes, I had to make a stop for puppy "litter" and a few more toys) *everyone* had to make a fuss over her. She ate that up with a spoon. Finally at home, she's been played with and fussed over and fell asleep on my lap (out of reach of the camera). I'm getting a few things done while she rests in her crate for a bit. What an adorable little girl. I'm not sure "Villainess" fits her, but a Villainess with Virtue, or a playing a Villainess online... now that fits. (Remember Mom's name is "Online" and Dad's is "Conundrum". ;-)

Photos later - I promise!
- Franna

You Scream, I Scream...

This afternoon, I had a craving for ice cream. I didn't want to go to the grocery store for some overpriced (but delicious!) ice cream in limited flavors. Limited because I don't eat soy products and the great majority of ice cream has soy something in it.

Sooooo, I've been hoarding several gallons of sheep milk since July, packed in 4 cup Ziplocs. Through the CSA, we've been getting quarts of frozen blueberries each week. hmmmmmm, what about blueberry ice cream!

A quick look on Google gave me a simple recipe to play with. This is what I came up with:

1 quart blueberries
just a little water
1 cup white sugar (more or less depending on your taste)
1 quart Sheep milk (8+ % butterfat!!!)

Put the blueberries, water and sugar in a saucepan and cook until soft and a little thickened, 10 minutes or so. Add the frozen milk. This cooled the hot blueberries - actually the blueberries weren't hot enough to thaw the whole quart, so it went through a couple microwave cycles to thaw it. The idea is to get it as cold as possible before putting it in the ice cream machine.

I have an old Waring Ice Cream Parlor ice cream maker. It hasn't been used in years, but worked like a charm right out of the box. (I even found it without taking the kitchen apart!)

Follow directions for the Ice Cream maker and freeze the mixture. Eat! Put the remainder in the freezer. It's easier to eat if you microwave it a little straight out of the freezer, especially if your freezer is really cold.

YUM!
- Franna

Villa, Villa, Villa!

Villa arrives next Thursday, February 28th! She's learning sit and down and touching a target. She's "litter" trained to be more manageable in the winter weather, she'll have her first vaccinations and a microchip. She'll still have "puppy breath". :-)

The photo below shows Villa (most likely on the left) with a brother and a sister at 3 weeks of age.

The next photo is Villa at 6 1/2 weeks of age. She looks like like a Labrador puppy should look at that age.

We're enjoying a few days of warm-ish and sunny weather. The lunar eclipse was even visible on Wednesday! Dave moved the rams to a concrete floored pen, so they're off the spongy bedding under the trees. Dandelions and thistles are starting to grow, ewes are getting round - spring must be coming!

:-) Franna

Virtual Villainess

Oh, my! It's been a while since I've blogged. There are plenty of things going on at EverRanch!

My son is 27 today - Wow! It seems like just "yesterday" when my water broke 4 months before we were expecting him! Yes... 4 months. As it turned out, the doc was wrong on my due date, but Bryan was still 9 weeks early. He was a healthy 2 lb, 7 oz and spent 4 weeks in the hospital, just growing. The target weight was 5 lb, but he was doing so well that he was discharged at about 4 1/2 lb. Now he's running the IT department at an international company in Albuquerque. Since birth, he lives life to its fullest.

My daughter will be 24 on Wednesday. She's married to a wonderful man from Moses Lake. They bought their first house last fall, in Moses Lake, and are working for his dad's winery and vineyards, one of the largest in Washington State.

That, and I'm flying to Florida on Thursday to judge agility in Palm Beach. Wow! Am I ever looking forward to some warmer weather. Goodie, Goodie, Goodie!!

There's lots of mundane goings on. And one that's really exciting! After waiting for 3 years, I'm getting a puppy. Woo Hooo! I picked out the dam about 5 years ago, and we got Thomas from her first litter. He ended up being Dave's graduation from college present. He's such a great Labrador, that I decided to get another pup from his dam.

The pups were born on January 1st, and ours should be arriving the last week in February!

Introducing: Winroc Virtual Villainess

"Villa" comes from some high falutin' Labrador show and performance lines. Her dam is Ch. Winroc On Line, JH, who is going for her Senior Hunter title after she gets back in shape. Dad is Ch. Waifin's Topform Conundrum, RN, WC who will also be competing in hunt tests. In her pedigree is an Amateur Field Champion, a French Dual Champion and many Specialty show winners. She has close relatives wtih MACh, UDX, OTCh and TDX titles. She's got some big paw prints to fill.

It's been a long time since I've had a pup with such potential. By this fall, she should be competing in hunt tests and rally obedience. Agility trials will have to wait until her bones are mature, but she can start learning non-jumping skills, tunnels, walking planks and lots more! And I have so much more time now that I'm retired. ;-)

Funny thing. I wasn't feeling so bad that I hadn't posted for a while. I was checking all my blog links, and they didn't have any new postings either. Well... a couple days ago, I decided to "refresh" my browser and - voila! - I got all the blog posts I'd been missing. You all have been busy! :-)

- Franna

Belt and Suspenders Enlarged Photos

So now the two "Eye Candy" photos point to larger images on our EverRanch website. Click on the photos. :-)
If one way doesn't work, sometimes there's another!
- Franna

A Sheep of a Different Color...

or Don't Count Your Fleeces Before They're Sheared. :-\

I went out one morning to feed early in the week. As the sheep dove into the feed troughs, I noticed there was a PINK SHEEP in the trough. PINK???? I thought immediately of someone rubbing up against the "barn red" shed - but they didn't have access to that shed, and this was on TOP of the fleece.

Closer examination (when she came up for air from pigging out) and with a terrible groan! I recognized Bessie under all that "pink" fleece. I'd been coveting Bessie's fleece for weeks, and now with shearing only about a month away, I was dreaming of spinning those luscious fawn locks. Bessie obviously had other ideas.

It didn't take long to realize that she'd taken advantage of the new mineral feeder. She must've been thinking that it wasn't just a mineral feeder, but a personal scratching post. I had positioned it high enough that it wouldn't catch sheep pellets, and low enough that lambs could reach it and the sheep couldn't get under it. I thought. Well, Bessie figured out how to get under it, lift it off its bracket, rock it back and forth and spill essentially all the mineral onto her back. GRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Her fleece should look like this:

Instead, it looks like this:

Well, sometimes I'm a little slow. Today, I realized that the mineral didn't just stain the outer parts of her fleece, it probably was trapped down there next to her skin, not doing her fleece or skin any good! I got out the livestock blower/dryer, haltered her and tied her up, and proceeded to blow as much of the grit out as possible. There was a lot in there! (... and a lot of VM came flying out, too! More than I expected for as clean as her fleece looks.)

Now, blowing is a great way to clean and prep Scottish Blackface for the show ring. I don't think it has the same effect on Shetlands:

...though with a little smoothing, Bessie still looks pretty good!

Maybe I'll get to spin her beautiful locks after all... maybe a little dye will make it all better.

- Franna

Eye Candy

On Monday, I drove up to ERN (EverRanch "North") to check on progress.

Monday was the most spectacularly beautiful day of the year! It was cold, clear and crisp. Everywhere I turned, scenery was eye popping. This is just one of the views I took in. This one is from the ferry dock in Clinton at not quite sunset. The moon is just rising over the Cascade range. The mountain on the right is Three Fingers, home to one of my favorite hikes - Goat Flats (if you know where to look, you can see Goat Flats in the photo!), and one of the many Cascade peaks I've climbed. The next mountain to the left, I think, is White Horse. Below them is part of the city of Everett.

My, Oh My!

I was going to stop with the one photo, but I just couldn't resist. This one is Mount Baker in her Winter Finery. Mt. Baker is a ways north of White Horse and Three Fingers and highly visible from the Clinton ferry dock. They should both "biggify" if you click on them - be prepared for a large photo! I have a whole photo panorama of peaks inbetween. Maybe that'll get posted on the website. :-)

And now, I can even go to bed "early".

Good night,

- Franna

Auction and Washington Wool

Our fellow Shepherds, Meg and Brad Gregory, continue to dig out, repair, clean, and rebuild after the devastating floods of December, 2007. They are committed to their Black Sheep Creamery, and the NW Shetland Sheep Group is committed to help with ANOTHER BENEFIT AUCTION! There is an amazing variety of donated items in the auction, and more are being added as they're received. Please help by bidding - who knew that adding to your stash could help a fellow shepherd? :-)

We also launched Washington Wool dot Net ...maybe a little prematurely... as a way to host Part 2 of the Benefit Auction. Washington Wool will be our co-op Marketplace for small fiber farms all over Washington. A few of us have our own websites, but most have no effective way to advertise to our customers. More and more customers are internet savvy and like online shopping. Watch for us to grow!

If you are a small fiber farm in Washington, and are interested in joining Washington Wool, just let me know!

- Franna

Happy New Year!

Wow it's been busy! What with the auction, Christmas, New Years and judging agility, it seems like it's been only a few minutes since the middle of December. whew!

We have Big News! Construction has started at ERN - yeee haaaa!!! We have a driveway and some clearing around edges and in the areas for well and house. The photo below is looking down the 1000 feet of new driveway to Boon Road. This is near the site of where the "nursery" and arena will be. Oh! Exciting!!!

We're off in a few minutes to consult with the construction guys about where the house will actually be sited. We don't want to remove any more trees than necessary. These trees have a rough life in the winds from the Straits of Juan De Fuca, and have a lot of character. More photos later.

- Franna