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     Page 3 -- March 15 - 20

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March 15 -- Wed: --7:15 AM Pam took Sadie out for the first of many puppy-walks of the day. Sadie, as I think I may have already mentioned is a Golden Retriever. She is NOT a replacement for our old Golden Maisie who passed away in October from basically old age -- Maisie had a purely beautiful spirit and will not be replaced.

After Maisie's death Pam had announced that she did not want to get another dog. With a cat and Border Collie and the sheep and chickens, our days were plenty full enough -- it was already tough to line up "animal-sitting" for those times when we both needed to be away for more than 8 hours. And besides, Pam knew back then that the time was soon coming that we would be isolated in the front half of the house for the great kitchen demolition -- another dog was really OUT OF THE QUESTION!

So anyway, Pam and her chiropractor were talking Golden Retrievers back in early January. The chiro mentioned that Sally the midwife who lived just up the road had a new litter of 11 pups. After being adjusted, Pam dropped in on Sally ....just to take a quick peek == BIG MISTAKE!

First, God makes Golden Retriever puppies UNBELIEVABLY CUTE. My theory here is that this is because Goldens have large litters -- a dozen pups isn't unusual -- the high level of "puppy cuteness" guarantees that all those puppies will quickly find homes. A Golden Retriever puppy defines the word "irresistible".

Second, Pam learned that the mother of the litter was named Maisie!

Third, the father of the pups was named Hunter. This "link" wasn't quite as dramatic, but our Maisie's first and best friend had been another Golden named Hunter down in New Jersey before we moved to Maine.

Well, Pam came home from that adjustment talking non-stop about puppies and the *coincidence* of the mother's name, etc. etc., etc. She made sure to mention SEVERAL times that there were still five or six available. <G>   I was beginning to guess that "our" resolve about not needing another dog might be slipping somewhat.

Pam finally asked "So, do you think we should get one?"  In all the years that we had Maisie we'd never run across another dog of any breed with that name. That Pam had stumbled on a litter of Golden pups with a Maisie mom I considered somewhat eerie.

Mom Maisie nurses some of her pups

I told Pam, "The fates are telling you something. They might be just letting you know that it's okay and time to let a new dog into your house and heart. OR, this might be like one of those threatening chain letters == if you do NOT take a puppy you will die AND have 20 years of bad luck!" No matter what I said about then, I figured getting a puppy was a sure bet.

Over the next few weeks, whenever Pam had a free hour or two, she'd drop by at Sally's and visit with the puppies. She'd come home and tell me about the cute things that the male runt had done that afternoon. ...and then, of course, there was a little female who was "so independent and confident and came right up to me and chewed on my shoes". ...and there was this other male who.....   .....you get the idea! <BG>

Believe it or not, there is a CAT named Boo Boo UNDER those puppies!

We had MANY discussions about males vs. females, vice versa, what sort of Golden would probably get along the best with Border Collie Skye. How could we possibly fit two dog crates into the living room along with the refrigerator etc. At some point Pam finally made up her mind -- there was a little female with a "light spot" on her lip that would be her's. Sally put nail polish on one of the pup's toenails and the deal was done.

Poor Sadie arrived at Hatchtown after we had already moved lock, stock and hot plate into the living room. She thinks that EVERYONE cooks in the living room!

Sadie meets Skye for the first time. She liked him well enough right away. It took Skye four days or so to "accept" her intrusion. <G>

Well anyway, back to Wednesday morning, Pam took Sadie down to the paddock and tied her to a post just outside the gate. Pam went into the big shed and there was Kate licking a black lamb!! The lamb had started nursing -- Pam got Aaron on the portable phone and asked him to tell me to bring her down the lambing gear AND, most importantly, a cup of tea! While Pam was on the phone giving orders Kate pushed out a second black lamb.

Sadie has learned that a farm dog must be patient.

Skye and I arrived down at the shed with Pam's tea which I'd steeped in an insulated travel mug. Kate's had considerable experience mothering lambs so there wasn't all that much for us to do. After considerable bending and peering, it was wonderful to discover that Kate had TWO BLACK EWE lambs. Kate always has such nice lambs, but she'd only ever had one black ewe -- that's Floppsy. Pam trimmed the lambs' dangling umbilical cords and dipped them in her little bottle of iodine.

Kate dries off her second lamb

I managed to mess up recording the lambs' weights. I'm supposing I just didn't have enough coffee in my system ....hey! it was pretty dark in the shed, too. The numbers didn't seem right at the time. We're now very (??) sure that the first lamb born weighed 10.5 LBS. and that the second one was 8.75 LBS. The second lamb's ears are almost as floppy as were Floppsy's when Kate had her two years ago.

We jugged Kate and her babies in the last open spot over in the maternity shed and headed up to the house for MORE COFFEE & TEA! Yeah!

-- 10:00 AM: No rest for the weary! Regular chores aren't so regular these days. You see, we measure out the sheep's daily hay and grain by weight -- each girl getting so many pounds of each. During lambing, the number of animals eating out in the paddock changes almost daily == two girls will have their lambs and move into jugs, one girl comes out of the jug -- they just keep coming and going! We have to count heads every morning and re-calculate the hay and grain. You try multiplying 3.75 by 17 with a flock of hungry sheep bellowing in your ear!   SAT's were never like this -- this is REAL PRESSURE!!

While everyone was busy chomping down their morning hay, Pam and I did the tails and tags on Huyana's and Kasha's lambs. Then, to calm my nerves, I figured I should go ahead and operate some heavy equipment. I fired up the tractor and brought four or five bucket-loads of hay down from the big barn. If I stack them just right, I can balance seven bales of hay on the bucket of our little tractor. The diesel engine didn't bother the lambs much.

The Head Shepherd decides that we will confine all the girls and lambs in the big shed over night. We don't want ANY CHANCE that one of the moms would decide to sleep out in the paddock with her lambs. While sheep ARE equipped for such challenges, WE will sleep better knowing that our sheep are all dry and in out of the wind.

We stapled a piece plastic shade cloth (like screening) over the top half of the maternity shed's door == the shed's only about 12' deep so the wind could easily pile a drift of snow against the shed's back wall  ....right on Emma and her lamb in their jug. Kate's family, right beside the door, might be buried!

The weather pundits were right on. It SNOWED!! And, as our fishermen neighbors say, "It was blowing something wicked!"

A good 8" of snow had come down by the time we did morning chores. We cleared the deepest drifts away from the sides of the feeders == didn't want any lambs to get mired and maybe "lost" <G>. We did put half the hay in feeders in the shed so any moms preferring to stay under cover could. The weather improved steadily during the afternoon -- there was ALMOST a sunset.

The walk down to the sheds for night checks on the girls was beautiful == the night sky was crystal clear -- the STARS we unbelievable. After the almost-full moon rose, its light on the snow made my flashlight pointless.

March 18 -- Sat:

The ewes were more interested in their grain and hay than the snow. Except for Rachel, that is. I saw her sniff at the grain in the trough for a few seconds, she then turned and walked away!

Now Rachel's never been as grain-crazy as some of the girls, but walking away without eating any at all was certainly suspicious behavior! Rachel walked up and just stood in the door of the big shed. When we put out hay and Rachel still didn't budge, I went on full alert.

Rachel heads to the shed

I was sure that Rachel's being "off her feed" (excuse me for using a technical term here), meant she'd be in labor before too long. She's never been a quick lamber -- I told Pam I was SURE Rachel would have her lambS before dinner.

A. See the lambs frolic in the new snow
B. See the ewes tuck into their morning hay
C. See Rachel just standing

We de-jugged Baby Bear, Kyra and their lambs. Baby Bear is a very organized first-time mom. She efficiently gathered her twins together, and the family quickly made their way out into the paddock. Kyra and her lamb hung out close to the sheds for a little while and visited with Rachel.

The de-jugged Kyra and lamb visit with the meditating Rachel

One or the other of us checked on Rachel every 1.5 to 2 hours all day == no new developments! She spent the entire afternoon standing in the big shed. I gave her a handful of second-cut hay which she did munch on somewhat halfheartedly. I had the feeling she was just humoring me..

Roundabout midnight, Rachel looked LESS like her lambing was imminent than she had at 10 this morning. We went to up to bed and did not even set an alarm.

7:00 -- The sun is up for real now. Back down in the shed, Rachel's still cudding. BUT, every now and then she sort of stretches. This COULD BE a sign of early contractions. OR, of course, she is VERY PREGNANT, and her stretching could be her just trying to get her humongous belly into a comfortable position.....

Another "golden day"!! Sun -- BIGTIME ....and almost TOO warm. Friday's snow is melting quickly. Morning chores went normally. Today, Rachel did not even bother joining in the rush out to the feeders. We gave her a little pile of second-cut hay in the shed. She seemed to pick at it with a little more enthusiasm than yesterday. (??)

Our rams don't get much mention in the Lambing Journal. They're fenced in their own little area up on the little hill back behind the paddock and sheep sheds. Their spot is probably the prettiest on our property.

Skye and I take hay and water out the boys every morning ....BUT only AFTER the ewes and lambs are COMPLETELY attended to. The rams can see most of the activity down in the paddock. We like to think they feel somewhat involved.

Finn/Lincoln cross Magoo is the dad of Emma's lamb. He'll be a dad once again this year ...IF/WHEN Rachel ever makes her move!

Coopworth Usher has fathered ALL the OTHER lambs this year.

We set up the "O.R." in the maternity shed and docked the tails and tagged the ears of Emma's and Kate's lambs. Both moms were relatively patient while we removed their babes. The lambs vocally expressed their objections to our inconveniencing them. They were all VERY happy when returned to the jugs.

Pam stayed with Rachel for a little while after the tagging and docking. That Rachel stood for having her ears scratched -- even seeming to welcome the attention -- was surely a sign that her time was almost HERE. Rachel was on our minds all day. Either Pam or I was down in the shed every one or two hours to take a look -- each time, fully expecting to discover Rachel down on her side in heavy labor ....or maybe standing there nursing a lamb or two. We'd report to one another -- same report each time == "Nothing!"

Evening chores = uneventful. Rachel was still holed-up in the shed. The lambs are starting to run around wildly in the evening while they moms eat their hay. Squads of lambs would charge into the shed and swirl around the contemplative Rachel -- she'd watch them but didn't make any objections to their proximity. Every so often, a daring lamb would climb onto poor Rachel's belly -- she did not tolerate that for long. I went back to the woodshop. Pam stayed down with Rachel and gave her some more midwife scratches. Rachel had a little more of the prime hay.

Dinner was an adventure! Aaron and his girlfriend Lindsay had brought over her Dad's "Showtime Rotisserie" for Pam to "play with". (There had been a lunchtime discussion about Ron Popeil infomercials.) Aaron re-arranged the living room's "kitchen area" so that the rotisserie had a "spot" on top of the four-drawer file cabinet that we're using as a pantry. Pam loaded the rotisserie's basket with lamb chops   ....they were WONDERFUL! Very nice change from take-out!!

Final Shed-check - Midnight: The moon was full! BEAUTIFUL!! Rachel was still pregnant and looked to stay that way over night. Floppsy, another prime candidate for "doing something soon", looked quite "ready" ...but not imminent. We went to bed.

March 20 -- Mon: -- 5:00 AM -- I took Sadie for an early walkie and peeked in on the sheep. Neither Rachel or Floppsy was doing anything. As a matter of fact, Rachel was SO SOUNDLY asleep that she scared me. She way laying flat out in the bedding with head and neck stretched WAY OUT. I made my way over to her to make sure she was breathing! Floppsy was cudding and obviously concerned about my sanity == "WHAT is HE doing down here at this hour!?"

-- 7:00 AM -- Another Sadie-walk -- Ah ha! Floppsy was now WAY back in the lefthand corner of the shed (THE No. 1 favorite location for dropping lambs). She was no longer cudding and seemed to be having rythmic spates of "tightening". She looked very uncomfortable. But then, as pregnant as she was, we had to expect that she was uncomfortable.

All the other ewes, and even the lambs, were now so used to our "invasions" they pretty much ignored our comings, peerings, pokings and goings.

Annie, her lambs and a few anonomous "cuddlers" barely acknowledge my presence

The yearling ewes -- we refer to them as the "little girls" -- had discovered the wonderful noise they could make by tap dancing on the thin plywood floor of the portable shed. The rules of "the game" seemed to require that they run around the tiny shed 2 or 3 times before they could go in and do a few "steps". They'd then be unceremoniously pushed out by the next "contestant". Round and round!

Tap dancing in the portable shed -- no Ginger Rogers here!

By the time I was ready to go back up to the house, Floppsy had stopped looking suspicious -- up and cudding.

-- 10:00 AM -- Chores went normally. Both Rachel and Floppsy mixed in with the rest of the girls -- energetically joining in the vocal protest concerning the wait while Pam weighed out the grain. Both expectant moms pushed in at the feeders for their shares of the goodies. But then, Rachel pretty quickly went back into the big shed -- apparently not very interested in the hay that followed the grain.

Rachel passes up the morning hay

We released Kate & Emma et familia from their jugs. Emma is giving every appearance of being a VERY good first-time mother. She keeps her little boy close at hand -- he's a happy, bouncy little son of a gun! Kate, of course, a real oldtimer, has everything well in hand.

One or the other of us was out there every couple of hours throughout the rest of the day -- checking on Rachel and Floppsy. Rachel maintained her solitary "vigil" in the shed. Floppsy was out with the rest of the girls and lambs.

-- 7:00 PM -- I took a peek into the shed on my way in from the woodshop, Rachel and Floppsy were in opposite back corners standing by themselves. Neither was cudding, ....but then, neither was doing anything else either. I went up for dinner.

-- 9:00 PM -- No, not yet.

-- Midnight -- Nothing new! No.... Nothing!

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