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Triple Triplets!
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Apr. 2nd, 2008 @ 01:12 pm
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Lambing officially finished at eleven this morning with ... yet another set of triplets. That's three out of four giving a grand total of eleven lambs this year - enough for a football team (or soccer, if you're from the left side of the pond)
Here's one of the latest arrivals - barely two hours old - learning the joys of a good nuzzle.
Here's one of the older triplets demonstrating how useful mother's are - especially when the hay net is just out of reach.
It doesn't take lambs long to realise that the warmest, most comfortable bed is their mother's fleece. In a month's time most of our ewes are going to have lamb hair:)
And finally we have a lamb demonstrating what the best dressed lambs are wearing this year - thigh high brown boots with matching eye and nose markings.
For the interested, the lambs are Suffolk crosses - a Suffolk ram crossed with a 'sheep of the region'.
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Twin Triplets!
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Apr. 1st, 2008 @ 12:11 pm
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Lambing continues apace. And what a pace. Last year was the first year we ever had triplets. This year we've had two. And in between the triplets came twins so the maternity stables are somewhat full at the moment and we've had to take both stables from the horses.
Rhiannon is not amused at having to give up her warm stable but Saffron is the bigger problem. She likes sheep, she's curious and she has big ears - which block the LambCam when she pokes her head over the stable door to watch the lambs. And she's taken to nibbling the wooden box that houses the LambCam.
Anyway, here's the first of the pictures. These are the twins resting after a hard day being stared at by a giant horse's head.
Here are the second triplets when they were four hours old. We've got them pencilled in for the Olympic Synchronised Lamb event this summer. Two are naturals, the third needs some work.
Here are the twins trying out their new overflow accommodation - a summer house on the lawn.
And here's one of last week's triplets wondering where his summer house was.
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Triplets!
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Mar. 27th, 2008 @ 10:43 am
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The lambing season is officially underway. Nice Ewe, who was due yesterday and had been on the point of exploding since Monday, gave birth to triplets at eleven last night. For the interested, she had two girls and a boy weighing in at three tons each (according to the mother - who should know:)
Here they are at age nine hours and a quarter. Nice Ewe's eye says it all.
Even at nine and a quarter they're fast and inquisitive. Point a camera at them and one's off exploring and headless by the time the shutter opens. Here's one of the few non-headless snaps.
They're pretty much the same at ten and a quarter. Here they are outside on our lawn. We give them a couple of hours outside each day if the weather's good then release them back into the field when they're big enough.
And finally a close up. Note the patented newborn woolly jumper - several sizes too big to allow plenty of room for expansion. And in two months time they'll need it - they'll all be the size of large woolly beach balls.
Now I'm off to pack for my trip to Dublin. There'll be more lamb pictures on Tuesday.
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Lambing 2008
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Mar. 24th, 2008 @ 04:23 pm
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Lambing is officially underway. It's due to start Wednesday but as usual no one told the ewes who all look enormous. Yesterday we caught up Nice Ewe - who's due on Wednesday - and moved her into the deluxe maternity stable ward. Today we set up the LambCam so we can monitor her remotely from the house (and, as the camera has a microphone, listen to her as well. So for the next ten days* I'm going to have the 24 hour Sheep Channel live by my bed - and you would not believe how noisy a sheep grinding her teeth can be:)
Rest assured there will be lamb pictures.
*I do get a respite Friday thru Monday as I'm off to the Phoenix convention in Dublin where I'm a guest.
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The Spring (Lamb) Olympics
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Apr. 13th, 2007 @ 09:21 am
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Is it really four years since the last Spring Olympics? Well the answer must be yes or this reporter has just been fooled into taking a lot of lamb pictures. And handing over a couple of dozen gold, silver and bronze ear tags.
First on the podium we have the medal ceremony for the knobbly knees contest.
And then there was this photo finish in the 50 metres, two hills and a large rock race.
As always there is a seamier side to the world of professional athletics. Here we see competitors queuing for the mandatory drugs test. On the left the two scientist lambs (you can tell by their white coats) carefully analyse the samples.
And here's Security coming over to confiscate the camera. Drugs in sport is always a touchy subject. "I told you - no pictures!" says the guard on the left.
Meanwhile, veteran athlete and now mother of three, Scrappy, shows what she thinks of having her picture snapped by the paparazzi.
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A Surprise Ending to Lambing
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Mar. 27th, 2007 @ 12:51 pm
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Yesterday was a long day. And even longer for Scrappy - our last ewe to lamb. She started to lamb in the morning but by the afternoon still nothing had happened. She wasn't pushing, she wasn't showing any distress - in fact she was distinctly laid back by the whole affair. But she was lambing - in slow motion - and dilating even slower.
Hours passed. Something was wrong. Could it be ringwomb? Come eight o'clock we called in the vet and he gave her a calcium injection for ringwomb (a tightening of the cervix that prevents dilation) Two hours and one breech birth later she produced an enormous boy followed by a slightly smaller girl. By eleven our lambing season was officially closed and the lamb TV monitor, which has kept me awake for large chunks of the last month*, could be turned off.
Then we got up the next morning to find triplets. Scrappy had had another boy in the night. Somehow it had evaded Shelagh's final check of the night before. Either that or an opportunist orphan had snuck in during the night.
Here's a picture of mother and triplets. The oldest is less than twelve hours old.
*Ewes snoring, wheezing and grinding their teeth a few feet away from your ears is not conducive to a good night's sleep. The worst night was last week when the snoring and grinding was interrupted by piglike grunting and kerfuffling. It sounded like a wild boar - which do visit us every now and then. The horses, in the stable next door, panicked and came charging out. So, add whinnying, galloping and farting to the mix. And loud agitated baas from Scrappy. The boar, being at that time the least wild of the assorted animals, decided to beat a hasty retreat. How do you get back to sleep after that?
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Crime Fighting Sheep
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Mar. 24th, 2007 @ 10:02 am
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Villagers of Tetbury in England have turned to sheep patrolling the streets to reduce crime. And if you don't believe it the BBC video is here.
It's the usual story: lack of police on the streets, an increase in opportunistic petty crime, the desperate call for armed livestock to be drafted in from local farms. But history teaches us that, though more sheep on the streets may cut crime in the short term, what happens when you ask the sheep to leave and they don't want to go?
I'm reminded of Britain just after the fall of the Roman Empire. Ravaged by pillagers, the ancient Brits looked to the continent and invited flocks of woolly-coated Angles and horned Saxons over to protect them. More came. They liked the place so much they decided to keep it for themselves and drove the Brits to the far western hills. Even Arthur couldn't stop them for the sheep pen is indeed mightier than the sword. Even Excalibur.
I hope I'm wrong but in the meantime the villagers of Tetbury are overjoyed with their woolly protectors. They've rigged an arc light on the green that points a powerful sheep-shaped beam of light into the sky. And a red Sheep-phone has been installed in the village pub. But reports that a large woolly rocket-powered tractor has been seen in the area have been dismissed as fanciful.
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A Woolly Kitten's Guide to Disguise
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Mar. 21st, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
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This week's kitten's guide looks at extreme camouflage. Of course today also happens to be Human Fool's Day in the kitten calendar (as in most things kittens are 11 days ahead of their bipedal friends)
So, first up we see Xena cunningly disguised as a lamb (or maybe the rock - she is an expert) and Kai as her mother. Kai, always the martyr to his art, had to take on a lot of extra bulk for this role - which meant extra meals and snacky things, and a course in reverse liposuction.
'How is it done?' I hear your say. 'They look so lifelike.' To which the answer is - hours in make-up. The trick is to start off by using a fishy-flavoured foundation - always popular with the fashion minded kitten - then move on to the latex mask and the woolly jumper.
Talking of woolly jumpers, here's Kai disguised as another lamb playing King of the Castle on another rock - or is it Xena?
Here we see Saffron, our French Trotteur, coming over to watch the shoot. Xena, being a small animal, does what all small animals do when loomed over by a much larger animal. She pretends not to notice. Kai, on the other hand, unsure about Saffron's views vis a vis fishy-flavoured foundation, decides a hasty retreat is the thing to be beaten.
And just to show that none of the above pictures were faked, here's Kai disguised as a pop-up book from Amazon.
Remember, kittens, you only have until twelve o'clock noon to make a fool of your human. After that it's down to them.
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Snow!
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Mar. 19th, 2007 @ 04:43 pm
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Just as our garden was wondering if it was spring or summer ... along comes the snow and a couple of woolly mammoths. Well, woolly lambs anyway. The snow's melted now but we're in the grip of Arctic winds and intermittent sleet. Which means a busy time for us ferrying lambs in and out of the building - they shiver outside in the sleet and get stir crazy in their pens when it stops.
The lambs are filling out with every passing hour and can now leap tall boulders at a single bound. I've taken some video footage of them playing which I may post. Watching lambs play is endless entertainment. They are full of energy and have little co-ordination - so much racing around, falling over, four-footed hops, unexpected swerves and smirky cuteness.
On the writing front, I'm aiming to finalise my US tour this summer. I'll be attending Westercon in San Francisco (Jun 30- Jul 3) and Readercon in the Boston area (Jul 5-8) and I'm looking to arrange signings in both California and Mass.
As for the UK, it looks like I'll kick off the tour on June 7th with a joint book launch with fellow Brit and Baen author, John Lambshead. It may be at the Melton Mowbray pub in Holborn, London. Details are fluid at the moment - as they would be seeing as a pub is involved:)
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Lamb Pictures!
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Mar. 15th, 2007 @ 11:08 am
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As promised here are some pictures I took yesterday. First up we have the oldest and boldest lamb - a three day-old girl born Sunday morning - who has already mastered the art of leaping on top of large rocks. She had some difficulty at first but now her favourite game is 'King of the Castle' and she stands on her rock - there's a granite block in her compound - and lords it over her brother who has yet to master the ovine art.
And now the youngest. This picture was taken minutes after her birth and already she's up on her feet. We had two lambs born Tuesday night and another two Wednesday morning. This is one of Wednesday morning's. They were both much darker than the others - we have a black-headed Suffolk ram so we get a good variety of markings from white through brown to black.
And here's a family group taken a few seconds later. Note the instinct to suckle. And if you can't find your mum you can always try a sibling.
Here's one of Tuesday's lambs smiling for the camera and showing the art of advanced ear control.
And here's her brother showing that the art of advanced ear control is not that easy to master. Both lambs are about twelve hours old in the picture.
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The Silence of the Rams
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Feb. 13th, 2007 @ 09:34 am
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Terrible news for rams. The moment we erected our new fence to separate the sheep, the weather changed. We went from cold and dry to monsoon. Harmon, our ram, has taken it personally. A week ago he shared a stone cottage with a group of woolly temptresses, now he has his own field ... and no shelter. We'd planned to build a shelter the day after we moved him over. But the wind and rain has made it impossible to work outside for any amount of time. Result - one very sad, wet ram.
So there will be no more writing today. The wind has dropped and the sun has come out. We have eight hours before the next deluge comes over. Which means eight hours of frantic measuring, sawing, hammering, arguing, re-measuring, blaming, hammering, pain, runs for bandages, slate cutting, roofing and defending one's legs from the attention of the prospective tenant.
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Snow!
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Jan. 27th, 2007 @ 11:51 am
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Winter finally arrived on Wednesday. Just as we were getting used to minimum night-time temperatures of 10°C along came ten inches of snow, biting Arctic winds and a drop to -9°C.
Which, in a way, was a good thing. Too many of our trees and bushes were beginning to think it was Spring. Our currants were out, as was our wisteria. Now perhaps they'll return to dormancy and have enough buds left for March.
Just to show how crazy the climate has been, in the South of France apples blossomed in December and now - come the frost and the return of Winter - there are orchards full of tiny wizened apples.
At least it wasn't that bad up here. I fear for my currants - an affliction for which there is no known medication - but we have had the benefit of exceptionally early broccoli - we've been picking since December and have had about five or six meals from them.
So, snow ... and here are the piccies.
This is our field looking down towards the Little Sheep House on the Prairie.
And these are the occupants of the Little Sheep House on the Prairie. They are not amused. Grass is for eating, not for covering in white stuff.
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Fencing, Rams and Pole Dancing
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Jan. 23rd, 2007 @ 11:54 am
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Well, fencing time is upon us - not the pointy sword variety but the sharpened stakes and lots of work variety. Currently we're splitting our sheep field in two to make a ram enclosure. We tried an electric fence but Harmon - our ram - has broken through it two years running now. Which is why we're lambing three weeks earlier than planned:)
He blames Scrappy - one of our more brazen ewes - for using the apple tree next to his enclosure for pole dancing. After which, what else could he do but smash the fence down and show his appreciation.
Rams have little self-control.
So, it's either build a stronger fence or ban pole dancing.
We cut the stakes and hammered them in yesterday and cemented in the gatepost. Today we're hammering in the bracing posts then, weather permitting, we'll attach the sheep fencing and make a gate later this week.
Then all we've got to do is persuade Harmon that the grass is indeed greener on the other side of the fence. Always a fun manoeuvre:)
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News Roundup
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Jan. 16th, 2007 @ 09:59 am
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Tribble Alert! A certain tribble, whose name I can't reveal until tomorrow (for cliffhanger reasons:) has been contacted and photographed. Story and pictures will appear in tomorrow's Kitten's Guide.
Garden news: a rabbit (hopefully not one of the large German variety) is working its way through our Spring cabbage. We tried covering them with flowerpots - the cabbages not the rabbits - and that worked. When we remembered to do it. Covering and uncovering cabbages every dusk and dawn for three months is an easy task to forget - especially when it's pouring down with rain.
Sheep news: Scrappy Ewe is back with the flock after three days in the stable resting her leg. She started limping last week and we brought her in to have a better look. She's still not completely sound but part of that was her fault - trying to climb over the stable door to get back to her friends. Animals do not know the meaning of 'it's for your own good.'
Lambing News: Lambing should start around March 12th. And, yes, we will be setting up the LambCam again. So update your diaries - baby lamb pictures from mid-March.
Software news: I received my Dragon Naturally Speaking Speech Recognition software yesterday so sometime this week I'm going to install it and give it a go. Should be interesting. I suffer from Pirate's syndrome - the more I listen to my voice, the more I notice the West Country twang and before I know it I've broken out into broad Pirate.
Oo, aarrr, me 'ansome, open thy files.
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My Legs: Driving Animals Wild for Half a Century
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Oct. 27th, 2006 @ 03:10 pm
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I did a lot of sheep handling yesterday - I'm a smallholder so I'm allowed to say things like that - and consequently my clothes acquired a ripe sheepy smell. It's tupping time in sheepland so everyone is extra musky.
On my return to the house I suddenly became very popular with the cats. Of course my legs have driven animals wild for half a century ... but this was unusual. Kai leapt on my lap then pushed his face into my thigh and rubbed first his right cheek then his left along my leg. I'd seen dogs do this - our first dog, Zaphod, was a master* and loved nothing better than a roll in a rank smelling piece of ground - but I'd never seen a cat do this. Kai became frenzied, throwing his face down on my legs, pushing with his back legs, and biting my right knee (where the smell apparently was the ripest)
After I wrestled him off, Xena jumped on and started doing the same. I had to leave swiftly and run upstairs while I still had a trouser to change.
Normality - or the state which passes for it in our household - has now returned.
*see tomorrow's post, 'A Dog, a Mother and a Dead Whale,' for the ultimate smelly dog tale.
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