Monday, January 21, 2013

Woollies and winter blooms...

(Toodles loves to feed sheep alfalfa cake from her hand.)

The sheep are nearing the end of wearing their thick winter fleeces.  Next week Monday, we have them scheduled for shearing.  The woollies are sure going to feel the cold then, but it's important to us to shear them before they begin lambing.  It's difficult for baby lambs to find their milk when they have to nuzzle through a lot of wool.   I was up at the sheep barn a couple days ago and took the Star down from its Christmas position and wired it to the wall inside.  I was thinking about how very soon this barn would become my second home.  Not a home, really, but a place where I will be spending a lot of time every day, keeping an eye on the sheep and helping with the lambs.  I can't wait!  February 10th is the approximate due date for the lambies to begin dropping.   

I just finished a great little book called The Shorn Lamb by Hughie Call.  The author writes from experience as she spent years with her husband on their Montana ranch.  This story is about a young widow who is trying to keep her husband's sheep ranch running.  Oh the challenges she faces!  The Golden Fleece is another of her novels I enjoyed a few years back.

 

The laundry room "greenhouse" is bursting with buds.  The Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas-Easter Cactus is still pushing out blooms and now the orchid (above) is sending out shoots.  I don't know how long it will take to be in full blossom, but I'm hoping for lovely orchids by Easter!  Is it too much to ask?  Maybe, but I'll take orchids whenever they come.  I'm so glad for these small miracles that bless my heart during the frigid winter days.



12 comments:

  1. a delightful sharing. love the sheep(s), they are always smiling.

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  2. You know, it just doesn't seem right to take their coats off of them in the middle of the freezing cold winter. Can't mother nature push the breeding season back a little? Have the lambies arrive in April or something so their mamas can be a little warmer LOL???

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  3. Love the photo of Toodles in amongst the sheep. So sweet!

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  4. I miss having sheep...so cute and funny..not so funny that we are like sheep... the flowers are beautiful. Which way is your window facing? Dianntha

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  5. Oh I just want to hug your sheep. I would not want the job lambing though.

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  6. Oh, I love the photo of your grand among the sheep! So sweet. And I'm excited that your lambing time is coming soon. I enjoyed that very much last year, and I can't wait to see it all again here. I hope you post pics, etc. I do feel so sorry for those sheep, losing their winter coats in the cold :( But I know it's a must.

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  7. Sweet little Granddaughter! OOhh those sheep will be cold. What we do for motherhood. Animals...humans...such a sacrifice. I can't wait to see the new little lambs.

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  8. It's the small miracles that mean and add the most to our days, isn't it? The blooms are lovely as is the photo of the Grand amongst the sheep.

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  9. What a cutie pie, Toodle is! We were just talking about lambing season at supper. Oh, how I would love to shadow you for a day or two in mid February. I hope your orchid blooms by Easter. My orchid blooms all the time, but it is silk :o).

    Blessings!
    Deborah

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  10. I like the color toodles brings to the landscape. :) And your holiday cactus is beee-yooo=ti-ful!

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  11. My five year old absolutely loved the picture of the little one feeding the sheep! Soon enough we'll be headed back to the land of the orchids, so for now I'm enjoying the seasonal flowers here and looking forward to the bulbs blooming :-)

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  12. Lovely pic of the sheep and little granddaughter...I like hearing about the books you like. And stay warm in that sheep barn, o.k.? You must have to wear a few layers...

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