Now with 33% more lamby goodness!

There is nothing in the world softer than a lamb's muzzle in your hands. Heavenly.

I love this shot! The way they are all looking at the camera reminds me of photos from an office holiday party. 

Delicious, delicious molasses.

Victoria is a very proper sort of lamb. She kind of reminds me of Margaret Thatcher.

Nan is hands-down the sweetest lamb I've ever had. It's hard to get good pictures of her because she wants to be right beside me, nuzzling me all the time.  She is wearing a bit of hay in this pic...

which Victoria finds absurd and wasteful.

"Let me help you out with that. Nom nom nom nom."

We moved Miss Linda, our oldest nanny, in to the lamb pen this week. Linda is 14 or 15, toothless and she doesn't get anywhere in a hurry. She has a lovely spirit though and is the best mama we have. We put her with the babies so she wouldn't have to compete so hard for food. She's already gained a little weight and the babies seem happy to have her body heat in the shelter. Every time I check on her there are three or four kids snuggled up to her.

Don't you want to kiss that little nosey? I kissed it this afternoon for you.

I can't get enough of the perpetually surprised look on Martha's face. 

Naming Names

It may be a wee bit early but I think we should start coming up with a naming convention for this year's lambs and kids. For those of you new to the blog, we use naming conventions for a bunch of reasons. It makes it super-easy to figure out how old an animal that was born on the farm is but mostly it's just easier than coming up with a million names on the spot during birthing season. 

Two years ago we named our babies after candy and varieties of cheese. Last year the shareholders voted to name the kids (baby goats) after herbs and spices. We have, up till now, named our ewes (female sheep) after islands and our rams after presidents of the United States, but we have so many sheep now that we are going to name the new lambs the same way we name the kids from now on.

With so many readers I'm sure we can come up with a really good naming conventions this year. Post your suggestions here. We'll winnow the list down to five or six and then let everybody vote.

Here's what you need to know:

The category needs to be something with lots of naming possibilities. Candy was great cause there are umpteen jillion kinds. Think broad. Characters from fiction? Good. Characters from Dickens?Fine.  Characters from Salinger novels? Not so much. 

Be creative. Chinese food dishes. The counties of Ireland. Just be sure there are names suitable for males and females.

We can do two different conventions for the goats and the sheep as long as they kind of go together, i.e. goats are herbs and sheep are spices. 

This is one of the most direct ways in which you get to help us on the farm so have fun with it! I can't wait to see what ya'll come up with.

Let's name some sheep, shall we?

It's hard to believe that I have let these new ewes go nameless for so long but it couldn't be helped. Between working on the book, picking up the house for the party and all the sadness of last week, I just haven't had the time or the brain space to get to it.

But I figured I might as well make a start tonight with the ewe lambs. Remember, we are naming this group after islands.

These two lovelies are twins, believe it or not. 

We named this one Nantucket, but we're calling her Nan. She has the sweetest face, doesn't she?

Her sister is the smallest of the new lambs and also the most charming. Her name is Martha's Vineyard, Martha to her friends.

She is just so darned cute I can hardly stand it. I mean, those ears! Just look at those pink, stick-outy ears. 

Nan and Martha are always together. Martha is definitely the braver of the two and will walk right up to my camera and nuzzle my hand. Heaven!

The other two lambs were a bit harder to name. 301 is a very serious looking lamb...

but not always. I decided to honor her dignified side by naming her Victoria.

And this little gal is just as cute as a button. We're calling her Capri.

Tomorrow we'll work on the adult ewes.

New Ewe Lambs

One the 1st day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

11 new cormo ewes. Well technically I gave them to myself. And I have no idea which day of Christmas this is. 

But the "11 cormo ewes" part is right. 

We are all flat-out exhausted from a loooong day but I can't go to bed without at least putting up some pictures of the new ladies.

These are the four ewe lambs. You'll be seeing a lot more of them when the lambcam is up and running.

Here are three of the seven adult ewes. According to the breeder, all of these ladies twin when they lamb. So we have a whole lot of cormo cuteness to look forward to come spring.

Here's a peek under their jackets.

Isn't it lovely?

More pics tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll start the naming. Ya'll came up with some really wonderful possibilities but it's not to late to weigh in.

Put Your Thinking Caps On...

We are going to Lee, Massachusetts bright and early tomorrow morning to pick up our new Cormo ewes. I'm not sure how many we will be coming home with but we are going to be needing some names. 

In the past we have named our Cormo ewes after islands and we're going to stick with that convention for this group. (We'll need to come up with a new one in the spring.) 

So get out your world atlas and hit me with Island names you like for the new sheep.   

Maggie and Truman (the world's cutest lamb)

Howdy! I'm Maggie Estrin of Little Grey Cat Designs. I had the great good luck to be able to visit Susan and Patrick recently when I went back east for a wedding. Susan asked me to do a guest post about the visit from my point of view, and I happily accepted.

I arrived Sunday evening and took the ferry from Woods Hole to Oak Bluffs. Martha's Vineyard is gorgeous--seriously, it's beautiful. We took the scenic route from the ferry to the house, and then promptly changed into "goat clothes" to take care of the evening chores.

My first sight of the critters was our trip to Felix Neck to see the nannies, ewes, kids, and lambs. Let me tell you what--these animals have the prettiest pastures I've ever seen! S&P use a movable fence at Felix Neck in order to rotate the feeding area to prevent overgrazing and parasite build-up. Basically, the moms and babies get new scenery every couple of days, and it's all pretty meadow and low woodlands full of delectable green stuff.

Sweet William, Bay Leaf, Cumin, and Clover still get bottles twice a day, and they know it! As soon as you get close to the pen with the bottles, they rush the fence to make sure they get them. Sweet William, saying he doesn't want the darn bottle

They suck them dry within about 90 seconds, and ask for more. The dogs (especially Fettucini) like to lick the babies' faces after they eat to get some yummy milk for themselves.

Fettucini (I think)

As you know, Rosemary's poor leg is in a cast, and she sleeps in the house every night. I was lucky enough to get to hang out with her while S&P bought groceries for dinner.

The next day was supposed to be full of fun things like dyeing yarn, going to the beach, and seeing the sights. The animals had other plans, though. Patrick very kindly took care of the early morning chores and let Susan and I sleep in a bit, but Biscotti decided to set herself free from the pen just as our day began. After retrieving her and staking her in the pen on a harness and line (so she couldn't repeat the process), we ran some errands for the farm and took water to the other animals over at Tisbury Meadows (another gorgeous site).

Finally we returned home and dyed some yarn (and our hands--my cuticles are still blue in places!).

The dark spots are from an accidental dousing in the steam bath--someone's yarn bundle leaked.

Just as we finished up around 2PM, we got a call that some of the herd at Felix Neck was out again. So, off we went. Herding goats is pretty difficult, especially when there's nowhere to herd them in to because the fence has to stay up to hold the other goats in! We finally succeeded, and then brought them some more water (which they drink at an astounding rate!). After finally finishing all this, we hopped in the cart to head back to the truck....and got it stuck. It just wouldn't budge. The fun never ends!

Thankfully the evening chores were uneventful. Being the gracious hosts that they are, Susan and Patrick kindly heeded my suggestion and fixed excellent mint chocolate chip milkshakes for dinner, and we collapsed.

The next morning (and my last bit of visiting), we moved fence at Felix Neck so the critters could have new greenery to chow on. S&P have a pretty neat system worked out for moving fence without letting the animals out, and once they were allowed into the new section, they attacked the new plants like they had never eaten before! Pretty amusing, really...but I forgot to take pictures.

I had a fabulous time (despite the jailbreaks, poison ivy, and bugs), and learned a lot--including that, though I adore goats, keeping them is not for me! S&P put so much love, hard work, and parts of themselves into their farm--it's amazing to see. Of course, there are rewards--the bottle babies running after you like little paparazzi, the satisfaction of making shareholders happy and producing a high quality product, working for yourself, and doing what you love. Susan and Patrick, thanks for everything!

Truman and Ike Love

As promised, here are some Truman pictures. Sorry so many of them are similar- I couldn't decide which ones I liked best and I am running out the door to meet the film crew.

Salina is a great mama. 

Except when she gets confused which baby is hers. Here she is sniffing Ike just to be sure...

The photos below are Sicily and Ike.

I'll post some more when I return.