Keep on the Sunny Side

The Whites - Keep on the Sunny Side .mp3

Found at bee mp3 search engine

Oh my goodness.  This weekend has been really rough, but also wonderful.
Funny how that works.

My two ewes Ingrid and Emma finally lambed.  Ingrid began lambing Thursday evening around 8:00.  Everything seemed to be going well, normal presentation (head and both front legs coming out together), but she wasn't getting on with it.  I wanted her to do this on her own, but at around 10:30 I decided it was time to give her a hand and pulled the baby out.  Unfortunately, it was dead.  Nothing I did revived it.  Also, I was beginning to notice a bad smell.  An hour later another lamb was showing, but after feeling around I discovered that both of its legs were back.  Quite stuck.  I could tell that this one was also dead and the smell was worse.  With my brother holding Ingrid still, I tried unsuccessfully to push the baby back in so I could get at least one leg around.  But it was really stuck.  So, my bro and I switched places.  Thank the Lord he has small enough hands to be able to reach in there!  He successfully brought a leg forward and got the baby out.  I'm guessing that they'd been dead for a while, although not too long since they seemed fully formed.   I have no idea why they died, but I know there wasn't anything I could have done differently.
That is an experience I hope never to repeat.  It was horrible.  But I praise the Lord for being there with us and helping us to get that lamb out without injuring Ingrid!  Also, that it only took us about 30 minutes...that's a huge blessing right there.

Ingrid is doing well, eating, and looking perky today.  We're giving her shots of penicillin once a day for two or three days to make sure of that.  Better safe than sorry, the way I look at it.  I would hate to lose her, too.

But despite that, life on the farm has it's sunny side, too.  This morning when I went out to feed the sheep, I discovered two new faces, a ewe and a ram lamb!

They'd probably been born for about hour or so as they were both up and mostly dry when I discovered them.  Emma didn't need any help and she's such a great mom.  It was a bit windy, wet, and cold today and this evening, but they're all as snug as can be in the lambing pen under the shelter.

Above is the ram lamb and below is the ewe lamb.

I decided to name them Amy and Rory.
For those of you who are not Whovians, Amy and Rory are the 11th Doctor's companions in the British TV show Doctor Who.  And Rory is awesome.  Just sayin'...

That's Amy above, and Rory below.

Amy snuggling with her momma.

Yes, I think Amy and Rory are the perfect names for these two...

*smile*

And here's a few pics of Sweet Pea and Katniss...

Katniss is 1 1/2 weeks old now, and getting bigger every day.  I'm calling her my "monster baby".  Seriously, that's a big baby!  And she never stops moving.  She's probably the most active lamb I've ever seen, although her yearling sister Maggie (aka the Nibblin' Lamb) comes close.  There's a log in the sheep pen which Katniss jumps over.   It's just about the cutest thing ever and she makes me laugh so hard.  Here's a short video of her...

Oh, and pay no attention to what I'm saying while filming.  Well, you can if you want to, but I was talking to my Aunt Lizzie on the cell phone while filming, describing Katniss to her. *grin*

And that's it, lambing is done for the year.  No more midnight trips in the rain to the sheep pen!  I can sit back, relax, and enjoy my lambs.
Happy Trails, y'all!  I hope you all have a blessed Sunday!

p.s.
You've all left such lovely comments on my last few posts!  I haven't had time to respond to them yet, but hopefully tomorrow or Monday.  You're the best readers ever:)

Big Baby

Yesterday around 5 o'clock, I felt like I needed to go check on my sheep.  So I walked down there and found this cutie waiting for me...

Yes!  The first of my lambs has arrived!  Sweet Pea had one, big, single ewe lamb this year.  She had triplets last year, and I was hoping for twins this year, but I'm not complaining.  A healthy girl is always welcome!

Judging from how well she was getting around and how dry she was, I'm guessing she was born around 4 o'clock.  Apparently everything went smoothly, which is always a blessing!

I've named her Katniss. *smile*

Here she is today, exploring outside of the lambing pen for the first time...

You can see how big she is!  Isn't she lovely?

Now I'm just waiting for these ladies to lamb...

I could be wrong, but I think Emma (the white faced one) is going to have her's this evening.  She looks like she's getting really close.  But, I could be wrong.  Just have to wait and see. *smile*

Happy Trails, y'all!

Miscellany

I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but last week my dad and I stopped by the new Big R store.

*heavenly chorus*

Before they put in this new one the two closest to us were in Sandpoint and Spokane, which are both about an hour away from us.

I LOVE Big R.   They have just about everything you could possibly want for your farm/ranch.  Daddy bought a new pump, while I found a few things that made me giddy with delight.  Namely, a 660 ft. roll of polywire, 20 step-in plastic posts, and a portable fence energizer.   Yeah, you know you're a farm girl when that makes you giddy with delight.  When I got home, I did a happy dance.  Really.  I'm using all of that wonderful stuff to divide our horse pasture in half, and to fence our orchard so the horses can graze there.  Rotational grazing is awesome, folks.

Series 4 of Doctor Who FINALLY came in at the library.  =D  Well, half of Series 4 - they have the series split up into two sets that you request independently of each other.  This, I did not realize until I got the first set, which is discs 1-3.  Oh well.   I'm dreading Ten's regeneration anyway (sobbing), so this puts off the inevitable a wee bit longer.  Right?  Right.
Although...I can't WAIT to see the reunion between Rose and The Doctor!! =D
Anyway, I've been watching and loving the episodes I do have:)

Love, love, love Donna as The Doctor's companion!!  She's brilliant, she really is.  And soooo funny.  Catherine Tate and David Tennant are great together.

And this, is so so true...

And, before you ask, I'm still planning on sharing pics from our Yellowstone trip.  My bro and I took a ton of pics, so I'm still sorting through them and getting ready to edit them.  So...maybe next week.  But no promises...;)

Last week one of my ewes, Sweet Pea, bloated.  Twice.  In one day.  I still have no idea why she bloated, but she did.  I always have baking soda out for the sheep to eat when they need it which usually keeps them from having tummy upsets like that, but for one reason or another that didn't work this time.
So, I dosed her with an elixir consisting of...

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup olive oil
&
2 Tbs. baking soda

Sounds yummy, doesn't it?
She didn't like that much, but I got almost all of it in there.  Then I put a stick in between her teeth, like a bit in a horse's mouth, which made her chew.  The chewing is to get her burping, which fixes the problem.
Thank the Lord, it worked...because the alternative isn't pretty.  Not one bit pretty.

Today, my bro and I checked out a church we'd never been to before.
Grace Bible Church
We know quite a few people who attend church there, so we felt quite at home.  I enjoyed the sermon, which was from 1 Cor. 7, which I happened to be reading this week anyway.  Love it when that happens:)
And I enjoyed the fellowship afterwards.   Alex and I are definitely planning on going again.

And that's about all I can think of at this moment that I wanted to share with you all...although I have this nagging feeling that there was something else that I can't remember.

I hope you all had a blessed Sunday!