Sunday, January 11, 2009

Welcome Cosmo & Demetri


Pebbles gave birth to her lambs yesterday, right on schedule. We were figuring it would be January 10 or after, so she couldn’t have been closer. Cosmo was on the ground when I arrived in the barn yesterday morning. Demetri required a little assistace to come into the world, and a bit of stimulation to get going. He is also a bit scrawnier.


These little mites are doing well, except for the fact that they’ve only located one of the two milk spigots on Mommy. She’s getting pretty full on the other side, and today, my good friend Deborah came to act as Ovine Lactation Consultant. I’ve now received instruction on milking, and hopefully will be able to alleviate the fullness until the little ones figure out the routine on both sides. Which I hope will be soon. I’m sure Pebbles would be even happier than I.

We have two other pregnant ewes. They are both first-timers so we hope that they have watched & learned from Pebbles, who is an experienced Mom. (Pebbles gave us Athena & Bacchus last year.) We are very excited, and a bit anxious, to see what comes next. We’re hoping for some ewes. So far, at our little farm, we have had two ewes (one of which was stillborn/malformed) and four rams. So we’re due.

On the Knitting Front

I was fortunate to be able to take two classes from Nancy Bush last week. One was on Traditional Estonian Sock Techniques and the other on Estonian Lace Shawls. We learned Welsh heels and French toes in sock class, and the sample we did in class gave us a chance to try both of those in a short-cuffed, compact-length sock (which would probably fit one of the sheep, actually). Lace class was extraordinary. I learned to make nupps that didn’t totally suck. If I get the border on the sample, I’ll post a photo. . . but please don’t hold your breath. I’m still knitting on some other projects.

I’ve been in the barn pretty much for the last two days, very grateful that it’s no longer 22 degrees & windy, or raining buckets. I think I’m gonna take a nice warm bath now & unwind.

3 Comments:

Blogger Dorothy said...

Congratulations on your two new arrivals. They are precious! I took Nancy's two day lace class in Mt. Vernon. Doesn't she make nupps look easy? I have to admit I'm doing much better with them now. I've cast on for Queen Silvia.

6:35 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Yvonne, I can't get enough of these two cuddly guys. You must be ecstatic!

5:02 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Congrats on the cutie pies!

8:53 AM  

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