Soaking up the sun

It's a glorious day here today. After so much gloomy rainy wet weather, this is amazing! I've already washed towels and rugs and hung them out to dry. It's windy and cold, but the sun is out! We do have a fire going in the wood stove since yesterday morning. It's cold! And will be cold til next Monday. April is such a wonky month really. Doesn't quite know what to do. Hot one day, cold the next. Sunny, then rainy. It actually rained yesterday while the sun was shining. So crazy!

I started digging a trench over in front of the sheep-chicken barn yesterday. It's nothing but a stinking mud pit. Poor sheep can't even get inside without wading trough knee deep wet cold mucky mud. It's horrible. So I decided to dig a trench and route the rain water away from there. So far it's working and water is draining out to the field.

I am expecting lambs from all 8 of the sheep starting the 15th. I see udders on all of them now. I am crazy for doing this. I'm stressing out, thinking of all that could go wrong. I'm dreaming that they all have 4 lambs each. UGH... And Adalaide, who had twins 3 years ago, is huge. One of the lambs was already dead, laying out in the cold wet mud. Cara was barely breathing when I found them. I got her inside and warmed up and got her a bottle of colostrum. She joined the other 2 bottle babies on the side porch. Amarillo had quads earlier that month and didn't really want the 2 ewe lambs. And she is huge now.

And I found out earlier this week that I will not be able to use my neighbors pasture next door. I am so glad I didn't fertilize over there when I did all the rest of my pastures. So we will not have a garden this year. Sheep will be in it. We put up a fence Monday to keep them out of the apple and pear trees and will use that little plot between the trees for a small garden. My husband will plant it. I just do not want to mess with a garden this year anyway, after the drought last year.

The kids are growing like weeds. They turned 4 weeks old Tuesday. I am giving Freya's kids a bottle a few times a day. Seems like she won't let them nurse. I have a friend who wants all 4 doe kids. And my friend who disbuds for me wants Thorin the buck. I am so glad to find good homes for my kids.

S now just waiting on lambs and for the ground to dry out here.

I had a cow...

for a few minutes today.

I had just got to town and my husband calls. There's a cow in the yard, he says. A cow in the yard? Yeah, a cow in the yard. Not a big cow. Looks like a baby, maybe 3 feet tall. White with black spots. I said it sounds like a Holstein. So I told him to see if he could get it over in the small yard with the hay bale. It had been raining since early this morning, with thunder and lightening. Anyway, he got him over there.

I called a few neighbors to see if it was theirs. No.

So I called on the way home to see if it was still there. He said it's now way out in the hay field next door. Didn't know how he got over there. So I am about a half mile from home and see the calf walking north on the road. I go to the driveway and start walking back, hoping to run it back here and put it with the sheep in the front, hoping someone might come by and see him. I get to the calf and he starts running north, not south the way I want him to go.

Then here comes an ATV with 2 women in it. They hop out and said it was theirs. They had just got 5 calves yesterday. They live BEHIND us over the ridge to the west.  3 of the calves are still there. So 1 is still missing.

We get him back to my place and put him in with the sheep and alpacas til they go back to get the trailer.

This is what the sheep thought about the whole situation. They ran to the front. The alpacas did their scary screeching noise. I told them he wouldn't be here long, so hang on.

And they came with their big ole trailer. The younger lady backed it in herself. I was very amazed with her. Said she did this all the time. So the cute little calf is gone. I was going to keep it if no one claimed him. The older lady asked how much for my trouble. I said nothing, that's what we do out here, help each other out.

So another fun day in the country!

Stella with her drink coozy...

The boys...

I was walking over to the studio and saw the boys laying by the new hay bale I got the other day. They do like their hay. They are going to alpaca shearing day at my friend Susan's farm April 14th. I have another friend who is loaning us his truck and trailer to take them over there. Last year, I couldn't find a way to get them to the shearers, so they didn't get sheared til mid June. Poor guys were absolutely miserable. I don't want that to happen again. I am so thankful for good friends.

The sheep now, that's a different story at the moment. I'm so glad they were all (except for Amarillo) sheared in September, so they aren't too bad right now. But I think they are all pregnant and I'm worrying about their back ends and udders right now. They aren't due til the middle of April and I'm not really sure if my shearer will be able to come before that. So I'm trying to think of a way to get each one in a place where I can cut the wool from around their udders and back ends. Sure would be nice to have some sort of shute (?) they could go into, that I could also get into to do this. Hmm...

Baby love

These alpacas just love babies! I told them real soon, they will have LOTS of little baby lambs to take care of.

It's spring here at Outback Farm!!!

Yes, spring has sprung here on the farm! Winter is finally  past. I am so thankful! The birds are twittering all about, making nests everywhere. I even saw a squirrel coming down out of the tree in the studio yard. The baby kids are frolicking about too. Soon there will be lambs!

 I hope everyone has a fun first day of spring, where ever you are!

Wilderland...

Today, my daughter, her 2 Boxers Rousey and Daisy, and me and my dog Stella, went to the most beautiful place to walk. It's a private property at the foot of Lookout Mt. It's beautiful. I want to live there. I would never leave.

The dogs had a ball, jumping in every lake and stream and mud puddle they found.  Just look at that water! All blues and greens. Magical. That's Lookout to the West.

This lake is at the top. There are about 7 or 8 on this property. Maybe more. But each one is amazing. Little waterfalls and streams all over. Even some natural springs with wonderful cold water!

One of the guys who own this property has a son who walks tightropes. There is one across this lake. It goes from here to the other side. He has done this from the 2 Aquariums in Chattanooga. He's good. But what a great place to fall, right?

The most peaceful place ever. And a beautiful day to go for a long walk.