We have 5 nice Katahdin lambs for sale. They are from registered parents, beautiful lambs, one set of RR triplets (2 ram lambs, 1 ewe lamb) from RR mother and RR father. Born 3/30, wts 65 to 80 lbs. Twin ewe lambs from RR father and QR mother, born 3/23, both 85 lbs. We are free of OPP, CL and infectious hoof rot. Both mothers were selected for excellent milk production, and have had twins or triplets each year for 3 years and have raised them all with no supplementation. Parents are easy keepers on pasture only. $300 for ram lambs, $250 for ewe lambs. Need to sell soon. Photo: RR ram lamb (click on photo to enlarge)

The pigs are supposed to EAT the whey, not bathe in it! Whenever they do things like this, Lolo just says with a smile, "Well, they are pigs!"

We had a visit today from Juliana Uruburu and members of her cheese-selling staff at the Pasta Shop in Berkeley in Oakland. They had a tour of the creamery and milking barn, followed by long visits with the ewes and lambs, and went home with 5 wheels of my first Baserri cheeses. Photo: a little kiss from one of next year's milkers

Corey and I had a wonderful visit yesterday and today from Craig Von Foerster, executive chef at Sierra Mar restaurant at Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, and his wife Tamara. They arrived yesterday in time for the afternoon milking, which Tamara was eager to see, as she grew up on a Jersey dairy in Missouri. I cooked them a Basque dinner with my grandmother's recipes, and Tamara shared stories of her grandparents, and of her growing up on a dairy, where her many jobs included cleaning the milking units and bulk tank, a job with which I'm very familiar! This morning they were up early to have a cheese making lesson and help me make today's cheese. After the cheese was in the molds, they headed back to Big Sur with lambs and cheese for Sierra Mar.  (Photo: Craig stirs the curd. Click on photo to enlarge.)

We have a new employee! Anna Erickson, who grew up on a ranch in Valley Ford and went to college in Montana, is now growing vegetables on her family ranch and selling them at farmer's markets. And in her spare time, she is working for me, taking care of the cheeses in the aging room. Anna is a great lover of cheese, and the cheeses are benefitting from her careful attention. She will also be learning to run the milking parlor so she can help out with milking on the weekends. Photo: Anna with the cheese. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The aging room is filling up and June 27 is the date when our first cheeses will be 60 days old. I've been pre-tasting and they are delicious. If you have signed up on the cheese mailing list, please note that I'm having trouble with that provider and can't access that list right now, but hope to have the issue resolved soon and will be in touch as soon as I have your mailing addresses. My first cheeses will be going out locally to Cowgirl Creamery/Tomales Bay Foods in Point Reyes and San Francisco CA, Oliver's Market in Santa Rosa, CA, The Pasta Shop in Berkeley and Oakland CA, Raymond & Company, The Cheese Board in Berkeley CA, Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco CA, Osteria Stellina in Point Reyes Station CA, Nick's Cove in Marshall CA, Quince Restaurant in San Francisco CA, Restaurant Marche in Menlo Park CA, Sierra Mar in Big Sur CA, The Marshall Store in Marshall CA, Point Reyes Vineyard in Point Reyes CA, and The Basque Market in Boise, ID. 

We never weaned Edith and Delia's lambs. They were among the youngest lambs and Edith and Delia are pure Katahdins and not great producers in the parlor, although Delia was amazing last year for a Katahdin, and her daughter and granddaughter are doing well this year. Nevertheless, Edith and Delia are pastured with their lambs, and the lambs have the additional attention of two maiden aunties--our two E. Friesians that didn't lamb. Edith's lambs are adorable and never far from her--three freckle-faced copies of their mother, always clinging by her side. And some days Delia's twins are hunkered with Edith's brood as well. 

After a long day of cheesemaking, and a very long cold week of extreme wind and fog, today the sky was blue and by the end of the day the wind had finally diminished enough for one to actually want to be outside. At 7:00 when I had finished with the cheesemaking, affinage and clean up, I wandered over to the pasture by our new house where the lambs are living, in grass taller than they are. I sat down in the grass and they all came to visit. Bugeyes' daughter, Ladybug, was walking by and I called to her; she immediately came to me like a puppy for scratches and affection. I tried to get a photo with my iPhone; but she was too close and curious for a good picture. 

We've had two days of rain this week, with nearly 3/4 inch accumulation, which is amazing for May. The grass is just growing and growing. Today was our day to weigh lambs. The lambs are growing nicely--we have lots of lambs that are 70 to 90 pounds and only a little over 2 months old. The gang went out to a new pasture after weighing, and if there is no rain in the forecast, we'll move them tomorrow to a more distant pasture with even better grass. Photo: Lolo and Ignacio with the lambs in the corrals.

We had a very nice visit on Monday from Colette Hatch and her cheese-counter managers from Oliver's Market in Santa Rosa. They arrived just as I was getting my cheeses into the brine, and they stayed to meet the ewes and watch the afternoon milking. Today we had a visit from Guillaiume Bienaime, the chef at Restaurant Marche in Menlo Park, and some of his staff. Restaurant Marche will be featuring our spring lamb on a special chef's menu this Friday and Saturday, May 23 and 22. It rained for both visits--I think I need to keep booking visitors; it will be great for the grass! Photo: Lolo milking.

My dad and I just spent a very nice weekend in Seattle, at the Seattle Cheese Festival, courtesy of Daphne Zepos who chose to feature our family story as part of her session on Basque cheeses. The city was beautiful, the audience very receptive and we had a wonderful time. I was only sorry that I didn't have any cheese ready for the session, but Daphne chose lovely examples of Basque cheeses to sample, including an Ossau Iraty, Abbaye du Belloq, an Idiazabal and an Ardi Gazna. We are so grateful to Daphne for such a delightful opportunity to tell our story. 

I've been locked out of my web site for a few days due to technical problems, but there has been a lot happening at the ranch. The first cheeses are in the aging room, and the oldest ones (two weeks old today) are starting to grow their rinds, with white geotrichum, some rosy B. linens, and some brown mycodore spots. We have harvested our first lambs and they will be on the menu soon at Osteria Stellina--Christian has already served up some seared lamb livers. The ewes are healthy and happy, enjoying their green pastures. Their milk is beautiful and abundant. We did our first milk-metering yesterday and have many ewes producing over 5 pounds a day, and three, including Bebe, the yearling who was in my arms in the photo on the mission page, are producing more than six pounds a day!

Sunday I sold 8 lambs to a wonderful couple in Sonoma for breeding stock. those little lambs--6 girls and 2 boys--are very lucky lambs who will be loved and doted on by a family. The same day we aquired 8 piglets to fatten up on the whey. They are enjoying the lush grass in their little pasture (formerly the maternity pasture). I tried to get a photo of them slurping up whey, but they all scattered and this was the best I could do.

Wow! I have been so pleased with the beautiful udders (size and conformation) on all our yearlings ewes, and eager to see what their production was like. Today when I transferred milk for my first cheesemaking, I was thrilled. My vat was full with just 4 milkings! I did the math and found that our girls are producing an average of 5.7 pounds/ewe/day. And that is in a flock with more than half of the ewes in their first lactation. AND most of the yearlings are 3/4 Friesian, 1/4 Katahdin. It's early in the season, of course, but these numbers are better than I had dared to expect. My first cheesemaking day was a bit hectic with all that milk and working out the logistics of operating with a full vat. Lolo helped me sort my way through several first-day crises ranging from water-heater problems to whey transport, and by this evening I had 9 Baserris and 9 Txikis ready for the brine, and a batch of ricotta made from from the whey draining in my kitchen sink for a dessert on Saturday. Saturday we're getting six piglets from Clark Summit Farm to grow fat on all the whey I can't make into ricotta.

We weaned all but the 10 youngest lambs this morning. Big Otis is doing his best to protect and comfort the lambs. This afternoon we had our first milking and the ewes did really well, even the yearlings. The milk yield was good and the milk tasted delicious! This evening the lambs were buttoned up in the barn chowing down on alfalfa and their mothers were knee deep in clover in a new pasture. We're expecting more rain! Photo: Otis and his charges after weaning.

Today was another gorgeous day and this afternoon Lolo and I did the parlor-training by ourselves. I was worried, but the girls were great--we didn't have to do much besides stand back while all the ewes, including this year's yearlings, eagerly waited for their turn to run up the ramp to the parlor. Tomorrow morning we're weaning all but the youngest lambs and we'll begin milking the first 40 ewes tomorrow afternoon. Photo: One of the Evangeline's triplet daughters from last year (the Barbies), ready for milking.

The girls are getting used to giving up their lambs for an hour or so and filing into the parlor. The older, experienced ewes are helping the younger ones get comfortable with the routine. Corey and Ignacio and I did the training this evening and it went very smoothly, and tomorrow Lolo and I will do it alone. Monday morning all but the youngest lambs will be weaned and Monday afternoon Lolo, Ignacio and I will begin milking. Photo: Three of the yearling ewes--Gigi's daughter, Katrina and Delia's granddaughter--on the milking platform.

The ewes are all sheared and enjoying their new haircuts in the warm weather. We've got the parlor and creamery ready and Lolo and Ignacio are finishing a new alley to bring the ewes up from their pasture to the parlor. The lambs are enjoying their last few days with their mothers. We will wean Monday and I'll make my first batch of cheese Wednesday. Photo: Lambs playing on the concrete footings from the old Marconi radio towers.

Phew--we had almost an inch of rain yesterday--Lolo and Ignacio used the rainy day to shear in the barn, and Pat and I tested the bulk-tank cooling system and cheese-vat heating system, then made a run to town. Today the shearing was finished, and we began to train the ewes to the parlor. The older ewes remembered the routine, ran up the ramp and filed in to get their feed. The yearlings were skittish, but Lolo and I coaxed them in, and we know from experience that tomorrow they will be more willing to run up that ramp, now that they know there is food involved. Today required a lot of hard work, but tomorrow we may have time to take a few photos of the process! Photo: Our Basque guests Asun with her husband and daughters on the ranch last Saturday.

We're expecting yet another storm tomorrow, while the ewes and lambs are enjoying the green pastures. Shearing is almost finished. Photo: The Tank, at 60 pounds and less than 6 weeks old.

It has been a beautiful weekend in Marshall and we have had many guests--my father and friends from the Basque country yesterday, and some business colleagues of Corey's today. The pastures are brimming with wildflowers and the lambs are growing. My friend Pat is helping me get the creamery, milking parlor and milk room ready for the cheesemaking season. After days of hard work the creamery and milking parlor are gleaming,smelling clean and ready to receive milk. Next week we'll begin milking and cheesemaking, which means our first cheese will be out in late June. Pat and I built a creep feeder in the night pasture today, and if the good weather holds, the mothers and lambs will start spending the night outside, this week, with two dogs for protection.  Photo: Edith and one of her lambs enjoying the sun.

While my friend Pat and I get the creamery and milking parlor ready for this year's season, Lolo and Ignacio are getting the flock sheared. Milking and cheesemaking is scheduled to start in less than two weeks. The mothers and lambs have been enjoying the warm weather.

Today I cleaned the milking parlor, and cleaned, checked and sanitized all the milking equipment in preparation for the start of milking and cheesemaking. After a blustery storm yesterday and nearly 2 inches of rain, it was still raining off and on today. As I worked at the sink in the creamery, watching the changing weather through the window, there was a beautiful moment between squalls when the ewes and their lambs wandered out into the pasture from the storm shelter, and were silhouetted in the sun against the steel grey sky.

We're expecting another storm on Sunday, and all this late rain promises to make this a great year for grass. The ewes and lambs are out on the pasture with a storm shelter to keep them warm and dry when the rain comes. The oldest lambs are starting to ruminate; it is so cute to see them hanging out chewing their cuds like grownups. Dave Ansley sent this photo taken by Ardy, the exchange student from Java, of his friend Li from Shanghai making friends with Belle.

Today we weighed lambs, and Miss Piggy's boy, nick-named The Tank, because he was a hulking 15 pounds at birth, now weighs 56 pounds, and he's just one month old! (Guillaume, this lamb is going to be on your special chef's menu in May!) Meanwhile he is having a happy life with his mother on our pastures. We also began shearing the ewes. We're shearing ourselves this year, for biosecurity reasons, and so far the ewes have been very understanding as Lolo and I teach ourselves. The first ewes won't win any beauty contests, but they were happy and cool and clearly feeling svelte. We had to stop today when it was time for Dennis, our dairy contractor, to come and talk us through the routine for bringing our milking parlor on line the week after next. Next week we're scheduled to clean and outfit the milking parlor, milk room and creamery, shear the rest of the ewes, and begin to reaquaint them with the parlor. The week after, we'll get our pigs who will be raised on the whey, and with luck we'll be milking by the end of the week. I don't have any photos of our shearing party today,but here is an archival photo of Corey in 2005, learning to shear a ewe at Linda and Dick's place in Idaho. This is a sight never to be seen again. Lolo and I are using the same system, shearing the ewes "4H" style, on a show-stand.

After the weekend storm, it was wonderful to see the sun today. We vaccinated the rest of the flock for soremouth, with Ignacio holding the lambs and Lolo administering the small-pox-like vaccine, while I held Lolo's implements and noted eartag numbers.

We had a big rainstorm today; great April rain for the pastures, but kind of a gloomy Easter. The ewes and lambs stayed warm and dry in the barns. Yesterday was cool and windy but the rain hadn't started yet. We had a wonderful visit from Dave Ansley, my former editor at the San Jose Mercury News, now of Bainbridge Island, WA, his wife Jeanne Huber and their family and exchange students from China and Indonesia. Highlight of the day, besides the visit with the ewes and lambs was Li from Shanghai getting to see, and pet, and lead and hug, the first horse he had ever laid eyes on. He and Belle were instant friends. I'm only sorry I don't have a photo of them. But I do have this lovely photo Dave took of lambs in the pasture. 

We have 88 lambs and lambing is winding down. Yesterday morning I pulled up to the barn at 6:30 and heard that sound I love, of a mother talking to her newborn lamb. It was 9035, the last of the yearlings, and she had a pair of twin boys on the ground. The first was perfectly cleaned and she was dotingly working on the second. Within minutes of my arrival, Ignacio showed up and together we watched while the lambs figured out how to nurse on their own. Dipped their navels, popped them in a jug and got home by 7:15 for breakfast! We had a lovely visit from friends yesterday who enjoyed watching the lambs frolic on the pasture. We have two ewes left who haven't lambed, but they may not be pregnant. We'll give them another week or so until it is mathematically unlikely that they could still have lambs, and then decide what to do. Meanwhile, it's time to start to start preparing for milking and cheesemaking. Photo: 9035 with one of her newborns.

We have wool blankets for sale, made for us at a woolen mill with the wool from our sheep. We still have a few lap rugs left for $80 each. This is what they look like. (Cat not included). We are sold out of fulls and queens but plan to have more made this year if there is interest. We'll have a page up soon for blankets and other products, meanwhile you can indicate interest on the "contact" page. Photo: Courtesy of Thane, starring Emily the cat.

We've been busy again with the lambing finale, and rejoicing at the late-March rain. After the three lambs born Saturday, two more ewes lambed yesterday morning before I left for my presentation on the last day of the Artisan Cheese Festival. They were both yearlings and each had a single--one boy and one girl. This morning I checked the barn at 5:30 am and all was quiet, but by the time Ignacio and Lolo got there at 6:45, Edith was in the process of having triplets! Finally. She was as huge as a house for so long, we're happy she has her lambs and is doing well. The lambs are adorable, purebred Katahdins, that look just like her, with freckled noses and freckled legs. One girl and two boys and all are doing well. Edith is such a sweet mother. When I got to the barn at 9:00 to check in before going to meeting, Lolo and Ignacio had finished with Edith's triplets and were attending to 9043, another yearling, who was in early labor. She had a big black and white boy. We have 86 lambs and 3 ewes left to lamb, one yearling who doesn't look too ready yet, and Mini and Suffolk-face, both of whom look like they may not even be pregnant. That would be a bummer, but I hope with more time they will show signs of having lambs. Photo: Edith with one of her triplets, in one of her characteristic "sheepish" poses.

I was at the Sonoma Artisan Cheese Festival this morning giving a presentation on the Basque inspiration for my cheese, while Lolo held down the fort at the ranch. I returned at 1:00 to find the barn door open, and Lolo, his wife Lola and her sister and brother-in-law all outside the barn. I feared disaster, but Lolo informed me with a smile that we had "a new family" and Lola and their visitors had come up to see. One of the remaining yearling ewes had twins, a boy and a girl. I put on coveralls and helped Lolo get the lambs settled in a jug with their mother. Meanwhile another of the yearlings, one of Evangeline's triplet girls from last year (affectionately known as the "Barbies") went into labor. We brought her into the barn and she had a single girl. Lolo stayed with me until 3:00 wehn he left to enjoy the rest of the day wtih his guests. Seven ewes left to lamb, and I think we are getting into our next wave of lambs. Photo: Delia's daughter (a Friesian/Kathahdin hybrid), with two of her triplets. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

No lambs born today. When are those last ewes going to pop? We have 9 ewes left to lamb and Edith has been looking ready for days, but is still eating heartily and showing no signs of being imminent. Today was another unusually beautiful March day with minimal wind and warm but not too hot. We put the ewes and lambs out on a new pasture and they feasted on the clover. We also had a farm-visit from participants in tne Artisan Cheese Festival. Everyone had a nice visit with the ewes and lambs, and then after a milking-parlor and creamery tour, we had lunch on the lee side of the barn, hardly necessary on such a mild day. Photo: Katrina with one of her lambs, on the new pasture. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Tueday morning Delia delivered a beautiful set of purebred Katahdin twins. We realized that although Delia is a very good milker for a Katahdin, we wouldn't be keeping her ewe lambs for the parlor, so we bred her to our gorgeous Katahdin ram, Bat, in hopes of some nice Katahdin lambs, And these are lovely. Tuesday evening 1620 had twins as well, and those were our last lambs for the past few days. We have 77 lambs so far. We have used the quiet time to give our oldest lambs their first vaccinations. Today my father was visiting, and he helped us vaccinate lambs. He caught lambs and Lolo and Ignacio vaccinated. We had a great time working the sheep together. Dad reminisced about working the sheep in his youth on the family ranch in Idaho. My only regret is that we were so busy I neglected to take photos. Photo: Oso keeps watch over lambs in the pasture.

As I got out of my car outside the barn on my 5 am barn-visit, I was greeted by a soft bleating sound that I recognized as a mother ewe talking to her newborn lamb. As the lights in the barn came up slowly, I saw 1436, a very sweet ewe with big expressive eyes, laying down and talking to a very robust ram lamb who was standing next to her. 1436 stood up to greet me and it was clear that she had not only delivered this large lamb on her own, but that he had already nursed well. I clipped and sanitized his navel and weighed him (13 pounds!). It looked like the mother was expelling the placenta, so I figured she was done with a nice big single. I put them in a jug, gave her some water, and headed home to try to catch another hour of sleep. When I got back to the barn at 7:30, Lolo told me he had arrived at 6:30, just as 1436 was delivering her second lamb, a 10 1/2 pound girl! The lambs were amazingly robust and 1436 was a very good mother. Those were the only births today. It was a windy day so we put the ewes and lambs out in the small night-pasture, where they would have some wind-protection. Eleven ewes left to lamb, and at least 5 of them are not very bagged-up yet, so delivery does not seem imminent. This is the hardest time, when we are all so exhausted and eager for it to be over, but the last ewes are going to straggle in one at a time. Our two remaining Katahdins, Edith and Delia, are huge, and look ready to pop at any time. Maybe tonight. I have been bottle-feeeing Shorty, Evangeline's girl, to take some of the pressure off of Evangeline, whose milk is still sparse after her illness. Every time I show up in the mixing pen with a bottle, Shorty comes running; and close behind her is Bebe, now a mother herself, but still remembering her role as last year's bottle-baby. It's very sweet--this big ewe coming with some deeply rooted response to a person with a bottle, and then not quite sure why she is there. Photo: Emily's daughter, one of our yearling Friesians, with her twins. (The painted numbers are so we can easily tell which lambs go with which mother). Click photo to enlarge.

Saturday began for me at 5 am with a barn-check; all was quiet. I snuck back home to try to get another hour of sleep and was awakened by Ignacio beginning his day at 6:30 with a phone call: "Please come now." I launched out of bed and into my coveralls, and got to the barn to find Ignacio with a ewe in labor and what was showing of the lamb was a tail. This had been my biggest fear, a lamb presenting rear-end first, with the legs back. With Ignacio ably assisting, I did my first serious birth-intervention, easing the lamb back into the uterus and fishing out the hind legs,so I could pull the lamb backwards. It survived, and the ewe went on to have two more! Ignacio and I were elated from the experience. Carol, Taun and Alice came up to help with the days chores, and in late afternoon we all assisted at the birth of twins in the maternity pasture. After we had all the sheep in the barns for the evening, another ewe went into labor, and Ignacio stayed to help me deliver another set of twins. Today was a bit slower--beginning with twins at 7 am, wtih Lolo assisting, and me showing up just as everything was over, and then followed by a single lamb born in the middle of the day. The drama in that case was that the yearling ewe was very skittish, and we had to bring all the ewes into the barn to get her inside to put her in a jug with her lamb. All was quiet in the barn tonight. Evangeline seems fully recovered and today, 3 weeks after they were born, her twins got to play in the big mixing pen, with mom hanging out with 30 or so other mothers,all calling to their lambs. Photo: I find the mothers of single lambs form really sweet and tight bonds with their "only children." Maybe because I'm an only child myself, this really touches me. This is 9053, one of our yearling ewes (a first-time mother), resting with her ram-lamb. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

It was a slow lambing day--Lolo started off delivering twins at 6 am, and after that all was quiet. That gave Lolo and Ignacio time to clean both barns for the weekend, and reconfigure the mixing pen to give the mothers and lambs more room to play. I took the day to catch up on office work. And the sheep enjoyed the warm sunshine and calm weather--one of those rare and special March days. Tonight it was actually too warm in the barns, and we left the doors open until after dark. Photo: Bebe (the lamb who was in my arms on our "Mission" page) with her twins.

Linda left this morning and Lolo and Ignacio and I were very sad to see her go. It has been a wonderful two and a half weeks with lots of laughs and joy and hard work, which thank goodness Linda enjoys. As I feared, within hours of Linda's departure, lambs started coming. During lunch, 1745, also known as Speckles, for the spash of white freckles across her black face, went into labor, at the same time as our gargantuan ewe we call Tiny. Both had twins out in the pasture, with Lolo and Ignacio and I attending and assisting, as the lambs were large. Then, just as we were bringing the ewes in for the night, 8002, the ewe who mysteriously and hilariously always wants to stand in the salt, went into labor. She popped out a nice little ram lamb in 15 minutes, but took over an hour with the next. Lolo had to leave for a meeting, and Ignacio stayed to help me. With no sign of a lamb, I had to go in, and found a lamb all ready to deliver, but just not coming. I pulled that lamb, a nice boy, and then just as we thought we were done, she popped out a third, a ewe lamb. By 7:00, Ignacio and I had all three lambs drinking from Mom, and settled with Mom in a jug, and had medicated the mother to prevent infection from the intravention. Photo: Lolo wtih Tiny and her first lamb in the pasture (click on photo to enlarge.)

Linda just returned from the late-evening barn check to report that 24 ewes are resting in relative comfort with no sign of lambing before morning. And we had a hilarious laugh over this ewe, 8002, who for some reason spends all her time in the barn standing with her front feet in the salt dish. This has been going on for a week now--we figure she considers it to be salt-scrub manicure treatment.

Just one lamb born today, late this afternoon. But it gave us a chance to catch up on shots, ear-tagging and other chores. Also it was a beautiful day to watch the lambs playing and sunning in their pasture.

We're half way there--26 ewes have lambed and we have 26 to go. Today began at 5:45 when Lolo found one of our 2-year-old Friesians giving bitth to a nice single ewe lamb. Then at noon today, two ewes lambed in the maternity pasture at the same time. One of the 2-year-old hybrid ewes had triplets,and a yearling had twins. Linda and I were very busy with those 5 lambs and their mothers, as well as ear-tagging the lambs that were ready to leave the jugs, and giving vitamin shots to the lambs born in the past two days. In the late afternoon, Ignacio found a yearling ewe in the maternity pasture who had already delivered a lamb and had a second on the way, bringing our total to 47 lambs, 24 boys and 23 girls. This evening our jugs are nearly full. Evangeline is still recovering from her post-delivery illness, so she and her lambs remain in the lambing barn where they have become great pets. Today was too busy for much photography, except for a photo of Evangeline cuddlnig with her twins.

The day began with Linda's early trip to the barn, where she found Lolo delivering twins, and helped him finish. It was another beautiful relatively calm and warm sunny day, and around noon one of the yearling ewes lambed in the maternity pasture. Karl got to assist in his first lamb birth, a single girl. This evening, Lolo checked the barn after dinner and found another of the yearlings delivering a single boy. By the end of today 21 of our ewes have lambed and we have 39 lambs. Photo: Karl with the newborn lamb in the pasture (click on photo to enlarge).

Today started at 4:30 when Lolo found Katrina in labor. He stayed with her and she had twins by the time I got to the barn at 6:45. It was a beautiful day on the ranch and after breakfast, Josi, Karl, Linda Dick and I vaccinated ewes and gave vitamins to the recent lambs, while Ignacio cleaned the barn. in the mid morning Ignacio alerted us to a ewe in labor in the maternity pasture, and Karl assisted in his first lamb birth, a very big single boy born to one of the yearling ewes. The rest of the day was quiet--we had a nice lunch outside and a visit from my dad. This evening after dinner we checked the barn and found another of the yearlings in labor; she had a boy and a girl and we saw them take their first drink and settled mother and lambs in their pen before retiring for the night.

We've had 7 ewes lamb in less than 24 hours! All were yearlings and all had twins, with a total of 7 boys and 7 girls. Two ewes lambed last night when Linda and I were in the barn, then Lolo found one of Evangeline's daughters lambing at 4:30 this morning, and another yearling lambing at 7:00 when he returned to the barn. This afternoon Linda and I went to town and when we returned Lolo and Ignacio had just finished delivering two sets of twins. While we were there, Gigi's daughter finally went into labor and delivered twin boys. We have extra help coming tonight--Linda's daugher Josi and her husband Karl, and Linda's husband Dick. So far all our lambing has been in early morning and evening, none in the middle of the night, although we were expecting it last night. Photo: Gigi's daughter with her twins. The first, on the right, was the one who must have been holding things up in delivery (she seemed to be in early labor for more than 24 hours). His birth fluids had the orange color of a lamb that was stressed in delivery. His brother popped out minutes after him, and was as white and clean as snow.  

Tonight the spell was broken, and the yearling ewes started lambing, 142 days from when the rams went in with them. At 9:00 when Linda and I went to check the barn, Emily's daughter Emy had one lamb on the ground and a second on the way. She was a wonderful mother; she delivered both lambs on her own and loved and cleaned them up. A nice boy and a girl. Before we could even get Emy and her lambs into a jug, Nadie's daughter had two hooves and a nose showing, and soon she had delivered a nice girl, with another on the way, a boy. She was also an excellent first-time mother. By 10:30, we had 4 lambs, and several other ewes appeared to be in the early stages of labor, including Gigi's daughter, Bugeyes and Delia's daughter. Most of the rest of the 30 ewes in the barn were feeling uncomfortable and definitely cranky, and hilarious little fights and spats were breaking out all over. We decided that I'd better go home to get a little sleep, so I could come up at 2:00 to spell Linda if she was still there. I left Linda finishing up with the second set of twins and came home for a few hours' sleep.

Eva is holding out, looking like she's in early labor, but no lambs yet. Many of the yearling ewes look ready to lamb, and we've moved them into the same group with the older ewes,so they will be coming into the barn at night. We don't want any lambs born at night in the pasture. Evangeline and her lambs are still in the barn because Evangeline requires some extra attention, although she's almost back to normal. Shorty and her brother seem happy with each other's company and Shorty still likes to sleep on top of Evangeline (click on photo to enlarge).

Our March winds have arrived and it has been blowing for three days. Still, the mothers and lambs are enjoying the sunshine and grass in our night-pasture, which is wind-sheltered. Monday morning, Psycho lambed with twin girls. Psycho got her name because she was a very bad mother last year and showed no interest in her lambs. We kept her because she is a fabulous producer in the milking parlor. This year she loved her little lambs right away, and has continued to be a good mom, to our great relief. No lambs born again today. We are mystified that the lambing pattern is so different this year than last year, and will have to analyze our procedures once all the data are in. Today Linda and I prepared our second lambing group, last year's ewe-lambs, who are due to start lambing tomorrow, by clipping the wool from their rear-ends for cleaner lambing. Tonight one of our Katahdins, Eva, seems about to go into labor, so it may be a late night. Photo: Nadie and her lamb in the night pasture (click on photo to enlarge).

Another day with no lambs born! With the help of friends Rich and Lori, we cleaned the barn, set up a creep-feeder for the lambs, vaccinated, wormed and trimmed hooves. Mothers and lambs spent a happy day in a sunny and wind-sheltered pasture, since our March winds have begun to blow. We have 14 lambs so far, 7 boys and 7 girls, and 44 ewes left to lamb. Photo of Linda with lambs was taken yesterday by Carol (click on photo to enlarge).

Lambing is still slow, but one of these days it has to pick up. Thursday Elsbeth delivered three healthy boys. Later that day, Estrella Blanca had a healthy boy, after a difficult delivery that required assistance. Mother and baby are doing well. Friday no lambs were born at all. Evangeline is eating her regular rations with gusto for the first time since lambing. This afternoon Miss Piggy delivered the largest lamb we've ever had, a 15 1/4 lb boy. The older lambs and their mothers spent the day out on the green pastures and now are settled in a new mixing pen in the milking barn. The expectant mothers are looking even more expectant. We had help at the ranch today from friends Carol, Melinda and Heidi, and Carol took this photo of one of Split Ear's lambs in the barn-aisle. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Only one lamb born today, a beautiful black girl to 8024, who had triplets last year. The ewes were having their breakfast outside, but 8024 returned to the barn to go into labor and delivered a 14-lb girl, with Lolo and Ignacio attending. Evangeline was still out of sorts after lambing several days ago, not eating and worrying us, until she suddenly went beserk and started chewing on Marcia's sweatshirt sleeves. We wondered if she was craving something besides grain and alfalfa, and went out to cut her a fresh salad of grass. She stuffed her mouth greedily and has been gorging on fresh salad ever since, and seeming much happier.

We had 3/4 inch of rain last night, with intermittent sun and rain today. 1585 (Nadie) had a nice single ewe lamb last night around 9:00, and all was quiet when Linda checked the barn at 2 am. This morning Split-Ear had twin girls, a black and a white one. We have been feeding the ewes at noon rather than 5 pm, to encourage daytime lambing, and it looks so far like maybe this is working. And out of 8 lambs born so far, 6 are girls, so we're feeling very lucky indeed! Photo: Nadie with her ewe lamb.

Today was a slower lambing day then we expected. It started out with two sets of lambs; Lolo got to the barn at 7:00 and found Evangeline with twins, a girl and a boy, and 1605 with one ewe-lamb and another on the way, also a girl. Linda and I got there by 8:00 and I pulled 1605's third, a large boy. Evangeline's twins were tiny, but active, and 1605's triplets were small, medium and large, but all vigorous. No more lambs for the rest of the day, although a dozen of the ewes look very ready. We may have a busy night. Photo: 1605 resting her head on two of her triplets.

Our grass is green and lush from all the recent rains, and the wild iris are coming up in the pastures. Lambing is due to begin tomorrow, Monday, March 1. The girls are all looking very pregnant and we are as eager as they are for the lambs to start coming. We're expecting little sleep and lots of lambs in the next week, but I will try to post news when I have a chance. My cousin Linda arrived yesterday and today we trimmed the wool of all the ewes to keep them clean and tidy during lambing and help the lambs find their first drink of milk.