March 25, 2022
Maple sugaring season came to an early end, which is fine with us as our lambs are all arriving early. The temperatures at night have been above freezing which keeps the sap from flowing - but happily it’s also woken the peepers from their quiet winter’s slumber. They’ve been serenading us from the swampy edges, as we’ve been rushing about our chaotic life.
We’ve been getting ready for our “Shearing Festival”, which after being canceled in 2020 due to covid, is finally coming to fruition this Sunday at Hill-Stead. We prefer to get the shearing done before the lambs are born, but the shearing is a week later than usual, and the lambing started two weeks earlier than usual – and it’s coming on strong! We already have 13 lambs “on the ground” with lots more to come. I suspect all the lambs have plotted to arrive just in time for the long-awaited festival if for no other reason than to amplify the mayhem.
The lambs this year are not just healthy, they are downright rambunctious. Lambing in 2020 was a nightmare. Many of our ewes were sick and unable to care for their own lambs (a reflection, I think, of the 2019 drought and the toll that it took on our pastures). 2021 was much better but still not as vivacious as other years. So far, the lambs of 2022 are hitting the ground healthy enough to start playing within hours of being born. Watching them blasting around the pasture and playing with each other is truly a joyous sight!
We are very excited about the shearing festival; it’s going to be a wonderful, educational, and celebratory event, but it’s definitely added to our already overflowing workload. Luckily, bouncing lambs and serenading peepers are the perfect panacea for all the stress and strain that a very full life can bring.
See you there!