Clio O'Gorman | A Dog Named Christmas

Clio O'Gorman | A Dog Named Christmas

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Zombie and Kitty Cat

This year, the kids made their own Hallowe'en costumes, for which I was very proud. We didn't have to buy a thing. Aidan saw the Zombieland movie with Uncy a few weeks ago, so he wanted to be a Zombie. I helped him choose old clothes that didn't fit him anymore which wasn't hard because he has stretched out and grown out of most of his things this past summer. He needed to rip them and make them dirty, so he used his clothes to play tug of war with Emerson (10 month Bernese Mountain dog puppy). To add the dirt, he also poured a glass of water on the ground where they were playing together. Instant Zombie clothes for school. Because he was worried about the dress code at school he didn't rip the pants, but when he got home from school, he also ripped the pants and added the fake blood to shirt. Brianna used the face paint kit to make his face look scary and streaky. With Aidan's incredible acting skills he pulled the whole thing off eerily. I noticed in the picture that his shirt had been buttoned up improperly and commended him on how that made it look even better...but he said he hadn't done that on purpose.

Brianna wanted to be a Cat this year. Last March, she was in a figure skating show called "Broadway on Ice" and she was in the Cats finale as one of the brightly coloured cats. I had made her a fluffy white tail, ears, arm and leg cuffs. She re-used those and put them on different clothes. She added her own expertly painted nose and whiskers and fancy eye make-up and she was done. Here she is striking a sassy kitty cat pose. Living in the country, especially where we do means that we sadly don't get any trick or treaters. Luckily they have good friends that invite them over to their neighbourhoods, so they enjoyed their Hallowe'en very much.

First Snow

Aidan and Brianna were thrilled to see the first snow fall of the year. It snowed in the morning, but didn't really stay on the ground, then it turned to rain, and then as the kids returned home from school and night began to fall, the rain turned back into snow...big fluffy flakes of snow. Brianna shrieked when she saw the snow staying on the ground, and went riffling through the bins of winter clothing to play outside. She grabbed Aidan and Emerson to join in the fun of snowball fights. They came in soaking wet, with rosy cheeks and had a hot chocolate to warm up. Clio was not interested at all in the snow.

Twist mystery solved!

Twist, my yearling ram, got out several times again in the following days. I'd get out in the morning and he'd come running at me from the driveway. Armed with hammer, fence staples and new wire, I set out to the back of their enclosure and started to put an extra wire along the top of the fence, about another foot higher to increase the fence height. I got a short side done before I moved to the back. I went and inspected the place that was loose in the fencing attached to a tree. I secured the fence as best I could with fence staples when I noticed white wool stuck to the fence near the bottom. A clue!? The rams were at the fence line watching what I was doing, getting pet through the fence. Then, right in front of my eyes, Twist crouched down on his knees and stuck his big horned head under the fence. It was tighter than it had been previously, so he had to pause there, while I in shock, grabbed his horns and shoved him back under the fence. With the fence loose near the tree and the lower ground in that area, Twist had discovered that he could crawl underneath the fence to get at the world outside. Since there wasn't anything else I could do to secure the fence, I found an old fallen spruce tree nearby and broke all the branches off with my foot which left spiky ends. I pulled the trunk to line up with the lower part of the fence and shoved it securely against the fence. If Twist tried again, he would have a barrier with sharp points to deter him...and for over a week, this has worked like a charm...Score 1 for the farmer!

It's that time of year again...

Breeding season...for sheep. How do I know? My yearling ram Twist has busted out of his pasture for the last 3 nights in a row. And he's not alone. I've talked to a few other shepherds in my area, and the same thing has been happening in the last few days to their rams. Some have been luckier than Twist and have gotten to the ewes earlier than planned, which will mean lambs born in March, which is too cold for my style of lambing.


Rams in their pen (clockwise from L-R: Ferris, Benjamin, Bok Choy and Twist)

As the nights get cooler, the breeding rams start being more interested in the ewes across the fence than they are in their food. The annoying thing about Twist is that I don't know how he's getting out. The fence is 4 feet high and I've heard that if they want to get on the other side, they can jump, but I still find that hard to believe. I've checked my fence and there is an area where the fence has come loose from the post (a tree actually) and it's possible that he is shimmying under the fence, but I find that hard to believe as well. It's a page wire fence, and he has horns that could get stuck, so I just can't imagine rams being able to do that. Just in case, I put old hay bales in the area where the fence is loose (I'm currently out of fence staples) to prevent him from "crawling" underneath, but he still got out late that afternoon. I may also put a wire line on the fence another foot up to increase the height of my fence. The funny thing about Twist, is that he is getting out, but on the forest side of his pasture. His pasture has a common line with the girl's pasture, yet he isn't using the quickest route. Until he figures out his next step, he munches happily away on the scrub in the forest and picking up burrs in his fleece to irritate me come shearing time. I'm starting to think that he is enjoying his game, because to get him back, I shake a scoop of grain at him, allowing him to get a mouthful before I get him to follow me around the pasture and back into his enclosure. Yesterday I managed to tease him with the grain, enough to follow me, without ever giving him any...he's not going to get the better of me! Leading the ram back to his pasture is a bit of a comical sight as I carry the grain scoop in one hand and an empty 18L water jug in the other, walking backwards being ready to thwart his attempts to butt me in his frustration. What must the neighbours think?

What is a Farmer?

Some of you may have heard me talk about when I will feel I'm a real farmer. If you haven't, it involves chickens, too many roosters, and dinner (fill in the blanks). But today, I was working out in the sheep barn and cleaning out the weaned ewe lamb's pen and I got to thinkin'...

For some reason, I've gotten it into my head that "the chicken thing" is when I will feel credible as a farmer. I have laying chickens, but mostly, I have Shetland sheep. I've been breeding them, I trim their feet, I give them their shots, I've assisted occasionally in birthings and I've even shorn some myself. All this gives me products: I've sold some sheep, my first lamb's fleeces have just sold out quickly, and I've taken some lambs to the butcher last December and although we haven't sold any of the meat yet, I can proudly say that we have eaten a lot of what we had processed and it was delicious. Yet, I somehow still don't consider myself a farmer. And its not because I don't want to be, but its because I haven't achieved that strange lofty goal I've set for myself.

If I'm not a farmer, then what am I? Could I be a hobbyist? NO! I can't stand being considered a hobby farmer. I have hobbies and I enjoy them greatly, but mucking out a sheep barn and raking out several months worth of hay and manure, sweating and having an aching back is NOT a Hobby. It's true, I am not making enough money to support myself on this venture, and Hugh (and I) have put in more money into this than we are earning from it, so what is it? I like considering myself a small farmer, doing my part for my family, raising our food and knowing where it came from and being amazed at how much better it tastes when compared to store bought. I like the connection of using up all the products from the farm to have healthy gardens and being able to make clothing and blankets and household textiles. I like trying to keep the traditions of small sustainable family farms as an example to future generations. I'm comforted in the belief that small farms and the genetic diversity of their livestock and crops have a place in our future and are worth preserving. And from all that I still believe that I can carve out a small business for myself and someday make it profitable or at the very least sustaining.

So I've determined that I am a farmer "in training". For a "city girl", with the country in her heart and genes, it wasn't possible for me to jump in and start farming full-time with a definite purpose. Some have done it and I admire them greatly. But that's not what I wanted to do and I needed to explore where I fit in. Someday, I'll report on how much my "farming education" has cost us, but I'm still in training.

I was thinkin' all this as I was cleaning out part of the sheep shed. I wasn't supposed to be doing that today, but as I went to feed the girls this morning, the lamb's pen was piled so high that it was on level with the lip of the feeder and I decided it was time. A new type of hay in the last few weeks has meant a lot of waste and much of it has quickly piled onto the floor of their pen. There has to be a more efficient way of dealing with this, but, I haven't figured it out yet. I pull all the bedding out of the shed with a rake and pitchfork and pile it just outside the door. This pile was huge, mainly because it was mostly loose hay and sheep manure. There was so much of it that I could barely pile it away from the doorway. In the past, I'd wait for Hugh to use the tractor to move the pile onto my manure pile a distance away. Hugh has patiently taught me how to ride the tractor several times, but I keep forgetting or find it too complicated to remember all the steps. Luckily today was warm (no reason to have diesel frozen in the lines of the tractor), so I decided to try and see if I could start the tractor and move that pile myself. It worked and I managed to figure things out: how to change gears, move the bucket up and down and tilt it forward and back, how to scoop things up, how to dump, how to get my butt off the tractor and keep the engine running. I gained understanding of the little nicks in fences and cuts in power cords that I've had to endure with Hugh's manoeuvering of the tractor, with my own little bending of fence wire and scraping of siding on the sheep shed. I accomplished my task and learned how to use the tractor with confidence, and it occured to me that I can call myself a farmer, now that I can handle the tractor, and never mind about the silly chickens.

Labour Day weekend

Perplexed flock...
"What is all that noise...and who is that guy taking over our house?"

Labour Day weekend saw Hugh working in the sheep shed building the loft so that I can store hay. The loft was completed with venting, windows and doors and a ladder the following weekend. It can now store just over 6o small square bales and a small section left open for Brianna's "loft playhouse", complete with clothesline. Brianna spent a lot of time hanging out with Daddy while he did his work, bringing him things as he needed them and chatting with him.


I also introduced a game from my childhood memories of Grammie & Grampie's farm to Aidan and Brianna...Croquet. Here they are having a game of it.


Aidan and Brianna playing Croquet on the front lawn Labour Day weekend.

Baby Chicks

Silkie Hen getting broody

About a month ago, my little white Silkie Bantam hen decided it was time to start laying her first eggs. She was born here on the farm last summer. I left her eggs alone and finally, when she had a nest full, she started sitting on them. She is my natural incubator and that is why I bought Silkie bantam chickens to begin with. I removed her eggs and replaced them with my bigger laying chicken's eggs. Today there are 2 little chicks sitting calmly under her wings in the nest box with 2 more large eggs left to hatch and 1 of her own that she laid about a week after she starting sitting on them.

One chick is black (likely from the Barred Plymouth Rock mom) and the other is golden with brown striping on its back (likely from the Rhode Island Red cross). The father is Aladin, an Americauna chicken.

The story of this little hen is very interesting. She is in a small chicken house with her father, a white Silkie Bantam rooster. She was 1 of 4 Silkie Bantam chicks hatched out last September by her mother. 3 of the little chicks died within 48 hours and only this little hen chick was left. Her mother was ill looking for several weeks and finally died as well. So all I had left was the Silkie Rooster and this little chick who was well taken care of during the day by her father, but at night would peep very loudly because she was cold and her father would jump up to roost on his perch and the little chick couldn't get there. Silkie Roosters are also very well known for being good dads and this fellow is certainly that. I've seen it when he has cared for 2 other broods (chick litters). I had a few options for this little chick: I could take it inside and put it under a heat lamp (but because she was alone, it was not ideal and it would be labour intensive for me), or I could leave her in the chicken house and hope for the best. I decided to leave her, the cooler temperatures would make her feather out quickly, if she survived. I would put her up on the perch next to her dad and she would cuddle under his wings or between his feet and be warm, but she invariably would lose her balance and fall off and start to peep loudly. A mother hen will stay on the bottom and keep her chicks warm, so I kept trying to think about what I could put on the bottom to keep this one warm. I have sheep, and fleece, so I grabbed a handful of washed fleece (I think it was Tommy's wool) and made a fluffy pile and laid it in the bottom. This chick didn't know what to do, so I shoved her under the pile. Eventually, she settled, sometimes sticking her head out of the pile of wool, but mostly staying under it. She survived the first night and every night for over a month, my evening ritual was to shove this little chick under the pile of sheep's wool until she was big enough to roost on the perch next to her dad. She survived the winter and eventually I discovered to my absolute joy that she was a hen and hopefully, she would carry on her mother's broody instincts and be my natural incubator. When her chicks are done and ready to leave her, I will put my black Silkie Rooster with her and then maybe she can raise her own chicks. But for now, my white Silkie rooster will again help raise a batch of chicks.

BTW, Silkie Bantam chickens are small size chickens (ie: bantam) that are lacking the barbicels/hooks on the ends of the feather fibres, which gives them a fluffy, sheepy look to them. The hens have a strong broody instinct (meaning they want to sit and hatch out their eggs) with the roosters making good fathers. I got these chickens for their broody instincts and because I thought I could spin their feathers into some novelty feather yarns. I collect the feathers when they naturally discard them. For more information on Silkie Bantams go to http://www.americansilkiebantamclub.org/about_silkies.htm

Last little lamb

Emma with Felicity

Emma finally had her little lamb. It was in the barn surprising me when I got there this morning. It was wobbly, but fairly dry. Another Katmoget lamb from my white ram Twist. He hasn't thrown his dominant white gene at all this time. Emma's lamb is a sweet tiny 2.1kg ewe lamb named Felicity.

Felicity

Cheeky lambs

The little lamb in the front, making a face at me is Elphaba, Dot's little twin ewe. The lambs like to hang around this spot...a lamb playground. Nessa Rose (Morgan's ewe lamb) is behind Elphaba, Natasha (Meg's ewe lamb) is on the left. At the back left is Una (Tess' ewe lamb) and Quinn (Peaches' ram lamb) on the back right.


This is Meg the other day with her black twin ewe lambs: Nadia (right) and Natasha (left). Natasha has more white on her face. These ewe lambs have gorgeous little faces. Meg is a fantastic mom and her daughter from last year is Morgan (see below).


Meg's lambs hanging out at the lamb playground. Nadia is in the front with Natasha in the back.


Morgan with her ewe lamb Nessa Rose. This little lamb has so many colours happening. Her legs are black and brown and her body is brown spotting on mainly a light grey body. Her head has brown, grey and black.

Nessa Rose closer up. She is out of Willowgarden Twist, my white ram.

I'm still waiting for Emma to have her lamb. She is the last girl left to go. I'm hoping this lamb will be white.

Morgan has a little lamb

I'm leaving for Alliston, ON tomorrow for the Ontario Handweavers' & Spinners' conference where I will partake in workshops, vendor shopping, a banquet and meet up with my classmates in the OHS spinning certificate course where we will have our graduation ceremony. In setting everything up for Hugh to take over for 3 days, I noticed Morgan was in labour. I rearranged the girls again and put her and Emma (still waiting) in the lambing pen. I closed off the old pasture and cleaned out the other end of the pen in the shed. I've only got the center part to clean up now from the long winter.

Morgan was not a happy girl. Her lamb was not presenting normally. Only 1 front foot and the head. The other foot was bent. I read up what I had to do and got ready. She was not cooperating. She would barely let me touch her. Eventually the head and foot were fully presenting by then and there was no way to get her other leg forward. After trying to help Morgan to no avail, I gave in and ran for my neighbour Pam, but she wasn't home. I went back to the shed panicking a bit and trying to figure out what I should do. Finally I pinned Morgan to the wall with my knee and pulled and jiggled that lamb out as gently but forcefully as I could on each contraction. She thankfully tumbled out. I thought she'd by dead by now, but no, once the umbilical cord was severed, she started to try breathing. Another beautiful ewe lamb with the same Katmoget pattern as my 2 other lambs out of Twist (Una & Quinn). Funny thing is that Twist is white and white is dominant over all other pattern genes, but he also carries the Katmoget pattern and that is the gene he is throwing to all his lambs, not the white.....yet. I still have Emma left and she is my last hope to get a cute little white lamb. I haven't taken a picture yet, nor named the ewe lamb, but she weighed 3.1 kg.

A little break...and then 3 more!

This morning I arrived at the sheep shed to let the girls "in waiting" out (sheep that haven't had their lambs yet) and saw 2 little lambs all by their lonesome, that looked very similar to Una and would definitely be Twist babies. The strange thing is that any sheep bred to Twist is only expected to have 1, not twins. Turns out one was Una. She had snuck through the feeder to the other pen and the other one was a little ram lamb belonging to Peaches. He weighed in at 2.85 kg and since moving to a lambing pen with his mom, she seems to be taking good care of him.

Peaches with ram lamb Quinn

While waiting for more lambs to come, I've had to manage a few lamb issues. Ellie's little boy Ferris seems lazy and won't drink much from mom. He cries often and doesn't seem to have a full tummy. I've checked mom and she has lots of milk, but he doesn't seem to know how to stay on. I spent a lot of time getting him latched on without much success. Mom is too busy eating all she can and doesn't seem to pay him much attention, so I made the decision to supplement him by feeding him lamb milk replacer. Now he follows me everywhere calling for me. He is still very small and gets pick on by some of the other moms (mostly the young ones). He's been pretty beaten up by them and I've had to rescue him. I've kept him isolated with his mother in a lambing pen. Its been a good thing that I haven't had any other lambs until now.

Aidan bottle feeding Ferris

I've also kept Thelma and her twin ewes in the lambing pen because Uchenna still looks a bit blind. Her sister Ursula is doing great. Uchenna will easily lose her mother and gets disoriented. I've continued giving her vitamin B1 and can happily report that she hasn't succumbed to the sickness I had last year. I've read that it can take a week for the lambs to get better and it is possible that the blindness is irreversible. I haven't heard back from the vet yet.

All the lambs born earlier in the week and their moms had access to the pasture today. It is an adorable sight to see lambs running around across the whole pasture chasing and racing each other. They kick up their heels and do little flips in the air. Later in the afternoon, I noticed that Meg was in labour. So I moved her immediately to the other lambing pen next to Peaches and Quinn. I went inside for 30 minutes and came out to check on her and there were 2 little lambs already standing up. They are all black with varying white on their heads. Another set of twin ewe lambs. If I was planning on growing my flock this year, I'd be jumping for joy at the number of girls I've had. 3 sets of ewe twins. The lamb with the heart shaped white spot on her head is Nadia weighing 3.25 kg and Natasha has more white on her head weighing 3 kg. Mom seems to be in control and she is a very good mom, so I didn't interfere with them tonight. I'll have a better look at them tomorrow.

I had to rearrange the other girls, so I put Ellie and Ferris with the 2 remaining moms in waiting. They are lambs from last year and they get rough with Ferris, but I watched and Ellie stood up for him and let those young girls know that they couldn't mess with her baby, so hopefully things will be OK for him. He found a nice place to sit and fall asleep before nightfall near the feeder where his mom seems parked.

5 lambs today!!!

I went to the sheep shed this morning to bring grain to the girls. After the girls rushed out, the first sight that greeted me was Ellie (my oldest girl at 13 years old) lying next to a little lamb. The little lamb had been cleaned up somewhat and Ellie was "talking" to it, but it was dead. It was a very dark brown little girl lamb with white spotting on her face. She was still warm so she had just been born. Not a good start.

A little bleeting noise drew my attention to another corner. There was the cutest little thing sitting in a warm nest of hay, legs curled up and looking healthy and perky, but no mother. Where did she come from? Was she Ellie's? She got up with a jump and ran outside, but seemed not to know who to go to. Finally she settled on Tess (one of my young girls, a lamb from last year). I couldn't get close to the lamb because she and Tess would run away when I approached. I had to entice them all back into the shed so I could look at her. A gorgeous little ewe lamb weighing 3.1 kg. She must have been born late the night before and obviously had been fed because she was so active. I've named her Una, which means lamb in Irish and one in Latin. This is the first lamb from my new ram Twist.

Tess with Una (left) and Twist her sire (right)

I needed to put Tess and Una into a separate pen because Tess seemed easily separated from her lamb and being a new mom, she needed to bond to ensure the lamb's survival. I ousted Dot and Annie and their 3 lambs from the last 2 days out of the lambing pen and set up Tess and Una.

Now back to Ellie. She wasn't done! She was still in labour and sure enough another lamb came. Ellie was tired and wouldn't stand up. The lamb was coming out with one front leg back. I could see it was breathing but it wasn't progressing out, so I had to pull this little lamb all the way out. I put it in front of Ellie and she immediately started to clean it up and I helped with old towels to make sure the fluid was removed from its airway. A tiny little ram lamb weighing 2.1 kg. I've called him Ferris. His little stillborn sister weighed 1.45 kg. These guys were quite small, likely because Ellie was very thin. Ferris seems to be doing just fine and mama is feeding him as she eats. They got moved into the lambing pen next to Tess & Una.

Ellie and Ferris

I had to leave to volunteer at Aidan & Brianna's school in the morning, but noticed that Thelma (another mom) was looking like she was in labour. When I returned, Thelma was no different. I watched Tess and Ellie to make sure their lambs were OK and feeding from mom. While I was there, Tess jumped to Ellie's side of the pen because Una crawled under the hayrack. Later, Ferris got stuck under the hay rack and was crying for his mom, so Ellie jumped the divider and ended up in Tess's pen. When these things happen, fighting occurs and the other mom will attack the intruder and head butt the lambs to the ground. Teaching them manners I guess, but it seems so nasty.

Thelma finally had a lamb, and then another. She is about 3 years old and has only had singletons before (Tess is her daughter from last year). She wasn't cleaning off the 2nd lamb and was still only paying attention to the first one, so I picked it up and put it with the other one and then she started cleaning it. I helped and soon they were up. 2 little girls weighing 3.1kg (Ursula) and 2.75 kg (Uchenna, African for God's will).


Thelma with Uchenna and Ursula


Thelma & Ursula (black with lots of white on head, black panda eyes)


Uchenna (chocolate brown with less white on head, brown panda eyes). I'm worried about this lamb, because she appears possibly blind and disoriented at times. I had this happen last year with 2 lambs from different moms. Those lambs died a very sad death within 18 hours of birth. A vet visit last year and necropsy produced no answers. Talking with another shepherd this fall, he suggested that it may have been Polioencephalomalacia which results in a thiamine (vitamin B1 deficiency) which results in brain swelling, etc. One of the causes that might make sense for my situation is excessive amounts of sulphur in drinking water. I've changed my management situation to reduce this risk. Uchenna doesn't seem as bad as last year's lambs were and I've started giving her oral vitamin B1 supplements which may reverse the effects. Time will tell. I'll likely call the same vet for advice and maybe a shot of thiamine if he thinks it will be more effective than oral supplementation.

So if you are keeping track that is 8 lambs in 3 days. Last year, my lambs were born within a span of 2 weeks. I'm not sure what happened this year, but this is intensive for a small farm with only 9 breeding ewes. I'm already more than half done with lambing and I'm still expecting 5 more lambs...stay tuned.

Finally for Dot

Dot was ready!


Dot nursing her twin lambs

Last night, I was heading to bed and through my open window, I could hear one of the girls complaining. So, just to make sure, I headed to the sheep shed at midnight to check on everyone. It was Dot again. Nothing was happening, but she was coming easily to me. Benjamin and his mom Annie were content as could be. Back to bed I went. Just before 5 am this morning I woke up and heard one of the girls...and this time a little baa...another lamb? I quickly got dressed, went outside and plugged in all the lights and by the time I neared the shed, I could hear 2 lambs crying. Dot had twins. They were just trying to get to their feet. I moved them to the lambing pen with Annie. Dot was being very protective of her lambs and kept head butting the now curious little Benjamin, so I put a divider in the lambing pen so each had her area. I helped Dot dry off her lambs with old towels and did a quick check...2 little girls.


Elphaba (white face and panda eyes) and Ebony (small white patch on forehead). Elphaba weighs 2.7 kg and Ebony weighs 3.45 kg. Very good weights for twins. Both are doing very well and neither appears blind (Dot was 1 of 2 moms that had a blind lamb last year that had severe problems and died within 12-18 hours).


On his second day of life, Benjamin is doing very well and I let him and his mom Annie out into the clean grassy pasture for a bit of romping and exploration. He was introduced to the other moms nose to nose through the fence bordering the pastures.

Lambing has started

A quick check this morning out in the sheep shed suprised me with my first lamb of 2009. Annie and Dot were both licking clean a little black and white lamb that had obviously just been born and was already standing up. I didn't know who the mom was. Dot is the first one I've been expecting to have her lamb and she is big enough to have 2, but there was only 1. Annie I wasn't expecting yet. Turns out Annie is the mom, so I tried to move her alone to the lambing pen with her lamb, but Dot thought it was her lamb and wouldn't be separated. I finally got Annie alone with her lamb and Dot has been crying for "her lamb" all day. I had to work downtown today, so I quickly trimmed the umbilical cord and put iodine on it and left thinking it was a sweet little ewe lamb.

Benjamin and his mom Annie.

I got home late afternoon to check on the lamb and new mom and everyone seems content. I got a scale to weigh my lambs this year (thanks Dr. Carl) and the little lamb weighs 3.4 kg (7.5 lbs), but when I turned it over to look at the umbilical cord, I was suprised to see its a little ram lamb and yes, there are little horn buds on top of the head. Brianna has named him Benjamin. Last year, each lamb was named with the first letter of the mother's name. Annie had her very first lamb last year and his name was Anakin. This year, the lambs will be named with the next alphabetical letter of the mother's names.

My sheep are Shetlands. They are a small, hardy, slow growing breed of British sheep mainly prized for their wool. Their wool comes in a variety of colours and a number of patterns. Having Shetland lambs is like opening a present...you never know what you'll get. I have 8 more girls to go with their lambs...feels like Christmas!

He got unstuck

For those of you wanting an update...Hugh got his tractor unstuck with the help of Rick's Big Tractor. It turned into quite an affair with several neighbours out to enjoy the sport. Sadly, I was out and missed the Brou-ha-ha, but I had a nice wide driveway to come home to. Thank goodness for kind neighbours.

Got Stuck in the Gosh Darn Snow

I wondered what would prompt me to post the first story!!! Well we had quite the dumping of snow yesterday and finally, Hugh got to use his tractor to clear the snow for the first real time this season. You see, he's had tractor troubles since the fall. Once the cold hit, the tractor wouldn't start (its a fairly new tractor). He finally managed around Christmas time to get it started during a warm spell, only to have it stall halfway out of the garage. It was stuck...it wouldn't move...and the door to the garage remained open for nearly a month. Finally the guys at the "tractor" repair place came to check it out and ended up taking it with them...for over 2 weeks. You see a part had to be ordered and it was coming from Europe. His tractor returned (after several snowfalls had passed by) and everything should have been OK, but again it wouldn't start or stay on. Something about summer diesel and winter diesel. It came back again and now it works like a charm and everything has been fixed. But in Hugh's zeal to widen the narrowing driveway, he slipped off the edge and his tractor got stuck. After trying to dig himself out he realized he would need a tow to get himself out. Apparently CAA isn't for tractors. Our neighbour Rick will attempt to dig him out tonight with his bigger tractor. If there's no need to cry about something, you might as well laugh.

Welcome to Hill Grove Farm

I want to welcome family and friends to my small family farm named Hill Grove Farm. It is a mixed farm with sheep, chickens and ducks and a dog named Clio (with 4 puppies in tow right now). The name Hill Grove is the name of a small town outside Digby, Nova Scotia where I would visit my Grammie and Grampie Gates on their farm. Those August summer visits were one of the highlights of my childhood and would make a lasting impression on me and my future dream of living on my own farm. We moved into our place November 2004. The following summer, my father and aunt had to sell Grampie's house and farm. My dad rented a Uhaul and drove it back from Nova Scotia to rural Ottawa filled with treasures (and maybe some trash ;-). From that I inherited a lot of farm tools and equipment that had belonged to my grandfather and possibly his father before, who was listed on a 1911 census as being a farmer. In a small way I'm continuing on the tradition of farming in my family and hopefully passing on some of those good memories and funny stories to my children. At the very least, they'll learn first hand some things they may not otherwise have learned. Enjoy the stories.

Here I am as a young girl with my Grampie in his large vegetable garden. When my grandfather became very sick several years back, he was checking out his garden, fell and couldn't get up and the caregiver with him at the time also couldn't lift him up, so he said "Might as well do some weeding". I love that story. I think that was probably the last garden he grew and my dad helped him plant it because he wasn't able to do it himself. I know it meant a lot to him.