Baymule’s Farm

[Marie2020]

I want to be a grandkid. You guys have all the fun!!

Same. Or even those dog's

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

You know, Bay, that the second child photo with the long hair is going to look just like you! I saw you in her pic.

 

[baymule]

You know, Bay, that the second child photo with the long hair is going to look just like you! I saw you in her pic.

That is the youngest. She truly is me made over. She loves animals and has that “feeling” for them. She loves being outside, doing whatever I’m doing.

 

[baymule]

Yesterday morning I let the girls out on the field and led them to the small section of the front field like I’ve been doing. They follow me on their winding path. Frimplepants usually leads, but yesterday she was last. She is the one with black on her face. She wasn’t satisfied with being in that field and soon they all were back in the main part of the field.

There was a merchants show in downtown Lufkin yesterday and I went to just walk around and do something different. Didn’t see anything that I couldn’t live without. Went to the warehouse for an antique store in town and really didn’t see anything there either but a pile of books caught my eye. I bought a half dozen old smallish cook books dating back to 1950. I have a friend who loves to cook and does catering as her side job. Merry Christmas to her.

As I’m going down my driveway, there was Frimplepants with twin lambs.

Twin girls! They had been licked clean, had been up and sucked and were happy little lambs. Frimplepants is a very good mother. I put them in a small pen so she wouldn’t have to share the big pen with all the other ewes. It’s a common practice to pen new moms away from the main flock for a few days to give them time to bond well to each other.

 

[baymule]

Granny had twins last night, a ram and ewe lambs. The ram lamb is white with a brown spot on one leg.

The ewe lamb is white.

Granny seems to be suffering from SMS, Stupid Mother Syndrome, as if she has one lamb, she is happy while the other lamb bleats pitiously.

I couldn’t get her to follow me while I held her babies down low. I went and got feed and Greedy Granny quickly abandoned the screaming brats for a luxurious repast at the Hotel Sheep Momma and Spa. Sorry Granny, Babies come too, it’s part of the deal.

A soft rain was falling but I had to go to church in15 minutes. I gobbled down 2 scrambled eggs, the last of coffee and a quick shower.

After church I could put a couple of half hog panels in the pen and shelter to coop Granny up with her lambs. I can tie her up during the day like I had to do early this spring with another SMS ewe.

Granny has to learn to count, at least to 2. Come on, how hard can that be? She has 4 feet!

 

[baymule]

I didn’t stay for church. I taught class, preacher’s wife helped and I came home.

I want to strangle Granny and I darn near did. I made a small pen with a half hog panel long wise and a quarter hog panel on the end.
I carried her babies to it. Granny was content to let me take them to Lammy Day Care. So I rattled a feed pan and she came running. I closed her up in it. Granny had a meltdown.

Take someone who has a phobia for rats, cockroaches, spiders and snakes and close them up in a 6’x4’ space with all the above and watch their reaction. I think their reaction would take second place to Granny. She was climbing the wire, screaming BAABAABAAABAAAAA, ewe language for lots of bad words, all directed at me. Then she started bashing both babies. I went and got a collar and a leash and snubbed her up. Nope. Not having that. Granny flung herself down and started choking to the point of tremors. Of course I had to rescue her, the whole purpose of this is so I don’t have a bottle baby, much less two of them.

It was drizzling rain. That always adds to the fun. The roof of the pallet shelter leaks. I’m an excellent builder if your expectations are very low.

The rams, Rocky and Little Ringo seemed to have called a truce and stopped bashing each other. Instead they ganged up on tearing apart the small tarp on the chain link wire wall on their house that previously served as a dog kennel for the former owners. The tarp blocks rain blowing in and helps to keep the afternoon sun from baking them like a pan of cookies. It was in shreds. They were CHEWING! Were the dummies EATING it? That’s all I need. So I put them in my front yard and went back to the Battle of Granny.

I sat down in the dirt and grabbed her collar, got the little ram up to her udder and he was hungry! Granny of course took off to run NASCAR laps around the pen, dragging me in the mud puddle. I got a crash course in Sheep Are Stronger Than You 101. There will be a test on that later.

Let’s try this again. Death grip on collar, both feet against her side, pushing her against the wall. Push little guy up to eat and he did. Granny kicked him off, I pushed him back up to suck. Granny kicked him off, I pushed him back. Rinse, repeat. Granny fought me, I choked her, she dragged me, ram lamb somehow got to suck in the middle of all this.

And where was Frimplepants and her two lambs? Out in the rain, in the far corner, keeping her girls away from the riff raff that just invaded their peaceful abode. There goes the neighborhood.

I went in the rams pen and cut loose the shreds that remained of the tarp. Rain was picking up, they were glad to get back in their dog kennel.

I battled with Granny some more until the little guy had a full tummy. I let loose of the collar. Granny butted him away. By this time I was wet, muddy and thinking Granny could be guest of honor at a BarBeCue. Wet and bedraggled, I headed to the house.

I changed clothes and made some homemade hot cocoa. I get to do this again in a couple of hours. This time I’m taking a halter so the temptation to strangle her doesn’t give me opportunity.

I’m getting some more hot cocoa and contemplating just why I have sheep …..

 

[Branching Out]

I can hardly wait to see which names you come up with for the little brown twin lambs. They are delightful! Maybe Ginger and Snap? Copper and Penny? Cocoa and Puff? Whiskey and Brandy? Caramel and Toffee? Chai and Latte? One of my friends had three lambs and she named them Shish, Ka, and Bob. This is going to occupy my thoughts all day.

 

[baymule]

I can hardly wait to see which names you come up with for the little brown twin lambs. They are delightful! Maybe Ginger and Snap? Copper and Penny? Cocoa and Puff? Whiskey and Brandy? Caramel and Toffee? Chai and Latte? One of my friends had three lambs and she named them Shish, Ka, and Bob. This is going to occupy my thoughts all day.

Thanks for the laugh! It got my mind off my sore back and murdering Granny! You came up with some great names. I run out of ideas sometimes. I have a Ginger, but have not used any of the other names. Usually when I hit the wall on names, I ask my granddaughters-that’s how I got Frimplepants.

I like Copper and Penny. But I have to tell you, I normally wait until I sort out the keepers before I start naming. You may be called into action on this!

I kept 7 ewe lambs from the spring batch.

I named:
Patches
Ruby
Freckles
Dusty
Granddaughters named:
Mango
Sunshine
A visiting young woman with autism named;
Sandy

I usually don’t bother with naming the ram lambs. They are sold. I wean them at 2 months old. I wean ewe lambs at 3 months and sort out keepers from the ones I will sell.

I have 24 more ewes to lamb from now through February. One ewe must have not took or lost her pregnancy, she was throwing herself at the rams pen a few days ago. I got her in a pen with one of the rams, she will be due in April.