I went out to check on my sheep Thursday and discovered two ewes and 3 new lambs in my sheep shelter. Good thing Thora & Ruth are experienced mamas. They knew which lambs were theirs and had everything under control without my help.
The twins were up and nursing quickly.
But being born is hard work, and soon the twins were curled up together napping.
Cedar Pond's Ruth gave birth to 2 ewe lambs.
It is difficult to get pictures of my newborn lambs.
As soon as I appear in the lambing pen with my camera the mamas block their lambs from me by putting themselves between me and the lamb.
A quick side shot with my camera,
then mama steps in.
Baaaaaaaaaa!( Leave my lamb alone!)
I am not sure how I am unable to do all the things I think I need to do.Maybe all the things I think I NEED to do are not really needed, or needful...I love making the felted wool balls out of the fleece of my sheep, and I especially love needle-felting designs of whatever strikes my fancy on them.But is this needful ?
I have been making doll clothes for our 6 granddaughters' American Girl Dolls for their ( granddaughters) birthdays, but is this needful? ( It is fun )
Ice storm damage clean-up is an on-going task, and we have had a lot of help from family...(2 grandchildren helping above)
...granddaughter...
...grandson...
...and friends. Yes, this is needful.Cleaning up after the storm will take at least all of this year, and needs to be done so we can plant our gardens and tend our animals well.
Tending my sheep and watching over them as they lamb is needful, without doubt.(Valkyrie with her new-born ram lamb)
Of course there are all the regular , every day, mundane, but very needful things like preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, washing up, dusting, vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms,changing the bedsheets,feeding the animals, cleaning up after the animals. Then I need to spin, & weave the wool my sheep produce, goodness...
so many demands on my time.It seems there is so little time, yet there has always been only 24 hours in a day, every day, and I don't think there will ever be any more hours added, so that does not change. I have so many more things I love to add to my days, blogging,gardening, talking to family & friends, playing with my dogs, sitting on the porch with my husband as we watch the birds & new lambs and discuss our thoughts.I am always amazed anyone can be bored when I and so many others I know cannot find the time to invest in all that interests them. Guess it is all a matter of perspective, and my perspective better get a bit smaller so I can fit it all in. This big, wide, beautiful, amazing world has too much to take in, but I want to take in as much as I can, and hopefully give a little bit back too.Anyone have any ideas on ways to add hours to the day?
I and 2 of my younger sisters visited someone here we care about this past weekend. The trip was an 8 hour drive each way. The visit in between the driving left us with so much to think about and no adequate words. I might write about this later, much later, when I can put into careful words exactly what I want to say, what I need to say...but later, maybe. The drive home through the rugged, desolate, and beautiful country of eastern Oregon made us even more aware of the contrasts of closely supervised confinement without soon expectation of freedom to the vast and wild country in between prison and our home.
There was a dark cloud behind us, sunshine in front of us and we came upon this vast plateau with a scenic viewpoint overlooking the countryside below. As my sister Joni and I took pictures the clouds rolled in and the shadows changed every few seconds it seemed.
"This magnificent view is preserved and protected by the efforts of the Oregon Roadside Council which initiated and secured the passage of the Oregon Scenic ahead....3,585 scenic miles of highways were surveyed and selected by the council and adopted by the state scenic area board. More than 7.000 signs and billboards which distracted and obscured scenic vistas were removed." Since Oregon can remove the billboards to allow unobstructed viewing of her awe-inspiring beauty I am going to leave the pictures I took which come nowhere near to picturing it as beautiful and vast as it truly is, without words.
"Freedom:Quality or state of being free : Liberation from imprisonment." Webster's
Two of my sisters and I took a trip to Oregon this past weekend.That is my sister Joni in front of the sign, she did all the driving on this 8 hour just one-way trip. The reason for the trip is one I will write about in a future post when I can present it in a way that does it justice, 'justice' being the key word .In spite of the tragic reason we took this trip together, we did have a good time. One of the towns we passed through as we headed to our destination was Pendleton, Oregon, home of a famous rodeo and wool mill.*
My sisters graciously stopped at the mill for me, as I am fascinated by the whole wool thing going on here, and also, the mills are a source of mill ends~ the scrap strips of wool cut from whatever they are weaving in the mill, and sold by the pound, valued by me and many other weavers for weaving rugs.
There was a small museum in the mill dedicated to the blankets & rugs woven by the *Indian tribes and also to the Pendleton Rodeo.Just look at this amazing rug woven by Indians shown in the museum behind glass.( Good thing too, because it would be hard resisting the urge to touch it.) click onto * to see history of the rugs.
This book was under glass in the museum and my sisters & I thought the inscription from a father to his son was a sentiment expressing a worthy goal for all, and especially expressing a desire for a family legacy that values an honorable name , a priceless gift of love to future generations. ( click onto picture to enlarge) "Dear Mort, This book may suggest that the best inheritance to receive or to leave is a good name. Love, Dad "
The mill had an outlet store where we shopped. I was able to purchase a few bags of mill ends I will weave into rugs such as the rugs I wove awhile ago, shown in the next two pictures.
Rugs woven of Pendleton Woolen Mill ends.
This door leads to the room where all the wool goods this Pendleton wool mill sells are woven. Maybe one day in the near future I will come to see this ,but I will need to schedule this tour. If you stop in though, the store sells fabric, rugs, blankets,shirts, and so much more...all woven right here in America. Very much worth a visit if you're traveling through eastern Oregon !
Last week there were two beautiful sunny days that just made it impossible to justify staying indoors even though I have so much to get done inside. The birds at the feeders were busy and their whistles, warbles and chirping were a pleasant sound to hear through my open windows.Above you can see a pair of Pine Siskins.
My dogs accompanied me to our road on the other side of our pond while I worked for a few hours cleaning up storm debris from the ice storm of February. The dogs are sitting in front of just one of the 5 piles of sticks, branches & limbs I pulled from our pond area.There is still a great deal of work to do before the pond is cleared of the fallen tree debris, but most of the work remaining will require hip waders, our small dinghy, a chain-saw, and more muscle than I can offer.
Doesn't look like much was accomplished, but ...
...here is how bad it looked before I started pulling stuff out.
At least you can tell we have a pond there now and not just a massive brush pile .
The best part of this weekend was the surprise visit from our oldest son. He just drove up the driveway all the way from the other side of the mountains, a 6 hour drive away, and said he was here to help , and he brought me flowers too! Here he is with my husband, they went right to work, beginning the repairs to my sheep shelter.First they had to move temporary fencing to keep my sheep in while they tore down the old structure.
You can see what falling trees and huge falling tree limbs did to the shelter. There was a ram confined here and it is a blessing he was not crushed by so much weight on the tin roof.
I was just humming with joy to have 3 of the important men in my life repairing the shelter for my sheep ~ my husband, my oldest grandson, and my oldest son. My youngest son & his wife were having a great time watching our oldest son's daughters, thank-you! Thank-you daughter for allowing us to have your oldest son for the weekend too.
With all the storm destruction around here, and lots of work to be done just to repair the damage, at least we can smile as we enjoy the antics and cuteness of lambs while we work. Lots of cuteness, lots of work, life is good ~ thank-you God. "Out of the south comes the storm, and out of the north the cold. From the breath of God ice is made, and the expanse of the waters is frozen. Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; He disperses the cloud of His lightning. And it changes direction, turning around by His guidance, that it may do whatever He commands it on the face of the inhabited earth. Whether for correction, or for His world, or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen." Job 37 : 9-13
I just took this picture, you can tell the lamb is only hours old, not quite 2 hours to be more specific.You can see the wet umbilical cord on the baby and Buttercup, her mama has not yet finished expelling the afterbirth.
I rewarded Buttercup with fresh alfalfa hay sprinkled with calf-manna and while she ate the little lamb explored.This is a big lamb too. I have 3 other little lambs, but she is already bigger than them. I am so excited Buttercup had a ewe lamb ( girl). This means I will keep her, now I need to give her a good name.
It is hard work being born, time for baby to rest. Have you ever thought of what a miracle it is newborn lambs can stand within the first hours after birth? They can find their mother's udder to nurse, they can follow sounds with their ears, and sights with their eyes. When their mamas walk the lambs follow. No one taught them this, they are born knowing! ~"And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind,and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:29
"The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty, The Lord has clothed and girded Himself with strength, Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.Thy throne is established from of old.Thou art from everlasting.
The floods have lifted up O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice, the floods have lifted up their pounding waves. More than the sounds of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty.
Thy testimonies are fully confirmed; Holiness befits Thy house,
O Lord forevermore." Psalm 93
~all pictures were taken by me on the Oregon Coast.~
