Doing well so far.

My small set of twin Icelandic lambs that I posted about yesterday seem to be doing o.k today. I will post pictures of them tomorrow after I go and check on them for the morning. Last night we spent every two hours (yuk!!) going out to tube the little ewe lamb since she was a bit lethargic and still not doing a good job of getting nursing. As I said it was chilly here yesterday and dropped into the low 30's last night with a wind that blew into the barn and over the hay bales I had set up. Yukky. Weather like that is hard on small small lambs that are struggling from the start because of getting cold.
However this morning she was looking much perkier and as the day went on and it warmed to the high 60's she really started to look good. Our only problem? How to get her to nurse from her mom. After consulting two friends (Jager Icelandics and Frelsi Farm) we decided that maybe we were feeding her so well that she wasn't ever hungry enough to try and nurse. So this afternoon I skipped one of her feedings since she was moving around and active----not lethargic or sleepy seeming at all. That seemed to do the trick and she decided (finally!!) to nurse on her own---a bit anyway. I had to help and encourage---but she took to it well enough and did some on her own.
Now we'll just keep an eye on her for a couple more days to make sure she is getting enough. She's not as aggressive of a nurser as her brother----but technically she is a day behind him after getting cold. She's doing well enough now though that she struggles and fights when I try and tube her---even squealing a bit so..... tomorrow if she looks good and acts well---I will optimistically post a picture of the two of them. Maybe I'll even let her model her sweater in the picture :-)

And to the weather.
It's been chilly here this spring 2008 but not with horrible late frost like last year. This weekend I will pick up some plants (because of my flu I am late on starting seedling or skipped some of the altogether) from our local organic place during their spring plant sale: Crabtree Farms.
I usually get a couple of jalapeño plants from them---we only need a few so it's not worth messing with a package of seed. This year I will probably buy a few tomato plants too. I have some tomatoes started but barely---they'll be later this year.
We are close to beans and many other things going into the ground. So it will soon get busy in the garden. Hopefully the rain we seem to be getting will keep coming as it has been. They say it will dry up this summer on us again---well we'll see. At least this spring has (knock on wood) been better so far than last.

Also, if your interested in more lamb pictures, my friend Nancy Chase of Ingleside Icelandics has what she termed a "lamb-a-palooza" event recently. She should have pictures up by tomorrow on her blog Keepingthefarm---she had so many lambs in a short time that she had to take off time from posting and hasn't gotten their pictures up yet.

Lastly---we're looking for a guinea hog boar this spring/summer of 2008 to buy, borrow or trade (sheep?) for.
Contact me if you know of someone that would like to allow us to do one of those things. Trade for sheep or a guinea hog piglet? Borrow? We are creative and will consider most any idea. Travel is not out of the question.