I don’t care what the calendar says. Today is the first day of Spring on Juniper Moon Farm! It’s going to be 66 degrees today and stay in the 60s for the next five days. I couldn’t be happier if it was raining money.
The nanny goats are settled into their stall in the barn awaiting the arrival of kids. If you’ve been watching the lambcam and wondering who the goat with so much to say is, it’s Hannah. I adore Hannah, but I might be the only one who does. She and her twin Martin were my first goats and my first bottle babies. Hannah is a spoiled brat and very entitled. She can’t believe she is being forced to share a stall with Mrs. Doubtfire and Nanny McPhee and she lets me know it every time I come in the barn.
[Thankfully, FoF Nancy figured out what was causing the echo on the lambcam; refresh your browser and the echo should disappear!]
The lambcam is in the white box mounted on the wall pointed down at the goats.
Miss Linda, Dimples and Jasmine were evicted from the kidding stall to make room for the nannies. It was time for them to get outside, but I do worry about Linda. She isn’t very competitive at the trough and the ewes tend to push her around a bit. I’m keeping a close eye on her to make sure she’s getting enough to eat and I’ll move her back in if she starts to lose weight. I’m also giving her a very strong pain reliever every morning to help with her arthritis.
The three of them seem happy to be outside with the rest of the flock, although they are still very much a family unit. When one of them wanders away from the others, they call to one another the way a mama calls her babies. Remember, Jasmine and Dimples aren’t Linda’s babies; she just adopted them when they were all thrown in together.
Do you see what I see in this picture? Yup. That’s green grass coming up in my pasture! The flock has been grazing for a few days, but I assumed they were just picking at the brown, dead stuff from last year. That grass is as good as money to me, cause it means I will be able to cut way back on hay very soon. This is much earlier than we ever saw green grass in the Northeast; my love for Virginia increases every day. I might be able to get away with only buying one more big load of hay this season.
It was a lovely morning with the ewes. I’ll spend some time with the non-breeders [whethers, buck, and lambs] this afternoon and take some more pics. In the meantime, I have to get back to dyeing our Fall 09 Yarn CSA Shares.
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Sad Face – your pictures are marked “unavailable” and really, I don’t see why you would not let Hanna into the house…..
Thanks for letting me know, Lisa. They were there earlier. Flickr is starting to make me angry! I’ll post them again.
The pictures are all displaying now and it indeed looks like a beautiful day in Virginia. Just checked out the lamb cam and the nanny goats look like they are about to burst.
It’s spring on Long Island too because the crocus are blooming in my front lawn.
i adore your animal pictures and stories. thanks for sharing them with us
love seeing those smiling faces! c’mon spring!
Worth the wait! (but I still don’t see why Hanna can’t just hang with you guys in the livingroom….
oooohhhhhh….I need a farm fix so bad. Off to look at the cost of trip to Virginia…
Lauria and Suzy will be here in a week or so. You should come!
oh, how my heart yearns…next week? no way. off to sob in a corner….