Green grass of spring

It was beautiful outside today, warm but with a cool breeze. We decided this morning to let everyone into one of their pastures. With all the recent rain the grass was up really nicely. 

Everyone was very, very, happy. 

Horace and Buckwheat decided they wanted the same little patch of grass... 

This is everyone's favorite day of the year. 

So much grass, so little time... 

Sammy, Henrietta, Brie, and Spock munching away... 

Max has a much bigger area to keep an eye on now... 

Of course he has Flavious to assist if needed. If not needed, Flavious is asleep. 

The Pygmy kids loved being out in the big pasture and it was the cutest thing watching them running around playing in the green grass.

While we were all enjoying the grass, Kevin started removing the good broken down manure and bringing it to the garden, and turning over the newer manure pile to help it compost.

Ruby the lamb hung around the Pygmy girls most of the afternon. 

Dahlia had her hands full watching all those kids but they stay pretty close to her.. and all the other goats are very good to the little ones. 

You can barely see little Puffin in the grass... 

There she is! Puffin, Dahlia and Ruby 

One. Cute. Kid. 

Munching grass with her mama... 

Maybe we should head over and get a drink... 

from the big, big, bowl... 

Puffin may be small, but she can reach in the big bowl just like her mama!

I find everything she does unbelievably adorable... It's hard not to. 

Yesterday we buried my oldest ewe, Lila. I didn't post about it because I needed time to process it. She had been with us for 7 years, and she was 9 years old. I've known for a while this was coming, but I expected her to live through the summer, through the good times and into the fall. 

Friday night when I gave everyone their dinner (I had left them in because of the big storms we were having, it snowed) Lila couldn't get up. I knew in that instant this was the end. I brought her water, some hay, and a bowl of her favorite grain and sat down beside her and held the bowl while she ate the grain. I was grateful she ate the grain. One last treat. She passed very quickly. But still... my heart broke. My heart broke to loose such a good and old friend, and because she was leaving behind her just over 2 month old lamb. 

Ruby is doing OK. She has been eating solid food for a while now, and I've noticed her drinking from Lila less. I think she'll be alright without the milk, although she's just at the age to be able to be weaned... It's more the depression that concerns me. She is very close with the other two sheep, her daddy and half brother Horace... and she spends a lot of time with the other babies. She is a typical lamb, so unlike goat kids they are not usually snuggly, but she allowed me to hold her tonight for a few minutes, and I made sure she ate all her dinner, which she did. When I went back to check on her, she was sleeping with Braveheart (her dad.) Braveheart is not a normal ram, he's completely blind, and the sweetest guy ever. He'd never hurt a fly, and we've had 6 lambs born with him there and he's never, ever, hurt a lamb. Or me, or anyone.

We got our first sheep in 2006... we traded some logs for some sheep... mostly broken down sheep. The ram (Henry, who I mentioned recently) was 12. He lived here for a few months before passing on. But we also got four ewes, all pregnant. One was a Suffolk who was Braveheart's mom, the one who abandoned him. Then there was a 8 year old Dorset ewe, a 5 year old Dorset ewe, and Lila. We didn't get out of the truck when the guy loaded the sheep, and we didn't even know Lila was in there until we got home and opened the truck to unload.

She was a Black Welsh Mountain sheep, and she had a busted leg. Her leg was not really broken but rather twisted at the knee and bent. The first thing I did was call the farmer who traded us the sheep. He said she was born that way, that he didn't have the heart to put her down... and he didn't want to send her to slaughter, or keep her, so he gave her to me.

Because he knew I'd take care of her.

Next I called the Vet. The Vet came out and said it was too late to do anything with her leg, and aside from that, she was using it, which she did... so it would probably do more harm than good at this point. So we left it. And she used it. But she was a bit of a mess that old girl. She was stubborn and demanding, but also sweet, and she always did what I asked of her. And she was the best mama ever.

Death is always hard, and always sad. But I think more than the actual event, getting used to life without that animal, or person, is the hardest part. Getting used to that one thing you were so used to being there, and that face you were so used to seeing... not being there anymore.

It's life though. And she lived a very good one.

Speaking of stubborn and demanding... Nelly was so happy to see the sun back after days of over cast skies and rain. She really wanted to work on her tan... 

There is that handsome Braveheart (AKA Lambie.) Handsome as ever. 

And here's the most spoiled boys ever. Dog included.

Ah Sammy, your chin is green. 

Biscuit and Sammy enjoying their afternoon... 

Spock and Annabelle

Bulrush having a scratch...

I'm not sure if Max is winking, licking his lips, or dreaming about a nice juicy steak... 

DID YOU SAY STEAK? 

As you can see some of us are not quite ready for bikini weather... 

I love this picture of Henrietta... 

And I love this picture of my big boys.

This is the best time of year. It's still cool outside, the bugs are down, but everything is nice and green and coming back to life...