Absinthe's babies

Yesterday Absinthe surprised me with triplets. Amanda and emily were here raking for fiber, so I let them help me pick their names: Dune (buck) and Evening and Primrose two does). All really cute. She did not bond well with them till this afternoon, when Precious (who was in labor) tried to steal one. Now she knows she has three and does a count every so often.
The babies do not all hang out with each other or with their mother. This is the first time I caught them all in one place. Since Absinthe is more attentive, I will probably be able to get more cool photos.

I had to pull Precious' kids out this afternoon. I hate doing that. The first one as butt first and had already died. I did manage to get the second one out. She looked dead, but I opened her mouth and put my finger down her throat and she coughed and came alive. She is up and drinking and Mom is happy with afterbirth out. I have named her Desert Willow.

Between all of the above and allergy season here with a breeze, I am exhausted. Still have to go out and check moms again. Ii plan to go to bed and then get up and go check in the middle of the night. I mostly worry about first time moms. They don't get it!

Gorgeous artwork

I have found a lovely fiber artist who is willing to rake for fiber! She did this lovely needlefelted "landscape using roving, batts, and mohair locks. I see a successful art career in her future. She is finishing up a degree at the University of Arizona.
The detail and color combinations are really cool. You could sit and look at it all day. Now I am inspired to take a landscape I had started to embellish with crochet and do it in needlefelting. I do have to get some spinning in. I have been too busy running out checking on animals the past two days.

One of those days

Lambs are doing well. Drinking well and not really afraid of me. Can't say that that makes Hazelnut happy, but at least she did not stomp at me like she did with Marc. The one in the foreground is the ewe. I named her Daisy and the ram Woolly after the Desert Woolly Daisy. Their fiber reminds me of the words, so their names will be easy to remember.
The thing hanging off the end of Brillo's nose is a piece of cholla cactus. I went out to feed Desert and found Brillo trying to eat and not being able to. I ended up calling my friend, Tor, to hold her, while I removed it. All things considered, she was fairly well behaved. She was starting to slobber, so it could not wait for Marc to get home.
Last evening I heard squealing over the baby monitor and went out and discovered that one of the sheep was trying to dig up the baby rabbits in the photo above. I put a concrete block over them to give them shade and protect them. They were still doing fine this evening, so I took a picture. They are really young, since they have not opened their eyes yet. I assume that their mother is coming back to feed them.

Hazelnut's lambs

Hazelnut had her twins tonight. I went out to feed Desert and, out of habit, checked out the small shed in the far out pasture. I was really excited to see Hazelnut hanging over a baby and another behind her. This photo was taken half an hour later. The lamb on the front is a ram and the larger one at the rear is an ewe. Marc and I put up a set of panels and a rug over the panel to keep out drafts and the other sheep. Both lambs are healthy and drinking, so no worries there. I need to go out once more to make sure that the afterbirth comes out.

I had expected her or Columbian to deliver. Columbian has been fussing and was really uptight tonight. I think she was planning on using the shed. Hope she uses the large one.

Tor was over yesterday and told me that none of the goats are as near as I think. He did admit that they could drop babies, as soon as he drove out of the driveway - that happened last year.

Anyhow, I am glad to have babies that are alive and well. Now the name debate begins. I have decided to definitely go with desert plants and trees. I am thinking to use names like Organ Pipe Cactus for triplets, Prickly Pear and other names like that for twins. Will post nicer photos tomorrow and their names.

Polly's bowls

Polly made this bowl and the one below at home after making the purple bowl at the bottom here at the ranch. She has excellent color design and truly neat ideas for embellishment. She is allowing me to share them, so people who come to learn to felt can see what they can do after the wet felting is done. I cannot wait to see what she does next. She has found her passion!

Linda's shawl

Linda showed up this morning with a completed shawl. I am seriously impressed. It takes me weeks to get something finished. She did a superb job of arranging the colors. My picture does not do it justice. Makes me want to knit one in shades of pink, red kid, and white, but I need to keep my pegs stuffed, so I am spinning. The 4th Ave is coming soon and, once babies start arriving, I don't know how much time I will have.

The weather has warmed up and I am washing and dyeing mohair and wool. Partly to fill orders and partly to have new color in the shop. I am weighing before and after washing of fleeces to see just how much I am losing down the drain. The Jacobs ram that cause so much damage only produced 1.78 pounds clean. It is gorgeous and soft, but does not cover the cost of replacing the pen and panels he destroyed. It is next on my carding list, after some kid mohair that was ordered.

Spring is here

Based on the racket that all of the birds, not just the geese, spring is here in Tucson. My son was hanging out and decided to let the geese out to roam. They are now laying, so I have to be vigilant when I am feeding them.The male will go after me. I hide the eggs that I am removing from the nests. I don't want them to sit this early and I don't want 32+ goslings again!
No lambs or kids yet. They are waiting for Wednesday, when they know that I have to go off. If I do not show up for guild, it will be because Moms are doing something.I don't plan to be missing the excitement of new births. Hate to miss the meeting, but I can live with finding out the news a few days late.