We have a very small flock of Cotswold sheep (there are only very few large flocks of Cotswold sheep!) who have been enthusiastically producing lambs, both alive and (alas) dead, for the last 3 weeks. The whole sleepless, stressful, scary time has been worth it because of these:
plus Princess Lamb (photos coming soon), born on Wednesday to our favourite ewe Molly, and who is being outrageously spoiled by her doting mum. To say that Molly is pleased with her lamb is an understatement. I was concerned about her yesterday, because she didn't seem to be eating very enthusiastically. She was tucking in until the lamb bleated or moved, then the unchewed food would drop from her mouth as she focussed with single-minded determination on the lamb. The solution was to put down a large pile of hay, pick the lamb up and put her right into the middle of it, so Molly could eat AROUND the lamb, thus keeping her nose on her baby if she so chose. I do not fear that the Princess will be neglected - on the contrary, I fear that she will become so unbearably spoiled as to be impossible.
Now we have lambs on the ground, I must give some more consideration to dealing with the end product - namely, their wool. I realised a while ago that I had to start thinking about selling the stuff, because I have so much of it that even I, demon knitter and spinner, cannot keep up. I have had a consignment beautifully spun up by the Natural Fibre Company, and I'm now experimenting with it. I am slightly freaked out by the amount of wool I have still to be spun... and of course the amount which is out there on the backs of the sheep, growing away even as I write. At least this year's lambs won't need shearing until 2009...
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