2010 - A wonderful year in review

Since this is officially the last day of 2010, I decided since so much has happened this year, I would do a quick review.  2010 started with Tyler and I frantically searching for a farm to buy.  Putting quite a bit of pressure on ourselves to finally have our OWN place, we almost made a purchase I think we would have regretted.  Luckily, Tyler saw this and managed to talk me out of it!  Then, along came March and a wonderful opportunity to look at a place that was "maybe" going to be sold.  After looking at it, we both fell in love.  Although it wasn't exactly the most ideal location, it was perfect.  So, we waited with our fingers crossed hoping the owners were for sure going to sell it.  And when it was all said and done, we had our very own place - a farm, no less, to move into on June 4th.  June 4th became my focal point in everything I did.  I could not wait to get to move into our new place.  Then, just like that June 4th arrived!  We got the keys and slept in our house the very first night.  We had lots of help from family to move us in, which was very much appreciated!  It's hard to believe how much "stuff" we had crammed in to our 600 square foot apartment (plus storage).  5 days later, there wasn't a box left to unpack.  One of my goals was to ensure that it didn't take 6 months to unpack everything because I wanted this to feel like home right away.  This was also thanks to our family's help!  It's great to get other people's perspectives on where things should go. 
The next big event for 2010 was fast approaching - a family wedding!  Tyler's brother Chris and his then fiance Kelly were to be married on June 26th.  There were lots of fun wedding events that came along with the wedding (buck and doe, shower, bachelor/ bachelorette, rehearsal).  I didn't get to get out to everything, but it was great to be at those I was at!  Then June 26th came and everything was absolutely perfect!  The bride and groom, the church, the pictures, the dinner and the party!  I don't think they could have planned it any more perfect.
The next big project was getting our farm ready for sheep.  At first, our goal was to have them to our place by July.  But that came and went and we quickly realized how much work we had to do before the sheep could arrive.  There was fencing, clearing out the "shop" full of junk and converting to a sheep barn, ridding the place of thistles, cutting down the barnyard that had half grown up in Manitoba maples (and thistles!), and finally getting pens set up for sheep.  Lucky for us, that part was pretty easy because my Mom had offered a bunch of their sheep feeders and gates to us, which was definitely greatly appreciated!  So, we spent the summer getting ready, with help from our parents, as well.  And the sheep arrived the long weekend in September.  This was our critical goal as they were due to start lambing in about mid September.  Then, along came lambs through September and October.  In the end, we had 7 ewes lamb with 13 lambs.  12 of which survived.  In sheep farming, you always aim for 2 lambs per ewe and you really don't like more than that because more often than not, you have to bottle feed the third one.  We ended up with one set of triplets and did have to supplement them with milk replacer, but they are all doing well now.  This year, our lambs grew exceptionally well, considering we had some mastitis problems and had to supplement a few of our lambs.  Now, already December 31st, we are getting ready for another 15 ewes to lamb and are in the process of weaning our fall lambs. 
Wishing everyone a happy new year from Pinnacle Haven!

My favourite time of year...

First of all, I must apologize for not having posted for the last week.  Things here have been quite busy and exciting... we had our first baby lamb born on the farm!!  He was born on September 20th to one of my favourite ewes - 83K.  83K is now 10 years old, which in sheep years, is getting up there.  Even at 10 years old, she has still managed to have a lamb evey year. 
So, here's how it all happened...Monday morning I headed out at around 6:30 to feed the sheep and let them out to grass for the day (we have to lock them in the barn at night for fear of coyotes finding them).  At 11:30, I figured I should go out and check on them again because there are a couple of ewes that are getting quite close.  Anyway, to my surprise, there were 4 ewes in the barn not out enjoying the fresh green grass.  I noticed one acting kind of funny and when she turned around, I instantly knew why!  There were two feet sticking out!  After setting up a lambing pe, and putting her in it, I decided to give her a little hand and with a tiny tug, a baby lamb was born!  I then tried to getting him to drink right away.  My Dad always said the males were so stubborn that they refused to let you try and help them so it was best to get them their first colostrum before they were up and walking.  The thing with colostrum is, the sooner lambs get it, the better it is for them.  Babies have no antibodies to fight anything, so colostrum is essential as it carries all of the mother's antibodies in it.  I remember learning in an animal health class at school that for every hour a baby doesn't get colostrum, their absorption of the antibodies decreases 10fold.  So, with that little science lesson in the back of my head, I was determined to get him to drink right away!  After a few struggles, he was up and drinking all on his own.  Now, 6 days later, he is looking so very healthy and is growing like a weed!
I hope to be able to report to you in the next couple of days on some more births!  There are two more ewes that could lamb any day...

Welcome to our little piece of heaven on Earth

My husband Tyler and I have been married for over a year and have been saving every penny for the last 3 years all with the goal of buying our first place - a farm.  We have both always wanted to have our own farm.  On June 4th, 2010, we got it!  This blog is our story - about our life on the farm.