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!
