Sidonzo's Art Gallery

We have a very talented daughter who is into Japanese Anime and Manga illustration.  If you would like to view her art, click this link!

A Nice Ram's Head Image on a U.K. Parish Boundary Marker

Here' the link....

Dor Galen Triplets are Born This Afternoon..........

Wow...........It seems to be raining lambs here at the farm! Brittany gave birth to three ewe lambs at 1:30 this afternoon!  She has been taking excellent care of them so far. We are checking them frequently to make sure they are nursing. They are in the center aisle of the barn with fresh hay to keep them warm. We just finished giving the three ewe lams we are babysitting their evening bottles. Right now all three are sleeping on the  backporch rug..........my husband just asked if I was tired..........that would be a "yes"!

Look What Arrived on Our Backporch This Morning..........

Triplet Ewes

Our farmer friends asked us to babysit these three triplet lambs. Their mother ewe passed away last night and we told them we would help them out. We have babysitting duties until this Friday when they will be picked up and returned home to become "pet sheep" as requested by their little boy. They are Clun Forest  crossed with a Blueface Leicester ram. They all sleep together and pronk and play on the back porch. Nemo might get introduced to them in a couple of days.

Helen of Dover

Dor Galen ewe #14 has a new name. She was sheared yesterday after hubby got home from work.
 I thought such a noble sheep with  a beautiful face deserved a fair appellation, therefore, Helen of Dover is now her name. She gave us a worthy fleece.......... soft, with alot of crimp, Dorset-like in appearance. There is decidedly more vegetable matter in the Dor Galen fleeces this year which does not make me happy, but we determined that the hay rack from which we have been feeding them needs modification.
I'm hoping to get a photo of her and shall post it later.

Madonna

Sometimes a sheep's name will come to the shepherd after a sheep displays a certain character trait. We had our experience with Brittany's mothering skills which produced Little Mac, our first bottle lamb. The Dor Galen breed that we are developing is crossed with Horned Dorsets and Scottish Blackface. Dorsets are known for their good mothering skills as well as the Scottish Blackface, so we thiught we had that covered. Brittany proved the exception to the rule when she was a first time mother. We bred her for a second time this year and are waiting for the results  with Brittany having a second chance to prove herself. We will see...........
Dor Galen ewe #15 gave birth to Nemo  a couple of days ago. Knowing she is a first time mother, we were a little nervous  about her mothering abilities, but she has proven to be a most attentive,affectionate mother. I spent some time with her yesterday and her new lamb.  Her name came to me and now she bears the name of "Madonna".  Here's another photo I took of her and Nemo, a.k.a. "Stock Tank Survivor"...............

Chunky Sheared

Here is Chunky sheared.  She looks pitiful in this photo............looks like she is saying, "Hey! Where's my nice, woolly coat?"

Stock Tank Survivor!

This little guy looks like he's saying, "See! I survived the stock tank! Aren't  I  strong?"

My hubby is thinking about naming him  " Captain Nemo"........an appropriate name "since he started life as a submariner!"

And the First Dor Galen Lamb of 2011 is Born in the Stock Tank!!!

One of our Dor Galen ewes  was acting nervous yesterday at 5:50 P.M. She is a first time lamber and I have no doubt she was wondering what was going on. She didn't want to come into the barn yesterday when my hubby was moving the rest of the Dor Galen flock from the front paddock.  I had a feeling we should check her before we went to bed at midnight, so out to the barn we went, flashlight in hand. After an initial check, we didn't find anything, but I decided to go down the central aisle of the barn to check.
The end of the aisle is closest to the stock tank located in the back paddock behind the barn. I heard a baby lamb bleat and told hubby. He again went into the back paddock and yelled, "Bring me a towel, quick! There is a baby in the stock tank!" Off I went to get a towel and returned. He dried the lamb off and handed him to me wrapped in the towel. The rest of the flock was sorted through until we found the mother. We placed the lamb and mother together in the center aisle by themselves to bond and get acquainted. We checked them again this morning and I will check on them every couple of hours today.

What a way to come into the world............dropped in a stock tank!!! Fortunately, the tank was half full or we would have had a drowned lamb.

Kinda gives new meaning to the phrase, "sink or swim"! 

My True Life as an Artist

Not only a shepherdess and spinner, but a painter and artist, also.....this is who I am!
Here are a couple of my original paintings......

Both are acrylic paintings from inside my head........
I have titled each one and placed them in the right margin of this blog.
Enjoy.........

Shearing Day Begins

Here we go! It's shearing day and time to harvest our fleeces. We are starting with the Dor Galen flock and have decided that Brittany  is the sheep to have the honor  of first shear. My husband has sharpened blade shears in hand. Our new shearing stand is about to be initiated. It is a sunny, beautiful spring day at Dor Galen..........

A "Mama" Sheep and Her Five Lambs Make the News!

I received an e-mail from my husband today with this bit of news.  Enjoy!

Entering the Busy time of the Year

Shearing and lambing and fiber fairs, oh my!

This is a busy time coming upon us at Dor Galen. We are hoping for  the shearing stand that we ordered
to arrive sometime this week. Shearing has to be started before The Fiber Event next month.  We are vendors for the third consecutive year  and excited to be there. I have lots of spinning,  crocheting, and organizing of fleeces in order to be ready for this weekend in April. My spinning wheel is staring at me as I write, so I'd better get on it!

Waiting for the Lambs.....

Come on, Dor Galen ewes! We are anxiously waiting to see the 2011 lamb crop! Every morning and every evening we have been checking....I want to hear little bleating lambies and see their playful antics in the soon to be green patsures. Life continues on the farm...season in and season out.