There is an often-observed weekly theme in the blogging community where we put some photos up on Wednesday and let them speak for themselves.
I have a terrible back-log of pictures to share, so I'm going to try to stick with it.
And now for the "wordless" part :)
I typed that previous post just a bit too soon! Confetti had a beautiful little girl at about 5:15 this afternoon. I saw the birth from the time the feet were sticking out. I got some great pictures, but I'll share those later.
For now, we can just enjoy the cuteness of a baby llama!
Just out, slimy and wet. Starr is very, very interested in the new arrival. They look so much alike because they're half-sisters.
At this point, I had to put Starr in the barn. She was so enthralled with the new baby that she wasn't letting Confetti get close to her. There was some spitting and neck wrestling, but I got them separated before there was scratching and hair pulling.
LLAMA FACE! One brown eye and one blue eye, and some crazy black lipstick!
Up!
But a bit unsteady.
Only a mother could love?
Our llama, Confetti, was due to have her cria on May 1, 2012. It is now May 21, 2012. She's a bit over-due, and getting pretty big!
However, for having been pregnant for over a year now, she seems to be taking it well.
Everyone else is getting big as well. Here are some fun lamb shots to make you smile!
Waylon--by far our best ram. He may replace Knox in our program.
Willie--twin to Waylon, and also really hard to photograph! Emmylou is in the background.
Emmylou--she is simply stunning. I'm so excited about her structure and her fleece. My fingers are crossed that she doesn't fade too much.
Johnny--he's got the absolute wrong type of fleece except that he's black. Jet black! He's staying with us, but as a wethered pet.
And, of course there's Princess June! Can you tell who's the darling of the barnyard?
June.
June and me
Kat and June
Glutton for scratches
Warning: the following pictures are graphic images of a sheep giving birth!
Our last ewe to lamb, Emerald, cooperated with us last Saturday, April 28, by giving birth at a reasonable hour--9pm! I had noticed her nesting and acting very about-to-give-birth-y, so I grabbed my camera and declared, "I'm sitting in the barn until this lamb comes!"
That was at 7 pm, so I didn't have too long to sit in the cold. She began having contractions around 8, and then things went pretty fast. Morgan, Mike and my mom-in-law, Jude were all present. Morgan is only 7 and handled things very well. She quietly asked questions as things progressed and wasn't phased at all.
Contractions
Bag of water emerging.
Hooves and nose emerging through the bag of water in the "diver" position.
The bag of water breaks and things get slipperier (hooves and nose again).
Head emerging.
Shoulders emerging.
Body emerging
Body mostly out. At this point, the sack came off the lamb's face and she started breathing. If Emerald had given birth standing, gravity would have helped finish up.Emerald was finished pushing, and the little lamb more or less kicked her way into the world.
Welcome to the world EmmyLou!
Gooey but alert.
Up and searching. She was a little confused about which end had milk for a while. She finally got it.
This was the best entertainment in the barn!
Starr (the llama on the far left) had a hard time containing herself; she wanted to help lick Emmylou clean. She kept sticking her nose between the slats of the birthing pen until Emerald finally gave her a strong head butt.
Lick, lick, licking
The next morning, all clean and fluffy.
Out in the pasture on a foggy Wednesday morning (4 days old).
Shearing day was last Tuesday, April 17, but I've just now regained enough energy to actually blog about it. It kicked my tush, and we only have 6 animals!!
Sue of The Critter Ranch came to do the shearing, while my friend, Hannah was on-hand as an extra helper, and photographer extraordinaire. A huge thank you to Hannah for all the pictures here!! Another friend, Petra, came by to watch, and was quickly put to work wrangling lambs. Thanks to all of you for such a great day!
Starr was her usual prim and slightly haughty self. She pranced into the chute, and then even deigned to allow Hannah to have a picture taken with her.
Knox was the first of the sheep to be sheared. He's now earned the name ObKNOXious. But we took him down a few pegs once he was naked. Not so tough now, are you?
However, with a fleece like this, I'll put up with him for a while longer! 
We decided that Emerald, the only pregnant ewe left, would go next, and we were in for quite the surprise!
Sue started shearing her at the back, but her wool was really thick and it was hard to get the shears through it. As we pulled the wool up to get the shears through, we realized that Emerald was rooing. Rooing happens in the more primitive breeds of sheep that have survived on their own for hundreds of years. In the Spring, their wool becomes thinner and will easily break off, allowing the sheep to rub against trees or shrubs to pull the old growth off.
This is ideal for hand spinners because we end up with a fleece that has no second cuts in it, and the tips on next year's fleeces will be more natural. It's great for the sheep because their left with a fine layer of new growth.
Emerald has a gorgeous fleece, and now she looks soft and fluffy!
It was time for a lunch break at this point. Look! Me with three bags full!!
First up after lunch was Sparkles. We were able to roo her to her shoulders and then had to shear the rest. I think next year I'll either wait a week or work on parts of the fleece as it's ready to release.
Of course, the star of the day was June. She helped hold her mom in, and inspected the fleece.
Petra showed up about this time and helped control "the pests." I don't think she minded too much!
We were able to roo Peridot to her shoulders as well. However, she looks the most tender of the three, and she probably could have waited until next week. She's getting limited sun time until she has some wool on her!
Her lambs hung out in a storage box at her head until she was all done.
And again . . . another gorgeous fleece! I love the gray of her wool.
All in all, a pretty awesome day that left me with four gorgeous Shetland fleeces and two wonderful llama blankets. And I couldn't be more thankful for good friends that are willing to work and laugh along with me while I navigate farm life!!
Peridot had a beautiful set of rams this morning. Mike checked the lambcam at 5:45--nothing. I checked at 6:50--lambs!
The second lamb wasn't up and moving yet when I got out there, so he was only minutes old.And here they are in their own pen.
Of course, I'll have many, many more photos to come!
Today Mike took off work, and worked.
This morning began with a visit from the vet. She confirmed that Confetti is indeed pregnant and will have the cria at the end of this month. She's due 4/28-5/1. Unfortunately, Starr is not pregnant after all. We'll try again next month and wait a year to see what happens!
After the vet check, the girls enjoyed some free time in their grazing pasture.
Starr 
Confetti
Then, because THE PLAN has failed, we put up a permanent gate for the barn.
Here are Peridot and Emerald showing off the new gate.And I worked at preparing the back field for the animals. There were some tall weeds left from last year, so we rigged up a piece of chain link fence to drag behind the tractor. I love driving the tractor.
The back field nice and flat.And Morgan got to help as well. She worked the bucket to help pull up some old T-posts.
What a great work day! Lots accomplished and tired kids!
The waiting, that is!
Sparkles' lambs will be a week old tomorrow (tonight at 3 am, actually, but who's counting?) and Emerald and Peridot are still pregnant.
Peridot this morning
Emerald this morning.The plan was:
All lambs would come within 3-4 days of one another. All ewes and lambs would be in the barn for a week and a half. Then ALL the sheep could be turned loose on the fields at the same time.
Someone didn't get the memo. And now the ewes are going stir-crazy, and the lambs need to run free.
So today, I had to do some very complicated maneuvering. The main problem: the barn doesn't have a door (because we'll be expanding it again once the weather warms up), so we have a giant piece of plywood screwed-in to block the entrance. This would be fine if everyone had adhered to THE PLAN.
Never fear! I came up with a solution.
I moved Knox into the chicken coup (the chickens were not very happy with this situation).
The llamas were released into their temporary grazing area consisting of only two strands of electric wire that's not actually turned on. It's really just a suggestion to them, and if they wanted out, it would be pretty easy. I usually put them in there for an hour or two while I'm out doing chores in order to keep an eye on them. The sheep get to use it occasionally, but Knox has been banned due to his blatant disrespect of the non-threatening wires. This is what it looked like the day we set it up.
I then went into the barn, scooped up the lambs and had Sparkles follow me (well, the lambs) out the front door of the barn, around a set of pine trees, through the pasture gate and into the field. Luckily, she's the queen bee, and Emerald and Peridot followed her.
Once they were secured in the field, I pulled Knox (good thing he has horns and is still pretty small) out of the coup and into the secure barn.
Everyone is happy for the day, but tonight I'll have to do all this again in reverse.
The ewes need to lamb!
Sparkles is so patient with the little buggers.
Here they are, via our lambcam, using her as a jungle gym.
Sparkles had her twins last night!
I woke up at about 2:40 am from a deep sleep, worried about Sparkles. She had been acting different yesterday, and I was pretty sure her time was soon. I couldn't shake the feeling, so I finally got up and checked our lambcam.
I saw one lamb up and moving with Starr, our llama standing guard, and I was out the door running. At some point I said to my husband, "Mike! Lambs!" When I got to the barn, Starr was still over the lamb, and Sparkles was to the other one. I scooped them up and put all three in a lambing pen.
Mike joined me about 5 minutes later, and then we stared at them for an hour.
The Ewe
The Ram
Starr standing guard.
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