Calling All Doctors (PhD, that is!)

It is with great parental proudness that I announce that my Beautiful, Talented, Smart, Hard-Working, (oh, I could go on and on) daughter, Kelly, JUST PASSED THE DEFENSE OF HER DOCTORAL THESIS!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!
We just got the call from Herself letting us know that she passed her oral defense and accomplishing something very rare - she received a "Pass Without Corrections" which is a very rare accomplishment! Can you tell we're proud? I am actually typing this upside-down as I am on the ceiling I'm so delighted for her. I know just how hard she's worked to get this doctorate. In a couple of weeks, when the thesis is printed and bound (published) she can be called "Dr." at that point. But I'm going to call her Dr. starting right now.
I can hardly think of what to write in this blog entry 'cause I'm so excited for my Darling Daughter. I don't know whether to cry or shout it out! Right now I'm doing both! WA-HOO!!!!!

Congratulations, Dr. Atkinson! I only wish I were there to give you the biggest hug a mother could give her daughter. You deserve this. Your Dad and I know just how hard you've worked for this! And we also know how glad the other Dr. Atkinson is to have his wife back again instead of writing all the time!

I love you, Kelly! YOU GO, GIRL! The Sky is the limit! And the World is yours!


NOTE: Kelly's official "title" is she's a "Protein Biochemist". Her Thesis is titled: Proteomic Biomarker Discovery for Preeclampsia.

If you'd like to visit her blog, click on the link at the side.

Ailee and the Night Visitors

Friday night, instead of sleeping and bonding with her son, Ailee was in need of a visit. She hadn't passed her placenta in a "normal" time frame. So, after talking with our sheep vet, Dr. Rob, over the phone, I made the decision for him to come out to give her the once over just to be safe.
It was 11 p.m. when the doctor arrived. His girlfriend had come with him as she's always wanted to see the Shetlands but Rob is afraid once she sees them, she'll want one. After checking Ailee over Rob decided she needed to be "flushed out" - a procedure I will not go into detail about here. Just use your imagination.
I could tell he was a bit disappointed in that the placenta still wouldn't budge. So, he gave her a shot of oxytocin to get some "action" going again, hoping it would do the trick. He left another dose of the medication with me to administer at 1:30 a.m. then left.
I decided to stay up knowing that if I did go to sleep it would be twice as hard waking up than just staying up 'til then. Good decision on my part. I was hoping to walk out and find that everything had passed. Nope. Nothing.
I gave her the shot and tried to get her to eat a bit of hay. I knew she was so tired. She must've had a long, difficult birth. It shown in her face and demeanor. She was worn out and no matter how many shots she got, until she had her energy back it was clear that nothing would happen.
Even feeling so badly she allowed her little (Heck, he was as big as the week-old in the jug next to them!)boy to nurse and kept him clean. She just didn't have much energy left for anything else.
Saturday the vet called and when told that the placenta still had not passed decided to have me come in and get a few more injections of oxytocin plus an antibiotic. He just didn't want her to have any infection. Probably, she would have done just as well on her own devices. Ewes who retain placenta usually only have it happen once and go on to be productive flock members. So no worries there.
Sunday in the late morning she finally expelled the nasty hanger-on and since then has been doing just fine. It's amazing to me how sometimes giving someone "time" is all that is really needed. I think she would have passed it anyway even without the oxytocin injections. Good Girl, Ailee!

There was a really odd thing that happen to me on my way back from the barn at 2 a.m. I was admiring the night sky and the stillness of the night. There even wasn't any traffic making noise on I17. You could have heard a pin drop. And the night sky was just gorgeous - something I wouldn't have witnessed had I been asleep in bed. It was then I heard a very soft noise just over my head. No...it wasn't aliens come to take me to the "Home World"...but what I did see astounded me. Above me, just out of arms reach was Bran! It is not normal for a raven to be out in the night, but here he was - seeing that I got home safely. He gently flew just above me until I got to the back door to go in. It was then he uttered a soft "caw-cluck" and he took off for home and his Mrs.
Had I not been up at that hour I would not have seen the beautiful stars...nor would I have realized how good a friend I have. Thanks, Bran!

PS: As of this entry, Ailee and her son are doing just fine. :)

Ailee's Surprise! -or- Boy! Am I Ever Glad We're Done!

I went out to feed this morning a bit on the late side. It was a little after 8 a.m. with a definite chill in the air. I fed the wethers, Skit and the older ewes with their brood, turning them out into the pasture for some exercise as well. I was just taking Loretta a bit of hay to shut her up as she was hollering at me all the while I was feeding the other sheep. I dropped it off in her pen then turned to check Ailee and Blessa.
It was then I noticed a dark brown pile in the pen where Ailee and Blessa were for the night. Blessa was standing there just looking at it with eyes as big as saucers. Then, it moved! It sunk in - Ailee had lambed sometime during the wee hours of the early morning!
What shocked me was not that she had lambed, but that she had shown no outward signs of even being in labor yesterday or last evening when I checked on them. Nothing. Her lamb hadn't even dropped much, no super-swelling of her udder, no pacing or not eating, no digging to China to make a nest - nothing. If I had seen any sign at all, even an inkling, I would have jugged her straight away. Maybe I should change her name to Sneaky Pete.

Here is Ailee with her baby BOY. Yes, you saw correctly - a ram lamb. This season we have had a 100% ram lamb year!

At first I was very disappointed in the ram lambs...but then I started thinking...each one of them shows promise of being herd-sires. They all have good conformation, have rich coloring, two have spots with the others carrying spotting genetics. Can a shepherd really be bummed about having quality rams? After all, the ram is 50% of the genetic material of a flock. So what's wrong with breeding quality rams for other flocks? Not a darned thing! :)

"Hey, Ma! Lay down so I can stand on you and see over this thing to look at my brother/cousin! Come on, Ma! I need help!" Poor Loretta...

At the end of this lambing season, even will 100% ram lambs, I am proud. Any shepherd would be to breed quality rams who should go on to be flock sires themselves. I think all the ewes and Skittles deserve a "Well done"! And maybe next season will be a ewe season...
One can only hope... :)

Breaks in the Wind...

We have had a very windy week! The wind coupled with the dryness have ushered in an early fire season for us. I noticed that yesterday, our relative humidity at 7 a.m. was 8%! No wonder I'm starting to feel like a dried fruit!
We did have occasional breaks in the pounding gusts allowing me to run out and try to get a few photos of the happenings around here.

In the spring, we're in the flyway for these brown cattle egrets. When they show up it almost looks like a sea of ravens in the wetlands, but then you realize what "they" are, working the shallow waters for their dinners. Just as long as they leave a few crayfish for me I'm happy to share!

The above photo is of one of these busy birds in take off - I should have had the camera set for "Sports" and action shots, but he was moving so fast I didn't have time to think. Of course the reason he took flight was that I was stalking him.

Amanda: "Hey! I thought I only had two this year! Where did you other lambs come from? Where's your mother? Lacey, darn it...come and get your own children. I have enough to worry about with these two bruisers draining me dry every two minutes!"

Lacey: "Who? Me? See? I have my own lamb right here. Now where did I put that Jerry Lee?"

Pearl - Queen of the Sheep Beans!

And then there is Himself, you know. Always there. Always watching. I like to think Bran is watching over me, but I suspect it's more of a "What's Its got in it's pockets?" sort of thing.

And finally, a snap of my DH installing a new covering on the steering wheel of his Most Beloved 1953 Mercury he's been restoring. This car has been in his family since it came off the showroom floor. He's restoring it close to "original" to be a daily-driver. I know he can't wait until he can actually drive it to work someday. I just wish we had a garage or big barn so he could work inside out of the weather. He's dedicated to this vehicle to the point where I have seen him work in sun, wind, rain and snow. It makes me so thankful that my spinning and weaving/knitting/whatever equipment fit nicely in a house...by a warm fire or furnace...out of the rain....

Of course I know that I do have to weather the elements to feed and care for the sheep, but I'm not outside all day doing that if the weather is bad. :) And I'm so glad he has something he loves doing. Honey-Do lists are one thing, but I am a firm believer in each person should have something they are passionate about in life. Something of their own.

I'm just very happy there's no room in the bed for Betty the Merc, or I'd have to move over and share!

Loretta's Contribution -or- Darn it! Not Another One!

When I got up Saturday morning, I immediately went to: 1. Turn the coffee pot "on"...and b. Checked the monitor in the office running "Sheep-O-Vision". Loretta had been acting suspicious on Friday and I had wondered if she had progressed along. Well, at first I thought it was something wrong with the camera in that part of the barn, but I saw what appeared to be the beginning of something working its way out of Loretta's posterior. To the tune of "There's mucous! (Only another shepherd or person living with one would understand the excitement those words bring to a shepherd's heart) She's in labor!" I ran back to the bedroom to get dressed. I barely had time to tell my DH I was headed to the barn when I heard, "Don't forget your phone." from my beloved spouse.
Loretta's labor progressed very fast, even for a first-timer. I checked on her then went about my business feeding the other sheep and making sure the others weren't around to bother the expectant mom. After feeding, I went back in and spied two big feet where feet aren't usually found on a sheep...but no membrane! No fluids! Oi!
Loretta was up and down. She was in the throes of deep, painful contractions without making any headway in getting this "pod-being" out of her body. By that time I noticed a nose and mouth with a big tongue hanging out of it. The tongue was pink, but if things didn't progress along it wouldn't be pink for long.
By that time my Dh had arrived to help anyway he could. I donned gloves. Enough time had passed and Loretta was getting weaker with each contraction. The nose was even starting to move back inside! I had forgotten how slippery these little guys can be, so I asked Hishonor to hand me a towel so I could get a good purchase on the front legs. With the next contraction, I pulled while Loretta pushed and out he came! Yes, damn it! Another HE!!!!

Above is a picture of the unnamed ram lamb Loretta presented to us. (I repeat..."Damn it!") He had a bit of a problem finding the right spigots on Mama, the problem being that he had such tall legs. Soon he had his first meal and Loeretta continued cleaning him up.

He has the Skittles Stamp, a krunet marking, on the top of his head. And Loretta is a fierce protector of him. Her sister came close to inspect this new wind-up toy that her big sister had and Loretta tried to bash away all relations in protection of her new son.
We are almost finished lambing here for this year. But I may have to start thinking of another ram. Since we've had my friend, Skittles, out of ten lambs so far, only one was a ewe lamb. The rest have been carbon copies of their sire. It's like Skittles has created his own army of Mini-Me's running around. My talks with him have fallen on deaf ears. He's out to create an army of rams under his control. So far, it seems to be working.

Darn it, Skit! I hope you remembered where you put your suitcase as you may be leaving...or at the very least you may have a roommate - with horns as impressive as yours! Got the word now?