L is for Lambs

 
Today I got myself invited to go visit the lambs at the farm of a friend. I knew it was lambing time, but that's about all I knew.

First of all, let me say that despite my farm roots and experiences, I've never been around sheep. I never even knew someone who had sheep. I knew there were white sheep and black sheep, but I thought other than that, they pretty much all looked alike. Wrong! I learned so much today that you may see more about this visit when we get to S. But I can't talk about lambs without telling you at least the basic fact that these are Icelandic sheep. They are big, and instantly recognizable as individuals with personalities! I fell in love in about two seconds.

With no further ado, prepare for cuteness overload!



You can easily see how unique each animal is. The lamb is Specks. This year, Betsy (the owner) said the ewes have all had twins. Specks and sister Sparrow are busy getting a snack.



I managed to remember all the lamb's names, but I failed on some of the moms. This is Henry (black) and High Boots (I bet you can figure that out).



I got this mom- she's Tansy, and her babies are Twix and Twilight.



Finally, we have Starless (no white spots!) and Snickers. They are the youngest, just a day old.



Do you like them? I sure do.



I had no idea what lambs smelled like. Each kind of baby animal has a unique odor. My favorite is puppies. My least favorite is goats (apologies to Priscilla and Abby). Lots of people like the smell of human babies. Well, I learned that Lambs smell of the lanolin in their fleece. It's a persistent odor, even after several hours, and washing twice, I can still detect it on my hands. No wonder wool is so water resistant!

This was so much fun! But I'll save more for another day.

P.S. Betsy is a member of my writer's support group. She writes amazing poems about the farm.

if you like this blog, click the +1