Surprise!

This morning, when Brenna went to feed Begonia one of her favorite delacacies for breakfast (alfalfa hay, nicely flaked), she was in for quite a surprise. Now, where I enjoy rising early enough to take in a sunrise before starting my day, Brenna is quite the night owl. So the following events took place while Brenna was in that dreamlike state of half conciousness that comes from being a night owl, forced by circumstance against her nature.

Brenna peeled off half a flake of hay from the bale, and carried it into Begonia's pen. She then proceeded to do a quick check of her lamb "Ok, I fed Begonia, Begonia's allright, and her lambs are all right, so I'm just going to-wait! Her LAMBS are all right? Those certainly weren't there last night!"

Begonia and Flower

Now, Begonia just came home a few days ago, and while we knew that she had been at Camp Ram, and planned accordingly for her pregnancy, we expected to have about a week before the lambs were actually born. This led to all sorts of fumbling about for straw ( the entire county is cleaned out), and then shavings (I'm sure my mom didn't mind the little 45 minute drive!), iodine (why oh why was last year's bottle int he medicine cabinet?), and musings over whether or not our current weather calls for a heat lamp (well they were all right last night...). But everything worked itself out, and the babies are curled against their momma, sleeping soundly, the way it's supposed to be.

Begonia and Bambi

And that is how our lambing went this season. Begonia had twins, two girls we named Bambi-Pie and Cutie-Flower. (check out my post on the art of naming sheep for more info:) I found the surprise! method of lambing to be very enjoyable, and as neither of the lambs seem to be damaged either physically or emotionally, I will conclude that Begonia is a good mother.