» Sheep Stories

Soon to be New Arrival at Frolic Farm

Annette Johnston — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:07:04 +0000

I just attended a Fiber Arts Festival in Marshall Michigan, and one of my sheep friends was there with 4 adorable baby Icelandic lambs. Just too cute. They were two sets of orphan twins, so she was feeding them with a bottle. When I told my dad about the festival and the lambies, his only question was, “So how many did you buy?” Only 1 darling little lamb. She will be coming to Frolic Farm in about a month, when she is old enough. I told another friend about the lambs, and his first question was exactly the same as my dad’s. So I guess I must be pretty predictable!

This Little Darling Still Needs a Name

Spring has sprung at Frolic Farm

Annette Johnston — Thu, 06 May 2010 16:43:09 +0000

The sheep have been sheared, and they are very happy to have their heavy winter coats off. Liam (the Icelandic sheep) was particularly pleased. They also had their hooves trimmed, and received their vaccinations (CD&T). The vet will be out soon to take care of the horse, llama, and mini donkey, and will give Liam a special shot to boost his selenium level. Everyone is fine.

Liam Jr. Enjoying Springtime a Little Bit Too Much

Annette Johnston — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:57:57 +0000

After having his huge coat shorn last week, little Liam the Icelandic sheep is feeling his oats with the nice spring weather. He is small enough now to crawl under the fence, and get into the horse pasture. He isn’t smart enough to crawl back in at night, though. He was upset that he was separated from his good buddy, Lambchop. I retrieved him, then set about making repairs to keep him in his own paddock with Lambchop. I have a solid farm fence, and one strand of electric fence that was apparently set too high to keep Liam in. So I moved it lower to keep them both away from the fence. Little Liam then got an unpleasant surprise when his nose touched the wire! I won’t have to worry about any more escapes now.

Liam Jr Posing this Fall

Annette Johnston — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:51:20 +0000

Here is a photo of my darling little Icelandic sheep, Liam Jr, taken in October 2008. He truly is a joy to have around. I’ll have to take a picture of him enjoying the snow here in Michigan. Liam lives with my beloved Lambchop. They share a small shed, and have 2 paddocks to roam around in.
It has been very cold and snowy here at Frolic Farm. It was 0 again this morning. The critters seem to do just fine.

Liam Lamb Makes a Hit at Vacation Bible School!

Annette Johnston — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:09:22 +0000

Last week, I hauled little Liam the lamb to Vacation Bible School, with two of his friends, Smokey the French Angora bunny, and Domino the chicken. Smokey and Domino are old pros at VBS, having attended for several years now. The 40 children took turns petting the critters. I was very glad that no one was bitten, pecked, or stepped on, including the kids. Smokey, who is a gorgeous, long-haired white bunny (with some grey on his back), was horrified when some of the children were eating drippy popcicles and attempted to pet him. I had to direct the children to wash their hands first. Domino the chicken made a break for it, when no one was looking, and I had to retrieve her out of the bushes. Little Liam was very well-behaved, and allowed all the children to pet him. It was a fun day, although a little hot. We stayed under the shade of a tree as much as possible. I was dressed as an authentic shepherdess, with my shepherd’s crook and straw hat.

Feel free to make comments. This is a kid-friendly site.

Crafty Ladies’ Felting Project

Annette Johnston — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:46:31 +0000

The Craft Club got together again recently to do some wet felting. I wanted to try out little Liam’s fleece to see how well it would felt. Liam is my young Icelandic sheep, who was sheared for the first time this spring. I picked and then washed his fleece in my washing machine (being careful not to agitate it in any way) with Dawn detergent. It took a couple days to dry. I do love the light gray color, almost like a tweed. I hand carded a small portion for us to use in our felting. We all made small felted pouches, with varying degrees of success. I took a class on wet felting at the Michigan Fiber Festival last summer. I am pleased with my cellphone case, but may decorate it with needlefelting. Liam’s fleece felts beautifully, very fast felting. I will work on carding more of it, and plan to make a tiny camera case and then a purse. I’ll have to make slippers this fall.

Let me know if you do any felting, and what successes you’ve had.

Soon I will be able to upload pictures of the critters to this blog!

New Icelandic Lamb at Frolic Farm

Annette Johnston — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:00:18 +0000

A new friend for Lambchop has arrived at Frolic Farm; his name is Liam, and is he ever cute. I bought a young Icelandic wether a couple weeks ago, and he is living with Lambchop in their sheep paddock. Liam is so friendly and sweet-natured, that he has fit right in with his new buddy, Lambchop. He is very small, and Lambchop is huge but friendly, except when food is involved. Then he gets a little bit possessive. Liam made the mistake of sampling Lambchop’s hay, and Lambchop took exception to that, and body-slammed him into the fence. Poor Liam wasn’t hurt, just his pride. He now shows the proper respect to Lambchop and any edibles.

When I get a camera, I will post pictures. For now, I will describe Liam as having beautiful big, curved horns, and long, multi-colored fleece. He has a wide white stripe on his face.

That’s all for today. Feel free to send in comments on any of the posts, or questions.