November 9th was positively balmy. Ian left on the 7 am ferry, headed for Queen’s University Farmer’s Market. Don was watching the weather reports before heading out to do chores; Christopher was dealing with Ontario Sheep Marketing business. I went for a walk with my grandsons’ dog, Diego.

There were flocks of ducks and geese on the lake, gabbling and gossiping and apparently deciding that migrating wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be. A Loon call vibrated down my spine. The grass is still vividly green and the hay bales perfumed the air as I passed.

Weaned lambs grazing in the Wintering Grounds. © Don Tubb 2011

The fields are once again populated with our sheep.

They are in carefully separated sub-flocks. I walked the kilometer or so of roadway west to the end of the road, where our other house is located. I could see the Beacon light flashing and the Picton headland through the mist. I was lucky enough to join Chris as he went for a walk back towards our house. He explained about the flock groupings we passed.

The first bunch were 21 mature rams, resting and fattening up for their mighty task ahead of tupping the ewes. In an adjacent field young ram lambs were grazing, especially bred from our own Suffolk rams and ewes. Their characteristics include really good mothering, and good meat. We intend to keep the best four of the group of 30 or so; will sell one to a neighbour; two will become ‘teaser’ rams with vasectomies and the others will join the market flock.

There are three new rams on the farm, recently purchased from Quebec. Newcomers have to be kept separate from the other rams until they are put with the ewes in season (and much too distracted to battle for position). They are North Country Cheviot rams, purchased to increase that breed strain in our flock. (They came originally from the Cheviot hills in England. During “the clearances”, some were taken north to Scotland, were bred to be larger, and become the “North Country Cheviots”. The ones who stayed are called Border Cheviots. The Borders are generally a smaller ram, and are put to the first year girls. Their lambs have a feisty ‘survivability’ and do well on pasture.)

We expect to develop excellent quality of lamb for customers, and a resilient medium-staple wool with minimum chaff for weavers, spinners, felters and all who enjoy our wool products available through our on-line store.

The ewe lambs that will be bred this fall for the first time are grazing a few fields back, nearer our woods. The mature ewes are still ‘down the road’ getting low on pasture in the rented fields where they have been for a few weeks. They have just started to need hay to supplement the grasses.

As we neared the Frame house, the good sight of the market lambs spread out over a couple of fields, quietly grazing, was pleasing to the eye and the heart.