Surprise!

As I drove past the pasture this morning, I took a look over at the sheep. They were beautifully spread out and grazing, as usual. And then I spotted something that hadn't been there earlier: a tiny black lamb, tagging along behind her mother.

This was a shocker, first, because Icelandics almost never deliver lambs this late in the year. Our previous latest was August, and that's only happened once in the last eight years. Icelandics only tend to come into season in the fall, and deliver all their lambs in the early spring.

It's also a shock because the ewe in question, Dot, is now eleven years old. I honestly wasn't expecting her to lamb this year. She's the leader of the flock, and so we intend to keep her until she dies of natural causes at as ripe of an old age as possible...but we'd pretty much resigned ourselves to her lambing days being over.

On the farm, marvels never cease. Now we just have to think of a good name for our new little addition.