Sunday, May 27, 2007

Thunderstorms All Day


I slept for seven blessed hours. Only woke up once to check what was on TV - a terrible nervous habit of mine. It's as if I am still waking up to check on my baby twins, 26 years ago. I stumbled out of the trailer with the dogs and walked the few feet over to the boys pen behind the silos to check on the new sheep. All three were lying together near the far fence. I like getting more than one new animal from the same flock, that way they have each other to hang with. They looked fine and I watched until they went over to the round bale to eat. The high % ewe, Linnea, got away from us before she got her shots yesterday. She jumped and sailed off the back of the pick up, like a deer. Young sheep are like that. I got two of the round bales in the big pen covered. I hate hay to get rained on. I don't have another tarp for the third. Have to get in the boy's pen and get their bale covered. Weather channel says rain all day, but it's sunny here. That can change in minutes. I keep musing about the farmer's market. One nice older lady came by to ask if I had any WOOL hats? I told her I would be making some and she said great, she would be back. Another vendor had tried to sell her an acrylic yarn hat, and she didn't want it because acrylic doesn't keep you warm. I said THANK YOU, MA'AM. It was very gratifying to hear a "civilian" that understands the difference between acrylic and natural fibers. Some people just don't get it!
Little Chip is still hanging on. He perked up a bit but is not eating well. I am tired of forcing milk replacer on him. He will nibble a little corn and pellets, though. I carried him out of the barn and put him on the green grass, which he nuzzled but didn't eat. Have to give him more Vit. B and Nutri Drench. I won't give up on him, I hope he doesn't give up on himself. Legolas is looking better since I dragged him out from half under the trailer that blistering hot day last week. I spotted him when I was running for the truck to go to work and quickly went into "failsafe" mode - I see reasons to stay home but put them out of my mind or I wouldn't be able to leave. The job keeps us all alive and the mission is to get there. I tried not to worry about him and kept busy at school, but when I got home he was still there, lying flat. Fortunately he is about 200 lbs, not 300 like some rams. I got him across the yard out of the sun and into the barn where I forced cool water with molasses into him. After nursing him a day or two I decided to cut a hole in the wall of the pen (gates were locked in with hay build up) and let him into the lush green back field. He started eating the green stuff and hasn't stopped since. It gave him the runs but saved his life, I think. He hasn't run away, I hope, although I can't spot him this morning. Don't think he will leave the ewes. I remember reading about the Vikings keeping their sheep inside with them all winter. By spring they had to be carried outside and laid on the green grass. Better get mine out on the green grass before it storms.

1 comment:

  1. WHAT!?!?!? She wants wool hats in the spring? With ear flaps? Okay, I'll get the two packaged up and send them to you pronto! And I'll get started on the next one, too. I'm red-faced...I was thinking we had until later in the year before the hat demand came in.

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