Minus Twelve

I didn't think it would get quite this cold again, but it did. I can tell it's cold when I open my eyes and my nose is frosty. I stoked the stove at 2 but by six it was pretty much out. Matt is still sick to die in the bed with some kind of flu/cold syndrome - please don't let me get it. I hustled with bottles, coffee and got the doggies out to pee. Their paws froze quickly and they did their business as quickly as possible. You should have seen them run for the door. Out to give bottles to my very demanding lamb crew then get down hay. As I was running back into the barn, thinking I might get to work on time today, I heard a tiny maaaaa, maaaaa. It cut into me like a knife, and there she was - a repeat of the night before. Tiny little newborn, cord hanging, with no apparent mom claiming her. I climbed over the fence and found mom, far off, lying down, with enough of a mess on her behind to tell me she's the one. I popped the little ewe lamb into a jug and went to get Matt out of his sick bed. I hated to do it but I needed another pair of hands to hold the gate open, hold mom while I nursed her out, etc. Matt was more willing than I anticipated and I got the job done in record time. Sweater on, colostrum in belly, cord dipped, Nutri-Drench given, etc. New moms often want to "escape from the pain" of childbirth. They don't understand why that big, painful thing came out the back of them and need some assistance in bonding. This baby was licked off, but I'm not even sure who did the licking. I flew into the apartment to get dressed and likewise flew down the road to Norwich. Thank Goodness I heard the tiny cries or she might have frozen, or been so severely chilled by the time somebody found her that reviving her would be very tricky. So I'm grateful this morning, and also grateful the 25 miles of road I travel to Norwich was wide open - I think I passed two cars - and the cops were getting warm inside a coffee shop somewhere.