Thursday, February 09, 2012

Moonglow

What a lovely Snow Moon or Wolf Moon this month.  I love to come out in the early morning and see the moon up on the other side of my little valley, with the pink glow of dawn coming up over the piney ridge.  I had some sheep positioning to deal with last night and this morning.  TJ and Robin were left outside the kindergarten/maternity pen after shearing.  Everyone went home before I realized I needed some extra hands to get them back in.  I feed 18% feed to the lambs and the remaining pregnant ewe in the pen, but how to get the little family back in without scattering the ones inside.  I tried to catch Mama using the lead as a lasso but she spooked and I didn't get her.  A skilled shepherd would do this with ease, but not me.  Then there was the issue of opening the maternity pen while pulling her inside.  I decided to catch the lambs and put them over the fence so they could eat, as they had been without grain for several days.  It's bad enough this hay I'm giving them is so lousy.  At least they could have their bellies full of feed.  There was much complaining by Mama that her lambs were in sight but not near enough to nurse from her.  I fed them again this morning, then lifted the lambs back over the fence to a very grateful Mama whose bag was quite swollen and ready to be drained.  I'll have to get somebody over to help me get the three of them back in the kindergarten.  Pregnant mom does not want to be in there alone.  I have Lilly, Joseph and the recovering Gabriel in there with her now.  A very wooly and energetic yearling wether likes to jump the four foot fence to get the grain for the lambs.   On deck for today - a hike up the little mountain behind the school.  Mr. Potter and I have decided the skralings have been much too cheeky and need a forced march to take the piss and vinegar out of them.  The weather is lovely with a high in the 40's forecast.  We'll see how it goes...

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous1:24 PM

    You always write how wonderful your hay from a farm nearby is have they run out or is there a shortage in your area?

    ReplyDelete

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