General Discussion & Chat: Coffee and...part 9 :-D, 1 by MaryE

MaryE wrote:
Hello, tiptoeing in so I don't wake anyone, getting some chamomile tea. Really early here, about 3am and I am just back from the barn. Tonight I remembered to take pictures, so here you go. This is the one I brought into the barn about 15 minutes before I took his picture. He was born a couple of hours before so was already dry, a single birth and his momma had licked him clean so he feels soft. The ewe is pretty nervous but followed the lamb in the cart without a problem. They talked to each other all the way which is handy because just by listening I could tell I still had them both. Occasionally a lamb will jump out of the cart, or the ewe will run back to the flock or back to where she delivered and then I have to start all over. Or, she will deliver another one on the way to the barn and then gets confused about where she wants to be. It is nice to have it all go smoothly.

Friday night we had a really nutty granny ewe who tried to steal a lamb and was very obnoxious driving the mom away, running over the lamb and butting anything that moved including the person carrying the lamb. She was grabbed and had her feet tied together while the lamb was taken to the barn with it's momma, then later in the night she had a nice set of twins and is fairly calm (surprise) but now has the name of Robogranny. I missed all the action on that one.

Today (well yesterday really) I finally got those peas planted that I was going to plant about a week ago but they won't know the difference probably. This is such a strange year especially comparing it to last year when I couldn't even see the garden under about a foot of snow and the days were in the low 40's at most. Yesterday was about 55. I also did some weeding. Our son came out and he and my DH hunted sage rats. These little rodents make holes in the fields and since we flood irrigate the water disappears down the holes never to be seen again, or it comes up again sometimes where it isn't needed. We try to keep the population down. Badgers and coyotes try to dig them out and leave much larger holes that if stepped in can break animals legs or at least cause a nasty fall. My neighbor has had 2 calves in the past 2 years with broken legs, probably from stepping in the hole while running.

My chamomile tea is gone, I am yawning (a good sign) and it's time to get more sleep. No counting sheep tonight, it is better to count blessings anyhow.