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| Oneida and her ram lamb |
Here we are, finding ourselves in the middle of March, and to think we have been under 20 inches of snow, causing fallen trees and snapped branches that left us without power for over four days; and warmer temperatures which then caused flooding followed by sunny days and temps in the mid 70s. Man, what a week. Yes. That all occurred in less than a week.
Lambing has been an ongoing process. I have to say it has gone well in that there have been lots of healthy lambs and ewes. Things have gone smoothly for the most part and the lambs are just doing outstanding in their growth and development. With the variety of colors and new additions to our flock (at least until the lambs head to new farms) one can only say things have gone well. However, have things gone as planned? Um, no. If things went as planned, lambing would have ended a couple weeks ago. I even started breeding earlier this year, and yet I still find myself barn checkin’ for the remaining three ewes that definitely are pregnant and yet aren’t ready to deliver. I can’t help but smirk. Even when I think I have things “scheduled and under control,” I really don’t, not even close.
Lambing isn’t a negative thing of course; it’s just a lot of work (and I’m not even the one delivering the twins so really, who am I to complain). The work and 2am checks can add up and lead to stress, but I have to say there are moments that simply make lambing gratifying. Yesterday was one such moment where rolling up the driveway in the truck, I made the usual turn around the bend where I was quickly met with the usual view of the barn and backdrop of westerly views. Today however, every ewe, lamb and llama was out of the barn enjoying the unseasonably warm weather as much as anybody. The ewes were soaking up the sunshine, and with them, curled up in each of their bellies, was one, maybe two beautiful little lambs, just as content as they could be. What a site it was. I simply rolled down the window, propped my arm on the door and just sighed.
