Yesterday…. Time, life, everything ceased to exist for me…Except for ONE thing… LAMBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and EWES Drover and Abilene 🙂
I woke to sound of a Ewe off in the distance with lambs and I knew there was trouble. One it was windy and cold! Two the lambs and the Ewe were sounding stressed. I jumped up out of bed and hurried and dressed warmly and took off to the field with my English Shepherd Drover and my stock stick.
The ewe had found the coldest most exposed to the wind spot to deliver possible. She had twins as I walked up the second one was born. I looked at the first one and it was nearly frozen all ready and stiffening…so I started drying and warming it up. It seemed to be working !
I moved the ewe and lambs to the new covered pen. Still working on the cold lamb…I should have took the lamb to the house at first and let Abilene Mother it up…and warm it…But I thought I was getting it warm…I did end up letting Abilene look after the lamb but sadly I had waited too long and the lamb did not make it.
The other lamb is fine!
In the mean time another Ewe had triplets! I moved her to the pen and all was well!
By the time I had everyone settled and got warm…Another ewe was lambing! Back to the field and moving lambs! triplets! and then I waited a bit watching the Ewes and the lambs, and triplets were born again!
By late evening I realized the day was slipping away and I had spent the whole day with sheep, and my dog!
The sunset was breathtaking!
The wind died down and the weather was good for the first time all day! All the sheep were settled in hayed and watered. Drover and I sat down in front of the sheep pen and watched the sun set cross Steep Rock Mountain. We had done a good days work. Our lambs and the rest of the flock were settled in for the night. We stayed with them till after dark.
I thought about being a shepherd and what all we had done today. How Drover and Abilene had been my shepherds. (help) then I thought about how Les, Ashlyn and Lilly and I had worked on the pen Sunday and built it after church. And how without their help all these lambs would have died today! The stalls in the barn are way to cold for lambs…But out in the sunshine and protected against the wind our new sheep shed is just right!
As Drover and I walked to the house I realized I had spent a whole day lost in the sheep! What a wonderful wonderful day! And awesome way to spend a day! Thinking of nothing but sheep!
