May 17, 2007 by Elaine.

Tuesday was warm, and best of all, breezy. That meant the garden could begin and the blackflies would have trouble coming in for a landing.  So, having fenced the garden on Monday to keep the dogs and chickens at bay, the planting could begin on Tuesday.  Three varieties of peas..it would have been nice to have them in sooner, but there is still time for them to ripen for traditional 4th of July salmon and peas. We’ll see.  Lettuce in the shade of the pea’s trellis and some arugula and mesclun mix and some “spicy salad greens”. Rainbow Swiss chard seeds seduced me…I don’t even like chard, but the colors on the package of seeds were so pretty I couldn’t resist.

Two more girls lambed today…our first loss of the year..poor Springer lost a huge ram lamb..I think he must have been coming backwards..it looked to me like all was well, but, no…the good to come out of this was that even though he was really big, tucked away in there was a sweet black and white spotted ewe lamb.  So mom and babe are doing well.  I hate losing a lamb, all the if only’s run through my brain over and over again.

Later in the day, Izzie, who was as big as a houseboat, finally went into labor..2 days late.  Worrying that something was wrong,the look on her face was just not right, I decided it was time to check to see just what was going on in there…a ram, stuck at the door by his gigantic horn buds…the biggest and pointiest horns I have ever felt on a lamb…poor Izzie!  She was a trooper …what a good girl she is…so after a bit of help, mom was contentedly nickering to her new big fella, mustard yellow from stress, but she didn’t seem to notice,she was happy to see him.

Cool damp weather, with a forecast of heavy rains tomorrow ..only in the 40’s today.  Doesn’t look like the laundry will get hung out to dry for a few days.  But, the peas will be happy.

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May 13, 2007 by Elaine.

We heard loons tonight. It was the first time in 25 years that we heard loons on the lake below us.  What a treat!  Sitting around a campfire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows with our 9 year old granddaughter, Amelia, we all stopped to listen..what was it…people pretending to be loons or really loons?  Really Loons! How cool is that?

We all settled in to the tent for the night..Amelia loves to “camp”. What a wonder she is, bright and beautiful and a girl!  for a mom of two sons, a 9 year old girl is a constant source of amazement.  It was wonderful to watch her running through the field with the puppy, careening with the lambs and cuddling the newborn goat kids today.  Being a grandmother opens little windows in your heart and lets in unexpected rays of sunshine.

It is 4 in the morning…Poppit was screaming every 5 seconds..demanding I get up out of the tent and see what she needed.  What she needed was to stop yelling and push!  Finally, she figured that out and is now tucked in a jug with her fancy spotted twin lambs. Me, I came up to the house for a much needed shower, and ended up cooking chicken and pasta with dried tomato pesto for my lunch and supper at work later today, doing laundry ( those lamb towels and my clothes were in despoerate need of a bath)  and settled down to talk to you for a while.

It is now Mother’s day…not my favorite holiday… a rather gratuitous commercialized  day for the most part. But, I do offer all of us mom’s a toast…May you feel confident that your children know right from wrong, may they find a love equal to that you which you have for them, may you sleep soundly, and may you have the joy of grandbabies.

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May 11, 2007 by Elaine.

Helen has 2 girls, both moorit mouflons, and it is only logical that they are called Magnolia and Elizabeth…what an honor to the beautiful tree now blooming and what a tribute she wiil be to them every year to come.  Helen, the dear girl, was just waiting for a quiet time this afternnoon, and some privacy no doubt, to bring these daughters into the world. No help needed from me.  All that was left to me was to make a cozy pen with deep dry bedding, some lush hay and a cool drink for mom.

The babes are tucked in for the night, no one else is due for a few days, but I had to check anyway…and turn off the fans that cooled everyone this afternoon.  A few flashes of lightening in the distance,just a bit brighter than the stars still shining overhead.   Goa, one of our original Icelandic sheepdogs, is pacing..oh how she fears these thunder storms.  The Barred owls are inquiring ,”who cooks for you, who cooks for you all”, their perennial question.  Goa is in a quandary, does she hide from the thunder, or go out to bark at the owls.  Owls are the dogs nocturnal nemesis, and tonight demand more attention than the thunder.

We could use some rain…the woods are tinder dry.  I rototilled the garden this evening, and even it looks dry…when only a week ago it was muddy.  Over 80 degrees again today…and frost is forecast for Saturday night. New England weather in the Spring, undeniably unpredictable.

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May 10, 2007 by Elaine.

Too hot for sheep…they are ready for the shearer, complaining now that it is over 70. Too hot for shepherds, now that it was over 80. But, not too hot for Elizabeth, our most spectacular magnolia. She must be nearly 30 feet tall and covered in pale yellow  flower goblets of light lemon scent.  Too beautiful for words…a true delight to the eyes and nose.

Speaking of eyes and nose and delights… the dreaded blackflies are back!  taking their delight in our eyes and noses and ears.  Vicious little monsters, they. But, as I am reminded by David every year. they are not out there at night feasting on our bodily offerings.  That feast is left to the mosquitos. These blessedly cool nights have discouraged those summer visitors  from joining us on our nightwalks to check the sheep.

Helen is on deck for lambing..and has been for a couple days.  She is tired of me checking on her, raising her pretty head with that “please, just let me sleep, I’ll get to it when I am good and ready” look this early morning.  Me, I’m ready, can’t wait to see those lambs..she always has pretty lambs.

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May 9, 2007 by Elaine.

Shepherds are a curious lot. I have been pondering lately how great the difference between being a sheep breeder and being a shepherd. It’s all about the heart. I spent Sunday with a shepherd. It was a day of life and death, of hope and heartbreak. The loss of a dear animal and her lambs, the loss of that shepherd’s dearest animal friend. They each knew the other’s heart, their secrets, their joys and sorrows. There was trust and love.
Shepherding,,,tending, guiding, guarding, watching over, caring for, keeping safe from harm. We watch over, we guard, we tend to the creatures we love, yet those hard lessons of life, the death,the pain, the sorrow are there, on the edge, intruding even when we are being our most vigilant. How fortunate we are that those special joys are there…those truly blissful lambs, leaping and dancing, the mothers who come to lean against you, looking for a bit of corn, a scratch behind the ear, a kind word and who give a nuzzle after a difficult birth, who are grateful for the care and tending and watching over, who love and trust, who are the shepherd’s sheep, the shepherd’s joy.

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May 5, 2007 by Elaine.

Stella has a new fella…finally after wandering around, and up and down, up and down, eating and chewing and pondering the situation, Stella went into labor.  David had been watching and reporting the “no progress reports” to me at work.  Me, I was just trying to concentrate on folk’s emergencies, and not announce …”Stella is going to have he lamb..and I need to be home.. could we hurry up here a little?!”  She decided not to wait for me after all, but presented her posterior to David..”a little help here, please”  And, there was the little back foot, just one little back foot showing. So, with teamwork and a bit of rearranging, Stella’s ram made his debut.  A spotted black grey handsome ram.  Just ask her, she’ll tell you how great he is, in her big Stella voice.

Finally home, and right into the barn to see him…another pair of shoes will need scrubbing now. A Stella greeting…”isn’t he fine, and , did you bring a little corn? ” I love this girl.

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May 4, 2007 by Elaine.

Waiting for Stella.  It is day 145, she was due 2 days ago. Not that it really means much to Stella…she takes her time about everything, except for rushing  to the front of the line if corn is involved.  Stella is showing her age, moves slower, her joints are creaky when she gets up, one eye is cloudy…sounds like me and friends i know.  But here we are, me anxious, she patient. No flashlight needed last night, the moon was as full as can be, the lady in the moon picture perfect, in a clear starlit sky.  All the moms and lambs were out, each family snuggled together. The lambs must have been tired after running up and down the hill in the “lamboree” races of the evening.  Each trying to leap higher and run faster…fancy dance steps with high kicks and turns.

But, here it is, nearly 7 in the morning… I have to go to work…and I am waiting for Stella.  I planned this time off, thinking  she would have lambed and I could go to work for a couple shifts, not worrying or wondering if all is okay with the old girl.  Stella had come in to the barn, looked around and went back out…just checking to see if I’ve left yet no doubt. She is a pistol, that old lady,  Off to work…be good Stella.

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April 28, 2007 by Elaine.

It is quiet, except for a few brave and hopeful peepers at the pond’s edge.  The air is soft after the rain, a fog has rolled down the hill into the valley, leaving a wisp behind here and there.  The sounds and smell of spring… it is good. The moon is high over mother Maple, and the clouds have parted for a while.  The sheep are thoughtful, ruminating, their lambs fed and tucked in for the night.  Our beloved Juniemoon has her babe nestled on her back, Annie has a brand new baby girl she is getting to know and Stella is nesting out on the back hillside paddock…waiting.  No one is laboring.  They know the routine now and don’t feel the need to get up as I pass by with a flashlight.  My own nest here in the grain room is cozy and warm, my favorite music of David Darling’s Eight String Religion, soothing my mind.  It is in these quiet peaceful nights of lambs that I miss my shepherd friends the most…Jimmie and now Stef.  How they loved lambing, the joy they felt overflowed into the lives of so many. Of all the wonders these sheep have brought to my life, it is the people I treasure the most.

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April 24, 2007 by Elaine.

The lambs are coming, at last…and the spots are everywhere.  Moorit spotted, black grey spotted, black mouflon spotted, black spotted. So much fun, especially after the avalanche of white lambs last season.

It was over 80 degrees here yesterday, everyone was stunned: the sheep,the dogs, and most of all, the humans…wading through the day in slow motion, as if the air were honey.  The daffodils opened all at once, heads held high and mouths open in a chorus of “oh what a beautiful morning”.

Pruning to be done in the orchard today.  The grapevines are tangled on the trellis and need a good hacking back to prepare for the surge of new growth next month.  There are herds of robins, pulling half drowned worms from the tractor tire ruts in the field, where rain water is still seeking a way back to from whence it came. No hope of tilling the garden yet. Yesterday, several sleepy garter snakes ventured out into the sun, blinking in surprise at the sudden heat.  I pray that the Blackflies succumbed to the rapid change in the weather, but they are most likely gathering forces  for a coordinated attack on any eyes and ears in their path. Every year I hope that they fail to appear..is there a good reason for Blackflies?

Off to check the ewes…it is like Christmas!

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April 20, 2007 by Elaine.

Thursday dawned bright and sunny, a glorious day. Winter made a grand leap into Spring.  You could hear the daffodils cheering each other on. Coffee, hang out the laundry, halleluia, and on to the task of the day…cleaning out the winter’s worth of manure in the barn.  New lambs due any time. 

Everyone out of the barn…a perfect day, and no blackflies ,,yet. Slogging back and forth on tractor, the  field soon full of  muddy ruts trying to swallow the tractor tires whole. By evening, the barn was empty of equipment and half the floor was bare and dry. An early to bed : early to rise night

In my usual 3:30 insomniac state I stepped out into a calm night , the sky brilliant with stars, to make the first lamb check of the season..Felicity was due in 2 days and she like to go two days early. And, true to form, there she was! mom and twins, a white and a black, washed and fed.  All is well in the world here tonight.

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