All we like sheep
Thursday:I am watching four errant lambs munch their way through to the front of the fence. They are in the wrong field. I am all alone, and feel some what helpless to know what to do, because they can run so much faster than I. The electric fence is working, but they got out a few days ago when it wasn't on, and have just reappeared. Who knows how many neighbours they have visited in between? I have very mixed feelings about being a sheep farmer. My boots have well-worn marks from putting them on to go chase the silly things from all the places they have broken through. Just because sheep are a fairly quiet animal, doesn't mean that they don't know how to break every rule and do all the things they know they shouldn't.
Following Saturday:
I am feeling a bit better now, because my husband and son worked on the fence. The electric fence now has a short in it, and has been trampled, but the back corner is more secure. It isn't pretty, but at least they will be contained.
Following Tuesday:
It is raining (again). I am watching for sheep, but I guess they are in the barn, out of the rain. One good thing about the rain, is that sheep don't like to be out in it. I don't trust them. Every time I drive away from the house, I whisper a prayer that they sheep will stay out of trouble.
Same day, evening:
Everyone is gone. I am enjoying a little down time of my own. I contemplate putting the rest of the bedding plants in, but am drawn to play at the computer instead. I hear someone calling my name. I get up to check it out, but it stops. So I sit down again. Soon, there's a knock at the door. It's my neigbour lady. My heart drops. She doesn't usually stop by. Although she is very cheery about it, she starts out by saying "Bad news. Your sheep are out in our field. And the neighbour has just spread manure. I don't know how you are going to get them out of there. And, " and she smiles "all the gardens are planted". The message is loud and clear. Groaning, I pull on my boots. I have no idea how I am going to get them back in. There are 25 of them including moms and lambs. First, I route the more obedient ones towards the barn. I close one door. I whisper a 'Thank you Lord'. Then I tramp through the field toward the back. They have found another hole. More likely, they have created another hole. I break through blackberry bushes and barbwire and find them in a group. They stop and stare. They know why I'm there. Much to my relief, they don't run off in the other direction. They head for the hole they created and crash through. Then they thunder all the way across the field, and stop at the closed door, waiting, and talking their compatriots who are already locked in. By the time I get there, they see the place to enter to go to the other door. They know what I am going to make them do and they all run into the doorway. I lock it. And breathe another prayer of relief.
Wednesday:The sheep have been locked in the barn all day. We can't trust them as far as we can throw them. (Believe me, I'd like to throw them). When my husband comes home, he lets them out of the barn, and allows them to be in the yard. The grass is long, and there's plenty to eat. All evening, we play a game of "where are they now". Finally, all of them are in the front where we used to keep them. We decide to put up the gate that we once used. Then,that I will stand guard and watch them carefully, while he goes and helps with homework. I get a magazine and pretend to read, while they pretend to obey the rule of the gate. One by one, the moms come to the gate and feign scratching their backs. I am not fooled. They are really trying to lift the gate, just as they lifted the fencing at the back corner, to get through to grass that is more interesting. The lambs can make it through the gate. They are smaller. I sick the dog on them. She loves to run and chase anything we tell her too. Too bad she doesn't know where to look. She runs in the opposite direction, so I have to get up and show her where they are. Eventually, my husband puts plywood on the gate, thereby removing the temptation. He brings a bucket of water and fills it up so they can have drink. We are exhausted and decide to leave them there for the night. We know where they are. Right outside our bedroom window.
Wednesday night/ Thursday morning:We wake to bleating. It is 2 in the morning. We can only see outlines of sheep. But we know the voice. It is a lamb. Wearily, we get up and go out to see what the deal is. The lamb has its face caught in the fence. My husband frees it. Then we discuss what to do. We look for a flashlight. The best I can come up with is my cell phone. He opens the gate and they thunder down the lawn towards the back yard. Where do they think they are going at 2 in the morning? Nowhere, but they are all going there as fast as they can get there. After they arrive at the fence, and realize they can run no longer, they don't know what to do. So they run around in circles for a bit, until the cell phone light shows them the door to the barn. They rush into the barn. We close the door and go back to bed. I lie awake, composing my Craigslist ad. "Sheep for sale".
Following Saturday:
I am feeling a bit better now, because my husband and son worked on the fence. The electric fence now has a short in it, and has been trampled, but the back corner is more secure. It isn't pretty, but at least they will be contained.
Following Tuesday:
It is raining (again). I am watching for sheep, but I guess they are in the barn, out of the rain. One good thing about the rain, is that sheep don't like to be out in it. I don't trust them. Every time I drive away from the house, I whisper a prayer that they sheep will stay out of trouble.
Same day, evening:
Everyone is gone. I am enjoying a little down time of my own. I contemplate putting the rest of the bedding plants in, but am drawn to play at the computer instead. I hear someone calling my name. I get up to check it out, but it stops. So I sit down again. Soon, there's a knock at the door. It's my neigbour lady. My heart drops. She doesn't usually stop by. Although she is very cheery about it, she starts out by saying "Bad news. Your sheep are out in our field. And the neighbour has just spread manure. I don't know how you are going to get them out of there. And, " and she smiles "all the gardens are planted". The message is loud and clear. Groaning, I pull on my boots. I have no idea how I am going to get them back in. There are 25 of them including moms and lambs. First, I route the more obedient ones towards the barn. I close one door. I whisper a 'Thank you Lord'. Then I tramp through the field toward the back. They have found another hole. More likely, they have created another hole. I break through blackberry bushes and barbwire and find them in a group. They stop and stare. They know why I'm there. Much to my relief, they don't run off in the other direction. They head for the hole they created and crash through. Then they thunder all the way across the field, and stop at the closed door, waiting, and talking their compatriots who are already locked in. By the time I get there, they see the place to enter to go to the other door. They know what I am going to make them do and they all run into the doorway. I lock it. And breathe another prayer of relief.
Wednesday:The sheep have been locked in the barn all day. We can't trust them as far as we can throw them. (Believe me, I'd like to throw them). When my husband comes home, he lets them out of the barn, and allows them to be in the yard. The grass is long, and there's plenty to eat. All evening, we play a game of "where are they now". Finally, all of them are in the front where we used to keep them. We decide to put up the gate that we once used. Then,that I will stand guard and watch them carefully, while he goes and helps with homework. I get a magazine and pretend to read, while they pretend to obey the rule of the gate. One by one, the moms come to the gate and feign scratching their backs. I am not fooled. They are really trying to lift the gate, just as they lifted the fencing at the back corner, to get through to grass that is more interesting. The lambs can make it through the gate. They are smaller. I sick the dog on them. She loves to run and chase anything we tell her too. Too bad she doesn't know where to look. She runs in the opposite direction, so I have to get up and show her where they are. Eventually, my husband puts plywood on the gate, thereby removing the temptation. He brings a bucket of water and fills it up so they can have drink. We are exhausted and decide to leave them there for the night. We know where they are. Right outside our bedroom window.
Wednesday night/ Thursday morning:We wake to bleating. It is 2 in the morning. We can only see outlines of sheep. But we know the voice. It is a lamb. Wearily, we get up and go out to see what the deal is. The lamb has its face caught in the fence. My husband frees it. Then we discuss what to do. We look for a flashlight. The best I can come up with is my cell phone. He opens the gate and they thunder down the lawn towards the back yard. Where do they think they are going at 2 in the morning? Nowhere, but they are all going there as fast as they can get there. After they arrive at the fence, and realize they can run no longer, they don't know what to do. So they run around in circles for a bit, until the cell phone light shows them the door to the barn. They rush into the barn. We close the door and go back to bed. I lie awake, composing my Craigslist ad. "Sheep for sale".
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