Sheep Love

Just Bella

Bella and Bill

A couple of days ago, I got home from work to discover Bill missing from his pen. Initially, I got nervous and jumped to some silly conclusions; when I saw that he had somehow made his way into the big pasture with the ewes, I laughed out loud. It was a mystery to me how he could have escaped from his pen. The hog panels that I used to create his outside space are sturdy and too high for him to jump over, and when I inspected his area there were no holes or gaps that he could have wiggled through. I went to bed perplexed.
The following morning, I saw something that I had not seen with the Babydolls before. With the Jacobs, a much larger breed, it was not uncommon to have sheep jump a fence. But, with legs shorter than 24", I never considered that Bill would be able to jump over the barrier that I had built in the barn. But, he did.
As I was opening the doors for the ewes, I heard a clunk and turned to see him standing up on back legs, peering over the wall and into the ewes' pen.  Laughed out loud again.
Then, I walked outside with all girls behind me so I could toss Bill his bundle of hay. Suddenly, a loud thunk and then Bill. He jumped over and joined us, happy as a pig in shit.
Quickly, which is not easy at 6 AM, I tempted him with some grain, lured him back into the barn then into his pen and then found another old barn board and some screws. I ran up to the house for my drill, rigged up another 12" barrier and hoped for the best. Bill was not pleased.
So, I am hoping to only have two ewes lamb out in March. But, after the jumping ram's visit with the other 7 ewes, only time will tell.

Smiling Sheep

Yesterday, I opened up the fence and let some of the sheep wander into my garden to do some end of the season weeding and lawn mowing between the raised beds. They were in heaven. These Babydoll sheep look like they're smiling all the time anyway, but the satiated looks on their faces as they munched away on carrot tops, turnip greens and various other leafy tidbits was priceless. This picture of Bill when he was just a few days old is one of my favorites - his smile is so evident in this shot (but his eyes are not really blue).

It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend here in Maine, and it's a long one with Columbus Day on Monday. Lots to do around the farmette and hoping to get in one last farmers' market tomorrow morning. Planning to also put in all the storm windows and try to move some perennials around, too.
The changing of the seasons always catches me off guard a little - maybe because it happens whether I'm ready or not. Such is life - here at the Salty Ewe and everywhere else, too, I believe.

Letting Go

I have discovered that one of the hardest parts of this sheep business is letting go. Someday, maybe I will see the benefit of all of the practice that I'm getting, and until then I will keep trying to let go with relative grace and ease. Some of the letting go experiences have been harder than others - stillborn lamb was one of the worst, and gifting Tulip and Hendricks to Nate was one of the easiest. Selling my whole flock of Jacobs four years ago to the Done Roving Farm was one of the most intense, probably because the entire flock left together at once. Yet, it was also positive because of the circumstances (an awful dog attack had seriously depleted the family's Jacob flock and left the humans traumatized and deeply hurt). The constant reminders and challenges of letting go make me think Buddhists are on to something. Leaving and letting go. It's easier with sheep than it is with people in my experience so far, but that's another story. Another time.

Lambs Go to Shows

Two lambs from this spring, Tulip and Hendricks, have started to make some appearances at local agricultural fairs, with the recent Ossipee Valley Fair last weekend their first. Their new owner, a fantastic young man who's an active 4-H member, has plans to take them to the Maine State Fair in Bangor and then to several others including one in CT. I am very excited to see how they do and how they are received by other sheep people. Not many people were familiar with the breed, so it's awesome to know that some of my lambs are helping to educate others about this wonderful breed. Will post more as the fairs happen and hopefully we'll get a few more Babydolls in the circuit so they can be shown and judged as a breed.

Bella and Hendricks. March 2010.