I think the desire was first planted when my family visited friends on a sheep farm on Saltspring Island during the spring when I was in my early teens. We were given a tour of the farm (I even milked a goat, something I was quite proud of) and I loved the simple way they lived. It obviously took hard work, but it was a beautiful life. (While we were visiting, a neighbouring farmer stopped by to complete a trade; I think he exchanged garden produce for a lamb. I'll never forget the sight of this huge man, tall and broad shouldered, gently cradling a tiny lamb in the crook of his arm. He looked at my sister, covered in freckles since she was a little girl, and said, "A girl without freckles is like a night without stars." We all swooned and still quote the line to each other.)
March 1985 - Playing with lambs for a newspaper photographer.L-R Lisa (7), Adam (3), and me (5).
My request to help Henry on Chalk Farm during lambing was accepted last summer so I've waited a long time for this! Most people back home have responded to the idea with envy and a longing to join me. Some people in England have had the same reaction, but most look at me like I'm insane and say things like, "It's really dirty work," or "The lambs are really gooey," or "Are you crazy?"
Lambing can't be that bad... can it?
My reaction to the negative comments is similar to the way I felt when my dad told me I was crazy to want to tan a piece of deer hide during my first hunting trip. My response was: if people have done it for thousands of years, it must be possible, so why not try it? (The tanned deer hide, about two feet by three feet, is now framed and hanging in my parents' house.)
I'll try to get online at some point to upload a few photos, but you'll probably have to wait until the end of April for stories and photos. Stop gasping - you'll survive. Think of all the time you'll save by not having any new blog posts to read!
April 3-8 - working on the farm
April 9-17 - in Poland
April 17-22 - back at the farm to visit friends in the area
4 comments:
have fun, will miss you! i'll think of you when i go visit a sheep ranch over Easter. i know i've said that a few times already, but i'm really excited, too! i'm a little envious you get to really experience it, goo and all.
Apparently it's a good weekend to watch things give birth. I'll be out in Rimbey and hope to see a calving or two.
Hi Amanda,
I started my lambing March 14, with a yearling giving birth to a nice single Suffolk ram lamb. The next four went well, too, albeit that I had to deliver some breeches and other poor presentations. Since then, I've had a couple of "train wrecks" with older ewes without enough milk laying on lambs, a complete uterine prolapse (not as scary as it sounds), and a stillborn delivery 'cause at 5:00 am I miscalculated how long the ewe had been in labour; by the time I intervened, they'd just been in there too long, and stuck! Then I have to dry to dry up the ewe so she doesn't get mastitis. Anyway, two ewes to go, so I'm hoping no more problems. I just love to watch the 2 & 3 week old lambs racing around the pasture; they have so much fun, boinging around on all fours!
Good luck helping with the snipping, dipping and stripping! (Ask Henry)
Margaret Sampson
I'm sorry, but "the lambs are really gooey" is possibly the best line I've ever read! I laughed right out loud.
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