Monday, March 4, 2013

Mundane and Miraculous





It was a wonderful week full of renewal. In the space of just a few days my little flock of sheep all lambed and Annie, the goat, had her baby. They were all doing so well together I decided to turn Annie and ‘Sugars’ out when Sug was just a day old. All the animals were enjoying going out to the pasture and wandering around looking for weeds, while the Maremmas watched over them. There have been a couple of nice days in between storms. This particular day there was intermittent wind and hail but the animals could access their normal pasture with its protective shelter if they needed to, so I didn’t worry.


Bruno helping midwife Thing1&Thing2



Salty's ramlet



Rosemary and Thyme


Sugars and Bruno

I neglected to remember the different habits of sheep and goats, however.
Ewes tend to keep their babies very close. If the lamb cannot keep up, the ewe remains back with it. Cows will usually find a babysitter cow and leave their calves with her. Goats...well, goats tend to hide their kids somewhere and then take off for the day. Annie was bred very young and it was a concern for me how she would do having her baby and what kind of mother she would be. The wind was blowing terribly and hail was coming down and actually hurt as I wandered down to check on everyone, finding all the sheep and lambs together with Annie. Just Annie. No Sugars. She could have hidden her ANYWHERE! She didn’t seem the least bit concerned, although of course, I was. It’s just my nature.

I trekked thru the weeds...LOTS of thistle, downed trees, branches, all to no avail, while Annie followed me! I was worried she had forgotten all about her kid. The sheep fell in behind me and everyone went to their night pasture. I checked around in there, in each tire that sits around a sprinkler. In all the trees and brush piles. Every depression that Cletapotamus has dug. No goat baby. It was getting cold and dark. I was worried she was out somewhere in the pasture alone where she would starve or freeze. At least predators would not be a likely demise with the Maremmas around. The cold made my back spasm and ache. I desperately needed to sit down somewhere. There is a large plastic 2 step mounting block I have out there for just such a purpose. I settle down on it, praying about this poor little goat and appalled that Annie would leave her. Annie stood by me, sniffing me and nibbling on my clothing.



 I turned away from her and reached down to pull some leaves that were sticking out of the hole. That is a cut out in the back of the step for storing hoof picks, brushes....














...and apparently baby goats. Sugar was inside, snug and dry. She was, however, unable to get back out. There wasn’t enough room for her to get turned around. She began to cry and Annie got hysterical as she would not come out, so I lifted the block up onto a feeder where I could better reach her. Grabbing ahold of her back legs I struggled with her as she was now in a full blown panic, sure I was going to pull her out and eat her. After a few traumatic moments I extricated her. Trust me, it was easier to pull her out of Annie’s caboose then out of that mounting block.



The last ewe to lamb was my psycho ewe. She went into labor in the morning and I observed her out in the pasture. She wasn't making any progress at all. Hours later I decided something had to be wrong so I spent 2 hours trying to get her and her bad attitude into the lambing shed. I left for 20 minutes to see if she would settle down, relax and have her baby but she was clearly struggling. As she is very difficult to catch and hold, I grabbed my gloves, lube and other birthing tools and headed out to find help. My nephew, the ranch cowboss was breaking horses in the round pen and kindly came to assist. It still took a good long time to deliver her ramlet, as he had his head tipped back above the pelvic rim and one front leg all the way back. To add to that, he had a huge crowned forehead that wouldn't fit through her exit. Once I got his head positioned and was certain all the parts were his and I'd fixed all I could fix, she hollered and every time she pushed, I pulled. Eventually we got her boy into the world.The ewe had been traumatized by hours of discomfort and an agonizing delivery. She was breathless and fearful. I quickly cleaned all the stuff away from the lamb's face and set him in front of her. Everything that had transpired in the past several hours was totally forgotten as she excitedly licked her newborn and welcomed him to the world. I am always amazed at the miracle of life. It is something to behold and I never get tired of witnessing it or being a part of it.




The babies have all been spending time with the Maremmas, who are like their kindly ‘uncles’. They are all perfectly comfortable with them and the pups clearly adore them. They are never but a few feet away. There have been great horned owls hanging around the house lately and Randy has been afraid they might nab one of the lambs. I have seen them pick up a cat, so its not too much of a stretch to think they just might. The dogs have been working hard to try and discourage them from landing in any trees near the stock. Lately, Cletus has had to sleep inside with the sheep while Bruno patrols on his own. All in all, they stay pretty close to home and don’t really like the lambs out of their site unless they are on their ‘visiting hour’ in the house with us. They only agree to that when the stock is safely locked up in bed. Pretty amazing, these dogs.

I had a couple of glorious days where I was feeling strong enough to play with one of my horses. Mister seems to appreciate the attention as he’s had a lonely winter back in the pasture by himself. I can’t turn him out with the cavvy for a couple of reasons.
 #1 They would eat him alive as he is a sissy stall potato horse from California 
#2 He would freeze his caboose off as he is a sissy stall potato from California
#3 He has no social skills and no idea how to interact with a herd because he is a sissy stall potato from California
#4 I like having him in close where I can visit him whenever I want, instead of having to wait until the cowboys bring all the horses in, early, early, obscenely early in the morning to catch their mounts before turning them out again. This way I can ride when I am actually awake. 

I did have a couple of truly horrible days too, where the autoimmune issues just kicked my butt. I cannot stand to let things go undone. On one morning when I was particularly indisposed with pain, I decided there WAS an activity I could manage. The seeds need to be started.

So I managed to gather up my trays, seeds, plastic spoons, tweezers (kept with the garden stuff for just this purpose, uni-brow be d@mned.)
 I soaked the peat pots in the tray before moving. I then set it on a large metal tray and carried it to the ‘craft table’ which is a big plastic table that is in the back of my very small house to do things such as cutting out patterns and sowing seed. The biggest problem I have had in the past has not been getting the seed to germinate, but keeping track of what everything was. So  now I put a sticky dot in front of each row of seeds labeling what it is, the row number and the date. Afterwards, I break part of the end off of plastic spoons and mark it again, placing the spoons INSIDE the cover, so everything is twice marked.



 Once they germinate, they will go into the bathroom window, which is the only garden window I have. From their they will be put in the greenhouse...which at the moment is laying in a heap. I think I can salvage the cover and use cattle panels to rebuild one. Oh, what a woman can’t do with cattle panels, t-posts and baling wire. It has been the substance of all things sheltery in my life.

Anyway, I was able to just sit quietly and use my tweezers to poke seeds into the soil of the little peat pots and set them in their rows. So far there are San Marzano tomatoes, jalapenos, a chocolate colored hot pepper, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. I have others I will do in a day or two. Other than the stiffness in my hands, it was a good activity for me in the current state I was in and it put me in a better frame of mind, dreaming about what will be when these seeds produce fruit. I stared at the little cabbage seeds in wonder. They are blue because they were treated but they are tiny. So tiny. I marveled at how something like these...




can produce this....



and help to sustain our lives. If that isn't a miracle I don't know what is.

That afternoon, the clouds lifted, the sun came back out and my pain levels went from an 8 to a 2 in a matter of minutes, as quickly as it had come on. So strange that the barometric pressure should be able to have such a powerful affect on a body when I have lived with it all my life! At any rate, I was so happy to feel good, yet again, I grabbed Mister, we had a good ride and Randy got a quick pot of spaghetti for dinner. Things are looking up!

Everyday miracles. They are all around us. Go forth and enjoy!

23 comments:

  1. I always find a chuckle or two in each post. finding Sugar in the step really set me to giggling! Little stinker. Those new Mommies are so lucky to have you around for hard births and the Marm Uncles for babysitting. :) Glad to see you got some seed started. DH has his done weeks ago. I am almost afraid they will be HUGE before it is time to take them outdoors. LOL
    Hope you get more good days and the winter storms get fewer. Hugs.. CAROL DEE

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    1. Thanks Carol Dee. Annie came to dinner tonite without Sugar again. I have NO idea where she is this time. Hopefully she will be located by milking time!

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  2. I so miss lambing season. I loved the whole process, but one thing we didn't have which is so cool now is that you can have camera set up to watch them during the night. We use to get up in shifts during the heavy lambing times, every 2 hours someone was going out to check the ewes. We raised Suffolks, but I love the different color and patches of yours. They are so cute. Love when the babies used their mothers backs as a bed.

    We had goats for a time, but found that we couldn't keep them from getting into everything and they can find the smallest of holes in a fence and off they go, for they were truly the animal that thought the grass was greener on the other side. Take care of yourself and hope you are able to keep the pain manageable.

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    1. Thanks ShebaL. It is fun to see what each lamb will look like with these colored ones. I also love not having to shear and tail dock. Goats are definitely harder to live with. I have no argument with the comment that if your fence can't hold water, it can't hold a goat!

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  3. Another wonderful adventurous day. I love all your stories. It is funny that the little one was hiding in the step, you were guided in that direction to help out poor mamma when the little one couldn't get out. Thanks again for the sourdough starter, I got it this past weekend. I will try to make some in a week or so, and I will let you know how it turned out.

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    1. Please do! Just be sure to rehydrate it slowly so the yeast colony isn't overwhelmed. Once it gets bubbly and sourdoughy smelling you can start adding regular amounts like 1/2-1 cup at a time

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  4. One question...in the pic of all the veggies, what is that semi flat white one that is flower shaped?? I have never seen that veggie before.

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    1. That is a variety of the patty pan squash. (We call it flying saucer squash) It's actually a very light green color

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  5. Seed planting is always such a hopeful and forward looking activity :-) I've been getting through the latest bought of snow storms by looking through perennials for a few new ones to add to my garden this year. Having seen pictures of your flower gardens I know you appreciate the food for the soul as well as the veggies from the garden. I certainly look forward to seeing the flowers and vegetables growing again....

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    1. I love to mix them up when I can...hide a veggie somewhere in the flower gardens..I am looking forward to spring for sure!

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  6. Oh my! Those baby goats sure find the durndest places to hide! I always expect to find a cottontail in our mounting block. :)
    It always amazes me too that those tiny seeds grow and produce all that lovely produce, truly a miracle!

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  7. I love, love, love Salty's little ramlets front leg markings. He looks as if he has been tye dyed! I can only imagine your surprise when you looked under and saw that cute little Sugar under your step seat. I am glad you looked and didn't just stick a hand under, feeling fur. I'm glad your boys have plenty of babies to keep them busy. My LGD's are pretty bored right now. Have a blessed day Petey! Staci

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    1. I didn't stick my hand in for a couple of reasons...mostly I recently watched the skunk episode on Duck Dynasty (still makes me laugh) and we had a skunk in the building we live in for over a week, hiding up in the rafters. No one wanted to go after him to get him out! LOL..I am very leery now of sticking my hands in places I cannot see...

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    2. LOL! I love Duck Dynasty! We don't have TV at the house. But if we are ever some other place and it is on. I am glued to the set!

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    3. It's the only show I will watch. I get angry and offended at half of the advertisements on these days. I don't want to KNOW about Bob's E.D. ergh! But Duck Dynasty makes me laugh and is never offensive, although I am sure PETA gets their blood pressure rising.

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  8. petey it's so good to see u happy. the pictures of the baby animals are so beautiful. man has tried to make the mundane ugly since adam and the way they see it, i guess it is. if i could talk to the world i'd say everything is beautiful. u know of course the spanish for world is mundo and in french its monde but my spelling might be wrong. we can make of it what we want. we don't get a lot of time but some kids don't get beyond the ghetto...the real kind and the ones in their minds. we had to turn some calves this year and lots of city kids would say icky...i guess it is kinda...haha. anothr hit blog entry. thanks...d-san

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  9. That is neat d-san. I didn't realize that was what the word meant. Funny isn't it, what some people think is icky is so amazing. Thanks for stopping in and taking time to say 'hi' again. cheers!

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  10. Our lambs are weaners now so I am getting my lamb fix from your little ones :-) I love the socks on Salty's boy too !

    This weekend I am setting up for the winter seeds, spinach, silverbeet, onions, beans and peas. Maybe even chokos :-)

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    1. I ran out of peat pellets. Thank goodness for Amazon! You transplant your peas?

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    2. I tried starting everything in seedling trays this year, and they dried out to fast in the heat. This planting I'm putting all the seeds into the ground as they will stay warmer as the weather cools.

      It's always something with the weather, too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet. I can't imagine trying to live off what I can grow and can only be amazed by the people who did, not so long ago, and do still in other countries.

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    3. Did you put your top on it? They do have to be watered a LOT when in the peat pots, thats for sure. I just pour the water in the bottom and let them soak it up, then pour off the excess. We have a very short season here, so if I don't start this stuff now, we won't have any harvest. I can't plant in the ground until June sometime and it freezes in Sept/Oct. It is amazing. I have a hard time even eating 'seasonal'.!

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  11. I always wonder what secret joke lambs are thinking of...they are always smiling like Mona Lisa....
    I love that top pic.
    Along the lines of what you have said in other posts about seeing small details of life and getting joy from that, even the mundane is full of beauty. I think the Author of life is pleased when we find joy in the smallest details of His world.
    Thanks again for your wonderful blog Petey!
    Kristi

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    1. I think they are just happy to be alive. They are always kicking up their heels! Sushimoo on the other hand, always looks real grumpy...

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