Trials and Triumphs

In spite of some pain I have been living with lately, its been a good week. Our fruit trees and the grapevine I ordered arrived and  Randyman got them planted. I am really looking forward to the garden this year. I got the trees roped off so the pups cannot break them off at the base, like the LAST tree I had. In addition to that, the boss got us a phone that works here on the ranch, that we can actually hear on, not that I want a lot of phone calls. It’s been wonderful not having my day interrupted constantly. It’s just for doctors, emergencies, and family.

I was able to download 30 free books on kindle, which made a difficult night go faster. I woke up ready to face the day, when I saw Randyman walk into the bedroom. I could tell by his face something was terribly wrong.

My stomach lurched as he told me that Rosemary’s mama was dead. He found her laying in the alleyway, looking like she might have bloated. She was fine at dinnertime, in fact, the boss’ wife and I were admiring the sheep and how great they all looked. It was a real shock. It was Stewie’s dam I have been concerned about about, what with the difficult birth and all, not Rosemary’s. She’d had no problems and had lambed almost a month ago.

I had to gather my thoughts and process it. I was grateful I had not lost EmmaLouMoo, or one of the dogs. I am very sorry to have lost this good ewe, but there is always a reason, even if we do not see it. The only way to deal with this kind of heartache is to trust my own Shepherd. He’s walked me through far more difficult places than this, so I know I can trust Him completely. As soon as I wrapped my mind back around this fact, I had my light in the darkness.

At least Rosemary, the little ewe lamb, will become easy to handle after being bottle fed and she did get an excellent beginning to life as she had a very good mama for her first three weeks.

I have to think something in the hay was suspect, as EmmaLou was also sick this week. The other sheep are all fine though, so I cannot be certain of it. Whatever it was, it was very sudden. She was fine in the evening, and gone by morning. Having animals is a great privilege and a joy, but can sometimes be heartbreaking.

Being dam-raised for nearly a month, Rosemary is not terribly social. I spent some time in the morning trying to catch her, but decided not to cause her more stress than she was already going through. Later in the afternoon I saw her napping and was able to stealthily enter the pen and snatch her by a hind leg as she tried to escape. I lifted her into my arms and huffing and puffing, managed to get her through 2 gates and the several hundred feet to the house. My hands, wrists and legs hurt tremendously as there was nowhere to stop and rest and she is incredibly heavy for a month old lamb. I couldn’t put her down anywhere as she would not let me catch her again. The pups followed us in the house, checked her over, then laid down to nap, while I tried to fill a little tub with hot water to put a bottle in. I had made the bottle earlier in the day with fresh milk from EmmaLouMoo and just needed to bring it back up to 100 degrees. Trying to do all this, with my hands hurting and a   solid chunk of a lamb in my arms was exceedingly difficult. Randyman showed up for lunch JUST in time. He helped keep her quiet while I got the bottle in her mouth. She fought a little bit, but after not too very long, she began to suck and she drank all that I was willing to give her.

Randyman carried her BACK to the sheep pen to be with her friends. He says his back hurts and estimates she already weighs about 45 pounds. She is HUGE for a month old ewe. My bummers didn’t weigh that for several months. I hope we can keep her thriving, without her mother here to feed her. I found an old shepherds hook up in the shop, so I can catch her again without too much work and get some more milk down her. Hopefully the change won’t upset her stomach too much.

Feed time came and I gave the sheep their hay. Rosemary tucked herself in behind the feeder to nibble on alfalfa leaves and I was able to snag her hind leg with my hand and drag her out. My friend “D” showed up and helped steady her while she made quick work of a bottle.

This morning Randyman and I herded all the sheep into a little room and re vaccinated all of them to insure none of them die from clostridium, which may or may not be what killed MamaC. She was boostered in December and should have been ok, but there is no telling if she had been vaccinated before I got her so one shot might not have been sufficient. Better to be safe than sorry. I also gave some anti biotics to Madge and infused her in case of any infection from the difficult birth, where I had to intervene.

I captured Rosemary and once she started on her bottle I was able to set her down and allow her to stand. That is a big improvement from last nite. I hope to give her 4 bottles a day, as close to 32 ounces as I can, as I only have a 10 oz bottle that fits the nipple. So a light feed in the afternoon and a full bottle before bedtime should do her ok.

Rosemary has begun hanging out with little Stewie, who is more than willing to accept her company. 

Still, I would like her to buddy up to the dogs more, as Stewie can't protect her if she gets in trouble and she has no Mama to look out for her now. I reconfigured the sheep pen so I could contain the Maremmas in there. They are almost 2 now and since all the stock is pretty much contained this time of year, I would like them to become more closely bonded to my sheep. My intention is that they will follow them around during the day while they are grazing and not be so concerned about watching every pasture. At night they will be free to patrol their boundaries. They have been spending way too much time at the back door, so its time to put them to work guarding full time, as they are mature and experienced enough now, for all I can tell. They aren’t thrilled about it, but such is life.

“D” came over at noon to help capture Rosemary for her #2 feeding. She had the bottle as I wanted to get a picture of Rosemary so I can compare and make sure she doesn’t lose condition over the next few weeks. We decided to see if she would come to the bottle...and she did. Her suction was so great, “D” was able to drag her all the way to a nice sitting-on stump without losing her.

So far, so good.

I expect in another day or two, she will run to me for her bottles and get over grieving the loss of her mother. I hope I will too. Life is still good.

Joy Comes in the Morning

 

Just as the most incredible and amazing Resurrection follows what I consider to be the most horrible day of the year actually the most awful day in history, Good Friday, today sorrow lent itself to comfort, if not joy.

Recently, my lambs and animals have been for me, an illustration of the things the Lord has said. They have become pictures that help bridge the gap between here and eternity. Tender and heart-gripping pictures of the way He cares, in the interaction between the lambs and myself, as well as between the pups and the lambs.

Today was a more difficult lesson.

I woke up this morning and dragged myself out to the corrals to feed leppies and lambs, but only 4 lambs came to me. Normy was missing. After the others had their fill of milk, I went to look for him. He was lying in their shelter, inside of the little kennel they like to sleep in. I knew something was very wrong, as Normy has always been the most active and the most hungry of the 5, in spite of his chronic sniffles and smaller size. I reached in to lift him out. His little body was very cold and he moaned. I knew it was too late for him, no matter what was wrong, so I took him into the milking shed and held him, trying to make him as warm and comfortable as I could. He nestled into my arms and moaned again. It was not many minutes before he was ‘gone’.

I laid him on one of the pups’ pillows in the shed and went about feeding the rest of the animals and completing my chores. The pups were already out on patrol. By the time I had finished milking, Cletus showed up. I took him to Normy and he looked him over. A week ago, I had banded two of the lambs’ tails and they were quite upset, both pups were clearly distressed and spent a great deal of time tending to them and trying to comfort them. This time Cletus seemed to accept that Normy was gone and without further ministration, he turned and went out to the other lambs. Bruno showed up and did the same, licking Normy a time or two, trying to rouse him, then quietly leaving and joining the remaining four.

I carried Normy to the porch and laid his little body down, until such time as Randyman could decide how to dispose of him.

As I thought about how very animated the dogs were when the lambs were in distress, I marveled at how quiet and dignified they accepted one’s death. They seemed to take it all in stride.

It is my own opinion, but I believe the animals, or at least most of them, possess a wisdom we lack. They rarely wallow in self-pity, or live their lives pining for more than they already have. They simply go about their purpose with as much satisfaction, or joy, as they can take from this life.

It says not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father’s will. (Matt 10:29)

 It also says our days were written for us, before there even was one. (Ps 139:16)

The same surely holds true for one little lamb, and for us.

Everything living will someday die. Death is not something we welcome with great anticipation. Losing Normy leads me to the conclusion that we either trust Him with everything, both good and bad, or cannot trust Him at all. Trusting Him with Normy is a small comparison to trusting Him with my own life and death, but it is the most logical decision to me.

He was willing to sacrifice His life to restore relationship with me, so why should I not trust Him with all of mine? I know He can bring goodness out of tragedy, and beauty from ashes. He did it on “Easter”; I’ve seen Him do it in my own life as well.

Normy, if your short little life served no other purpose, you brought me a step closer to understanding my faith and my God and gave me tools and strength for the future. Thank you.

…Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Ps 30:5)