We are still on “calf watch”, I am so tired of staring at the nether end of a very pregnant cow !!! Her due date has come and gone ( twice…since we underestimated the first time, DOH !!) her udder looks ready…we are ready, she is hormonal and anxious….and so am I. Hourly we peer into the calving pen….and hourly she peers back at us. Hourly we nonchalantly wander around her ample bovine butt checking for signs that her long awaited offspring is on the way, a slackening here, a swelling there….oops..is that a show ?……nope…poop !! I have scanned Google, Ask Jeeves and Bing, I know that a late calf is likely a bull calf ( can’t be, it’s already called MoJoAnne after some VERY special people in my life !!!) but I can’t find out when “late” turns into “too late”. Daisy May, our lady in waiting is happily just eating her way through her overtime, accepting all treats and encouraging back scratches tolerant of our overly anxious ministrations and…keeping us waiting.
Life on the farm can’t all revolve around Daisy May however and any thoughts of taking the last few warm sunshine days of our Indian Summer easy were quickly put to rest early yesterday. Whilst busily throwing mammoth poop poop piles around in Quest’s stall, I elected to multi function. Clearly it was an auspicious decision ! The old boys peacefully chomping their way through the pasture were in need of water and as I traversed the barnyard, deep in thought …something happened to catch my eye. Something didn’t seem quite right….and there it was, just sent to spoil my day…a breakout !! We recently acquired a small flock of Soay sheep. Very small, very hairy…and very fast, these little critters have been kept in a pen awaiting blood tests to ensure no earth shattering diseases are lying dormant just waiting to infect our farm. It appears that these quite rare sheep have more than a little Scottish attitude and what caught my eye was a flock of Soay sheep munching their way through the orchard. The farm gate was wide open, the orchard currently unfenced and nothing to stop these speed machines from reaching Australia. Panic….who..me !! Unfortunately for us…fortunately for Bran ( all his Christmas’s came at once) a roundup had suddenly become inevitable. Gates and panels appeared from nowhere, Bran the Border Collie went into action, the sheep ran and jumped, swirled and whirled around the orchard, mowed down what remains in the garden after Doris the Deer’s most recent visit and circled the log pile. It didn’t look good but Greg Carla and I played our trump card…..we got Bran the Border Collie OUT of the chase !! Quietly (we were too exhausted to do anything too exciting) we “persuaded” the errant troop of hairy sheep to re enter their pen and with a frantic Bran straining to be free we returned to a more peaceful occupation…scooping poop !!
Timed out again…looks like rain by the weekend !!
Take care, Keep safe, M
Life on the farm can’t all revolve around Daisy May however and any thoughts of taking the last few warm sunshine days of our Indian Summer easy were quickly put to rest early yesterday. Whilst busily throwing mammoth poop poop piles around in Quest’s stall, I elected to multi function. Clearly it was an auspicious decision ! The old boys peacefully chomping their way through the pasture were in need of water and as I traversed the barnyard, deep in thought …something happened to catch my eye. Something didn’t seem quite right….and there it was, just sent to spoil my day…a breakout !! We recently acquired a small flock of Soay sheep. Very small, very hairy…and very fast, these little critters have been kept in a pen awaiting blood tests to ensure no earth shattering diseases are lying dormant just waiting to infect our farm. It appears that these quite rare sheep have more than a little Scottish attitude and what caught my eye was a flock of Soay sheep munching their way through the orchard. The farm gate was wide open, the orchard currently unfenced and nothing to stop these speed machines from reaching Australia. Panic….who..me !! Unfortunately for us…fortunately for Bran ( all his Christmas’s came at once) a roundup had suddenly become inevitable. Gates and panels appeared from nowhere, Bran the Border Collie went into action, the sheep ran and jumped, swirled and whirled around the orchard, mowed down what remains in the garden after Doris the Deer’s most recent visit and circled the log pile. It didn’t look good but Greg Carla and I played our trump card…..we got Bran the Border Collie OUT of the chase !! Quietly (we were too exhausted to do anything too exciting) we “persuaded” the errant troop of hairy sheep to re enter their pen and with a frantic Bran straining to be free we returned to a more peaceful occupation…scooping poop !!
Timed out again…looks like rain by the weekend !!
Take care, Keep safe, M
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