A Shepherd's Joy Returns

Sharieka cannot be replaced but look what I found this morning. I've already decided that I don't like her at all!

Sharieka

Being a shepherd brings such joy to my life most of the time. My little shetland ewe lamb, Sharieka, made me laugh from the moment of birth. Her entrance into this world was a tight squeeze requiring me to pull.... hard. As I pulled, she shreiked into my ear. Hence her name, Shareika. As soon as she hit the ground she was on her own. Uncatchable for CDT shots,worming and just plain attention. She ate grain through the fence so I couldn't grab her from behind. She was crafty and good at avoiding me. Last week I noticed a twist to her head a stagger to her gait. Catching her for treatment was a fierce battle of human versus lamb and I was elated when I won round one. Successive treatments were curtailed by Shareika's craftiness. Everything about her that made me laugh was suddenly NOT funny. It wasn't until she fell over and could no longer walk that I captured her and began serious treatment for meningal worm. All the while I treated her,every six hours, her mother stood behind me watching. She stood sentry like over her lamb. But I was losing the battle. Extreme heat added to my worries. This morning Shareik's mother was gone out to pasture. An omen for sure. Mom told me it was time for all of us to give up.Sharieka died shortly afterwards. Every shepherd knows something always happens to you favorite lamb so you try to be impartial or just not acknowledge "specialness". Sometimes being a shepherd loses its joy. For all you folks who think when you get sheep they just stand around and eat grass with little care, think again. It is a labor of love.

East Meets West

Getting together with other Bluefaced Leicester breeders at nationals is ALWAYS fun and educational. As an eastern breeder, I am fascinated with the predator perrils of the west. We have infrequent dog attacks here and sometimes a coyote or bear attack but western breeders face these attacks daily. One the other hand, here in the east summer brings our worst predator....worms. I have begun watching my lambs for this wee beast of the east. Vigilance is the key word for good shepherding here in the land of grassy pastures and humidity. Breeding for worm resistance has been a goal here in Potosi. Adult ewes show good resistance and hopefully the lambs will follow suit. Contrary to what people think, you don't just turn sheep out and let them eat grass all summer. Shepherding is a time consuming labor of love.

Weaning

My least favorite part of lambing.....taking the babies away from moms.

BFL Quilt

I made this quilt for the BFL National show while I was keeping off my leg. The pastel side pictures some of the sires from the UK I've used here at Potosi while the "cheeky American" side pictures the American lambs from these sires. It was a fun project but I discovered there no catagory in which to enter it. Doesn't pay to think out of the box I guess. I might enter it at MD next week if I get the binding on in time.

Molly's Starburst Mirror

I decided Molly needed one of these in her house when I found a pile of old molding in the barn. I had fun making it while I was not suppose to be on the broken leg the doctors didn't think was broken!Hope Molly has a wall in her house for it since all we have on the walls here are sheep paintings and prints!

Almost Finished

Almost finished finding Shetland lambs. anna surprized me with twin rams on Tuesday. she was in the barn with the tiny brown one only when I returned from Lancaster. I was certain there had to be another lamb somewhere. Sure enough, when I entered the empty hay shed a little baa called to me from under the water tank. He's the same color as the straw and hay and much bigger than his brother. His tummy was full but I am not sure how he got there so far from mom. Guess I'll never know. The reunion was funny. Mom spent minutes checking him out for damage. So glad I found him!