Make Hay While the Sun Shines

SUCH a beautiful day yesterday! I went out first thing in the morning and could NOT tear myself away to come back inside. So it was that I managed a dawn to dusk work day.

Scratched off the front raised flower beds … just in time for today’s first daffodil! And dug out the Bully Barn … six tractor loads of bedding. It worked great during the thaw and flood weeks. Now it is freshly covered with a thin layer of good smelling wood chips. I cleaned out the garage – A GARGANTUAN job that one! But oh so satisfying to walk through when it is tidy and spacious. Yes! And … removed the bottom layer of alfalfa hay bales from the hay barn to send off with a friend for his pigs. Then managed to drag my tired bones to the fair meeting. Sure felt like a good day’s work when I finally hit the hay.

I thought I’d be waking up to torrential rains this morning. Bonus – not yet! (Have to admit … my feet, and my legs … and my back, and my arms … were not feeling the love this morning! Ha!) Gave me time to give the paddocks both a good clean through before the rain really does arrive. There are dour warnings north and south of us … Hoping we get the usual reprieve. There is a ‘mini escarpment’ that runs between us and Tamworth to the west. We can watch weather systems on the radar and see the split as they move this way.

The chickens feel cheated today because I wouldn’t let them roam for long at all. I didn’t want them to be caught out in the pouring rain … Well … actually “I” didn’t want to be out in the pouring rain trying to herd them up and ensure their coop would stay dry! 😉

Down at the Tryon’s the action is all in the lambing room. There are now six lambs – four of whom are needing bottle feeding. In the middle picture above you can see the two ram lambs who I’ve been feeding for almost a week now. Yesterday Cari left me a message to alert me to the needs of the latest two ewe lambs. They need some supplementation too. When I enter the lambing room the little rams are right at my knees. Bumping and jostling to find where the ‘magic’ teats appear from. So they get the first round of feeding. I then put them into the next door feed room while I feed the two newest ewes. Hmmm… funny …. the two little ones seem to be nursing just fine from … wait … Nursing just fine from a different mom? Oh well, I try to introduce the bottle to them – but they are just not interested. Using my handy dandy cellphone I text Cari a photo of the other two moms. Asking which one has the little ones needing some help? Just as the text sends off I hear a little ‘mew’ from the back corner. A little face is shakily reaching over her mom’s back to ask for some of that bottle. There they were! Tucked behind and under their mom’s thick coat. Ha! No wonder those other two thought I was bonkers trying to get them to drink from the bottles. Their mom was more interested. In fact that ewe was SO interested that this morning when I was there she got hold of one of the bottles and sucked the nipple right off it! POP! Into her mouth it disappeared! I’ve had to fish things out of the mouths of dogs, cats, donkeys and goats – so I held her head and swished her mouth with my fingers. That is one long jaw! I could hear it squeaking as she chewed on it? Chewed – sharp teeth those sheep! Next thing I knew there was blood all over my hand. Oh crikey! I must have hurt her! Took me a minute to realize it was MY hand that was bleeding. Those sharp teeth! She didn’t bite me. I had jammed my fingers back between the teeth that were working so hard to hold onto that nipple. Not a bad cut – a good deep puncture. I ended up having to give up getting the nipple back. I sure hope she either burps it up and spits it out … or at least chews it up into tiny pieces!

When I got home again the goats were calling for company. I figured I would wait out the beginning of the rain with them in their fort. Everything is ready for the onslaught. Lots of places for creatures to tuck themselves in out of the wind and wet. Creeks are running high along our road … so tomorrow’s heavy rains will add more to that. I think we’ve made it. I can declare it SPRING!