Chaos

The last couple of months have been a complete blur. We now have a 2 month old Junior Farmer at our house who keeps us pretty busy. Meanwhile in the barn we are having a lambsplosion right now so that in itself is crazy.

Having a baby with a dog is consistently interesting. The other day while the baby was laying on the floor in his play mat the dog thought that it would be a good time to teach the baby how to play fetch. He brought his toy over to the baby and put it down beside the baby's head. Then he sat back and stared at the Junior Farmer trying to get him to throw it! You can imagine how this went and with some gentle nudging the dog in turn persuaded me to throw it on the baby's behalf. He later attempted the same thing with a lamb that we had in the house... sadly with the same results.

Having a baby during lambing is also consistently interesting. Gone are the days of running out to the barn 'quick' to check on everything. Now to go out to the barn I have to bundle up Junior in his winter gear, put him in his stroller (which he screams about), and then trek off to the barn.  Then when I get to the barn I have to try and take care of lambs while keeping an eye on the baby. Which is a lot easier said than done... On top of all of this some of the lambs have had to be brought into the house to be bottle fed and warm up. The problem with this is that we keep them in a large box and eventually the lambs discover that they can escape.

Today for example, when Junior and I got home today and I opened the door, both the dog and a lamb ran out to greet me! I have to admit that I was a little surprised to see the lamb run out the door, so when the Farmer got home, I told him it was time the lamb go back out to the barn. When the lambs can escape the box, they are well enough to go to the barn!

All in all learning to juggle everything has been an interesting experience over the last 2 months but I wouldn't trade it for anything! The Farmer and Junior and I are getting along nicely and we can't wait for spring!

Waiting

Well the Farmer and I are still anxiously awaiting our new arrival. I am about a week overdue at this point and becoming very impatient. The other day however I was out checking the barn, and couldn't help but notice some of the similarities between the pregnant ewes and myself.

It takes the ewes who are about to have lambs a great deal of effort to rise from their resting positions on the ground. You can tell that they are debating even getting up at all; whether the effort of getting up is worth whatever it is that they must get up for. They sort of pick themselves up, but it is with a considerable amount of lumbering and struggle that this is done. Once on their feet, they waddle toward the feeder in a burdensome manner as if they weigh about a million pounds, and then they plop down and don't move until necessary. Some don't even bother to stand at the feeder, they just lay down and stick their head out and lick the feed up. 

Much like the ewes everything about any movement that I make seems to be a gigantic effort of monstrous proportions. Even just rolling over in bed at 41 weeks pregnant seems like a climb to the top of Everest. I never thought that I would be able to relate so much to a sheep in my life, yet here I am comparing my struggles as a pregnant woman to that of a 5 month pregnant ewe.

I suppose it should come as no surprise that there are similarities considering we are both mammals but I still find it funny how nature works. So here I sit, still waiting for our baby to come, just like the ewes in the barn await their babies. All is quiet in both the barn and the house... for now. 

Too Long!

It seems that it has been an extremely busy summer. I have neglected my writing for several months now :s   To be fair however, The Farmer and I found out in March that we were expecting a little farmer to join our family and so I have been busily preparing for this little ones arrival.

The Farmer has also been quite busy trying to get things ready in the barn. Seeing as I am not of much help to him these days he has more to do to get things prepared for the lambs that will be arriving in November just ahead of our own Jr Farmer.

In fact just the other morning the Farmer came into the house and stated 'guess what I found in the barn'. Concerned I cautiously asked what? 'A lamb,' he proclaimed. Now this is all fine and dandy except that we were not expecting this ewe to have a lamb until at least December.. he is two months early in case you were wondering. When I asked how this could have happened, the Farmer gave me a look that only he can; one that says 'come on do I really have to explain this to you', and then he patiently replied 'clearly the ram had some fun earlier than we thought'. And that was that.

So now the Farmer has to be on the look out for new lambs everyday in the barn. Seeing as at this point he is a little unsure of when the rest of them will arrive. And so we wait for them to enter this world, just as we patiently wait for our own little one to arrive. My only hope is that the ewes will be done lambing by the time our Jr. Farmer decides to arrive, or else it could be a very interesting next month and a half. For now however things are quiet, and the Farmer and I and the dog continue to await the inevitable arrival of the animals and our baby!

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Well, lambing is in full swing and so far we have had a total of 42; 28 of which are still living. Unfortunately in lambing there are usually deaths associated. Whether it is lambs that are still born, or some that freeze in the cold conditions, mothers who just have to many lambs to handle and therefore some pass, it is always sad to see. We try our best however to save as many as we can, which means (more often than not), bringing lambs into my living room so that they can warm up by the fire and be bottle fed.

Thus far, I have had 6 lambs that have taken up residence in my living room. 2 of them sadly, were underdeveloped and died shortly after being brought in, 3 of them have gone back out to the barn and are feeding off of a nipple bucket, which leave just one left in the house at this point... Nathan. We are treating Nathan for a respiratory infection and will be for the next couple of days. Luckily Nate is getting more and more energy by the day and now is quite content to jump out of his box and hop around the kitchen like he owns the place.

There is more lambs to come, roughly 25 more ewes to go, and that means that the next week or so will continue to be an organized chaos within this house hold. The dog is finding it difficult to handle the unwanted guests and lack of attention that he is getting, but soon enough lambing will be over and I will finally get my house back... for now.

And So it Begins

A few days ago the farmer brought a lamb into the house. He was the first in the many that we expected to be coming in the next week or so. Unfortunately he was a triplet but the other two lambs had passed away before we were able to save them. So the farmer brought this one in to give him a fighting chance as he was quite small. Kevin (the name of our new lamb), was quite content to sit by the fire and drink milk at his leisure. Today however, the farmer brought in two more lambs before he went to work, leaving me to care for them. Kevin was not pleased to be sharing his box or place by the fire, with Barbra and Clive (the two new lambs). But even more displeased was the dog, who was begging for attention as most of mine had gone toward tending to the lambs.

The dog just wanted to play with the new lambs, bringing them toys and licking their face; but they did not seem to keen on this, and in all honesty could hardly stand let alone play with a dog that weighs about 100 lbs more then they do. I myself am trying to stay on top of feeding 3 lambs who seem to be hungry all at the same time and therefore have little time to play with the dog.

Lambing is quite a busy time; trudging out to the barn a few times a day to see if everyone is okay, and if there are any more lambs that need to be looked after. It's busy work and there always seems to be something to do, but it is even more busy when you have several lambs taking up residence in your living room. So far none are able to escape the confines of their box, but I know all too well that it will come soon enough. At that point they are about ready to go back to the barn, where they have plenty of room to hop and play.

The farmer and I expect quite a few more lambs to come in the next week or two, but for now, I'm quite content with just the three in front of the fire. The dog it seems will have to get used to having house guests for at least a little while longer, but he seems to be agreeable.... for now.

Twas 6 Hours Before New Years

It was New Years Eve, the farmer and I were having some friends over to celebrate another year gone by and so we were both quite busy preparing for it. The farmer had gone out to feed the animals and make sure all were settled in for the night while I was in the house preparing food and doing some last minute tidying up. The farmer had taken the dog with him so that I wouldn't have someone staring at me and drooling all over my freshly mopped floor before our guests arrived.

Fast forward an hour later and the farmer was done in the barn, while I was upstairs getting ready. I heard him come in and go into the washroom to take a shower. When I came downstairs I expected to be greeted by the dog... yet he was no where to be found. No worry I thought, the farmer must have left him outside to run around for a bit. I asked the farmer if he had left the dog outside and to my horror he stated that he thought the dog was inside with me.

You see often times the dog will go out to do chores with the farmer but run back up to the house and be let in, usually because he is hungry and I am preparing food. The farmer said that they had been up in the hay loft, and the dog had gone right by him and bolted outside so the farmer thought that he had come to the house. I instantly went outside, hoping to see the dog, but he wasn't there. I started calling him, hoping that he had just been playing in the yard and would immediately come to the sound of my voice as he usually did. He did not however, and this concerned me.

The farmer got out of the shower at this point and informed me that the dog had likely just run down the road to the senior farmer's house and so he would start his search there. I watched as he left hoping that he was right, it was getting colder and windier outside and the thought of the dog out there made me shiver. I saw the farmer's truck come back down the side road and turn toward the south (the opposite direction of the house). Not good.

I put on my boots and warm clothes and went out side calling the dogs name and listening for any sign of where he might be, but nothing came. the farmer had gone up and down our road at this point and was back home, he went inside and changed into some warmer clothes and headed out into the field flashlight in hand looking for the dog in the deep crick that was in that field. I thought at this point it was hopeless.

Now in the next couple of minutes a few things happened.
First, one of our guests arrived for the party, since we had been searching for the dog I had completely lost track of time and just then remembered that we were having people over and most of them would be arriving any minute.
Next, I heard the dog barking. In all honesty at first when I heard him barking I thought I was going crazy, upset at the fact that we had lost him. But the barking was so close and I knew that I couldn't be going crazy because the farmer had heard it too and began making his way back across the field. I opened the barn and ran up to the hay loft with my flashlight and called the dog. He came running over, tail wagging and then bolted downstairs to greet our visitors.

It seems the farmer had locked the dog upstairs with no way of getting out and the only reason that we found him was because of our visitors. When we had called him earlier he didn't make a sound and yet here he was barking his head off at the arrival of a vehicle he didn't recognize. The dog was eager to get inside as he hadn't eaten yet, and I was relieved to see that he was alive and had not in fact gone all that far.

The rest of the night was spent in good company with lots of laughs and the dog sat near my feet for the better part of the night... unless someone else had food of course. We rang in the new year with my little dinosaur home safe and sound, and all was quiet... for now.

Winter Is Coming

When Autumn comes around it seems like all hell breaks loose on the farm. Currently the farmer and I are awaiting the arrival of about 50 or so lambs, the farmer is also busy in the fields and working late nights, further more, to top it all off the farmer has wood to cut and a water line to finish for the barn. All of this must be done before winter or else there will be some troubles.

The Lambs...
Waiting for lambs to be born is a constant stress on ones nerves. Everyday when I go out to the barn I expect to see a few lambs or even a ewe giving birth, this has yet to happen. We have only 2 lambs so far, twins, that were born early while the farmer and I were out of town. The rest should have followed about a week later, but yet here we are nearly 6 weeks later and still the twins are the only 2 out there. The farmer of course has become impatient and has therefore thrown a ram in with the ewes to see if that will help the situation, or at least insure that everyone is pregnant for the January lambing.

The Water Line...
The farmer and the senior farmer, aka his dad, decided that they needed to dig in a water line to the barn before winter comes. Now, I was most excited about this because all summer I have had to drag 4 hoses out to the barn from the house in order to water the animals everyday. This new water line would mean that they could have fresh water all winter without it freezing, as the farmers were going to bury the pipe very deep into the ground. As they were digging I reminded them that the recently buried internet cable was right in the path that they were going. Just as I had said, 'Don't cut the internet cable' and went inside, 10 minutes later they came in to inform me that they had indeed cut the internet cable. Fortunately, my stepfather works for Bell and therefore was able to come out and fix the cable right away, but I still had to chuckle at the timing of it all.

The Fire Wood...
The farmer has most of the wood cut for the winter to keep us warm, but there is a foreboding pile still left in the barn yard. These logs had been cut down by the farmer in the summer, and he had brought them home in order to cut them into smaller pieces and split them for the winter. As he was cutting the trees down however he neglected to be cautious of the vines that were climbing all over the trees. As you can imagine he was in quite the discomfort when he realized it was poison ivy and the itchy red rash began sprouting up all over his body. This is honestly the worst case of poison ivy I have seen. The farmer was covered head to toe in the stuff and it seemed to keep coming for weeks. It seemed like no amount of benadryl, calamine lotion, or oatmeal treatments could soothe his itchy skin. Finally after about a month and a half the rash cleared up but the farmer has still not touched the logs sitting in the barn yard since they are covered in, now dead, poison ivy vines.

It has been quite an eventful few months living with the farmer but it seems that we are almost prepared for winter at this point. Time will tell how the winter months will transpire, but living with the farmer I know that there is likely to be something to write about!

Sylvester

It seems that when it comes to caring for animals I always happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Farmer and I recently acquired a kitten, we named him Sylvester. He didn't even have his eyes open yet so we gathered that he was only a few days old, but his mother had abandoned him in the barn and so we brought him home. The Farmer taught me how to feed him using a syringe and to make him go to the bathroom (I was unaware that they couldn't go on their own so this came as a bit of a shock to me).

Sylvester was doing quite well in his little box surrounded by towels and all cozy and warm. The dog however did not know what to make of Sylvester and therefore would sniff him and lick him every time he got the chance. It seemed that Sylvester was going to grow and be a house cat and a friend for our every growing dog. But then one day I went to grab Sylvester to feed him and as I picked him up I found that his little body was lifeless.

I called the Farmer to let him know the bad news and he immediately started calling me the Cat Killer. I asked him what he wanted me to do with Sylvester and the Farmer informed me that I should build a wooden cross that said RIP SYLVESTER and bury him by the field in the back. Now you have to understand that the Farmer was joking about this but much to his dismay I did exactly what he asked. The dog and I took Sylvester in a shoe box to the back field, dug a hole, said a few words, and buried the little kitten.

Later that night the Farmer pointed out to me that I always happened to be the one around when animals passed away. I noted to him that of all the times I had been around it had never been my fault that the animals had died. This did not seem to lighten his spirits and as such he told me that I maybe should not be left alone with the animals. I'll be honest I did not object to this as I did feel a bit of guilt over the last few animals I had had in my care. We shall see how long this lasts though as I expect sooner or later there will be another animal I will be in charge of, but until then I think I will let the farmer handle things.

A Farmer in his Natural Habitat

I've decided that the farmer is a very curious creature. He gets up at the crack of dawn to tend to the animals, or sow seed. He comes home late at night, after making sure that all the creatures are fed and taken care of. He works hard all day, in the hot sun or the blistering cold. Farmers know or know of, every other farmer for concessions around, and they know who owned the farm before. They give you directions by telling you to go past so and so's field, or what's-his-name's feedlot. Farmer's go on crop tours, to see how everyone else's fields are doing.

I have seen my husband, the farmer, take a newborn lamb and nurse it back to health. I have seen him upset, ticked off and frustrated because he couldn't save an animal. I have seen him so tired that he can barely keep his eyes open and yet he somehow musters the energy to go and check on the flock.

Farmers can change tires, plow fields, get kicked by cows, get spit on and pooped on, and yet still have a gentle touch when it comes to a wounded animal. They grow food, they give up time with their family so that others can spend supper with theirs, and they get little to no thanks for it.

It seems to me that farmers are capable of almost anything. They are kind, strong and caring, they take pride in what they do, and they do it because they love it. Farmers do what they do because they love it. They love being in nature, they love the animals that they care for, and they grew up knowing that all they ever wanted to be was a farmer. They are indeed very curious creatures, and yet I happen to be married to one, so I suppose that makes me a bit of a curious creature myself.

Puppy Mischief

I've come to realize something about having a lamb in my living room.. it's a pain in the butt! The issue is not so much the lamb itself but rather where she has inhabited... the dog's crate. This becomes a problem because the dog now has free reign over the living room and the kitchen, while my husband and I are at work through the day. My experience with this type of situation tells me that it is not a good thing. Before I left for work every morning this week I had pushed everything back on the counters, removed anything I thought that he would damage and made sure all the doors were shut. As I came to find out, that didn't matter much.
On the first day when I got home from work, I found pieces of fabric scattered all over the floor in the living room. He had chewed holes in two blankets... for this he was smacked. The blankets were then removed from the couch and put in a secure, undisclosed location.
On the second day when I got home from work, again there were more pieces of fabric strewn around the living room. This time it was from the towel that had been put in the crate with the lamb.. at least I assume that's what it was, as all the pieces were so small that you could no longer call it a towel but more of a rag. For this the dog was smacked, and the towels were removed from the crate.
On the third day when I got home from work, I found a mat laying in the middle of the living room with a very large hole in it. I picked this up and out of the corner of my eye noticed that he had found a new chew toy.... the rocking chair. We now own a rocking chair that is missing part of one of the rockers on the bottom. For this the dog was smacked (quite hard I might add). Not only did I smack him but when my husband got home and saw what he had done he was sent outside with a swift kick in the a$$.
This left us with a dilemma, the only thing left for the dog to chew was our couches and numerous cords for the TV. We sat down and thought about our options, but ultimately came to the conclusion that we would give him one more chance.
On the fourth day when I got home from work, I was expecting the worst. I sat in my car for a few minutes before I entered the house, mentally preparing myself for the war zone that awaited me. When I walked through the door the dog greeted me, tail wagging, as if to say "I was good today mom" and then he led me into the living room... where everything was as I had left it in the morning.
Now you can imagine with the past couple of days being utter destruction that I was a little shell shocked and doubtful. I searched the room high and low to see what he had done, but I came up with nothing! I couldn't believe it, he had actually left everything intact!
On the fourth night the lamb went back to the barn, and the dog got his crate back. My house is back to being the way it was, and all is well in the house.... for now.

Little Bo Peep

A couple of days ago, my husband asked me if I could feed the sheep and administer a shot to one of the ewes we have that had recently lambed. Now, what you have to understand, is that although I feel quite comfortable around the sheep, I have yet to give a needle to any of them! He reassured me that his sister (who is a vet tech), would accompany me and show me how to do it properly. The ewe in question had mastitis and therefore needed antibiotics to fix the problem so that she could feed her newly born lamb, who by the way, was bahhing obnoxiously when we entered the barn. We took a look at the ewe, and the very knowledgeable vet tech showed me how to properly inject the medicine. We left the ewe to go to feed and water the rest of the flock and prepare a bottle of milk for her lamb. When we came back the ewe had still not moved from where she had been when we left her. We both clambered up over the gate and stood beside her looking down. Now, I am no vet but I could tell that something was not right, and lo and behold, the vet tech confirmed my suspicions by saying "no, no, she's dead".

 Sadly, the first thing that came to my mind was "how the hell am I going to tell my husband that we killed her!?". Then I looked down and saw a tiny lamb nudging her mothers lifeless body, and my next thought was "oh crap". I called my husband and told him the bad news, to which he replied with a very colourful array of profanity and ended the conversation with, "well you're just going to have to bring the lamb home." Now you can imagine that to most people having a lamb in your living room would seem quite absurd, and 3 or 4 years ago I would have been one of those people. Yet here I am with a lamb, in a large tupperware box, in my living room, by the fire.

For the first 5 minutes, the lamb seemed quite content to stay in the box, straw underneath her, cozy and warm... unfortunately this did not last. She quickly learned that she could escape from the box by simply hopping over the side, and next thing I knew I had a lamb running through my living room and kitchen and trying to drink milk (rather unsuccessfully I might add) from our male puppy... he in fact did not find this amusing in the least. For the rest of the afternoon I found myself scrambling to clean up pee, while simultaneously attempting to keep my dog from killing his new friend. Finally I decided that the lamb would have to be kept in the crate that we had recently bought for our puppy. I put her in the crate with blankets underneath her and the box pushed into one corner so that she could sleep on the straw..... and finally as the dog, the lamb and I settled in to watch a movie, all was quiet....for now.

In the Beginning

When I was young, if you would have asked me if I would marry a farmer, I would have laughed in your face. I never expected to marry at all for that matter, and yet here I am. I suppose when you meet the right person they can change your mind about certain things. Although I grew up in a rural community, I never lived on a farm, and had been to an actual farm maybe only half a dozen times. Although my father was raised on a dairy farm he never continued farming and so I was raised quite removed from the farm experience. Needless to say when I first started going to the farm with my husband it was quite an interesting experience. I was bombarded by new smells (most were not so pleasant), and new sounds (I challenge you not to laugh when you hear a ewe for the first time), yet I felt quite comfortable in this new setting. I can imagine my husband and his cousin (who he farms with) getting very much annoyed, with the amount of questions I asked the first year. I felt like a 6 year old following their mother or father around constantly asking 'Why?'. But alas, here I am a few years later the wife of a farmer. I have to admit that I am very much enjoying it. Although I am going to school still, I find that the farm gives me a sense of purpose and it distracts me from the stresses of school and life. It is a more simple lifestyle and it gives you a sense of accomplishment. The beauty of the farm life (among other things) is that I get to see my husband 'Macgyver' just about everything around here into something useful. Often times I find myself wondering how he came up with certain ideas, but then I look at his father who is a creative man, and I find myself then wondering how I lived without certain things. Needless to say between my husband, our dog and the many animals that I come into contact with on a daily basis, I often cannot stop myself from laughing uncontrollably at the things I see or hear. Although there is often much work to be done, this life I have found myself submersed in, is a fulfilling and beautiful one, and quite humorous to boot. These are my stories, and how living the farm life has changed me for the better.