Tifftown: Life, Death and Life and MORE Life on the Farms

I thought surely my next update would not be until May as I was either going to be so busy that I wouldn't have time to update the blog or that there would be nothing to report so soon. But then an interesting story unfolded.

Originally I had decided to not share the below story on the blog because it seemed too sad. But there have been very recent developments (like in the last couple of hours!) that have made the story more interesting. Enjoy.

Back in March Valerie's wool sheep, Bambi & Forbes, got sick and we sent them off to Carol's farm to recuperate and get sheared. Also, Valerie had been trying to breed Bambi so that she should have lambs this spring.

For your reference, here is an older photo of Valerie walking Bambi & Forbes with her cello teacher.

The word that we got back from Carol's was that Bambi was not pregnant but did appear to be really, REALLY fat. So, they kept her out on pasture with the other Ewe's and their lambs. Forbes was off frolicking in another pasture under the olive groves with a different set of sheep and sheep dogs. And she was going to keep them there until Valerie finished working with her market lambs at the end of May.

About a week ago Valerie was out working on Carol's farm, like she usually does. I got a call from Carol asking me if I had heard from Valerie. I told her that I hadn't heard from anyone. She said she had some sad news to share with me. Apparently one of their electric fences ground out and the barn manager asked Valerie and Hailey to walk to fence line to find out what happened. Well, the girls happened upon a sheep that had been caught in the electric fence and expired ... probably days prior. Hailey did not recognize the sheep but Valerie did. She identified the sheep as Bambi and surmised that she fell down a hill and rolled into the fence. Also, she was so fat that she could not get herself upright. There were some tears around the house here knowing that Bambi was not going to be coming home.

It seemed too sad to post this information on the blog so we just quietly resigned ourselves to the situation at hand. I was only just beginning to share this story on a case by case basis rather than this very public forum. Most people didn't know this story or were only just hearing about it privately.

In fact, I had just shared this story with my sister-in-law today when within that hour I got this text from Carol:

OK so if you or anyone in your family dies DO NOT let Valerie identify the deceased. You could be lost on a street corner somewhere for life and no one would ever know thinking you were in a cemetery.

Bambi lives??

Yes. And she is about to give birth.

This was an unexpected development to an otherwise sad story. The lesson we take away from this is not only do we not let Valerie identify the deceased ... but always, ALWAYS check the ear tag!

And so after school today Rex and I picked her up, along with a companion Ewe, Ettabelle, and a lambing kit from Carol's today after school. Ettabelle will be a friend to Bambi for a while. Once the baby gets big enough to not get stomped by Forbes, we will trade Ettabelle back for Forbes.

Valerie came home tonight from an FFA conference where she has been the last several days. I snapped this photo of her looking a bit like a flight attendant in her FFA uniform swinging like a professional baggage handler.

It took Valerie at least 15 minutes to realize there were more sheep in the yard than when she left. Her friend Madelyn was over and Amira and I were also milling about. It's like everyone but Valerie knew her sheep had risen from the dead. She must have walked past their pen at least three times without batting an eye.

I told her the market lambs were out of alfalfa hay and that she needed to go into the other sheep barn to replenish the stock. She stopped just short of the gate as she was about to open it. It was at that time the sudden shock hit her. She saw Bambi in the corner eating her favorite, grape leaves. "Wait! My sheep is not only not dead but she is also pregnant? I went from having a not pregnant sheep to having a dead sheep to having an alive pregnant sheep! How does that even happen?"

And then there was this other sheep that was not Forbes ... Good ol' Ettabelle!

Welcome home, Bambi! We missed you, Old Girl!!

I tell you, these sheep are a lot of work - mentally and emotionally!

In other news, last night her market lambs busted out of their pen and broke the gate and bent the wire. I don't know what scared them. But I spent part of the evening putting a splint on the fence. My dear husband will be horrified when he sees my lack of construction skills. But at least those sheep are once again confined. I'm a helper. I'll be down at the award shop picking up my trophy if anyone is looking for me.

Meanwhile, the little chicks and turkeys are enjoying a nice day on the grass and bugs.

Amira and I have continued horse lessons. Amira got to work with Snickers yesterday. What a fun horse! They looked awesome trotting around. This is kind of a fast horse.

I got an easy day on Jewel. No bit! Just a hackamore - because she is just that amazing. She is training be to be a better rider. Good job, Jewel! Because, heaven knows, you've had your work cut out for you.