Tifftown: Beware the Ides of March

It was actually just before the Ides of March that the action started. Michael was still out of town and it was a Saturday morning - not the kind where you get to sleep in. (But those are to be cherished when they happen.) It was the kind of Saturday morning where I got up early to get Valerie off to her livestock judging competition before getting the yard ready for a troop of Girl Scouts who were going to come over that afternoon to camp out and practice all their "camporee" skills. Anyhow, Rex was just off to work at the paintball park for the day and I was just about to have some coffee when Valerie traipsed into the house wearing her muck boots over her baggy pj bottoms, "I had a dream last night that Ettabelle was having her lambs and when I walked out there to feed the sheep, there was already a lamb there!" We knew Ettabelle was expecting twins and that there was only one out. So we rushed back outside to check on her progress. I threw some clean towels to Valerie and ran around collecting extension cords and started to scramble for the heat lamp and rig it up in the barn.

Instead of driving to the livestock judging competition Valerie was in her barn delivering livestock (baby lambs) and texting people about what she should do. She still had not fed her market sheep yet and Ettabelle seemed to be doing well, but she still had the afterbirth to deliver. So, Valerie felt a little conflicted about bailing on her livestock judging team. But I say in matters of life and death (and fortunately this was life) she is excused. Ettabelle delivered two healthy little ewe lambs on Saturday, 11 March. One is white with black spots and the other is black with white spots. They both have their mother's markings on the face. Cute! Cute!

At 2pm that day the scouts started rolling up to the house with their gear. We pitched tents and they started in on their activities.

There was knot tying and tent pitching.

There was practice for the trivia event.

They made "walking tacos" for dinner.

Candle light dinner!

There was a campfire and s'mores, of course!

They had to practice flipping pancakes over a rope tied at a height of six feet. Always a valuable skill.

More knot tying and tent pitching ...

They also had a "team challenge". Here the girls had to get from one side of the spider web to the other side without touching the ropes. Once a girl came through a section of the ropes, that section was off-limits to future girls trying to get across. Just watching them discuss the possible ways and try to implement their ideas was entertaining.

Sunday after the scouts left, I took a nap in the grass under the forsythia blossoms and occasionally woke to see frolicking little lambs. I knew then that all was right with the world.

Spring break we stayed home and watched after our own critters and the neighbor's critters. They went to Hawaii this year. So, we borrowed their dog. Josie is a wonderful girl. She can come back any time.

She makes a good alarm clock too! (Thanks for the tip, Cee Cee!)

Michael came home and Valerie ran off to another sheep show. They were like ships in the night, just missing each other.

Here is Valerie with some of her show mates:

I was hoping that Valerie would take some time and clean her room over break. That was a dream that has yet to come true. She blamed the smell on the mice.

I should probably explain the mice.

A while back Valerie was supposed to do a science experiment. She and her friend decided they would get some mice and split them into two groups: Junk Food Eating Mice and Health Food Eating Mice. She would teach them to run a maze and see if one group had better success than the other. She tried getting all female mice about the same age from the pet store. At first a few mice died. She got some replacement mice. Then they started chewing through the cardboard barrier in the cage that divided the two groups. They were eating all of the food and making a big smelly mess. Then they wouldn't actually run the maze but would occasionally escape and run around the house. I picked one up out of the cat food bowl one day. Then there was the one under the piano ...

Anyhow, the mice were in their cage on top of the rat cage, stinking up her room (according to her). The pet store said they would take the mice back. So, while Valerie was at school last week, I asked Michael (our senior mouse wrangler) to help put the mice in a box. I would bring the mice with me to pick up Valerie and then she could return them to the pet store. Michael peered into the cage full of mouse nests. How many did she say she had? She told me there were four.

Michael extracted the first mouse and plopped him down into the box I was holding. The next mouse more of a challenge, quite a hopper! The third mouse was just crazy. He was digging around looking for the fourth mouse when he said, "Oh no. We have to put them all back." My jaw just dropped. I could not imagine why we would have to put them back. Why?? "Because," Michael lamented, "I don't know which one is the mother."

Apparently while digging around looking for the fourth mouse, he found a nest of seven baby mice. Also, it should be mentioned that one of those adult mice looked awfully fat. Anyhow, we had Valerie come home and deal with it. She transported all eleven mice to the pet store and confirmed that the other fat one was indeed due to go at any day. Also she verified that one of those mice was a male. Uh, yeah, at least.

Speaking of due any day, Bambi is still pregnant. Last winter the ultrasound technician thought Bambi was about 5 days apart from Ettabelle. We are now thinking she was like three weeks apart from Ettabelle. So, we are still on baby lamb watch!