Thing One on the walk, ruffed by the wind.
Tulips.
Mia and two Murphys. It is going to be a short year for pasture, we are still recovering from two dry years. And to be truly sustainable I can only run a very small flock of sheep. After that the land suffers. So the lambs will be leaving the farm after a few weeks on the good pasture. I am sorry to say that I have decided that Mia will leave too. This was a hard decision. But the right one.
She was my first hand reared sheep but the agony she goes through every year, when I have to go in and pull out all those dead lambs one after the other is just beyond cruel. Awful. This has happened twice now and she has only just survived each time. And she is still lacking vigor. I have only a few paddocks and it is impossible to keep her away from the ram in the fall. It would be evil of me to allow her to get pregnant and then lose all her lambs in the most terrible way year after year. She cannot breed. Sad, but one of the things we have to deal with as organic/sustainable farmers is taking out the ones who get infections or cannot breed. I am sorry.
Lets think about something else for a minute. The walls have been clad, and the men come back today to tape and mud the cracks. Suddenly the room looks small and echoey. However we are moving forward at a rapid rate now.
Apple blossom. This is where we stand under the apple trees and inhale…
then exhale. There are some beautiful moments on the little farm that allow us breathing space to deal with the difficult ones. There breathe in…
then breathe out. Cherry blossom.
The grapes are leafing out..
And the peaches are setting.
New trees in the daily view. Mr M’s on the far right (North), by the yellow fire hydrant, once the leaves come out you will see the trees better.
And a roof for the Coupe. A great accomplishment. The black on the side of the old house is builders paper, once the roof is finished they will start that side.
Good morning my darling friends. I hope you do not feel too bad about Mia. But my promise at the beginning of this blog is that I will tell you the truth of things. You all know about life and its ups and downs. No need to go into it. Every life is like this. We just see it more clearly and simply on a farm.
Author was collected into a cage last night in case she needs an operation today. I will take her in to the vet shortly. She has become more and more lethargic in the last 24 hours. For two days she has slept in the empty indoor pig pen. Both her kittens were lost. She was too young being only a kitten herself.
This is not a happy clappy post is it. Let’s go back to the apple blossom and stand under there for a while, listen to the bees and breathe in that heady scent. It will be better soon.
Have a lovely day.
your quiet friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
64 responses to “The scents of spring help soften the hard decisions.”
WOW! Getting to go live with Renny, Mazie, and Blossom and all the Jacobs and all the other cute and lovely sheep and HANK the sheep dog! What a wonderful thought!. I so hope it can happen!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
And if i had not met you, we wold not have met sara, so fingers crossed that we can make this happen somehow.. c
No one said being the boss lady was easy. hugs Will you keep murphy #3?
No, all the Murphys are spoken for, ram lambs are grown for the freezer. It is the way of the farm, we must still feed the families.. c
Life can be very cruel. We discovered 5 baby birds in a nest in a stone wall near our house. When I went back several hours later they were gone. I am hoping they flew away with their mother…but I did see quite a large snake sunning itself on the wall nearby. I prefer not to think about that option.
Regarding Miss Mia, it is so clearly the right thing to do by Mia, sweet sou, but tyhat doesn’t mean it’s easy. Soldier on under the apple tree, C.
You’re so right, humane decisions don’t always add up to be happy ones. True. The budding trees and the beautiful Coupe do hold a lot of promise. I’ll think about those nice things. ox
Oh I hope you can retire Mia! My sister is working on starting up a farm animal sanctuary in Oregon, not that that helps you but she has been studying at Gentle Barn in LA and Sanctuary One in southern Oregon. I don’t comment often here but wanted you to know how much I enjoy your photos and stories every day. I don’t know how you find the time with everything else that you do.
Thank you for blogging.
Maggie
I hope Author will be okay hugs I am sorry to YOU about Mia. That must have been a very heart wrenching choice to make, but understandably why you did. You are very strong and think things through properly. Take care hon!!!
I’m so sorry to learn about Mia. Your first-born. And bottle-fed. Such a hard decision but clearly the kind one. The right one.
Strange! Just yesterday I Googled “lifespan of a sheep” because I was thinking about Hairy McLairy and what a gentle sheep he is and learned that the larger the animal the longer the lifespan. And I thought well you have mentioned he is a very large sheep so good! He will live long. And Daisy even longer.
It would be so wonderful if Mia could be retired and kept away from any rams.
Aah Cinders. I can’t say anything more than what has already been said by all the others…Just know that we All wish we could stand in a big circle around you….thank-you so much for your raw honesty and trying to shield us from the sometimes difficult realities of life on the Farmy, when it is us that wish we could shield you as well….i’m not sure that made sense but hope you can feel the love through the airwaves….breathe in, breathe out under those gorgeous blossoms of yours!
We love you, dear C……
Sorry to hear about Mia, but it sounds like the best thing for her. You always do right by your animals. So sorry about the kittens too. Tough day on the farmy. Breathing in the apple blossoms is perfect.
This is a tough day on the farmy. It’s a good thing The Coupe is coming along nicely. Thanks for bringing us back to the apple blossoms as a reminder to just breathe.
You had to make a tough decision about Mia, regardless of any other option now on offer, AND deliver it to the Farmy commenters lounge… However it pans out we respect your wisdom because you are Miss C and you have the best interests of all at heart 🙂
What a tough decision you have had to make Celi, well done for making it my darling.
And I can’t believe how much apple blossom you have, truly magnificent, like a cloud but a heavenly scented cloud as opposed to a wet one……I’ll shut up for now eh?!
}}}HUGS{{{ To you Celi, and all the Farmy.
Farming is hard. In so many ways. But god bless you for doing it.