Hush …

Shh. The lamb and the dog are sleeping. Together. Again.

Last night a very strange thing happened, well it happened the night before but I was more bemused than alarmed the night before. Last night just got weird.  Usually I feed the lamb at 10pm and 2am. Every four hours. Well the night before last just before I got up at 10ish I heard Boo howl. AAAOOOOO! Like a wolf at a full moon. Just once then silence. Stop that noise immediately, I said to him, as I shuffled past, he was still laid in his bed next to the fire, about four steps away from his lamb. He raised his head, huffed and then came along for feeding time.  Then at the two o’clock feeding time I was a little late, and I was woken again by Boo howling from his bed again, AAAOOOOO!, waking me up.  Just the one howl.  But a big wild dog howling sound. A siren.

I put the timing down to a strange coincidence. Until he did it again last night. Marcel is big now and drinking more than his quota a day so I decided to feed him at 10pm and then again when I woke early in the morning. Maybe 5ish I thought. And I was still up at 10 so I fed Marcel and put him to bed, settled all the animals and put myself to bed, laying my head down with that deep long last breath of the day in anticipation of a good nights sleep. I am like Peter our Ontario Baker who tends his oven fires through the night,  (he makes sourdough croissants among other things, oh, how Sheila and I wish we lived close by), I can get up, do what I need to do, then lay down and straight back to sleep no problem. And the thought of sleeping all night was sublime.  But once again,  just after 2am.  The howl. Waking me up. Coincidence? He has never howled inside in the night before, ever.

Now, what am I supposed to think about that? And how to explain to the DOG that the LAMB does not need to be fed every four hours anymore.  And maybe could I  sleep  though the night please.

Daisy did not want to be brushed yesterday. She just rolled her head around looking for a head scratch. Every day that it is warm enough for me to get out there, I brush her and Queenie. Mainly so that they get used to me having my hands on them. I am not entirely sure who I am milking full time yet.  But Daisy just wanted more food and a head scratch not necessarily in that order.

Below is why we seldom get a shot of Ton, he is either lying in the straw with Sheila, or standing under Daisy. We are going to have to re-establish the milking parlour rules come milking time.

And for those of you dairy women and men who are craning your necks to see if Daisy is ‘filling up’. Here are two other shots of Daisy’s udder. Two weeks to go. 

What is most evident is how filthy she is getting with no rain and so much indoor living.  But we will have her all cleaned up by the time she is ready to milk. Not the udder though I will not touch the udder until her first milking. Then  she will be thoroughly cleaned.

Sheila working on her bed. You can see that she has rubbed her wound open again. But it is just superficial now, the deep injury is healed. Thank goodness it is not fly season. 

I have begun to make a warm nest for the calf – it looks like it will still be very cold.   I will make a small room out of bales of straw, and top it with a sheet of particle board, with a small opening for the warmth from the heat lamp if he needs it, to keep him cosy.  Plus of course he has his new coat.  He will come out for feeds, (we will attempt to share-milk he and I) but he needs to be out of any drafts and cold at sleep times.  

Here is a nice happy shot of what is to come. The delightful jumble of the verandah harvest table. And green.. do you see that green?

I hope you all have a lovely day.

Your friend on the farmy

celi