Farm Photo: 4/2/07

Not to worry—these two are on top of breakfast.

Lamb Report:
We've done a little remodeling at The Bonding Suite Inn. Late this morning, BB chose to have her darling twin girls (one black, one blacker--you know I love the black sheep best) in a cozy, hay-covered corner of the barn. Rather than kicking one of the other mothers out of their suite early, I swiped a 16-foot metal fence panel from the barn patio (that was helping to hold up the falling apart wooden fence but was only tied on with baling twine because we keep stealing it to use other places) and slid it across BB's stall and the adjacent bonding suite. Ta dah! Instant, stressless (and free!) expansion.

It's so nice to have these kinds of brilliant ideas before going to all sorts of trouble--and it happens so rarely I can't help but make a big deal out of it. Of course before I had even finished congratulating myself, I realized that a dozen lambs curl up and sleep together in that corner every night.

4/3/07 8:00am Update: I was jolted awake this morning by an alarming thought: At this time of year, that metal panel helps keeps predators from slinking in between the wooden fence slats and snatching a baby lamb. I threw on my clothes and headed straight to the barn for a lamb count. All there. Thank goodness.

But as I was feeding hay to everyone, I noticed Bear a few hundred feet away, barking his head off and chasing the biggest, whitest coyote I've ever seen. I think this enormous beast may be half dog, half coyote. It has that distintive coyote lope, and I've never seen a tail like that on a dog. Unfortunately I was able to get a very good look at it, because, despite my attempts to scare it off, it has followed us back to the house. Now what to do? I hate it when the would-be predators are friendly.

So the fence panel is getting moved back today. And if I ever have another brilliant idea, I'm keeping it to myself.

Current Lamb Count: 33. Wow. That's more lambs than we've ever had--and there are still more to come.

A year of Farm Photos ago:
4/2/06: Same Scene, New View

Too funny. I almost put up a photo nearly identical to this today--only the leaves are already popping out on all the trees, and the last of the hay is in the center section of the barn. It is so wonderful to be making this visual record of life here. It feels like everything on the farm is constantly changing, and I am always surprised to see just how many things stay almost exactly the same from year to year.

© FarmgirlFare.com

Share this post