Fresh Air

By some fluke of nature, Knut was able to be “home” on Saturday.  I’m not sure which stars aligned to make that happen, but it was nice.  Well, to be honest, he wasn’t inside the home.  He was doing chores pretty much all day.  That’s what farmers do on their days off.  They do all the “hobby farm” things that their family is doing on the property.  We got the sheep a month or two ago, and while we’ve been keeping doors open so that they can have fresh air, what we really wanted for them was their own patch of our pasture.  That required fencing, and skills beyond what my disabled back can handle.

We were limited on how much fencing we could afford, but this is a starting point.  You have to start somewhere, right?  Knut is still nervous that we have no idea how to care for sheep.  He’s correct, actually.  He’s been reading vet books, and farming books.  Once he got the fence up, he decided to let them have access in increasing increments so their stomach doesn’t explode, which I guess can happen.

I don’t know how to keep their wool clean yet either.  We were commenting as we looked at them enjoy the alfalfa that dirt doesn’t slip off their wool like it used to with Missy.  Missy could be covered in mud one minute, and the next minute it all slipped off her fur because of her skin oils.

Oh Missy.  We need you now, with sheep in the pasture.  I can’t skip the explanation of how much more we miss her now the sheep are outdoors.  Discussions of getting another Great Pyrenees has been frequent in our home.  They don’t exactly come a dime a dozen, and are quite tricky to even track down.  I think that this close to the cold winter months, we will wait until spring to get another.  Looking at the sheep, I’m just aching for the loss, though.  She would have loved this.  She should be here.

Going back to my point, though, I don’t know how to keep wool clean.  The mud on them is from the farm we got them from.  They have had only fresh hay in the barn, and no access to mud.

I’m loving watching them outside.  They are so timid.  They run easily.  They are really funny looking, if you stare at them long enough.

They just eat.  They really don’t do much.  Sure, they give wool and meat, but neither of those do they give willingly or with action on their part.  Most animals on the farm have a purpose.  Cats chase mice and rats and keep their population under control.  Missy would guard and watch these sheep with a master level precision.  Lena is a companion, longing for attention, and would be a great hunting dog if we ever had the time for hunting.  Chickens lay eggs, but also control the tick and bug population in the yard.  All the other animals give to the farm with action and thought, even if it’s just instinct.

Sheep just eat.  Eat and run.  Eat and run.  When one wants to get a really smart animal, they usually don’t start with a sheep.  That seems to be the sum up of their instincts.  In fact, the first thing they did when they got to the pasture was run to the fence, and strain their necks through the holes to get to the alfalfa on the other side, as they were standing leg deep in the same alfalfa.  They only moved away from the fence because Lena was barking at them.  Lena is not a good sheep dog.

She loves to tease the other animals.  She’s like this older sibling that messes up their hair because she thinks it’s funny.  You should see Lena tease the cats.  It’s hilarious.  The cats tease the turkeys mercilessly, as turkeys are much dumber than chickens.  So I guess it’s just the circle of life.

(Rabbit trail thought: is it just me, or does the color of their wool look like a beautiful un-dyed stranded sweater just waiting to happen?)

They look scared pretty much all the time.  (Even when Lena isn’t there.) They do not trust easily.  That’s probably because they have no defense mechanism.  Their only defense is running, and huddling together.

And the Bible continually refers to us as sheep.  Just a thought.