Sometimes nature just doesn't work out. JB was coming off of three nights so Sunday meant, get home at 7a and sleep until he wakes up. I was to take the kiddos to church. I headed out to tend to the chickens and sheep, asking Isaac to do the ducks.
As soon as I got out to the sheep, I could sense something amiss. One Mama hung back by herself. That is never a good sign. (Or, it is a good sign! Baby?) And yes, that was the case. Twins in the field. One was up and nursing well. The other was not getting up. You could tell Mama wanted to be with the herd but didn't want to leave baby lying in the grass. But baby wasn't getting up.
She was mighty cute and spotted but pretty little. I decided to grab some hay, make her a warm spot, and take off for church and see how she was after church. The good news was, after church she was standing. But the Mama was nowhere to be found. The weather was nasty. Cold and incredibly windy. She was already shaking so I knew chances of survival without food in her was low. (You can feel a baby lamb's stomach and feel pretty confident about whether they are eating or not.) If the weather had been better, I might have tried to find Mama and do a test, but I just didn't have it in me, and it was obvious baby didn't either.
So, I called my friend Julia. She takes our "abandoned" babies. This is her second this year. I was worried how little lass would do, but Julia said she has seemed to perk up quite a bit after a good meal and a nap. (Something we should all try when the day is going hard!)
Here is a picture of me with the cutie pie before Julia picked her up:
Getting out the door to church wasn't easy either. All this was taking up a lot of time. In addition, Sidge was having pants issues. He only has two "good" pairs of pants, and they had both gotten pretty dirty at the Winter Retreat they had attended with FCC on Friday evening. I had washed his jeans twice, and they were still muddy. I opted to give his cargo pants a quick wash and get those dry in time.
So I ended up sending Isaac in one car with the girls. Sidge and I followed behind. (I did leave the sheep water running while I was gone. Not ideal, but well, you can't get everything perfect.)
After church, Sidge took the boys car and hung out a bit in town until it was time for his meeting for his mission trip. He is going to Colombia this summer with some of the youth at his church! I drove home with the girls and Isaac.
Now, we are getting ready for Monday co-op which is always a BIG day for us. Jam-packed and full are our Mondays. John has Monday off (although he does have to come up to town as he teaches a biology class fourth hour). However, on Tuesday, he teaches at Milligan College. (He is an adjunct professor there and teaches in their ER department for their medical students.) Then on Wednesday he's back in for a three-day run.
John continues to love his job but it does take quite a toll on him. It is very busy and, of course, the losses are hard.
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