Top Ten Day in My Life

This is my favorite place!

Today at Lochlea Farm, working with Greg Lee on the farm, was one of the best days of my life.  We started the day with some bacon and fresh eggs, both from the farm, and went out with 2 Mums and daughters, backpackers, on an adventure for the day.  We went on the four-wheeler, and went into the paddocks to gather up the ewes and the lambs to accomplish a few things.  We drenched the ewes to keep the viruses away, and we separated all of the new lambs and we put a tight band around their tails, and also a ring around the testicles of the males, after pushing the balls up out of the sac, then clipped their ears to identify them, on the right for a male, or the left ear for the females.  We docked over 424 sheep today!

It was a really incredible process with a harness to strap one in, and then the three of us women each holding one lamb each (and later, just Greg and I) grabbed the lambs and cradled them for Greg to work his magic.  We herded many groups, with the help of dogs, and I got really comfortable in grabbing and pushing these sheep around.  The really aren’t very smart, but when it comes to mothering, they are AMAZING!  In social work, we learn how important the Attachment Theory is, and that early bond and mothering is.  Today, I saw numerous, hundreds actually,  of mama sheep-Ewes, separated from their lambs, for us to do our work, then put back into a huge paddock, and  within 30 minutes, they had found their own baby lambs and were nursing or mothering.  It is really important that if a ewe rejects their child, to “lamb them on” to a different mum that is lactating and can give the important nutrients to the baby.   Greg told me that if a lamb dies, the ewe will stand by her dead lamb fro two days.  Greg can then identify them and can take that lactating ewe and put her in a small pen with an orphaned or rejected lamb, and within a day, that grieving ewe will accept and mother this new lamb.  Isn’t that better than “good enough’” parenting?  I was very impressed.

I am in heaven!

Eating marinated lambs tails

The reunited Ewe and twins

Ellen Lee and Adam Lee

Anyway, the green, the nature, the birds, the people, the soul satisfying  connection is unlike any other for me.  I truly feel like I am supposed to be a farmer, here!