I have just come indoors and lit a lovely log fire, after a productive morning (which started in the wee hours) down in my lambing yard, sorting out ewes and lambs, moving new-borns and their mums into individual pens to mother up and generally appreciating the wonder of new life – even if it is just sheep.
As I write, I am fully aware that there is so much grief and turmoil in the world, but for me I make it my mission every morning to be positive, to smile, not to tell Edward off too much and, as we all used to say at Brownies,…”to do my best at all times”. It’s a challenge but we’ve all got to try.
This weekend I have got 2 lovely families staying for the weekend with the sole purpose of experiencing lambing – at the moment the ewes have got their legs firmly crossed but I am hoping that the 3 children staying with us see lambs being born. They’ve had lots of cuddles with lambs but there is nothing like the real thing. Yes there will be cries of “yuk”, but once the lambs have been cleaned up, the process of birth will be long forgotten and, as the lambs get to their feet within minutes, everyone will be smiling, particularly me!
The scene around the breakfast table is always amusing as the children force down their breakfast as fast as possible, so they can get their wellies on, let the dogs out, and undertake their favourite job…….egg hunting. Our chickens are totally free range during the day and lay eggs everywhere so egg hunting is great fun for the kids. One little lad called Ollie, caught me out yesterday as he produced an egg and dropped it in front of my eyes, to which I squealed. He laughed out loud as the egg bounced back into his hands – cheeky so and so…it was a rubber one.
These are the moments we must remember to keep us smiling at this very difficult time.
Janet East
