Yesterday was a big ride out to Auburn and I told Working Man he could ride this ride and I would go ahead and stay home with Miss Daisy. I knew that trying to be a chase car in what was likely to be a huge ride would be more work than it was worth. I figured it would be a good day to get some homework done while Daisy slept and maybe a little laundry. You know, catch up on stuff. Who was I kidding?
If you had to guess, you would say Daisy was the reason I got nothing, and I mean NOTHING, done. You would be wrong. On Saturday night, one of our sheep had twins. Oh so cute. The alpacas were going after them so FIL D chased them into the pasture and closed off the gate. Then everyone left for the ride. I sat down, had some breakfast, and hung out with Daisy for a bit. I figured she could use a bath so I did so. While I was, I noticed one of our donkeys, Frankie, was going after the twins. I quickly gathered Daisy up, saying not so nice words in the process. Quickly is a funny word because with an infant, nothing happens quickly, even when you want it to.
Things One and Two (both girls)
I had to finish rinsing her off, dry her off, dress her in something decently warm, put her carrier on me and put her in it. Then I had to grab some shoes for myself and head out to chase the donkeys. I pulled some hay out of the barn and enticed them to come into a pen, all the while trying to convince the sheep they wanted to stay out. Easier said than done. I figured while I was out, I would feed the horses lunch. As I finished tossing them their food, I heard the dogs going crazy and the alpacas screaming (which they do when they fight). I figured I'd go over there and yell at them a couple times to see if they'd stop.
Well what did I see? Another sheep had crawled under the gate and given birth out in the field...with the alpacas...who now wanted her baby. Begin phase two.
I ran into the barn and found a rope to chase them with. I got the gate to the other half of the pasture open and started chasing the alpacas. Mama decided she was going to go too so it got a little hairy (or wooly...haha) there for a minute. Finally got her separated but the little boy wanted to follow the alpacas. I knew then I would need to separate all the moms and babies away from everyone else.
I knew I couldn't chase sheep by myself so I called Daisy's godmother, Dorothy, and her husband Jim. Gratefully they were willing to come right over to help. I changed my shoes (I was wearing my usual flip flops) and went back out. I gave the donkeys water, locked big ol' Henry in the round pen so he wouldn't run into the barn, and put a water bucket in the barn to be filled.
This one I'm calling "Son"
Poor Jim and Dorothy. I don't know if they understood what they were getting into. They did great, really what I needed was road blocks and that's what we had. We gathered the babies, easier to catch than the moms, and encouraged them to yell for mom so they'd run into the barn. I don't know how long it took but we finally got them locked up.
He's got little snowy patches on his back. Adorable!
Then I heaved a sigh of relief. And put my flip flops back on. And wanted a nap. I never did get to homework or laundry or anything else. Maybe next time I'll just take the ride and Working Man can chase the sheep.
-FFR
Oh yeah, I left the hoses running in both of the water buckets and flooded the donkey pen and part of the barn. I do know that Daisy's not allergic to hay. By the time I was done throwing it around, she was covered.
