Living is wonderful!

As I grow older, I am reminded it beats the alternative.
I laughed out loud this morning as I was reminded by old friends how silly my life has been. Yes, sometimes I have asked for it....what ever it has been....but we have had fun along the way.
I am blessed with my partner of ??? 40 some years. We have family who are treasures, both children, and brothers and extended family.
But look at me....I have....to the contrary of a statement made by one of the other breeders....I have made friends along the way. How amazing to have friends from different times...friends of many years of growing. Friends who live miles away...yet still are close. This is one reason I am selling many of my little sheep. I would like to go travel and visit old friends...before my old brain forgets who they are...or who I am. I say that honestly, knowing the problems of aged parents can visit their children.
May you all be blessed with old friends...those who knew you when....whatever you were when you were a child or an adult. There is a comfort to knowing the past so well, and still accepting our friends....especially accepting the quirky old shepherd I have become.

Now, I may not be older than some of my clients, one, who bought her first shetlands at age 79.
But maybe I don't age well. Let me tell you I don't move well....and to that end we will NOT move from this place. We may live somewhere else...but we won't move. Even this last move was a story of disasters. We needed to fence this place for sheep before the sheep moved. So I drove back and forth from Wisconsin every week to put in fencing. Because the fellow that took care of my present ranch was running a truck garden when we bought, I wore a revolver....you never knew who would pull into the property. I used to arrive to the empty house....the remote empty house, just after dark. As I unlocked the door, I would hope no one had broken in....no one was still there....no one would notice I was staying by myself. The phone was fitfull...most often requiring the help of the operator to call to Wisconsin. My husband was still working in Wisconsin, when the shippers called to say they were picking up my sheep early. We had arranged for a trip, where the shippers had a paid trip home. So months before our Wisconsin farm sold, before the furniture was moved out, before the cupboards were packed, We formed a convoy of 64 ewes in a trailer, two small red trucks carrying 7 cats, a goose, and our old ewe, Dayspring Panda....litter boxes, cat food, sheep buckets and feed. The sheep and the shepherd now lived in Missouri. My poor husband now lived in Wisconsin, where he had to sell the property, take care of inspections and repairs, move all remaining clothing, dishes, furniture, and fencing out....into storage, or our little cottage...finish his work, and move the remaining ram lambs to Missouri. Our daughter was again required to clean the entire house....mom was again absent for the cleaning day.
As you can see our moving from house to house has many stories....we just don't move well.
I would love to show you the view from the windoew next to me. Little pink blossoms dot the peach tree branches, the pond lays calm, reflecting the trees on it's border...the big white dog is lounging there, waiting for the adventure of walking the sheep out to their pasture.
Somewhere in the barn pastures, Berry is standing and laying down....looking around for her lamb....she knows it is coming, but nature is not urgent, so berry stands and walks around calling for the lamb she has carried for five months. Hopefully, she will finally get a lamb and get their jug in the barn before the next round of rains get here.
As I get ready for the day, I weigh the chores needed. We moved some rams to the south meadow, where they have food. If the water goes up, we won't be able to feed them for a few days. I need to move some two day old lambs and their moms outside, making space for the sheep who will crowd the barn in the heavy rains. There is always something interesting to do....like walking with the dog in front of the sheep thru the sahara pasture into the hay ground and counting them as they come in. Watching the pregnant sheep deciding who is close to lambing, so I can watch them during the day. Almost done for the year....
That's good.