Farming in the shade

Happy Ending Alert: Today, just after lunch, we got a call from a neighbor. Someone had just stopped by their house, wanting to know if they knew of anyone who had lost a dog. We had visited that very neighbor yesterday, canvassing the neighborhood. So she knew Brinkley was missing and directed the people to head to the sheep farm just up the road. Apparently their son had picked Brinkley up on Saturday. These people kept her tied up by their pole barn all weekend, bringing her inside the barn at night because they were worried about how cold it was. They were hoping that Brinkley's owners would drive by and see her. When that didn't work, they called the animal shelter. Perhaps they called before we got there, because they were not given our number. Today they had time to ride around and ask. And we are so glad they did! Happy Ending.

Those of you who don't follow us on facebook have missed all the excitement over the weekend. On Saturday, our daughter was checking the sheep, and our dog Brinkley went along with her out to the field. Before our daughter noticed it, Brinkley was gone. Sometimes she goes off on a rabbit trail--she can't resist chasing any bunnies she sees. Daughter returned home, knowing that Brinkley would follow soon enough. Except she didn't. We let a couple of hours pass, and then went looking for her. We spoke to a neighbor who had seen the dog, and then also had seen a car going very slowly down the road after the dog. With the door open. And now she's gone. Our hearts are broken.

Our border collie came to us about 4 years ago. She was a rescue dog, of unknown origin. The foster home reported that she herded the cats that also lived at the "halfway house." She was extremely afraid of large machinery that made loud noises. She's grown used to all our large machinery and loud noises over the years. She's never been formally trained to herd (mostly because none of us knows what we're doing, either). Some days she does pretty well. Some days are a total flop. She is friends with all our long-term barn cats, and only chases the new ones that run. I think eventually they all figure out she's a cat-lover and calm down. Brinkley is a delight. We wish she was a good herding dog, but she brightens our lives anyhow.

Today The Farmer was greeted by two escape artists as he stepped out to do morning chores. We've had some terrible winds the past two days, and one of the (poorly-secured) gates blew down. The rams, who would rather be with the ewes right now, took advantage of the opening and spent some time outside their pen. The rams are right--it's about time to join the rest of the flock so that we'll get spring lambs. The Farmer decided that since they were half-way to their destination, we'd just help them along. This involved a complicated dance of moving two separate flocks to new pasture. And then adding the rams to one of the flocks. All hands were on deck, and all paws, too. Our border collie is moderately helpful, at best, and sometimes downright unhelpful. Today was one of those unhelpful days. She snuck off while our attention was elsewhere and got tangled (oh, goodness) in an electrified poly fence . She received repeated shocks from a fencer designed to keep sheep (with...

The Farmer headed out for morning chores, accompanied by his helpers. There was a chill in the air, and when I hung the freshly washed jeans on the clothesline this morning, steam rose from them. I tried to get a photo of it, but you'll just have to imagine it. My camera is not capable of catching such subtleties as steaming laundry.

The Farmer is also a part-time on-call firefighter and medical first-responder. When the alarm goes off, he drops what he's doing and goes... The dog's favorite thing in the whole world is riding along in the truck. She doesn't get to do it much, but she's eternally hopeful. When The Farmer goes on calls, she does not get to go along. She doesn't really get why that is. Sometimes, when she's outside, she runs along behind for a ways, hoping that he'll remember he's forgotten her... Eventually, she gives up. And waits.