Musings of a shepherd.

Day two of the rest of my life!

This sounds very melodramatic but I honestly feel that finally putting "pen to paper" is like starting a new phase in my life.Fifteen years ago we bought this house in France and within a short space of time I was living here permanently.My husband still had to work in England to pay the bills so I spent quite a lot of time here on my own.This was the first time I had lived on my own and it was quite a challenge but my confidence grew with every passing day and I enjoyed the selfishness of only having myself to worry about.I think I am now a much stronger person and less reliant on other people.
As I have called this the musings of a shepherd I would like to introduce some of my woolly friends.The first eight ewes arrived in the summer of 1994,we borrowed a ram from a neighbour and waited.I would add at this point that we had never owned sheep before and had no farming background. Lambing was due to start at the beginning of April and I was busy reading "Sheepkeeping for idiots".My husband was due to arrive here before lambing started as it is something that definitetly needs two people.Friday the 23rd March is forever engraved in my memory,the first ewe started lambing and I was alone!I read the book from cover to cover and even showed it to the ewe.Nothing was happening.I phoned my husband but he was no use at all.Typical male.Eventually I plucked up my courage and had a proper feel inside the ewe,it was a head only presentation.The lamb can only be born by pushing the head back inside the ewe and finding the legs.This was beyond me so I called our neighbour[we had bought the ewes from him]he came straight away but the lamb had been on its way for too long and was dead.He checked the ewe and found another lamb which he delivered safely.I was very grateful to him but also very upset because I blamed myself for the death of our first lamb.After he had gone I went indoors and shed a few tears then had a large brandy!Welcome to farming.The first ewe to lamb we called Number one not very original I know but we still have her and she is the boss of the troupe.She and I have got to know each other well over the past 11 years and although she no longer has lambs her place here is assured.More about her later.We have a small group of retirees and I will introduce them as I go along.