I’ve given up on the idea that the sheep are pregnant and we’ll have lambs. Maybe they were hysterical pregnancies, like Honey had in Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf. Or maybe, in like some bad horror movie they’ve been reabsorbed and the sheep are now just pooping them out. (sorry if that’s kinda gross, but I can’t deny it’s what I’ve been thinking). We’ll find when the sheep get sheared that we just overfed them a little because of the hard winter and, for the same reason, it’s been a really good year for wool which is why they have to big bellies.
The other possibility is that all four sheep are waiting for me to go to Gee’s Bend. And each of the four days that I’m away, a sheep will give birth. I know I probably sound a little negative, and I’m not the one walking around with a gigantic belly and a big wool coat, so I have nothing to complain about. But, well, it is my first time lambing and I’m tired of waiting!
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, what I really meant to say was that Jon and I are going to Vermont tomorrow to pick up last years wool. Once again, I have a lovely list of people who have requested yarn, and once again I don’t know how much I’m getting and how much I’ll have left after I go through my list. But once I find out what I have left, I’ll post it on my site for sale. And dare I say it, (because I don’t really believe all those things I said about the pregnant sheep) maybe by then we’ll have a lamb or two.
One of my broodmares carried her foal for 368 days. Normal gestation is about 11 months, and she carried 3 days over a year!! I never thought she would foal and kept questioning whether she WAS in foal. When are you going to Gee’s Bend?
Wow Debbie! That’s unreal. I hope it’s a bit quicker with the sheep. I’m going to Gee’s Bend the first week in May. Guess I need to write about it a little more…..
Hi Maria: I got a big laugh out of the image of each sheep looking a bit more like Sandy Dennis/Honey and being hysterically pregnant! If they can pull off false pregnancies while showing lambs in utero on the ultrasounds they had, that would indeed be something.
Have a food trip and a safe trip to VT. Look forward to seeing/hearing what you may have available in yarn and/or fiber.
Roger took some photos that we need to send to you – including what I’ve done with your drawing. A more formal thank you is headed your way for that surprise. I am so appreciative!
I think you will soon be a lamb “step-mama”…They’re just taking their sweet time until they’re ready.
I can’t wait to see the photos Sue. And I’m glad you got the drawing. And you know, I wouldn’t put it past those sheep.
This post made me laugh…..proof of a creative mind ! Murphy’s law invades. ha ha
re: lambs. Hear, hear!
Maria, you know the saying, “A watched pot never boils?” Well, maybe the sheep feel like “A watched pot…..” As you have thought maybe they are just waiting for you to go to Gee’s Bend (although I doubt that they really know that), or they sense that you and Jon are on watch and they want to surprise you. Actually, I don’t think that it is any of that. They just aren’t ready.
There must be thousands, even millions, of us waiting for those little lambs. We must all remember that “Patience is a virtue and virtue is its own reward!”
Jane
You’re right Jane.
Maria, I absolutely l-o-v-e-d your sense of humor in “Wool Sheep”! We are all awaiting the arrival of those precious little lambs! Your beautiful antique potholders have inspired me on how I might finish a memorial watercolor heart wall hanging for my Mom and a wonderful companion animal Coco. I’ll send photos when it’s done. If it weren’t for you, I would never had gotten such a great education about antique hankies. Thank you for inspiring me to open the door to learning all about them! Bear Hugs! Shirley (Gresham, OR)
Oh well thank you Shirley for being there and reading and creating. I can’t wait to see what you’ve made!
Maria, The first week of May? You may have to fly back to see your sheep being born, then go back to Ala.! (I know, too expensive…) Just brainstorming here. 🙂
Love this entry. It brings back memories, too. Four years ago, I spent several nights sleeping in our barn. Our mare, Drifty, was due to foal and I wanted to be present. One morning, several days after Drifty had been due, I headed to the house to get something warm to drink. Not three minutes later, my ranch hand phoned to say the foal was being born. I barely got to the barn in time to see the back half of Drifty’s filly delivered. My guess is that nature has programmed most creatures to seek a safe and private place to deliver babies, perhaps a way to avoid predators. Drifty was relatively new to us back then and my constant attention probably set her on edge.
I’ve heard that about sheep Sue, since they are prey animals they tend to give birth at night. I’m glad you got to see your foal born.