Finishing something, animals, Victoria, work

I finally got the ridge cap on the roof of the shop last night. It went pretty fast. That was a good thing because it started raining within an hour. It was not a hard rain, but it was moisture making it all the way to the ground. Lot more is expected today through Thursday. It is a welcome change to normal weather patterns. It was good to finish a small part of this big project. Hopefully, there will be more of that to come.


Mama is still enjoying her little black headed shadow. The feedings are still paced every four hours so the lamb gets four bottles per day. Sunday was a challenge because of church, but I am happy to report, that Lily survived the small interruption in routine. The noon and 8 p.m. feedings were both a little late – by about an hour – but she forgave Mama as soon as the bottle was offered.

All of the calves are looking good. With the milder weather they are less likely to get the respiratory infections we have had to deal with in the ones we fed and cared for through the winter. We have one big fellow separated and on a diet to fatten him up to take to the butcher shop in about a month. There should be some very good steaks and roasts coming to our freezer soon.

Mama did inform me last night that a similar fate will not be in Lily’s future. Although she names the steers she is not attached to them. The lamb is different. She really is like having a little baby following you around; wanting constant attention, curious about everything, fretting when Mama is out of sight. I will not get to eat her. If the Lord blesses her with long life, sheep-wise, she will be buried somewhere on the farm in the years to come. What a life.

Dorper sheep are raised for meat and for their hides. They do not need to be shorn since their wool does not grow long. Their hides, pelts or whatever the proper term are sought after in the clothing industry because the wool is not the kind that grows to shed. It is more of a permanent coat. We have yet to butcher one to see how the meat is but I plan on that happening sometime late this year or early next year. Mutton is the best meat for Mama’s blood type and since a sheep will yield only about sixty to eighty pounds of meat (depending on butchering size), it will be easier to consume than a seven hundred pound steer.

Victoria has her good days and her bad days in her training to become a Pharmacy Tech. Yesterday was a bad day. She is not one who is easily instructed, especially if the instructions are difficult to follow, presented in a lecturing manner, or given by more than one person at a time. All three of those seemed to be the case yesterday and she was not permitted to escape to the register for a change of pace. She is very easily frustrated and set on edge. This is a good experience for her and it will be a very good job in the future if she has the fortitude to plow though.

Most days at work are not unpleasant, but work is not geared to be a time when you hang out with friends. You rarely get to choose your co-workers, so most of us make the best of it by making friends when the opportunity arises and enduring the other people we have to spend a great deal of time with to fulfill our necessary obligations to the company that has hired all of the crew we do work with.

With respect to making friends at work, I have been blessed. Every now and then, it does help to be the boss.