Today we decided to move Lilly and her babysitters from the garth behind the Reading Rooms to new pastures. They had been there for a few weeks, and the supply of grass was getting low, and Lilly's first foray into life had been a success. They are very easy to round up as the five lambs are now used to eating from the trough in the pen, and the mums are always excluded, much to their constant annoyance, so when we want to catch them all we just let the mums in...... simple!
The rest of the other young mums are up on the hillside field, so it seemed best to reacquaint them all, my only reservation was Lilly..... Half the main flock are up there too with the lambs that were born earlier in the spring, Archie, Ted and Pixie included. It's odd though how they keep themselves separated into different areas within the field, with the younger ones staying much lower down, close to the lane in the village during the day... Lilly hasn't been in this field before and has never been in the company of so many sheep, so when we let Peewee, Lupin, Dixie, Tottie and the lambs out of the trailer, we watched the mums greet each other and then I had a walk round to check them the rest, with Lilly walking to heel, as all lambs do with their mums!! Then we left as we had lot to do today, leaving her by the gate, crying....
I went back with Lilly's next bottle of milk this afternoon, to find her not far from there I'd left her. She came racing up and was so pleased to see me, and by the size of her tummy she "hadn't" been there all day.... Nigel and I had agreed that the late evening feed could now be dropped but I went up to check on her just before it got dark, as I hate the fact that she might wait for me all night......
Lilly knows the sound of both our pick-up and the little white car, so when she heard me approaching, she had started to pace up and down the length of the wall.... No other sheep were in sight, the whole flock were safely together at the top, several hundred yards away, except two lambs on the ridge at the top of the little track.... then from out of the gloom came a call.... a mum calling to her twins and to Lilly.. and probably to me too..... I walked towards the chatter, through the monotones which come at that time of night, Lilly was so close that I could feel her leaning of my wellie as I walked, climbing the steep track onto the ridge.....
...then out of the darkness came my beautiful black girl.... Peewee was waiting for Lilly to come with her... she never ceases to amaze me... I fed Lilly her bottle and gave Peewee the handful of nuts that I'd taken with me... gave Lilly a nudge in the right direction, then started to make my way back down to the gate..... Lilly started to come with me... I turned her round and pushed her back, but after several attempt Peewee could see she wasn't going to come so the whole family came back down with me to the gate. I went to the car for another handful of nuts for Pees to reward her for being so clever, then said goodnight, patted them all on the head and drove away..... leaving Peewee to lead her twins and the lamb with which she empathises so much, back to the safety of the flock for the night...
I know Lilly is in good hands...... but perhaps she still needs this late feed until she has settled down again..... Its a big world for someone so little, even with the help of a superstar!
The rest of the other young mums are up on the hillside field, so it seemed best to reacquaint them all, my only reservation was Lilly..... Half the main flock are up there too with the lambs that were born earlier in the spring, Archie, Ted and Pixie included. It's odd though how they keep themselves separated into different areas within the field, with the younger ones staying much lower down, close to the lane in the village during the day... Lilly hasn't been in this field before and has never been in the company of so many sheep, so when we let Peewee, Lupin, Dixie, Tottie and the lambs out of the trailer, we watched the mums greet each other and then I had a walk round to check them the rest, with Lilly walking to heel, as all lambs do with their mums!! Then we left as we had lot to do today, leaving her by the gate, crying....
I went back with Lilly's next bottle of milk this afternoon, to find her not far from there I'd left her. She came racing up and was so pleased to see me, and by the size of her tummy she "hadn't" been there all day.... Nigel and I had agreed that the late evening feed could now be dropped but I went up to check on her just before it got dark, as I hate the fact that she might wait for me all night......
Lilly knows the sound of both our pick-up and the little white car, so when she heard me approaching, she had started to pace up and down the length of the wall.... No other sheep were in sight, the whole flock were safely together at the top, several hundred yards away, except two lambs on the ridge at the top of the little track.... then from out of the gloom came a call.... a mum calling to her twins and to Lilly.. and probably to me too..... I walked towards the chatter, through the monotones which come at that time of night, Lilly was so close that I could feel her leaning of my wellie as I walked, climbing the steep track onto the ridge.....
...then out of the darkness came my beautiful black girl.... Peewee was waiting for Lilly to come with her... she never ceases to amaze me... I fed Lilly her bottle and gave Peewee the handful of nuts that I'd taken with me... gave Lilly a nudge in the right direction, then started to make my way back down to the gate..... Lilly started to come with me... I turned her round and pushed her back, but after several attempt Peewee could see she wasn't going to come so the whole family came back down with me to the gate. I went to the car for another handful of nuts for Pees to reward her for being so clever, then said goodnight, patted them all on the head and drove away..... leaving Peewee to lead her twins and the lamb with which she empathises so much, back to the safety of the flock for the night...
I know Lilly is in good hands...... but perhaps she still needs this late feed until she has settled down again..... Its a big world for someone so little, even with the help of a superstar!
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