Little Bo Peep Lost Her Sheep, or Never a Dull Moment, or All We Are Like Sheep and Have Gone Astray

Yesterday was Week 2 of Farmer's Market and we were pleased to see another great turnout. So many people want to shop locally and know their farmer. Cool. I baked even more goodies this week and sold out. We also made some great barters with some of the other producers- hamburger buns and pizza crusts for hand-crafted soaps, and pizza crusts for organic salad greens and gourmet croutons. We met lots of people and had a wonderful time talking nutrition, agriculture and community. One of my favorite things.

On Friday afternoon, the sheep were hanging out by the stream. Ewes were developing a bit of an udder. We looked on the calendar and predicted babies sometime the first part of May. These girls are timid, so it is a bit hard to do an easy up-close and personal obgyn visit. They will come to me if I call them, but they are not as friendly as the goats who think they are part human. Well, by Friday night, the sheep, Ruth, Naomi (dorset-mix) and Boaz(the Jacob Sheep ram) were missing. I looked around Saturday morning and they were not in their usual grazing field. We have 5 acres of woods, so occasionallly they hide out over there. Saturday evening these sheep were not around either.

This morning I made the executive decision to go to church and then come home and search. Got home. Changed clothes. Put on farm shoes. Headed to the woods. It just doesn't take that long to cover 20 acres. Those sheep were gone. I found a hole in the fence leading to the neighbors' hundred acres of woods and bramble bushes. I remembered the sermon today taken from the Gospel of John, chapter 10 about Jesus the Good Shepherd. I remembered verse three and following: "and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice." Walking up and down through the woods and brush I called out to Ruth, Naomi and Boaz. I told them they should come on home and I would take care of them and their babies and give them organic alfalfa pellets and fresh cool water. Farther and farther from home I hiked. It takes a long time to cover 100 acres. Further up the ridge I continued to call and a nice loud "Baaaaah" met my ears. "Thank you, God!" Tucked in the middle of the briars were my 2 lovely ewes and wonderfully protective daddy, Boaz. AND 2 little black lambies! What joy! I went over to pick up the incredibly healthy little boy and girl. Two black woolly little things in arms, I headed down the mountain back home. Mama Ruth was a bit put out, but she and Naomi and Boaz followed me back to the luxury suite in the barn. What a happy day! I love our life on the farm.