Counting sheep 1..2..3..4....5....6....500

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not so cute ..

My first experience of just how farm-like this place is, not only did I stain my nice white pumps with green lamb poo!! I was covered in mud and God only knows what else when I got back. Needless to say I will be better dressed in 'farm' clothes next time.

It didn't start great as Cherrie took some of the children up while I tried to pull together an outfit that was acceptable as 'rough clothes'. It ended with leggings, a strap top with another over the top and the only shoes I has which weren't stappy sandles or heels, I did look at myself in the mirror and didn't think I had gotten it spot on really.

So armed with my not so great clothes, my phone and Gus the dog I started down the path;

Just go down to the paddock, straight, you can't get lost

hhhmmm.... Well technically I didn'get lost, but as i started walking it started getting warmer and the landscape here is amazing anyway so I was content to walk and look, but after what felt about 10minutes I came to the next house on the farm, Lindon and Janines, by this time I thought i would have seen at least one person so I was sure I was lost, I'couldn't see anyone or hear any sheep. I kept walking a few minutes and knowing Cherrie had left her phone at home and Tay would be on her bike, she would never here her phone, I just had to keep walking. I was having visons of me turning up hours late to a roar of laughter at how I had missed something so obvious as 500 lambs and the whole extended family. Luckly my search party arrived (Cherrie had gone to get Jonte, but I like to think it was my search party) the green van came bumping and shaking up the dirt track towards me and I jumped in complaining Jonte had given me duff directions which Cherrie replied

No he didn't, your just not there yet!

I'm not joking I think it would take about 25-30minutes to walk to this sheep shed and it isn't even that far in comparision to the farm on a whole. After realising I would not attempt to walk to anywhere here again, we arrived to the strongest stench of sheep poo I have ever smelt! It is so bad! After an introduction to what everyone was doing, it was a bit unclear as everyone seemed to know what they were doing and people just got involved or just got in the pens with the lambs. Lambs by the way are not as cute when they are covered in poo or if they still have all the green yukky stuff from being born all over their bums ohh and they smell of poo. Tay picked up the smallest lamb to show me and before I knew it I was holding the green slim covered thing, after the shock of it not being very attractive looking i could feel it shaking and started to feel it's coat which was suprisingly very tough and not soft at all. I put it back in the pen and Tay and I jumped over the fence to get inside the pen with them. At first I thought I was going to be stompt to death by hundreds of lambs, but everytime I moved they ran away from me, it made me feel safer at least, but have I mentioned the smell!!!

After jumping over fences to get in the pens I watched Gerry, Andrew, Ian, Lindon and Damo along with some others I still haven't managed to remeber their names. They lifted them by two legs each and put them in a blue torture looking device which clamped their hind legs up so Ian could get to their tails and balls. (I'll be uploading a picture so it's clearer as my description probably isn't very good) So their clamped still in this spinning torture thingy and the first person tags them by piercing their ear with a little numbered tag, then they are given a vaccine, have their tails and balls tied with a really tight band and then sprayed so they don't get maggots and infections and things.

All in all it was pretty interesting and the lambs started to look cute once they had the vaccine as they became all doppy and start to wobble.



After that Tay and I took her Quad and went on a tour of the farm 😊 I'll blog that next

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Photos

Said spinning torture thingy
This holds them still and them flips them out again

Vaccine
Lindon giving the vaccine

Byebye balls
Ian tying their balls and tails. You can see Andrew in the back ground with the pink spray, thats the last step before being tossed back onto the ground

So many lambs
From inside the pen

Comments

[Jackie Ellis-Hall]

In the thick of it already!
Wow Rachel, certainly no times been wasted on you getting into Aussie way of life. Sounds wonderful even tho a bit cringy! Don't worry you'll soon get used to all that sheepy stuff I bet. How exciting for you.........not knowing what tomorrow will bring. Good luck to you and be happy xxx PS.......you won't believe this but the flowers you got me are still blooming beautifully! Longest lasting flowers I've ever had. Thank you xx