MISSING FEBRUARY

 

As we age, it is necessary to give up some of the things we have been passionate about in our earlier years.  For me, probably the hardest of these, was giving up the role of shepherdess in the monastery, something I did for over 30 years.  When I first came to Shaw Island, we had a mixed breed of sheep, but I was anxious to take on a breed in need of “saving”, and one that was more versatile, as well as providing the monastery with income. (See Blog 3/16/13 for information on the breeed).

 

Thanks to my father, we were able to acquire 2 pregnant Cotswold ewes, who gave us twins.  Next year we added three more ewes and a ram to the flock and it was probably divine intervention that led us to one of the finest flocks in North America. We were often told that we had sheep whose fiber equaled that of the British sheep and our flock provided stock all across the USA as well as Canada. We won many prizes for the wool and on several occasions we had the best ewe and ram at National shows. At one show our ewes even made local TV!

Recently I came across some photos I will share:

Photos: 

Top:  our first born lamb, Cordelia

Middle:  James with a curious  Ariela

Left:  Prize wool

Bottom two:  our Dutch intern Marijka with the last born twins: Effie & Gracie

Yes, I miss February lambing:  going out in the dark, cold starry nights, to the tune of peepers singing on the pond. But now all that is but a memory and I leave the joys to another generation of nuns.