Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Babies on Sylvan Drive

No, not human babies.  These little darlings are the four-legged kind.
On Sunday, thanks to the generosity of our very kind and helpful friend Jim Mumaw, these cute lambs became the newest inhabitants of our farmette.  Jeff put up an electric fence to divide the pasture so the lambs can have one side and the dogs can have the other.  In the pictures, it's hard to determine how big they are because there's nothing to compare them to; but they are actually smaller than our dogs and probably wouldn't have much of a chance if they were in an area that the dogs could reach.  That electric fence has done the job though; it didn't take the dogs too long at all to figure out that they'd better stay away!

The lambs' primary job is to be lawnmowers and keep the grass in their part of the pasture down--best-looking lawnmowers we've ever had.  The calves we've had in previous years were sort of cute, but these black beauties beat them hands down.  Their secondary job is to grow big and fat so that (though I don't like to think about it yet) they can be slaughtered for meat.  I hope by then they've lost some of their cuteness so that my sentimental side doesn't get all teary.  Maybe I'll find a convenient excuse to be gone the day that Jim and Jeff do what farmers and hunters have done for centuries so I don't make a fool of myself.  ;)

In the meantime...isn't that the most lovable face?!  :)

3 comments:

Lisa said...

SO CUTE!!

Sally said...

How nice! They are cute! Believe me, though, they can get a bit mean and butt you around when they get big, so you might not have too much trouble at the end. But you are right to enjoy them now.

bekahcubed said...

You had me scared for a moment there--my first thought on seeing "Babies on Sylvan Drive" in my RSS feed was "Two of them?" My second thought was "Not at 32 weeks--it's too soon!"

I've just started in the Neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital I'm working in--and while the prognosis for preemies gets better and better--I still wouldn't wish it on anyone. So I'm glad to hear that the babies on Sylvan Drive are goats!

I'm praying for David, and your knee, and that you'll have a healthy term baby!