Yes, 13 years ago we had a very small and informal ceremony at our home church, with only the pastor presiding, and the three sons still at home – Richard, Jason and Jonathan - as witnesses.
Today was even more low key. We spent the morning loading up a group of 12 sheep and goats for delivery to a very nice lady, Lillie, in Lacey Springs, Alabama. Jonathan helped us catch all our goats and sheep so I could give them worming medicine, then load the twelve Lillie had chosen onto the truck.
It was a wrench letting them go, though I know it’s necessary. Jess and I can no longer handle these critters routinely for the care they need. There were some beautiful ram lambs, and lovely ewes, and my very handsome and loveable ram that sired all this years lambs.
This flock represents almost a decade long breeding program with the Shetland sheep, working for easy lambing, good disposition and moorit colors. (Moorit is a term from the Shetland Islands for a lovely reddish-brown color.)
Sometimes the timing is just off. Jess and I met too late in life to realize some of our shared dreams, like having a BIG farm and LOTS of animals.
(This picture was taken at the Kings 2005 reunion in Oklahoma.)We’ve enjoyed our smaller farm and critters, but it’s time now to let the larger animals go. We've already sold several animals, and have four more to deliver. And I know Lillie will take very good care of the critters she got today. We’ll keep a few of the older ewes and a couple of older goats to graze down the pastures, but concentrate more on fowl creatures. They’re easier to handle!
The pastures are looking a lot emptier these days.
But our lives are still full, and Happy Anniversary to us!
1 comments:
When we made the decision to stop raising livestock it was hard, but when it was done (or almost, we have geriatric goats) there were sighs of relief. We have birds left and for me now, that's enough. My back is grateful for this.
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