Before Bartleby got his tail docked and his testicles banded, he and his mother got separated from the herd this morning. The sheep are in the back pasture, much of it overgrown with tall grass and bushes (we are clearing it). When the sheep came down, I couldn’t find the lamb or his mother. Several hours later, they was no trace of them. So I got concerned. Sent Rose up out of sight over the top of the hill and she disappeared for awhile. I couldn’t hear or see anything. Then I heard some rustling and the three of them came down. It was slow going, I could see, because the mom kept slowing for Bartleby, and Rose had to stop and wait for them.

There are lots of deep woods up the hill and coyotes and foxes at night, a long trek there for a ewe and a lamb. Easy to get cut off or picked off. Going to keep these two in a paddock for awhile but I don’t know if they would have found their way back without Rose. She always gets it done. New sheep arrived today and they are in the meadow across from the farmhouse. The farm is coming back to life, and I have mixed feelings about it, though I like the farm being a working farm again.