You know that old saying "mama said there'd be days like this"? Well, I don't ever remember my mama saying that, but if she did today would be one of those days. It started first thing this morning. I got out of bed and went to brush my teeth. Turned on the hot water and...nothing. It froze up last night. But my morning routine wasn't all that interrupted without hot water. I sit down at my computer to make sure things are going okay at work and I get a message that something's messed up. Great, well, I'll have to get to it a little later because I'm supposed to go check on the lambs this morning. I put my Michelin man suit on and drive to Dad's.
I knew it was a bad sign when I walk into the nursery and the lambs are shivering. They hadn't eaten all night. Some mom's have a thicker teat plug (it is exactly what it sounds like) than others. That it is a good thing because it prevents mastitis, which is what the first ewe had on one side. Back to the story at hand; Apparently the enzymes in the lambs mouth and/or the sucking strength wasn't enough to break it loose. I got it un-plugged and tried to get the lambs to eat. It always seems like if a lamb goes more than a few hours without that first shot of milk, it is almost impossible to get them to going after that. So Dad and I milk a bit out and feed the lambs with a bottle. Dad then decided that we might try mixing some vitamin D milk and honey to get something in them and might make them hungry to try eating on their own again. We decide to leave them for a while.
So it's back to home and the problem at work. I decided that it would take too long to try and fix it from home so I drive into work. Let's just say I made good time. Once I get to looking, it's not a problem really, just a matter of timing.
So it's back to home and check on the lambs once more. It didn't look like they had made any progress, so I tried to get them eating again. I was successful with one, but the other one didn't act very interested and it had a wet mouth. I think maybe it had already gotten a little bit on it's own. So my day is starting to look up.
Jerry and I make a quick trip to OKC, and then it's time to feed. While I was feeding I saw both lambs eat at least once. I don't think any more will be born tonight.
So that was my day. It started out pretty bad, but gradually got better. The lambs aren't out of the woods yet, but I'm beginning to see some daylight. And still no hot water. Cleaning up tonight might be a little interesting, but on the bright side...we do have cold water. I'm trying to look at the glass as half-full...of cold water. ;)
By the way, Happy Valentine's Day! I got beautiful roses from my Honey. I hope it was a good day for everybody.
