Normal people with normal lives wake up in the morning and I guess have a quiet cup of coffee or tea slowly make their preparations for the day, then dress accordingly for the jobs or tasks they will be tackling. Well we have once again entered that time of year when our days and nights are dictated by newborn lambs and gliding slowly into the morning is not a major feature of our day.
We have 3 lambs in the kitchen named Big, Medium and Small, no prizes for guessing why. They are all girls and Small is the noisiest. So often the case with the smallest. Last week Gavin was banished to the sofa so he would wake up for the 3 o'clock feed without disturbing me. (I figure I have done my bit with regard to middle of the night feeds.) My turn is often first thing in the morning and that is when the dilemmas begin, getting up and have to deciding what to do first. If I am crafty and tiptoe, turning as few lights on as possible, I can manage to make tea and have a quick cuppa before B,M and S wake.
So now the 4 legged ones are awake then we ascertain if the bottles are clean, is the milk mixed what clothing am I wearing is it suitable for feeding lambs. Should I have wellies on rather than slippers to protect from the morning ablutions. Should I in fact ditch the dressing gown for overalls incase there is poo involved..... What do I mean incase....they are babies there is always poo involved. But no, too many decisions for 6.30 in the morning we will opt for a large towel, a mop and bucket and a great deal of care where I place my slippers. Peace is achieved once the babies are fed then some semblance of normality is resumed such as it is here.
I asked the kids this evening whilst we were competing with baaing lambs, the washing machine on spin cycle, the television blasting out laughter from some American sitcom and all 5 of us talking at the same time (sorry Gavin, 4 of us as you gave up competing 20 years ago when Patrick was born) if all houses were noisy like ours? The response was "No,mostly they make no noise at all, in fact they are so quiet it as if no one is there". Well not much chance of that at Franklin's Fabulously Feisty Fiercly Abnormal Quirky Farm.
See you all soon
Helen