Take the time

Photos by Jenny Ellison


Sometimes it takes fresh eyes to see the sheep as they really are.

Sister-in-law Jenny and niece Becca brought Grandma Alice up for fiber day and spent some time in the barnyard. Their favorite lamb was of course Little Bit, in spite, or perhaps because of his scrawniness. But a close second was Chewie, who is out of his cast and getting around pretty well.

We found Apple Blossom, the ewe Becca adopted several years ago. I had taken her photo and we used that photo to identify Apple Blossom by the black dot on her nose and her ears that stuck straight out. Without the photo, I’m not sure I would have found Apple Blossom. She had lost her tag and been retagged. Becca was glad to see her and even happier to see that she had had two babies, a boy and a girl. Maybe we’ll be able to add Apple Blossom’s daughter to our flock this year. I couldn’t have picked her out of the flock. It took careful looking on Becca’s and my part.

Jenny took the time to really watch the lambs and found some wonderful images.

A good lesson for me. Take the time to really watch. All to easily they become nothing more than mouths that have to be fed. I forget to sit in the sun and appreciate the warmth, the soft wind on my face and the baaing of the ewes and their lambs checking up on each other.

Take the time. It should be a mantra for this decade of my life. Take the time.



Little Bit, Chewie and Becca and I