Stunning characters and silly stories from Ridgeland Farm. It's all about 'being here'!
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Hym Yah
9th June 2010: It's a sad day here, we lost little Hym Yah, his battle became too much.
He was born the first and largest of triplets in 2009 to Pale Face, our oldest ewe. All Pale Face's lambs need hand feeding as at the age of 12 she can no lopnger let down her milk but she will mother them beautifully. The DEAL is - she gives birth, I feed them and then she takes over all the hand fed lambs on the farm and mothers them all. We both know the score, and it works beautifully.
She had given us twin 8 years out of 10 and triplets twice. 2009 it was triplets again, now that's always an arm full of bottles for nana Ada!
Hym Yah was so faithfull to his mummy, he was always seen with her and was last up to the bottle. He had a battle from the start to gain strength, but oh how he tried. Normal lambs bleat, Baaaaa, not this guy, he was so weak he just cried 'hmmm-yaaah...' and that's how he got his name.
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He became a character, tenatiously following mummy and always delighting children who came to visit him.
We know... when a lamb struggles, or a sheep gets seriously sick, damage is done to some internal organ. We don't delude ourselves anymore that they are ever 'cured', we just try our best to get them over it and to reward them with a few good days or months, a little sunshine, a little joy, a little life.
Hym Yah took his chance at life and excelled as at simply 'being'.
I can't say the battle overtook him, because he remaind bright eyed and bright of heart right to the end, but yesterday his body ceased to work.
Today I'm a little damp of eye. We don't farm animal here - we care for characters.
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Lambing 2008 has begun... and I began 'Their Story'.
Now, Lambing 2009 is almost underway and it has brought tragedy for both #129 and Wanda. Things are different here - 'real' sheep farmers tell you to cull the problems, we try our best to give them LIFE. 2009 and we have burried 7 stillborn lambs and 'Wanda' is gone. We lost two living treasures of Ridgeland within a couple of weeks, Wanda and Harold the aged turkey.
At least Pale Face is still here and at twelve years of age - still pregnant...
This page is updated as time allows and as the life of Ridegland unfolds...
There's an amazing story to be told on Ridgeland Farm, wont you join us?
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 # 129  # 147 
& Wanda - she's usually hiding!
Lambing 2008
First to lamb this year was #129.
We were so excited to have her produce. She'd had two bad years. 2006 her ewe lamb drowned in a water trough. The lamb had jumped in and become straddled over the edge. When Evan found her in the morning she'd worn her hind feet away trying to climb out. Mum still stood beside her. The rest of the ewes stood for hours just watching the trough, we had to move them on because no one would go to drink.
2007 there was a storm, the day #129 birthed. The land was a sodden mess and ewes were dropping lambs early in fright and into puddles.
Two hours into the morning we rescued #129 and coaxed her with her twins across one field, through a fence, up another paddock and into the Wool shed. We still had Boy (the old dog’s) electric blanket and after rubbing down the lambs and securing Mum, we popped then onto the warm electric blanket and went back to rescue more. The day wore on and ewes were up-righted, and hauled in all directions. The wind blew as we had never felt it before and rain pelted our heads. We felt numb. What we didn’t realise was that shortly after we left the wool shed, the power went off! = two cold dead lambs, one broken ewe.
That day Wanda also gave birth – to two limp gloves in a puddle. Now Wanda is really special - (and her amazing story deserves telling in person!), but, as we do... we rescued her lambs that day as well. I was at the point of exhaustion by the time we found Wanda, I handed the one I thought had the best chance of life to our daughter to rush to the house and revive if in a warm bath, and struggled up the paddock with the least of them. The warm bath water baby did survive, we called him Gussy, and by day three I took him back to his Mum.
There was something quite unusual that happened that year - the experts called it a 'weather bomb' vitrually a mini cyclone - but at our place, the work had to go on, and the animals behaved just as uniquely as the weather. They seemed to wait for us to help, there was an expectancy. They looked to us as though knowing we would put it right. Its a big ask - much as we try we seldom put it right!
Day three, and Wanda still mourned her babies. Suddenly we appeared in the paddock and ONE head lifted up... "What you got for me?"...
Now when you hear Wanda's full story you will understand that this wiley, wild, one eyed wench was far from friendly. She had been 'tamed' a fraction by a pile of persimon fruit, but watched the world with great suspicion from her one eye, and all her other sences made up for the loss.
So - ONE head and ONE eye watched us. "What have you got there...?" The moment she spotted that lamb she begand to do the motherhood mutter and over the next 10 to 15 minutes I coaxed closer with sheep nuggets and soft words... "Wanda's Baa-aaa, Wanda's Baa-aaa..."
Footnote: 2008 - 2009 Wanda's story continued and we will tell you in person...
...to be continued... possibly over a glass of wine in the kitchen!
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 Perch at the counter and enjoy the view while your hosts prepare and evening meal. |
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Vacation Home – Romantic Getaway – Business Retreat – Family Vacation – Honeymoon – Corporate Hideaway – Conference Venue – Interactive Farmstay – South Suffolk Sheep Farm. All you need for the perfect place to stay - here in this Self Contained – Bed & Breakfast – Accommodation.
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