Home again

We got home late Tuesday night. Despite the phone calls from farm care takers about this and that crisis during our absence, we managed to unpack the car and go to bed. A first for me, not compulsively going out to personally check on each and every animal before retiring. The new level of trust and acceptance felt good.

Lambing happened while we were away during the coldest nights (-20F) and the snowiest nights. Some survived, some did not. Our care takers were overwhelmed AND kept their minds focused and took initiative wherever they could. I have since done some googling and researching about problems with lambing, and have some ideas why there were problems this year and not in the past, but most likely we'll never know exactly why...

We do have one bottle baby lamb in the house right now. Something is not quite right about him and perhaps his ewe momma was smart not to help him make it, but he's thriving despite his shaky beginnings and from some reading, I start to think maybe he'll turn out fine in the end. Anyone want a bottle fed lamb? I'd rather not keep him due to the conflict that arises as I become attached to an animal that is bound for the freezer.

I did ride twice since coming home. The arena is a mess so I rode on the road in front of the house, supporting each horse to let go of their ideas and feel better and better about my ideas which were simple: further down the road, further down the road with more forward energy, stop, turn on fore, turn on hind, small half circle, stuff like that. Proceeding even further into a small trail ride on the dirt road was not an option because at that point the dirt road was in full mud thaw condition, ie., slippery sloppy soupy muddy mess. I won't drive over it in that condition, nor will I ride over it.

Now they are again frozen, and covered with snow.

We have had more water trouble this winter than I recall. Hoses freezing, pipes freezing, tanks leaking. This means I spend more time with shovel and ice picks breaking frozen tanks, and pulling frozen hoses from snow banks, dragging them into the cellar so the ice can melt. Only one faucet and outside pipe froze. Currently we're hauling water for the goats and geese in that area. I'm fantasizing putting together a series of hoses and running water out there from the cellar. I hate hauling water!

Our time away was wonderful. We visited various of RNB's family members in California before we went to New Mexico for an advanced workshop on conscious couplehood with Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt. It's remarkable what miracles can happen with clear intention, willingness to do some hard work (looking inward, being emotionally honest, reaching out to support an other), and determination to nourish clarity, enthusiasm, and safety in a relationship.