I’ll bet that is one of the world’s first book launches that involved a newborn lamb. Many thanks to Zachary and Kirstan Bennett for letting us borrow their wee one for part of Saturday. He was quite an attraction and stole the show more than a few times. I also think he deserves credit for selling a few books.
When I arrived at Rooney Feeds Saturday morning, the lamb
was happily curled up in a ball at the end of its trough-bed, in a blanket. The
resident cat at the store, Peanut Butter, was struggling with conflicting
emotions of curiosity and disgust at the new smells in the room. Everything was
fine until the lamb demonstrated his ability to leap out of his confines and
roam around the room. Peanut Butter leapt to safety on the store counter,
craning his neck around the corner to see the lamb as it explored its
surroundings. As the lamb bumped its nose into the reflection in the glass
showcase, Peanut Butter nearly fell off his perch. Slightly humiliated, he
decided to go outside for a while to get away from the little
attention-stealer.
There was a steady flow of people through the store, some on
regular farm business and some had specifically come to get a book. At the end
of three hours, I had had six cups of coffee, far too many Timbits, and I had
sold twenty-two books. Not bad for a first book launch event, in a feed store. In
January, during freezing rain.
Audrey said it was a quiet time of year, because most things
are in the freezer now, their heads cut off.
Huh??
“The animals,” she said. “They’re in the freezer. The
farmers don’t come to the feed store when the animals are in the freezer.”
Oh. I get it. Mini heart attack there for a moment.
Well we did pretty well despite the slow season, as far as
I’m concerned.
The best part of hanging around the feed store is the
stories you hear from the farmers. Audrey and Quinlan share the ups and downs,
the joys and sorrows with all of their customers, and get to know them well.
They know who had to put a horse down, and whose sheep just had quadruplets.
They don’t just sell feed in that store. They educate new
customers – city folk turned farmers – on how to feed their new animals. They
share stories of trial and error, success and mistakes, so that we can all
learn from each other. The food store is the hub of the farm community.
For the rest of this mild wintry weekend we stuffed the
dogs’ houses with fresh hay and watched as they snuggled in for long afternoon
naps. I chopped up some apples and fed them to the cows as they socialized
around the hay bales. Mocha swipes the apple sections with her long sandpaper
tongue wrapped around my wrist, leaving a rash-like mark. Betty is also greedy
with her grabbing. Ginger has just become brave enough to eat from my hand in
recent months. She is very gentle with her nibble. But the softest, most timid
and polite bite of all is from Dono, the big bull. Normally I stand with a gate
between us and toss him the apples. Today I fed him by hand. I had Betty to
protect me if he decided to charge. He was very tame with his previous owners
and he is very well-treated here so he should be fine but, you know what they
say. Never turn your back on a bull.
Gina still shows no sign of ‘bagging up’, preparing an udder
for an impending birth. Once again, the first cow to give birth will likely be
a surprise. We don’t have any expectant heifers this year so everyone is
experienced and, theoretically, it should be an easy calving season on the
farm.
My bet is on Betty to go first. She is off by herself while
everyone else is eating, lying in the straw, staring off toward the
snow-covered meadow, chewing her cud. She probably misses the long walks she
takes in the warmer months, sampling different clovers and grasses in every
field. With ice under foot and snowdrifts to navigate, everyone moves a little
more slowly this time of year. She stands up, does a strange yoga move to
stretch, and takes a wander along the well-beaten path around the barnyard.
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