Spring ups and downs

So I've been waiting for our new sheep vet from Wisconsin for a few hours now since I got home from my TRC shift...It's started to rain, I rescued the tomatoes by securing their frost blanket tent over them (the wind was insane for a bit), raked part of the yard, talked to the ducks for a while, successfully used my new chute to get the sheep into a smaller holding area where we can then push them into a squeeze of sorts. I really just want to get on with our Friday night but here I am half dozing off...Where is he? Life of a country vet I guess...A career I saw for myself for quite a while.

The sheep will be vaccinated, examined, and the doc will take a few samples for fecal parasite load tests, then we'll decide on a deworming regimen.  Many sheep parasites have become highly resistent to dewormers largely through improper use.


I still have three fleeces to skirt before I can send them off for processing.  While I'm waiting for them to come back (3-4 months at least!) I have some nice roving I bought at the festival last weekend to try to spin on my drop spindle. 

I really should get a move on and start halter training the sheep--something I should have done when we first got them.  I have so many things I need and want to do-I am struggling with how to prioritize them for my own sanity.

Animal health and happiness items are at the top of the list, but yesterday I managed to do something for me--I went rollerblading for the first time this year.  But of course while I was driving to the trailhead I found a young house finch on the road (after narrowly avoiding hitting him) The reason he didn't move when he saw the car approaching is that one of his eyes was glued shut--I approached him quietly from that side, and when I was almost in grabbing range he heard me and turned his head in my direction, and that's when I saw that his other eye was completely proptosed. (on the outside of his skull, not the inside)  : (   So sad!! He'd obviously flown into a car.  The other eye was already ruptured and they were both starting to dry up in the heat of the day.  Sorry if this is to graphic for some of you. 

I caught him quickly while ignoring the stupid speeding truck that somehow only managed to see me when he was 50 feet away on a straight road--he barely even slowed down, just swerved around.  I really hate drivers here. Almost all of them are like this it seems.

My plan was to try to rush to the nearest vet hospital to have him euthanized, so off I went, holding him in my left hand and driving stick with my right.  But on the way I realized I'd never make it in time, so I went to the trailhead where I was supposed to meet G, and I dispatched my small friend with soft apologies.

They might not be Darwin's finches, but house finches are very sweet and their songs helped bring us out of the long winter into the light of spring. So sniffling and teary eyed I went for my skate, thinking of the seawall in Stanley Park where I used to skate after work.  But I was soon distracted by the present, since the paved trail winds through forest and farmland and wetland and the smells and sounds were amazing! Sensory overload and some exercise is just what I needed. 

G caught up to me on his bike and we headed home, and right across the road from our house we spotted another Blanding's turtle, so that cheered me up as well.  I brought him through our pasture to the edge of the wetland so he could cross through the culvert under the road if he needed to.

So spring is wonderful here, but it does bring huge numbers of injured and killed wildlife.  It's a reminder to me to get my 'snapping turtle rescue kit' into the car, and a few containers and towels for catching and transporting other types of beasts.

I'm hoping for more rain tonight, and some thunderstorms.  And one of the most wonderful spring time experiences: American toad symphonies. I heard them a few days ago, just a few of them--tuning up for the big show no doubt. It's so loud we can hear it in the house with all the windows closed. It just resonates something in your brain and makes it impossible to be unhappy.

Well I just heard from the vet and he'll be another hour, so I must get my evening duties started before he arrives.

Hang in there sheepies, all will be well.