| MEET THE SHEPHERDS: The Before or IF WE CAN, YOU CAN |
We have now been in business 4 years - which makes this story a diary...
Four years ago, if you had told me that I'd be sitting at a computer
working on my first web pages ever, I'd have questioned your sanity.
Especially web pages about sheep. What God has planned...
This is where we were:
My husband, Tom, was suffering from a bad case of downsizing at his
job - anyone who's experienced this will relate to the feelings of anger
and fear and (sometimes) despair that attack a person's ego. We are
indeed a "throw away" society, but it doesn't build self-confidence to
know that you're the "garbage" being pitched today. More
demoralizing was the company "fix-it" of "work three months, lay-off
two, work three months, ...". There is no closure, and no "movin' on".
Emotions run high, savings run out, and "where do we go from here?"
included (on really bad days) leave the farm to the Bank and move
somewhere else.
job - anyone who's experienced this will relate to the feelings of anger
and fear and (sometimes) despair that attack a person's ego. We are
indeed a "throw away" society, but it doesn't build self-confidence to
know that you're the "garbage" being pitched today. More
demoralizing was the company "fix-it" of "work three months, lay-off
two, work three months, ...". There is no closure, and no "movin' on".
Emotions run high, savings run out, and "where do we go from here?"
included (on really bad days) leave the farm to the Bank and move
somewhere else.
I was employed at a local cheese factory, but I knew my days were
numbered. I had suffered a serious injury to my right arm and
shoulder which became chronic as I used it day after day. It became
apparent to me that I would never heal unless I found a less
repetitive job, but the question was, what? At the time, I couldn't
even open a jar of pickles or stir a batch of brownies. Who wants to
hire someone with those qualifications? The worst part was my
feeling of worthlessness/inadequacy - if you're an over-achiever,
you'll know what I mean. Nothing quite like negative emotions
feeding on negative emotions: Tom and I were quite a pair.
numbered. I had suffered a serious injury to my right arm and
shoulder which became chronic as I used it day after day. It became
apparent to me that I would never heal unless I found a less
repetitive job, but the question was, what? At the time, I couldn't
even open a jar of pickles or stir a batch of brownies. Who wants to
hire someone with those qualifications? The worst part was my
feeling of worthlessness/inadequacy - if you're an over-achiever,
you'll know what I mean. Nothing quite like negative emotions
feeding on negative emotions: Tom and I were quite a pair.
One of the reasons that we weren't concerned about Buddy is that we
weren't concerned about much of anything any more. Since we hadn't
made up our minds whether or not to keep our property, we just
stopped doing things around the place. In hindsight, I'm not proud of
this, but at the time it didn't make sense to put a lot of work into a
place we weren't going to be at to enjoy. We let the fences go, stopped
chopping weeds, filled the barns up with junk, let our neighbor use our
paddocks as a dead car graveyard, and withdrew into a useless state of
misery. It may be true that things can always be worse, but to live
without Hope is as close to the bottom as you can get.
weren't concerned about much of anything any more. Since we hadn't
made up our minds whether or not to keep our property, we just
stopped doing things around the place. In hindsight, I'm not proud of
this, but at the time it didn't make sense to put a lot of work into a
place we weren't going to be at to enjoy. We let the fences go, stopped
chopping weeds, filled the barns up with junk, let our neighbor use our
paddocks as a dead car graveyard, and withdrew into a useless state of
misery. It may be true that things can always be worse, but to live
without Hope is as close to the bottom as you can get.
Meanwhile, out in California, our Silent Partner (Jean Hayden, my
fabulous mother) was worrying about the state of the union (ours), and
wondering when we were going to get it together. After seven years on
The Coast, she was looking for a way to be more involved with her
Family, who all live in the Midwest. She asked me if there was any
reason why our acreage wasn't paying for itself - "Because we're all in a
blue funk of depression," didn't seem like a good answer, so I told her
I'd do some research online to see what types of small livestock might
generate a decent return. She said, "Let me know." You know what
happened next; at least you think you do.
fabulous mother) was worrying about the state of the union (ours), and
wondering when we were going to get it together. After seven years on
The Coast, she was looking for a way to be more involved with her
Family, who all live in the Midwest. She asked me if there was any
reason why our acreage wasn't paying for itself - "Because we're all in a
blue funk of depression," didn't seem like a good answer, so I told her
I'd do some research online to see what types of small livestock might
generate a decent return. She said, "Let me know." You know what
happened next; at least you think you do.
This is the part you know:
I saw Icelandic sheep
on the Internet.
I went to the ISBONA website.
I read enough about the breed
to become interested,
so we contacted a "local" breeder,
and took a long Sunday drive
to meet the creatures face-to-face.
Let me say that March
in the Midwest isn't the best month
to view Icelandics for the first time.
The scenery is gray and dreary,
most barnyards are wet
and muddy,
and most flocks have been shorn
for lambing, so you don't get
the full effect of an animal
"in the fleece".
In spite of all this, it was love at first sight.
The first thing that struck me was the size of the animals. I thought,
"Wow, I could handle one of those by myself if I had to!" This should be a
major deal to you ladies out there that may be the primary shepherd. The
second thing I thought was "Wow, look at all the colors !" This was a
major deal because it dawned on me that these sheep had a marketable
product growing on their backs - I had never raised sheep for fleece
before. The third thing I thought was "Wow, those horns are AWESOME,
just like a Dall sheep! I could do some cool stuff with those horns!"
THEN I saw a day-old Icelandic lamb, and I knew I just had to have some
of my own.
I saw Icelandic sheep
on the Internet.
I went to the ISBONA website.
I read enough about the breed
to become interested,
so we contacted a "local" breeder,
and took a long Sunday drive
to meet the creatures face-to-face.
Let me say that March
in the Midwest isn't the best month
to view Icelandics for the first time.
The scenery is gray and dreary,
most barnyards are wet
and muddy,
and most flocks have been shorn
for lambing, so you don't get
the full effect of an animal
"in the fleece".
In spite of all this, it was love at first sight.
The first thing that struck me was the size of the animals. I thought,
"Wow, I could handle one of those by myself if I had to!" This should be a
major deal to you ladies out there that may be the primary shepherd. The
second thing I thought was "Wow, look at all the colors !" This was a
major deal because it dawned on me that these sheep had a marketable
product growing on their backs - I had never raised sheep for fleece
before. The third thing I thought was "Wow, those horns are AWESOME,
just like a Dall sheep! I could do some cool stuff with those horns!"
THEN I saw a day-old Icelandic lamb, and I knew I just had to have some
of my own.
Add to the mix our middle son,
Buddy,
who was the Poster Child
for "laid back".
It seemed that he was going to make a career out of Playstation 2
and Sleeping In - neither of which pays very well.
"What do you want to be
when you grow up"
never got a response;
he had no idea what he wanted,
and maybe had no intention of "growing up".
Since he rarely showed his face upstairs
except at meal times,
and never added to the family turmoil,
we just resigned ourselves to having a large child living in our basement
forever,
sort of like a feral gerbil.
Buddy,
who was the Poster Child
for "laid back".
It seemed that he was going to make a career out of Playstation 2
and Sleeping In - neither of which pays very well.
"What do you want to be
when you grow up"
never got a response;
he had no idea what he wanted,
and maybe had no intention of "growing up".
Since he rarely showed his face upstairs
except at meal times,
and never added to the family turmoil,
we just resigned ourselves to having a large child living in our basement
forever,
sort of like a feral gerbil.