It would be relaxing, they said. It would be FUN.

Guys, I'm exhausted. It's not even 5pm, and I'm contemplating to go to bed. Yes, it was one of those days. 

Let me paint you a picture: 

This morning I slept in longer than usual. By the time I got up, it was almost 9am, and instead of having coffee first (which is what I should have done), I made the fatal decision to "quickly go outside and feed the horses (and the cows, sheep, goats, and llamas)". There I was, stumbling around like a drunk, because not only was I still half asleep, I also forgot to put on my glasses, so everything was blurry. 

I threw some hay to the horses, let the dogs out, and then made my way to the cow pasture. There, outside the fence, was Norman.  

"Norman, how did you get out?" I asked him in dismay. He's our baby, a 7 months-old bull calf, and a typical teenager. He just looked at me, mooing softly. I took this to meaning that he was ready to join the herd again. 

"Come on, you little rascal," I said, opened the gate and tried to shoo him in. 

Enter Nina. 

See how Nina was stalking Nick a couple of weeks ago? 

Well, she was doing the same to Norman this morning. He bolted, and before I could close the gate, so did Nick (the horse) and Polly (one of the cows - not the mom) - they ran right past me, and I swear, they gave me the finger as they streaked past.  

Now everyone was in a tizzy: Mama Molly mooed for her calf, Gabi mooed because she's vocal and an asshole, and Norman mooed because he wanted to go back to mama. 

I cursed. Remember, I hadn't had a single sip of coffee yet - but I also wasn't tired any more. My blood was pumping, and adrenaline was flowing!

I fed the goats (they were screaming their little hearts out as well, naturally) and the sheep, and then I tried to catch the escapees. I did get the horse and put him back on the pasture. But the cows were hopeless. Until I learn to lasso like our farrier, there was no hope that I would catch them.

I trudged inside, and informed Rich about everything that was going on. He was unconcerned - "we will get them later". I finally got to drink my coffee, and relaxed. 

Too soon, as it turned out. 

When Rich joined me in the dining room, he spied our young ram who escaped yesterday. 

Oh, have I not mentioned him?

Here's what happened:   

One of our teenaged boy sheep scaled a 4-foot gate yesterday and escaped his enclosure. 

We saw him booking it to the barn, and Rich and I bolted after him. However, we still don't have a sheep-proof fence, so he simply ducked under it and ran over to the neighbour's place, Rich and I in hot pursuit. We cornered him behind a car, I chased him around towards Rich - and the sheep boy jumped up, hit Rich in the head, and kept running.   

We tried a few more times, but to no avail. 

This morning, when we saw him again, we jumped on our ATV and tried to catch him. 

The fun part was that the entire neighbourhood got to watch: He ran through several neighbour's properties, startling their horses and other livestock, and we followed him by darting in and out of people's driveways, cutting through their yards and fields and pastures. 

Long story short: We didn't get him. I blame the lack of proper fencing around here, they are not sheep-proof at all. As I said to Rich: "I want a wall, and I want you to pay for it."

We haven't given up yet: He's still around, and with a proper net (or something), we'll hopefully get him.   

What an exhausting way to spend a Sunday. 

But on the bright side, we did reunite Norman and Polly with the other two cows!

Three down, one to go. We can do this. 

Maybe.

P.S. In just a few short hours, I'll send out my next newsletter, and this time I'm talking eggs, potatoes, and coffee beans - and it has nothing to do with cooking. Intrigued? Sign up here!

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