Poor baby

(a not smiling Luna)

Poor, poor Luna. I'm trying to wean her off the bottle and she is resisting with all her little might. She is, after all,  three months old now and everyone else was weaned nearly a month ago. I continued her twice a day bottles because she is still much smaller than everyone, ( there's a reason why we call her "Shrimp" ) and, well okay, I'll admit that I love having her still think of me as her mommy and the source of all good things. Next week we will be gone from the farm for a few days and I'm pretty sure my son and his family ( who will be farm-sitting ) won't want to be fixing bottles for my baby. So, the cold, hard reality of growing up is making Luna sad right now. This morning was the worst. To make up for missing out on one of her bottles, she apparently super-sized her helpings of grass and grain and ended up with some, umm, to put it as nicely as I can, digestive issues. So, when I put the halter on her, she was sure it meant play time, out and about with mom. She was very disappointed to learn that it meant getting a shampoo with extra time spent detailing her back end ( and, by the way, anyone who has been watching the lambcam and seen me catching lambs and hauling-sometimes dragging-them out, that's what they were headed for.......a "special" shampoo and a dose of medicine ). In the hot weather we've been having, messy bottoms are an invitation for big-time trouble with fly-strike. It makes me shudder to even say those words.

One of the reasons I enjoy my bottle babies so much is that it bonds them to me in a special way. If I walked out in the field where the adult ewes are spending their time, all my past year's bottle babies would come right to me, looking for a little attention. I love that. I have no doubt that had I left Olive with her mother  ( Miss Bossy ) she would be a nut case, just like her mom. Instead, she's a sweetheart.
( Dare I say, just like me? hahaha.....don't anyone answer that. )

We've got some family coming for  Father's Day weekend and are hoping for a chance to put the boat in the water for the first time this year ( see previous post about work schedules on the farm  ). Wish us luck with that !