I peered down in the stall until I could see this wet, gangly little think laying in the straw.  Smeagle was licking it forcefully.  It was a little bloody, but was clearly alive.  “I had to help her,” said Kathy.  “I could see the head coming out, but it seemed to be stuck.

Smeagle was clearly bonding with the little lamb.  The licking was a very good sign.

After about 15 minutes, Smeagle was standing near the back wall of the stall when suddenly out of her backside a mostly whiteish thing plopped soggily to the floor and lay perfectly immobile.  We both stared at it, marveling how quickly Smeagle had ejected the second lamb.  “I hope it’s not dead,” said Kathy.  But after about 30 or 40 seconds, it began to move and Smeagle starting licking it, too.

Steve Foley working on the ramp for the floats on the river.

Our neighbor Patrick, with Jackie and Coco.

The farm’s newest residents: Ruby Tuesday, Smeagle and Amaryllis.

After the ceremony, we all headed to Black Point Inn, except that I stopped at the Mill Creek CVS to make prints of a bunch of the shots.  Kathy left bee school and met us at BPI.

The toasts to Tina and Dawn were moving, especially Thankful’s.  Eryn called from Mt. Holyoke part way through them, and Thankful put her on speaker phone, but she wasn’t prepared an impromptu speech.

I’ll add details and photos to this entry as time permits.

Yesterday along the river bank below the house, I spotted a big, dark lump at the top of a tree. It turned out to be an eagle, once it turned its white head so I could see. I got as close as I could with the 70-300 MM lens on the Nikon D80, by cautiously moving along the opposite side of the small row of pines going down to the river. I got in a couple of shots before he flew off across the river to a tree behind the Johnstons house, but then I discovered his mate nearby.  I didn’t realize it until I posted these pics that I had caught both eagles in one of the shots above. Click on the shots to enlarge them.

Within 5 minutes, standing in the same spot, I had seen a pair of eagles, an osprey circling overhead, a mallard landing below, and a cormorant diving.

Julie from the Dresden P.O. called at 7:15 this morning to report that a box of chicks had arrived. I snapped on the heat lamp over the second brooding area (plastic wading pool) and headed to the P.O. We were back in 5 minutes and the thermometer in the shavings was up to 80F, 15F shy of the recommended temp. I opened the cardboard box (about 10″x10″) and tipped it on its side gently. The chicks clung to it and each other, either for the warmth or the safety or both.

But it wasn’t long before some began to tumble out and explore, and within 10 minutes they had discovered the grain tray and the water tubs.

The temperature needs to be an even 95F for the first week, then 5 degrees lower each week for another 4 weeks until they’re ready for the chicken house we’ve been getting ready with the help of neighbor and former Wisconsin farmer, Jamie Olsen. We’ve got heat lamps hanging over two brooders. One is a 5′ plastic child’s wading pool; the other a circle of 12′ high sheet metal. Both are filled with clean wood chips. Thermometers tell us the inside temperature.

The setup is in the greenhouse where the temp tonight is about 48F, but will rise to 100F tomorrow if it is sunny and we don’t set the thermostatically controlled roof vents to open.

I was the first emergency vehicle at the scene. A crumpled Subaru wagon was blocking the oncoming traffic lane, and a small, red car was beside it on the left-hand shoulder. There were several people standing nearby. I stopped the truck and got out. A woman shouted, “The baby’s okay. The baby’s okay. Check out the old woman in the other car.” She pointed down the hill beyond where we were standing and I could see another crumpled Subaru wagon with its nose sticking ino Route 27 past the stop sign on the left. I moved the truck closer to the second crumpled Subaru. I tried to station the truck where it would be most visible to traffic coming both ways and to sort of shield one of the crumpled vehicles and its occupants standing nearby. Two Subaru wagons collided at 90 degree angles at an intersection. Air bags went off in both cars. No one seriously hurt, but a woman in her 90s–Isabelle, a passenger in the hittee’s car–was standing outside with her 83-year old nephew, Tom–the driver, and a woman from the Kennebec County Jail who had stopped at the scene. She and I put the old woman in my truck because she was trembling something fierce, and I turned up the heat. A neighbor brought a blanket to put over her. Eventually, a young trooper and I deposited her in his cruiser, and off they went to the Alzheimer’s home where she resides. Nephew Tom waited around until a wrecker scooped up him and his Subaru.
The hitter was a young ne’er do well whose very long skid marks indicated he was traveling in excess of the speed limit. That and the old nephew’s inattention may have caused this. Apparently no eye witnesses. A second wrecker dragged his mess out of the southbound lane.
Four other DFD people, two Lincoln County deputies and the trooper joined me at the scene within the span of several mintues. After easing the old woman up into my truck, I helped direct traffic and set out traffic cones. Got back to the house in a little less than two hours. My first big emergency–if you don’t count the Great Goranson Farm Maple Syrup Steam False Alarm of a couple of weeks ago.
Bob a/k/a Fire 19