I’ll be waiting for you…

When visiting the vet earlier today, a visit we really didn’t want to have to make, she said something to us that is so true, yet it is not something many of us ever talk about. “Where there is life, there is death”. The circle of life is of course something we all understand and accept. It’s only when things happen before their natural conclusion, we feel we have been robbed, such is the level of unfairness. Knowing why sometimes helps, but in our case, the vet couldn’t find anything that was obviously wrong with Adrian so we shed our tears, said our goodbyes and accept that this is sometimes just what happens in the sheepie kingdom.

Adrian was 18 months old and so very special to us. She was a real light in our lives and brought us joy every single day. Yes, Adrian was a she in case you’re wondering (much to our vet’s confusion). When we got Rocky and she came along around the same time, that seemed to be a fitting name for her (if you’re under a certain age, you may not get it). Thought Rocky may have been super cute, Jeff was her real love, her bestie, always together, so it’s comforting to imagine they are together again, reunited in whatever sheepie heaven looks like. Whether you believe in those things doesn’t really matter, it’s a lovely, happy thought and we’re sticking to it.

Adrian and Jeff

When we picked her up she was but a day or two old. Her mum didn’t have enough milk for her and her siblings and so we took her home and bottle fed her and the others numerous times a day. She was such a girly creature, delicate features, and big eyes. She walked like she was on a catwalk, carefully putting one leg precisely in front of the other and always holding her head up high. She was not to be messed with though, she knew how to put the others in their place. Proper bossy boots.

We’ve learned so much about our little flock over the years. Being prey animals of old their inbuilt protection mechanism is not to show any signs of illness. It’s the weak that get picked off first. Masters of hiding pain and emotion, problems are difficult to spot by us humans. Often, when the signs appear, whatever the cause, it’s too late to remedy. We’ve learnt to pick up the tiniest of hints now, a head slightly down, a breath a little too quick, lagging behind the others a little too much, a slight turning away. All are signs we recognise could mean trouble and we try to take action as early as we can. Sometimes we win, sometimes we don’t.

Adrian and Athena

Whenever we show friends photos and videos of us with our flock their first comment is often one of surprise of the strength of the bond we’ve formed with our animals and how unlike the sheep they imagined they are. Many have witnessed how they all come running to us when called their collective noun (“monkeys”, don’t ask!). Not for treats, but just because they enjoy spending time with us. They know their names. When called by their individual name, they look up. Whether we have adopted them as furry mini humans or they have adopted us as tall un-fleecy sheep, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we have a mutual appreciation and a shared affection. A bond that will always be there.

Adrian’s life was not as long as we would have liked it to have been, but it was a good life. Filled with joy, company (from her fellow sheep and her human flock), fresh grass and freedom. It’s been a tough year and a bit. With all the goings on in the world, periods of isolation and losing two precious sheep on top of all of that. These things knock us back, but we will continue to do whatever we can to make the lives of our orphan sheep, and others in the future, as long, happy and comfortable as they can be. That is our mission and that is what we will do.