08/05/2026
A Day In The Life Of
A Hobby Farmer
For starters, I thought a hobby was supposed to be enjoyable and relaxing? Either we are doing it wrong or a name change should be considered. 'Not for profit farmer' feels more appropriate.
It is lambing time i guess, which never brings out the best in us, and to top it off we are also half way through calving.
Coming off the high of Owen's gate mishap with the weaners, i cockily set about this morning to move some of the pregnant ewes into a fresh paddock.
Always risky when there are a few sets of newborn lambs dotted in amongst the mob, but lack of feed made it necessary. I went around and set the gates up and sent them on their way. All looked well, the newborns mothers stayed behind with their babies and the rest set off. Perfect.
Leaving them to calmly meander around to their new paddock, I cut out to move some horses to a fresh paddock on the other side of the property.
Feeling good, thinking I may get to sit down and watch an episode of 'Outlander' whilst having lunch, my heart sank when I looked up and saw a large mob of lambs and ewes running along the driveway. Their fat bellies swaying and panicked lambs scattering.
It was at about this point that I once again began to question my lifes choices. Working sheep always has that feeling of being a moment away from calling defeat. I felt an annoyance creeping in, not only at myself and the sheep but also at my husband for being at work, the damn dog for sitting on the atv (looking thrilled with the turn of events) and the sideways rain that chose this moment to arrive.
I shuffled the unruly mob into the 'tip' paddock easily enough, grabbing a couple of wayward lambs, i hoped the matter was resolved. They could stay put in the 'tip' paddock for a few days anyway, so I shut the gate and went to find what had gone wrong.
Turns out that instead of getting the gates right, I had been thinking about the strands of grey hairs that have started appearing around my crown and wondering if I should start colouring my hair (to make myself look '10 years younger'), or whether I will be one of those graceful women who chooses to grow old naturally? Or maybe it was the persistent ear ache that lambing season seems to produce or kids sports, pony club committe or what we will have for dinner tonight? Whatever it was, it turned a 10 minute job into an all day event, since two ewes who hadn't been successful in their escape, had now decided to begin giving birth in the laneway close to their new paddock.
So, I've shut them in the laneway and left them to it. After giving a shot of antibiotics to a sickly lamb, bottle feeding Tiddles the lamb, throwing some lucerne to a cow who gave birth to twins yesterday and the horses who had been watching the show, I have come inside for a cup of tea! I am now considering if I should apologise to my husband for calling him 'farmer do**he bag' the other day, for leaving a gate open, or if i should have just kept quiet about today's events.
Oh and if anyone can recommend where to buy a set of waterproof overalls in Mount Gambier please let me know!!
