A few weeks ago Melville Farms welcomed two hair sheep into the meat- growing- melee for 2015.  I brought the twin lambs home pleased as punch with my purchase and settled them into their temporary pen. We named them Batman and Robin and sweet baby Q and faithful dog Ted were over the moon with the new animals.

Unfortunately, within the first 24 hours Hubby Dearest and I made the worst rookie mistake – we separated them.
Sweet Baby Q was in her front pack as Hubby Dearest and I set up the two strand hotwire fencing , shelter, feeding area and mineral block for Batman and Robin, the spunky twins waiting to be turned out onto pasture.  They were by no means tame, but Hubby had no problem grabbing Robin first  and carrying him over to the fenceline. After putting down a seemingly happy sheep Hubby turned around to walk back up to get sheep number two and wouldn’t you know it, Robin got anxious and ran back up to where I stood with Batman. This is where we should have recognized that if we led the contained sheep to the pasture and waited for the other to come over they’d be happy. Did we realise that? Nope.
Hubby tried to chase Robin back into the pen which spooked Batman who attempted to ram into me (and baby Q) so I jumped out of the way to save the babe and successfully let both sheep out of the pen.  Not overly fond of the way events were unfolding Hubby Dearest got a little testy.  He attempted to herd those mischievous ruminants as they tried to become best friends with our pigs, tore our hotwire down, and  spooked the pigs.
I was ready to help when Hubby told me to back up. Easier said than done.  I became tangled in some blackberries so when I turned for a split second to step around them, that was the moment Batman and Robin made a break for it off the property and down the county road.  Oh the things that came out of my sweet husband’s mouth as he sprinted down the double yellow line.
Luckily Toby, the majestic neighbor horse, distracted the sheep and they tried to break into his pasture instead of continuing down the road.  From that point on the situation seemed to unravel at an alarming rate.  Many of our neighbors came out to help catch our sheep as we chased them all over Melville. 
Batman and Robin ran up and down the county road, neighboring pastures, logging roads, landscaped back yards, horse barns, apple orchards, cow fields, timber land, and faced off with a pack of aggressive dogs.  At one point when we lost them into a young stand of Douglas-fir, all the neighbors looked at us with pity.  It was cougar country and there was nothing but 8 ft tall trees and brush as far as the eye could see. Through sheer luck and perseverance Hubby Dearest not only found the sheep but herded them back towards our crew of neighbors and friends.  As he came back through the brush the ‘Friends’ theme song began playing in my head. We were two idiot young farmers and a baby, at dusk, chasing sheep through everyone’s property, and here were our neighbors happily helping us. 
“It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear when it hasn’t been your day or week or month or even your year...”
As the sun began to set we were able to herd the twins into a corral, rope them, and get them back home.  We were all tired, frustrated, but bonded in a way only friends and neighbors can be after a 3 hour sheep – chasing ordeal.
“I’ll be there for you…. cause you’re there for me to..”- the Remembrandts.