Have you Herd?

“Black nose sheep at the sale today.”

That’s the text I received at about noon from my daughter in law. She helps at her local livestock auction, and keeps an interested eye out for certain animals that might happen to come up for sale.

It’s how they’ve found several of their own animals, and Mr. Darcy’s friends and neighbors. Greg and I had the opportunity to go watch a portion of the auction during one visit and enjoyed it.

I gather there’s a bit of “you never know what might show up” to the whole thing. So if you happen to have some land, love animals, and are open to welcoming your pasture to some new friends, every auction week has the potential to be Christmas.

The other amazing thing about this particular auction is that it’s in the middle of a population that’s very no-nonsense about farming. They’re in it for production and sustenance. Livestock is for food. Sheep are for eating. Shearing is done to keep the sheep from overheating and the wool is a waste product.

Seriously, they throw it away. My son and daughter in law brought me an enormous bag of beautiful alpaca wool that was going to be chucked.

So when an sheep trots across the dirt that has great value for nerds but not so much more than the average sheep for meat, the nerd can get an amazing deal.

“A ewe?” I asked my daughter in law, thinking of Mr. Darcy and potential black nosed lambies bouncing around Pemberley Farm.

“12.”

I’ll spare you my reaction with all the capital letters and exclamation marks.

It is possible I caught Greg at a distracted moment.

It is also possible my son strongly suggested that nabbing ALL TWELVE AT ONCE would be one heckuva opportunity if we could get a good price.

At the end of the day, the dear girl brought four ladies home to Pemberley Farm to make Mr. Darcy’s acquaintance.

Jane, Kitty, Charlotte, and Georgiana are all adjusting well and Mr. Darcy is learning to share his hay.

Merry Christmas to me (and Mr. Darcy!).

Happy knitting,

Kiersten J