Our House, Lambing Time

APRIL 4. Outside early morning -21C. A ewe lamb somehow managed to get  out of the barn shortly after birth in the early morning, before our first check. One of triplets, she was found lying in the snow on her day of birth. Another lamb was also outside, chilly but still in good shape. The mother was inside giving tender loving care to the third lamb. This little one was not doing well so we brought her in the house. I dipped her limbs in warm water, towelled her off and set her by the fire, alive but...time will tell. 

Her responses were poor so RB stomach fed her and we left her to warm up. When she began to perk up I made a bed for her in a Rubbermaid tub & spent the remainder of the day coaxing her to drink from a bottle. By evening she had figured out the relationship between sucking on the bottle and getting food.

APRIL 5. She’s perky, noisy, finally able to get up and walk around but not out of the woods yet. Her back legs are swollen, don’t seem to work all that well, probably frost bitten. We are sharing the mostly unspoken reality that she may have to be euthanized. Life and death struggles/decisions are not uncommon on a farm. We are not insensitive, just realistic. Here’s hoping the damage to her limbs is not too great. Today is warmer on the thermometer but humid, snowing, no sun. Hoping for better weather, a successful lamb crop, and not too much heartbreak.

The mother of the triplets decided that the other lamb that was found outside was not hers and has been refusing to feed her. This is not uncommon when lambing is disrupted and confusing. So she is now confined in a stanchion, keeping her from batting the unwanted lamb away from her teats. This hungry lamb had a happy and long session under her mother, sucking happily, tail wagging, filling up her belly. After 3 or 4 days the ewe is expected to change her mind and decide this is her offspring after all. Her smell after ingesting her mom’s milk will change, become the same as the accepted lamb’s smell. This process is also used when fostering another ewe’s lamb if the mother ewe is unable to feed it.

APRIL 6. The lamb in the house is eating well but seems to be having a harder time getting up.... I’m worried.

A sad thought - in many countries throughout the world during this pandemic, doctors are forced to make the same life and death decisions for members of their flock - prognosis poor, save those who have a better chance. What a terrible, disheartening position to be in for a person who is dedicated to saving lives.

Raisin Bread

Raisin Bread

A good friend who has a bread maker told me he made a loaf of raisin bread and took it to his mom for a treat. Just mentioning raisin bread got my husband and I salivating. In saner times I’d pick up a loaf now and then at the grocery store, but these are really unprecedented crazy times - not going to the store anytime soon. I have been making my own bread for many moons and I always use part of the dough for cinnamon buns, just roll it out and spread butter, cinnamon and sugar on top, jelly roll it up and cut into pieces. They are delicious and don’t last very long, grazed on until gone, usually in a day or two. But I’ve never made raisin bread and wouldn’t want to make a whole batch (5 loaves) cause there’s only two of us and I don’t have sufficient freezer space to store the extras. But I guess isolation brings on the desire to try new things in the kitchen so....

I made my usual bread dough adding only 10 of the 12 cups of flour called for in my recipe. I separated off 2 cups of this mix to a separate bowl and let the two batches rise in their covered bowls. Since I hadn’t added all the flour yet the first rise was somewhat gooey. I sprinkled cinnamon over the top of the risen dough in the small bowl, added approximately 1/8 cup sugar, 1/8 cup butter and a handful off softened raisins (I boiled the  raisins in a bit of water to plump them up) and mixed all this in. I kneaded the two batches separately on a heavily floured counter to arrive at a more bread like consistency, left them to rise again. After this second rising I formed 3 regular loaves, one raisin bread loaf, and one batch of cinnamon buns, let all rise again and baked at 375 till done.

I’m happy to say my raisin bread turned out quite yummy and went as fast as  the cinnamon buns, a couple more slices and it’s gone.

🎶 Mama’s little baby loves raisin, raisin, mama’s little baby loves raisin bread 🎶

The Banjo Dick Built

Oatmeal Raisin Bars

Pandemic Covid-19 Isolation Day 10 and needing a hearty snack. These are easy and yummy. Not gaining weight during isolation/social distancing may turn out to be difficult. Seems like baking is a good take-your-mind-off-it-all activity for me.

Oatmeal raisin bars

3/4 c butter or margarine, softened

3/4 c packed brown sugar

1/4 c granulated sugar

1 egg

—————- mix these together

Add

1/2 t salt

1/2 t cinnamon

1 c flour

2 c large flake rolled oats 

1 c raisins

—————- mix till blended well, may need to use your hands as batter is thick.

Press into bake pan.

Bake at 350 in a square bake pan lined w/parchment (or buttered & floured),

about 25 minutes until toothpick come out w/ a few moist crumbs. 

Take care, over-baking will make them hard.

Cool in the pan, lift out and cut into squares.

_______________________________________________________

Lambing to starts April 1st, counting the days. Waiting impatiently for the snow to melt, the geese to return, and the pussy willows to lure the bees from their hive.

Unsung Heroes

Funny, the things we think we cannot do without when all of a sudden our supply chain appears to be threatened - toilet paper, cleaning products, disposable diapers... hmmm. Well flour is gone from many shelves so some people must be thinking clearly. Rumours abound, frightening people into even more panic buying/hoarding. 

The US border is now closed to all but necessary traffic. What traffic is necessary in times like these? Trucks - the supply chain of foodstuffs and all the other products we've become accustomed to having readily on our shelves, cleaning products, medications. Canada is dependant on our neighbours to the south. Maybe, after this is over, we’ll reassess this dependency and make some changes.

Country folk, naturally isolated and tending to be more self-sufficient, are probably better prepared for the unprecedented scenario we find ourselves in. But we need supplies too, and vets and veterinary products. We ventured out of our self isolation for sheep minerals and salt, meds, just yesterday, and will have to go again. Town was very quiet, easy to self distance. People are beginning to understand.

We spoke to our son recently. His family is in lockdown but he still has to work. He’s a self-employed truck and trailer mechanic, part of that vital supply chain. He compared the trucking industry to the human circulatory system - the highways to the veins and arteries, trucks and their drivers to the red blood cells carrying oxygen, and the mechanics to the white blood cells fighting the diseases that invade the body. Without this system, catastrophic failure. That’s how vital our transportation system is. 

In times like this we begin to recognize the anonymous people out there who serve so many basic functions in society that are vitally important. We begin to take notice of occupations that are rarely acknowledged. Those in the medical profession, nurses, doctors, pharmacists - we see them and hear them. They are brave to go to work! But so are the janitors, the grocery people, retail clerks, bus drivers, truckers, mechanics, postal workers, oil field workers, farmers, all those folks we would describe as “the working man/woman”... the list is extensive, longer than we realize. These are the people who are still out there, who must be out there, who cannot work from home. They are vital to our health, safety, food security. Many are self-employed, many are minimum wage earners, many are, in normal times, quite invisible.

I want to raise a glass of 2020 Isolation Raspberry Wine (which I’ve named my last batch of 30 bottles) to all these incredible people, to thank them, to recognize their contribution to society, and to tell them they are appreciated. Please be as safe as possible. We need you. 

A Leisurely Country Stroll

A Leisurely Country Stroll

Oh my, you’re so lucky, country lady! Just step out the door and walk wherever you like, no traffic, no people, just the serenity of nature, ahhh, wonderful! 

But walking in the country can be more restrictive than urbanites think. On my farm there’s unmanageable gates, electric fences, a not-so-nice ram. Once these obstacles are avoided though, there are some nice bush trails and walking can be pretty special. But add piles of deep snow and that idyllic picture changes drastically. I’m not as steady on my feet as I once was. It almost seems like my main  spring has sprung. For me right now, walking a snow covered foot trodden trail, cross country skiing or snowshoeing are out of the question. I could walk the local roadways, but I always take 3 - 6 dogs and don’t want to worry about traffic or a confrontation with neighbouring dogs. So, due to the hitch in my get-along, in winter I can only walk our plowed 1/4 mile driveway.

Then there’s the ice! A wee melt, an overnight freeze, freezing rain - a good recipe  for a skating rink! Standing becomes challenging, walking isn’t a pleasure, it’s a tricky trek back and forth from one safe spot to another! 

And getting ready to go out for a walk - you need gear - hiking boots, work boots, mud boots, snow boots, or boots with ice cleats on the bottom, toques, mitts, jackets, trekking poles! Makes the recliner look pretty inviting! 

Town walking isn’t great either, parking lots are particularly treacherous. Maybe a treadmill? Move to a warmer climate? Wait for the  spring thaw? 

Suck it up and stop being a pansy? That’s it, I can/will do this. If I take my camera maybe I can remind myself of winter’s beauty. It is beautiful, yes, and so very serene.

mltipton.blogspot.com, 

https://www.facebook.com/Northof543/, 

Feb. 28, 2020

Out Beyond the Memes

I need to make an admission. My first reaction to the blockades being held in support with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs (who unanimously opposed the Coastal Gas Link/Trans Canada pipeline and did not give consent for work to go forward on their land) was in favour of shutting them down, because of the harm  being done to the businesses, corporations, farmers and individuals who were being hurt by these blockades. I forwarded a post which claimed that the elected chiefs and the native people were largely in support of the pipeline. Because of this the pipeline should go forward. 

Quoted from the article - “But the protesters have aligned themselves with five Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed to the pipeline, and not the 13,000 Indigenous British Columbians represented by all the band councils that support it....It’s an especially inconvenient fact for pipeline protesters who say they are blocking roads, bridges, highways, train tracks and public buildings in solidarity with Indigenous people. They sure aren’t representing the Indigenous people working on the pipeline. Of the 1,000 people currently employed by the project, about one-third are estimated to be First Nations.” (https://theprovince.com/news/bc-politics/mike-smyth-the-inconvenient-truth-for-pipeline-blockaders?). “

My comment - “It’s the hereditary chiefs that are against this pipeline, the elected are for it. Food for thought here, maybe the old men and women need to get out of the way and let the younger people move forward.” 

And besides that I have commented that lots of times protesters just jump on the bandwagon without really knowing the facts behind their actions. Running on emotions dredged up by memes.

I regret having said this. Why? Well, I read some more, I checked out the other side of the story. There always is another side, often several other sides. Like most people, I tend to instantly take the side that agrees with my thinking, to pass on the article or meme that corroborates my point of view. But I do at least read what I pass on. Reading articles, going beyond the memes that mimic our core beliefs, does not seem to be a common undertaking amongst Facebook users. Nor does fact checking. Fact checking is hard and often quite difficult to accomplish. This is a complex issue. To get our facts straight we would need to go into depth, into history, do massive amounts of reading and still may find ourselves unqualified to make a judgement.

So did I change my opinion on this controversial subject? Well, it’s certainly been altered. Politicians keep hammering on the illegality of the blockades, the harm they are causing, the “rule of law” that’s being stomped upon. Trudeau seems to be simply watching things unfold, no action to end the blockades and move the pipeline forward. Sheer is blustering, calling for a vote of confidence, making sure people remember that he is still the leader of the federal Conservative party.

But I am finding in my continued reading, that, once again, it seems Canada has failed to do its due diligence, has failed to negotiate with those who are actually in charge. Rule of Law - whose law? What have the courts said over the years about the rule of law in unceded territories? Is Canada’s law the law that needs to be upheld in this case? Read this article from the Tyee (https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/02/14/Wetsuweten-Crisis-Whose-Rule-Law/?utm_source=daily) and maybe you’ll begin to see why Canada should not, cannot, claim “rule of law” to justify immediately shutting down these protests and going forward with the pipeline, why they must now negotiate with the hereditary chiefs. 

Another point, what in blazes is the difference between hereditary chiefs and elected chiefs? Why do the hereditary chiefs have jurisdiction and not the elected chiefs? Read on.

A long article on this subject has been circulating on Facebook, original author’s name was withheld. I have pulled out a few paragraphs which provided information previously unknown to me. Is this source accurate? Is any? 

“Wet'suwet'en, Canadian, and international laws do in fact recognize the hereditary chiefs as the rightful decision-makers on their respective territories. These rights and titles have never been extinguished or surrendered. By all legal rights, they are sovereign people.

“Furthermore, in Canada, the duty to consult is a statutory, contractual, and common law obligation that must be fulfilled by the Crown prior to taking actions or making decisions that may have consequences for the rights of Indigenous peoples. This has been affirmed and clarified by various SCC rules including the Haida case in 2004, Beckham v. little Salmon/Carmacks case in 2010, and Tsilhqot'in Nation v. BC in 2014.

“So, when consultation happened, the hereditary chiefs of all five clans of Wet'suwet'en unanimously opposed the pipeline proposal and did not give consent for Coastal Gas Link/Trans Canada to work on their lands. The Wet’Suwet’en hereditary chiefs instead proposed an alternate route for the pipeline that wouldn’t go through sensitive cultural and ecological areas.

“On December 31, 2019, the Supreme Court of BC ruled that the permits of Coastal Gas Link trumped Wet'suwet'en law. Read that again. Industry permit somehow was chosen over law that has been in place since time immemorial. 

“... the Indian Act ...create(d) and forcibly implement(ed) a new governance system, the band council (aka "elected chiefs"), onto Indigenous nations. This governance system was specifically designed to mimic the Canadian system and ignore traditional First Nations governance. Essentially, the band council is an extension of the Canadian government and is designed to assimilate the nation into Canada to facilitate colonial settlement and resource extraction. When the media/elected officials start blasting, "but the band council says this," this is what you need to keep in mind. Do you think it's a coincidence that the Canadian government continue(s) to publicly proclaim the decisions of elected officials in a system the government themselves created? No, it's not a coincidence, it's strategy.

“... traditional forms of governance did not end in 1867 and they did not end with the Indian Act. They have never ended. Nations never surrendered their sovereignty over to the Canadian government and protocol has always been that the band council has jurisdiction over what happens on reserve, but hereditary chiefs have, and have always had, jurisdiction over traditional territory.

Sro, remember the 22,000 sq km I talked about before? That's what the hereditary chiefs have control over and what is in contention with Coastal Gas Link today.”

 I originally learned that the hereditary chiefs have proposed an alternate route that would be acceptable from news sources outside of Canada or the USA. We are getting a lot of international press on this issue. Controversy over Indigenous rights vs colonial rights is not exclusively a Canadian problem. The world is watching. How will this crisis be solved? Why has Canadian media been so quiet about this possible “alternative route”? How can we solve this controversy to the satisfaction of these hereditary chiefs and those in opposition to them? Surely we cannot allow these blockades to continue! Maybe we should agree to a moratorium, cease the blockades while negotiations between Canada and those who stand on the right side of the “rule of law” take place. Jurisdiction over indigenous lands needs to be honoured. We need to start doing consultations on such projects properly, instead of hoping we can quickly and quietly bulldoze our way to project completion unnoticed by those affected. We would save millions of dollars by doing it right in the first place.