A Terrible Week but a Happy Day

Market List; Basil, Grass Fed Lamb, Tomatoes, Free Range Non GMO Eggs and Concord Grapes

Usually I spend much of my posts describing how hard we work bringing food to you but this week, I will be complaining about not working or the reason therefore. As many of you know, the dogs here in the picture are Cloud(on top) and Jubilee (the under). They are my Sheep Guardians dogs. We have 3 dogs that guard but up until this week, Cloud is the only one who could be trusted to stay home. The other 2 girls, Bumblebee is one, runs around the neighborhood taking up with anyone who will pet her, she does her job but her interpretation of what she is guarding is a broader area than we've agreed upon so much of the time she is on a run. Jubilee stays right around the boundary, sometimes in and sometimes out but not too far. Cloud however, has been content to stay home...until this week. Sunday she disappeared and could not be found. A neighbor from over a mile away came down to find out if we were missing a dog. As the other 2 troublemakers were here, I said no...but I was wrong. You may remember that I hand picked Cloud out of the litter we had last summer from the day that she was born. I tried to tell myself that we wouldn't keep her, but I just couldn't let her go.

Cloud at 2 weeks

She has a docile temperament which she inherited from her papa but is ferocious towards anything threatening her flock of her food from the flock. I spent the entire week knocking on doors, posting Flyers, handing out cards to anyone who answered their door, driving up and down the road calling her name out the window. I don't Facebook but my mom joined a group that does Lost and Found animals in Franklin County. Over 200 people shared it and then people who I stopped at their house, they shared it on their page. It got to the point that 3 out of 4 people would say when I stopped that they had seen Cloud's photo on Facebook and the 4th person would promise to post it themselves on their page. So it was pretty disheartening not to have any sightings of her for 3 days. This morning I said to my mom, during the first time in the garden all week, "someone either has to have her or someone shot her, there are just too many people who know about this for her not to have been seen". I don't mind telling you that as silly as it seems to pray about a dog, I was. It's not just a dog and not just a companion, but a year of training and having to start over with a new dog and what do you do when the predators start closing in while you are training a new dog. A few minutes later, my phone rang and it was someone telling me that they had seen her in their yard minutes before but by the time they got their dog in, she was gone. So I ran out of the garden and jumped in the car, went down there and walked around calling her name, then drove up and down doing the same. Went back and worked awhile, then went back to the spot again and repeated. Came back, canned some Smoked Tomatillo Salsa and then repeated again. I was encourage by the fact that she was near the original spot that she had been sited the first time and I am thinking it's because they had goats.TonightI was just getting ready to go back again and about 7:30, my neighbor texted and said a dog had just crossed his yard and was headed for my fence. I went out there fully expecting Jubilee and her shenanigans but playing out in my head how cook it would be if it were Cloud and over the fence she hops. AWESOME! So I fed her and took some selfies of us. She was very hungry but happy to be home and Jubilee was excited to see her.

She is tied up for a few days, hoping we won't have to keep her that way. All's well that ends well.

So Concord Grapes this weekend and probably next. 93 degrees this weekend. We'll see you at Tower Grove Market.

God's Blessings on you and yours,

TTFN,

Sam, Bill, Jubilee, Bumblebee and thankfully Cloud