Introducing Maggie and Molly

I have been living in my new house for close to five months now, and I’m loving every second of it. There are still many things that need completing, but just being here this spring has been such a blessing. It is a gorgeous place to be in the spring. There were times that mud season was so bad that I could hardly get to my house, but that is long forgotten now. I must figure out something before next spring, however.

A little over a week ago, I welcomed a pair of Katahdin lambs that I purchased from Unity College. They are so cute, and I am really enjoying them. My entire family went on vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina during the last week of April. We have gone every year for the past few years and this year I used it as a thank you to them for all the help on the house.

I had bought the fencing just prior to leaving and rushed my poor Dad to get it up and get their little shelter built as soon as we got home. It seemed like an eternity but they came home on a Friday afternoon. My biggest concern is keeping them (Maggie and Molly) safe. I live in a very rural area with lots of wild animals. We have the fencing and then a shelter inside. Every night, I lock up them up in the shelter. We are thinking of putting either an electric fence or barbed wire outside the fence as another layer of protection for them.

The first night I left my window open so that I could hear them. They started baaing in the middle of the night. I jumped up and went out and they were fine. I’m not sure I got much sleep at all that first night.

Everyone keeps asking me what my plan is with them and the answer is simple. They are pets. Some people think that they are funny with mutton jokes, but they will never be that. Maggie was a bottle lamb so she is super friendly. Molly is almost as friendly as Maggie is now. I read somewhere that if you get a bottle lamb, chances are you will have a friend for life and it’s so true. I come out the door and they come running to the fence. I’m having so much fun with them.

My parents have quickly fallen in love with them too. My Dad thinks that we need to find a pair of little white ewes to join them, so I’m on the lookout. In addition to the lambs, I’ve been working to try to get some landscaping done outside. I got a lawn mower this weekend. I also got some seeds and need to get them in the ground. I’ve come to quickly realize that there is always more to do than time to do it on a homestead.

Laura Reed

About Laura Reed

After 15 years in college athletics, the last seven as an assistant athletics director, I was burned out with 70-hour work weeks and extensive travel. I resigned my position and accepted a position in marketing at a small, vibrant college in my hometown of Unity, Maine. In the process I wanted to go back to my childhood where we raised polled Herefords, had a Christmas Tree Farm and spent many hours outside. I decided I wanted to build my own home on beautiful farmland that my family owns. With help from my Dad, the most talented person I’ve ever met, we are building my home together. I have decided to blog my experience – the ups and downs, the joys and frustrations. What was once an open field will one day be my home! The dream in my head is becoming reality. I can just see the lambs frolicking in the field, chickens in the barnyard and going running with my Alaskan Malamute!