The Flock Meets the Team

This weekend we hosted Ann and Bruce, Dartmouth parents whose daughter Jennie is on the Dartmouth Cross Country Team. Late Saturday afternoon we took them out to meet the ewes.  As we were wrapping up, Ann and Bruce asked if it would be alright if they hosted a few members of the team for Sunday brunch. Sure!

The plan was for about seven team members to run up to the farm. My new Facebook friend Jennie tells me they ran from Dartmouth Green into Norwich, up Turnpike Road, back down Beaver Meadow Road to Hopson Road, then onto Rte. 5 South and up Jericho Street.  That’s about 9 miles.  More importantly, MapMyRun.com reports an elevation gain of 723 feet from Dartmouth Green (531 feet) to the height of Jericho Road (1254 feet) – the farm is at about 1100 feet.  The last mile on Jericho Road is mostly downhill, but that’s after going uphill pretty consistently for 2.5 miles from Rte. 5!

Late Sunday morning after seeing house guests and good longtime friends Margaret and Tom off, I hopped on the tractor to move around manure and firewood – trying not to get the two mixed up.  Around 11:30 I noticed Peg out in the field introducing five lightly and brightly clothed runners to the ewes.  I parked and joined them. After a few minutes they went back in the apartment to send the next wave out.  I asked Peg, “How many are there?” “Fourteen.”

OMG! Apparently while I was out in the field and the much-larger-than-anticipated crowd ran up the driveway, Bruce had knocked on the door asking if we could spare a few more mugs for the hot cider they were serving with homemade donuts.

Faced with a much larger audience, Peg smartly had announced that no more than five guests could meet and feed the sheep at one time. Even then Martha still stomped her front leg several times in between gobbles of grain.

The lambs got a lot of grain and a lot of love that morning.  Bruce took a lot of photos.  Many are shared here, courtesy of Jennie and Facebook.

Todd