Lamb lament

Living in the countryside has most certainly got it's benefits, the peace and quiet, a crime level that to a city girl like me seems almost non existent, less pressure to conform or to 'keep up with the Jones's', in every direction there are breathtaking views and for me a very special aspect is the array of sounds that form the backdrop to my everyday life.

Early morning and late evening provide the most spectacular symphony nature has to offer, birds singing a myriad of songs as they go about their daily routine, horses chattering to one another, insects buzzing, cows in deep discussion, a rather loud donkey at very close proximity and best of all at this time of year, lambs in a nearby field creating a constant merry cacophony of first baby and then adolescent lamb language.

Lambs have always been a favourite of mine and to have so many right on my doorstep is wonderful, to watch them grow and play over the months, frolicking and bounding and making mischief in a very lamb like manner is something I sit and watch from our balcony day in and day out, with a happy heart and a smile on my face.

(Clickable)

My lambs

But nothing is perfect, my morning and evening symphony will soon become less deafening as the inevitable happens, any day now my lambs will disappear, they and their sounds will no longer exist in my little word, instead their destiny will be to become a Saturday night kebab or someone's Sunday lunch!

I know, I know, that's life and if I choose to live in the countryside I must learn to live with it and mostly I do, it is the reality but sometimes I'm just not keen on reality and for a week or two at this time of year, as they get fatter and fatter and and closer and closer to their destiny I can't help but feel sad and I can't help but wake up every morning and immediately listen to check if the 'lamb sounds' are still there.

I can't in all honesty hold my hands up and claim any longer to be a true, card carrying vegetarian, though for thirty years I was. I still don't eat meat and I have never tasted lamb but I do, if pushed, eat fish and I have lately tried bacon, so this cannot be a vegetarians rant. I have never and will never presume to try and persuade others how to live their culinary life and I know that if the majority did not eat meat my lambs would never be there in the first place....... but it still makes me sad and as long as I live, whatever else I devour, I won't ever eat a lamb!