Stuff-ups from minor to major
Stuff-ups happen, unfortunately. The scale varies from minor messups, mix-ups to blatant botch-ups. However, of more importance is the tidy up and outcome of the fix up, and occasionally the own up and grow up.
Walking down a slippery, wet slope with slippery, wet bare feet carrying a bucket of milk and scraps to the pigs recently ended in an upside down.
Plastered in peelings and dripping dregs of milk, I scraped up what I could and delivered the breakfast remnants to the waiting sows. Fortunately, I didn’t fall over in their paddock or I may have been sucked up. Getting steamed up improves nothing so I changed and cleaned up. No harm done and on with the day.
But I will confess to a serious stuff-up. While Jock was away at national dog trials I was doing my bit on the farm – working from a list each day, doing allocated jobs and shifting mobs from ‘‘Limestone 3 to 4’’, ‘‘Flowers Paddock north’’ or ‘‘Sidling to Sunnyface’’. On appointed day, I had the important task of putting the rams out with the hoggets. Johnie’s old dog, Saltie, helped. It was only a short muster and move, we managed well and I shut the gate on the lucky lads as they headed off to introduce themselves to the young ewes. All good so far.
Weeks later, Johnie came in for a cuppa after dagging another mob of hoggets. He asked Jock, ‘‘Have you already taken the rams out from those hoggets Dad?’’
No he had not. Then he asked whether I had put the rams out on set date. No I had not, I had only done one mob. Horrible realisation that I had failed to read the job list correctly. Gut dropping awareness of my shortcoming and the outcomes. Coffee quietly finished, no histrionics and the three of us went back to what we were doing.
I felt so bad. Shed some tears, got very ‘‘busy’’, and went over and over how I could have been so stupid. Calculating that those 200 hoggets, now obviously dry, probably would conceive about 100 per cent and so produce 200 extra lambs. If lambs are worth $120 then that is $24,000 income we will not have next year. Feelings of sadness and disappointment in myself. Too late to try to rectify and put the ram out as lambs would be due about Christmas. Nothing to do about it.
Jock was his usual calm, compassionate, sensible self with helpful wise words: ‘‘If we have a hard season we might be glad not to have too many hoggets pregnant. Can’t change it now.’’
We celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary last week and our partnership grows with understanding like that and this wonderful husband is definitely a treasure.
Stuff-ups do happen but I won’t be repeating this one.