19th January 2020
We have some very exciting news. Mamou, the sheep who was recently rescued from a slaughterhouse, has given birth to two lambs. We have named them Ruth and Jane.
She gave birth at midday today, 19th January, and so far both lambs seem to be doing well although she only barely has enough milk for them. We will be keeping a very close eye on everything. We are aware of how fragile lambs are and how quickly life can be taken from them in these early days. Fingers crossed that we will soon have videos of these two jumping in the fields at Eden and spending their days at their mother’s foot. It is not often than an animal escapes from a slaughterhouse with their life intact and goes on to bring children of her own into life.
Beannacht (“Blessing”) John O’Donoghue
On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.
John O’Donohue
(To Bless the Space Between Us, Doubleday Press, March 2008)