1947 Has Arrived

The photo of the day for today comes from the spring of 1947.

My sister Grace is supporting our young cousin Bobbie (Dorothy Roberta) Mackey. Walking on his own is Billy (William Elmore) Tyrrell. Checking out Bobbie's shoe is one of Grandma Mackey's bum lambs, while our dog Popeye keeps an eye on whatever Billy has in his mouth.

Every spring Grandma would end up with several bum lambs to bottle feed. Some were a twin that the mother rejected, accepting only one of the pair. Some were left motherless when the ewe died giving birth. When we went to the country during lamb season, we always thought it great fun to get to feed the bums. One of the ways our grandparents got into the sheep business was by our grandma taking unwanted old ewes that were pregnant and apt to be a problem and bum lambs that neighboring sheep farmers didn't want to be bothered with. The sheep, with the sale of wool in the spring and of the male lambs in the fall, helped keep the ranch afloat through hard times. It wasn't either cattle or sheep, but both that made the ranch viable.

I remember that even when they were adult ewes and part of the flock, Grandma could still identify her favorite former bum lambs.