Well if I'm going to talk about pets then I guess the obvious choice would be the pet that has had the biggest effect on my life. It wasn't a conventional pet like a cat, although all my life my families had at least two of them in the house, or the dog Maxwell or Max for short.
It was my pet lamb Thomas the 2ND. Who was of course being named by a 5yr old that loves trains after the tank engine, and the second meaning that he was the second Thomas the lamb in our family after the previous one the spring before. Thomas wasn't a particularly amazing pet by pet standards, he didn't learn any tricks he didn't do anything spectacular except follow you around the garden and occasionally inside. He was better than Thomas the first because he was a different breed of sheep one that didn't grow horns and so he didn't head butt us and make us cry before we had to say good bye and send him away to a farm. Thomas was special because he Loved us unconditionally, he had no idea he was a sheep and was known to try and sit on your knee like a cat.
He was a cute little thing, until he ate the Rhododendron Tree. My mother, an MD who has a BSc with Honors in plant biology didn't realise that Rhododendrons were poisonous and gave young Thomas something to munch on. He got sick really sick. My mum pumped him full of medicine, and our neighbour who was a nurse came over and was with him until he died just before bed time one night. He was the first thing that I Loved to die. I was so upset I remember crying or days over my poor little lamb who I'd feed out of a bottle for a few months who lived on a chain tied around my swing and slide set.
Now being older I know that Thomas would likely ended up as lamb chops and dieing this way probably saved him from dismemberment and the humiliation of having his bones chewed. It was probably the best way for my lamb to die. We had a funeral then my dad took him away to bury. . . Well I was told my Nana's farm but I never saw a grave. So Just not I'm thinking he probably ended up in an offal pit. Poor Thomas the 2ND!
The nest spring I got another Lamb, however we choose to name him different deciding that Thomas was bad luck and because of a line of Budgies called Bart we had that all died in succession. So he was named after my second favourite train Henry!
9 comments:
nice. had many a pet in my day but never a lamb...cute you named them after thomas trains...
Nice lamby post. Happy TT. -J
Poor Thomas! We have a Thoman the Train groupie living in our house right now!
I grew up on a farm and more ewes died giving birth than any other animal I ever met. We'd take them inside, bottle feed them, and hope that they survived. The best part was the way their little tails twirled around as they ate.
So sorry Thomas met such a tragic end.
Oh, poor Thomas. Still, you may be right about the indignity of becoming a lamb chop.
wow, a lamb, that's cute.
how smart you are to name him Thomas, my little boy is named Thomas or Tom 2, he was born exactly on Christmas day...December 25, 5:25am sharp.
very enjoyable tt.
that is a sweet story. makes me recall the death of my first dog. she was poisoned by a neighbor. that stuff stays with you when you are little. a lamb! what a lovely pet.
Poor little lamb! Although I prefer mine with mint sauce
what a wonderful post --Thomas indeed sounded like a very special lamb---it is amazing how pets weave their way into hearts--thanks for a beautiful post
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