The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

I must apologize to my regular readers as I've been a bit delinquent in writing. The truth of the matter is I've been buried in lambs at home on the farm. Taking two weeks vacation to oversee the lambing is a great plan-- in principle. However, from the practical side of the equation, it's only a good plan if the ewes cooperate and lamb during that time. That would involve them adhering to some sort of a schedule, with the births planned in a workable sequence, so the lambing pens are not overrun with ewes and lambs all at once. I even had a pep talk with all of them to make sure they understood the drill. But did they listen? Apparently not. The very first ewe lambed on the Thursday of my first week off. Thursday-- take note I said Thursday. What ever happened to Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday? Geez, by Thursday I'd wasted four good vacation days that could have been good lambing time. Now the first one did start things on a high note, delivering a set of triplets, two rams and a ewe, followed by the next one within 15 minutes, who also delivered triplets-- this time two ewes and a ram. Later that day, one of my smaller ewes landed a huge 14 lb. ram lamb. He looks like he's ready to breed already! So that was the first day. Then nothing-- for three more days. It's a bit hard to take ya know. When they start, I get an adrenaline rush. I kinda like them to keep pushing `em out. The rush finally started Feb. 15, when I felt like I was watching one of those popcorn poppers in the theatre. Lambs were popping out all over the place-- 16 lambs in two days. When I wasn't watching lambs, I spent most of my `vacation', (well it's a vacation from the office), watching the Sleep deprivation and lambs Ted Brown closed circuit television system from the warm office in the barn. I also did a little plumbing, installed some water bowls and built a few hay feeders to cut down on hay waste. All this while waiting for lambs to be born. For two weeks, Hamish the border collie was in a state of euphoria-- tagging along behind me about 16 hours a day. Last week, The Sidekick and I found ourselves in the barn in the wee hours of the morning, assisting an ewe trying to give birth to twins-- one in breech position, with the other's head and legs intertwined. Being intertwined, the two lambs were trying to emerge together, instead of separately. Without our help, I'm pretty sure that ewe and her lambs would not have survived until morning. After a lot of manipulating and wiggling, we pulled it off-- two live ewe lambs and their exhausted mother rested in the clean straw of the lambing pen. We collapsed into bed at 2 a.m. But such is the life of a shepherd. Over the years, during lambing I've learned one thing is a given. We know we must put our social lives on hold and suffer from sleep deprivation, until all the lambs have made their way into this world However there is a certain satisfaction watching those little lambs run, jump and play, nurse their mothers, and ultimately grow. Besides, it's good for your soul. Because, you see, it's impossible to look at a little lamb and not smile. 14 Days Scotland & Norway Roundtrip Rotterdam June 12 2012 aboard m.s. Rotterdam Vision 2000 Exclusive Bonus: $25 per person Onboard Credit & Pinnacle Grill Dinner for 2 7 The IFP · Halton Hills, Thursday, March 1, 2012 EUROPE ON SALE Highlights: Copenhagen, Oslo, Kristiansand, Bergen, Skjolden, Alesund, Geiranger, Lerwick, Invergordon, Edinburgh Outside stateroom US $1,799 p.p. + $180.83 taxes Georgetown Fare is in US dollars, per person, cruise only, based on double occupancy and subject to availability at time of booking. Vision 2000 Exclusive Bonus and Holland America sale fares are on select departures only and can be withdrawn without any prior notice. Government fees & taxes are additional as above. Ships' Registry: The Netherlands 905-873-2000 328 Guelph St. Georgetown, ON TICO Reg #50018501 Open Saturdays 9am - 4pm w w w. v i s i o n 2 0 0 0 t r a v e l . c o m INDIAN RIVER DIRECT CITRUS TRUCKLOAD SALE GEORGETOWN ACTON Wednesday, March 7, 10 am - 12 noon Yoyo Japanese Restaurant 357 Guelph St., (beside Ford dealership) Wednesday, March 7, 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm The Hide House (Eastern & Mill) $ 20 LB. BOX OF CALIFORNIA Seedless Navel Oranges or FLORIDA Ruby Red Grapefruit PER BOX 25.00 of the week Across 1. Technical name for the back (pl.) 6. A secret scheme or plot 11. Adage 14. Roswell crash victim, supposedly 15. Invitation heading 16. Amateur video subject, maybe 17. Impulse to steal 19. Bathtub liquid? 20. Put (away) 21. Designate 23. Slow-moving, tree-dwelling mammal (pl.) 26. Holes in the head 27. Affairs 30. Sundae topper, perhaps 31. Any thing 32. Open, as a bottle 34. Cut, maybe 36. Alliance acronym 39. Overindulgence in food 41. Taking the form of a chevron 43. Boris Godunov, for one 44. "Beat it!" 46. Hung around 47. "Yes, ___" 49. Bluenose 51. Dash lengths 52. Circuit 54. Hitchcock classic 56. Country whose capital is Kishinev 58. Overseas 62. Hawaiian dish 63. Seedless citrus fruit with depression at apex 66. Ashes holder 67. Mournful poem 68. In base 8 69. Chair part 70. Conductor Koussevitzky 71. A form that coils or spirals Down 1. Trousers 2. ___ podrida 3. Cambodian currency 4. School month (abbrev., pl.) 5. Pronghorn Norval property owners appeal zoning bylaw Five residents of Norval have appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board, the Comprehensive Zoning related to the hamlet. Objecting are William Pomeroy, Cribco Ltd, 19 Adamson St. N., Arnie Lefebvre, Arnie's Collision Centre, 488, 490, and 499 Guelph St., Williams-Perce Byers, Perce's Automotive Repairs Ltd. 546-548 Guelph St., Ionas Theophilou, IZT Auto Sales Ltd., 481 Guelph St. and Kisung Lee, 525 Guelph St. The five would like their properties to retain their current commercial zoning that allow their type of businesses. Town staff will try to settle the matter before an OMB hearing. **** Halton Hills council voted to reimburse a Glen Williams resident $2,251, which he paid to have the H (holding provision) removed from his property so that he could go ahead with a home addition at 549 Main St. Peter Brake told council that the fee had not been in place when he first purchased the property and began the planning process in 2005. The majority of council agreed with his reasoning. **** The Town of Halton Hills has awarded a tender for engineering design work for the Tenth Line Bridge in Glen Williams and the Maria St. Bridge in Acton. The cost of $66,472.25 will be paid to Planmac Inc. Consulting Engineers and Planners of Toronto, experts in bridge design. Both bridges have significant structural deterioration, reports John Kwast, Halton Hills Manager of Design and Construction. Construction of the Maria St. bridge is scheduled for 2012 while the Tenth Line bridge is set for 2016. Public information centres will be held for each project to allow people to view the plans. 6. Cirque 7. "Bingo!" 8. Elaine ___ ("Seinfeld" role) 9. "Mi chiamano Mimi," e.g. 10. Absorbed, in a way 11. Tree whose sap is made into syrup 12. All excited 13. Student who studies obsessively (pl.) 18. Aroma 22. Frenzied woman 24. Choppers, so to speak 25. Coal carrier 27. A cloud of fine, dry particles 28. ___ probandi 29. Climbing hurriedly 31. "___ alive!" 33. Yellow 35. Key material 37. Abound 38. "What are the ___?" 40. An end to sex? 42. Highly cultured or intellectual 45. Harvest goddess 48. Is repentant 50. A U. N. agency concerned with flight (acronym) 52. Small, sealed glass vial 53. Bond player 54. Machine used to cover a road with asphalt 55. Spinachlike plant 57. Caesar's farewell 59. "I'm ___ you!" 60. Biology lab supply 61. Farmer's place, in song 64. ___ roll 65. Alkaline liquid CONCEPT 361 Guelph St. (Hwy. #7), Georgetown Puzzle answers at www.conceptford.com "We won't lose a customer over Price" 905-873-1626