Diary of a Pint-Sized Farmer - Sally Urwin - 4 stars

[Robin P]

Since I grew up on a sheep farm, I will read anything with sheep in it. This is a recent book by a woman who farms with her husband in Northern England. It's written as a diary of a year, showing the cycle of the work. They have 200 ewes who all lamb within a month in the spring. This is a huge amount of work, since there are often problems with the births. The rest of the year they have to treat the sheep for diseases, have them sheared, grow crops for sale and for their own use, deal with too much or too little rain, maintain very old farm buildings, and more. The author doesn't romanticize the life at all, including when the husband is laid off from his part-time job in town and they need to ask for charity help. Yet she is clear that this is the life she wants, rather than the office job she had beforehand. For me, I would never live in the country again!