Shepherdess: Notes from the Field

By Joan Jarvis Ellison

"I tackled the ewe, tipped her onto her back, put her hind legs over my shoulders, and lifted the ewe's hind end off the ground. I slipped my hand into the birth canal, along the side of the lamb's head. As my fingers groped blindly for the lamb's legs, a silver bracelet slid down my arm and banged the lamb's nose."

Author and shepherdess Joan Jarvis Ellison wears silver bracelets and makeup. She grew up in the city. She has a master's degree in biophysical sciences. She is a busy mother of two children. What was she doing with her hand in the back end of a sheep? How had she come so far from the research laboratory and the city? In Shepherdess: Notes from the Field, Ellison tells the story of her journey from research associate and mother to shepherdess. With a growing understanding of sheep behavior and health, Ellison deals with the thorny problems of what to do with too much manure, whether or not to eat your own sheep, and how to find self-respect in a farmyard. Shepherdess: Notes from the Field is funny and sad. You'll learn more about sheep than you ever imagined you'd want to know, and more about life than you knew before you opened the book.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 155753070X
• ISBN13: 9781557530707
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: Purdue University Press
• Length: 172 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Pondering making a change to the "simple" life? A must read

As my husband and I were pondering our move from City to Country Life, this book was given to us as a gift, and we found it to be an absolute joy! The short chapters make it amazingly easy to pick up for short reading spurts. Each chapter tells it's own story of Joan's sometimes hilarious, sometimes frightening, but always entertaining adventures from biochemist to shepherdess. Her willingness to poke fun at her obvious naivety regarding sheep is refreshing. Everyone we've loaned our book to has found it very entertaining. You'll be amazed at what you learn about sheep! (We now have our own flock of 25 ... be careful!)

A humorous, self depreciating tale of transition

Shepherdess is a delightful book that kept me laughing throughout, it reminds me of the James Herriots "All Things Bright and Beautiful." In this true story Joan tells of the transition from research biochemistry to shepherdess with all the changes of image, the loss of romance and the discovery of self. Tis is a great book to read aloud and share the laughter. While there is information that would be helpful for someone looking to make this transition, it' really a good read for everyone.