Monday 4 June 2007

Little Bo Peep lost her sheep!!!!

Last Thursday we went off for a cycle ride in the morning, we usually drive somewhere with the bikes on the back of the car. This is because its very hilly where we live and we are not sadists!!! We did a 2 hour cycle route around part of the Marais Poitevin also known as the Venise Verte, its very beautiful, tranquil and more importantly flat. The weather was changeable and we only just avoided being drenched by sheltering under some very convenient trees. After the ride we always stop for lunch, there has to be some recompense for all that exercise. There are lots of very pretty villages dotted along the rivers and canals that make up the Marais, and plenty of restaurants and bars as it is a popular tourist area. At this time of year it is fairly quiet and more enjoyable than in July or August. We arrived home about 4pm with weary legs but it had been very pleasant. If you want to know more about this lovely region then go to this site, its in French but there are lots of photos. www.parc-marais-poitevin.fr

I spent the rest of the afternoon making a large raised Veal and Ham pie for a friends picnic that we were going to on Saturday. At about 6pm I went to check on the ewes. They were nowhere to be seen. Now this happens from time to time, one of the ewes gets wanderlust and the rest [being sheep] have to follow!!!!!!!!

Over the years we have got used to the various ways they go and we had a good idea where they would be. I had by this time collected reinforcements i.e. the OH. We set off round the field they had disappeared from to find the tell-tale gap in the hedge. NO GAP!!! I would just add that its a 3 HECTARE FIELD[about 7.5 acres]. There was no sign of them. We had to go on instinct alone. We went back to the house and got in the car to check the neighbouring farmers land. Still no sign. The OH took the car back and I walked back through the woods to check for woollies there. NOTHING not a baaa anywhere. I trudged wearily back towards the house wondering where we could look next. It was already 7.30 pm and my legs were protesting. As I walked past the field which is directly behind the house and next to the field the sheep had been in I caught a glimpse of something WHITE AND WOOLLY!!!!!! At that moment I heard the OH calling that he had found them. They had been in Home field all along. No we are not blind but the grass in that field is very long and they had been lying down and completely invisible.

We had spent nearly 2 hours looking for sheep that were in the adjoining field. I then had to count them to make sure they were all there. That wasn't easy either.

Oh the joy of being a Sheep farmer.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm exhausted just reading it! You must have been so frustrated and releived when you found them!

Jen said...

Oh, what naughty sheep - it did make me giggle though, sorry!

The Marais Poitevin looks really beautiful... I'm going to plug myself into France Inter and look at more pretty pictures now...

You're so lucky :)

Jenny Beattie said...

I'm sorry to laugh at your misfortune, but it made me laugh too.

JJx

Anonymous said...

thank you for your vote!
what a day you must have had... i recommend a stiff g'n't.
x

Anonymous said...

well honestly, everyone knows that if you leave them alone they'll come home, most likely bringing their tails behind them.

Zinnia Cyclamen said...

Hello, I'm visiting today in a semi-official capacity on behalf of the novel racers, but am also covered with embarrassment as in the process of doing the rounds I've realised that I have managed to miss you out when doing the novel racers' links in my sidebar. Oops! Sorry! Have now rectified that, so will be visiting in a personal capacity in future.

Anyway, I came to say thanks for your support at the coffee breaks, and please could you link to us all on your sidebar? As far as I know there are three ways of doing this: via www.blogrolling.com which I use because it's user-friendly (and I am NOT a techie), free and compatible with blogger; via blogger itself, or using code written by B.E. Sanderson that links to a post with all the novel racer links in, available from B.E. by email on request. Thanks!

Zinnia Cyclamen said...

Hello again, more embarrassment, ho hum... apparently some people have been upset by my last message, I don't know if you are one of them but if you are please do accept my apologies. This subject has been under discussion at the last two coffee breaks and we thought we'd come up with a good way forward, but sometimes things come across differently than they are meant... there was no intention of wagging fingers or telling anyone off, just an attempt to find out who wanted to stay and who didn't as our sidebars are getting very long! I'm really very sorry if my comment upset you, and please do email me if this apology feels insufficient.

Caroline said...

sorry ... I really shouldn't laugh ... but ...
x