Bringing the Pregnant Ewes Home

What a beautiful sunny day it is today, a great day to bring the pregnant ewes home for the winter. Jessie was eager to work, she's such a great dog. The sheep were back in the marsh, that's very wet land, and Jessie ran and jumped or swam the ditches like a real pro to get to them. 

As soon as they saw her coming. all sheep flocked together and soon we were on our way.

We had to go through the village roads and most people in cars who had to stop smiled at us, as they were probably entertained. A few sourly looking faces aside, everybody seemed to love watching us walking our little flock home...

The only glitch we had was when there was a farm a bit further up the road where two dogs came running down the driveway, barking at the sheep. So the sheep were frightened and turned back, not daring to go past the dogs. But there was Jessie, and if she didn't give them the eye they would not have minded us humans standing there at all and darted past us. Jessie reminded them the only safe way was past the dogs and away from her, or else..

The sheep were content to be home, and they will get some time outside to graze before they go in. 

In a while it will be lambing time, we are looking forward to it!

Moving Sheep on All-Souls Day

We didn't know there was going to be such a fog when we decided to move the sheep today, but we did it anyway. I took Jessie and Suki with me: Jessie because she knows the drill as she has been doing this every year for 5 years now and Suki because she is very good covering the flanks.

The sheep that was in a nearby field for 2 weeks now jumped the ditch without hesitating to join the flock again, what was a relief to us because that meant we didn't have to make a detour to pick it up.

It was a bit tricky when we had to walk on the road a few times but everything went well, considered. We picked up two groups in Steendorp and walked through Temse village to Tielrode where we put them in the marsh there, a walk of about 5 kilometers.

There were two times when a small group in the back took a wrong turn, but Jessie brought them back on track, while Suki helped me to block them so they turned in the right alley and caught up with the others again.

Finally, we reached the marsh and drove them in, and the flock disappeared into the fog....

Well done, Suki...

... and Jessie!

The Looking-for-Treats Game

Sometimes it's fun to do something simple, loooking for treats in the grass for example. All you need is some treats, cheese cubes in our case, and a place to throw them on to, preferably somewhere not too easy to find them. The dogs take this very serious, and do their very best to find them all. Jessie however has some other serious business to do.......

Aaaargh! Or when you have a bad day

When moving sheep today, we had one that decided it didn't belong to the flock. There's always the one... sigh. It started even before we gathered them, this one brown ewe was standing apart from the others. And the moment she saw the dog started to run out, she turned the other way and ran away from the flock. The flock itself moved the way they were supposed to, but she kept going in the opposite direction. So I told Jessie to look back and go and get her, which she did. But the whole way that darned ewe kept on defying the dog, and I must say Jessie was very patient but stern too.

The ewe had to turn and follow, even when she didn't like it and kept on challenging Jessie. But Jessie never budges, so we got them all together again.

After 50 meters however, the same ewe suddenly turned away and ran down the dyke again. So we had to bring the flock back to her this time, as I was afraid the ewe would jump in the ditch she was standing next to looking at it as if she was saying: if you try to get me back I will surely jump in the water! After that we decided to move the whole flock alongside the ditch until we reached the new grazing area, which she seemed to be happy with.

Jessie did a good job, as usual. But then I noticed I lost my car keys somewhere along the way. We kept searching for an hour, but I couldn't find them. I must confess I had visions of that sheep on the BBQ then, even though I am a vegetarian.........

Our new Irish (holiday) home

So it's been a while since I updated this blog, very sorry for that! It's just we've been in Ireland so much the last year, and we have been very busy there. We have bought a holiday home with some land attached in county Mayo, and I have been working hard to get the house in good shape. Not only for our family, but also for visitors. And my next visit will be all out about fencing the land now, so we can put sheep on it. Yes, sheep!!

Here are some pictures from the garden around the house:

These are the fields behind the house:

In the meanwhile, the dogs and me explored the fields that belong with the house. They had a great time there, checking everything out and running and playing in this wonderful setting.We even have a stream at the boundaries, which is fun in summer for the dogs, but also will provide water for the sheep!

These are the fields at the other side of the road in front of the house:

I'm sure we're going to have a good time in our new Irish home :)