It might not be pretty…

…but at this moment in time I truly believe that the barbed wire that I have run approximately along the top of the dry stone wall facing the road will prevent any sheep from breaking out of land. Admittedly we won’t know for sure until I’ve completed the stretch, but hopefully another couple of hours in the morning will see it finished. At that point we can open the front garden and let the herdies roam free.

Thinking about it, they could probably all be out right now as Stevie MacQueenie has been out in the fields since last weekend and hasn’t found her way to the bus stop yet. She was our biggest concern; one morning I caught her and her lamb on the road and before I could start to herd them back, a Transit missed both by less than two feet. Of the remaining sheep, only the Tiny family has shown the nouse to get out of the garden. The rest pretend they’re trying to get out but don’t want to miss morning sheep nuts. They may get some tomorrow, but that’ll be it till November.

I haven’t fully read Kate’s last post but did notice a comment about a mouse problem. I must admit it’s relief to know she’s aware of the situation; I wasn’t sure how I’d broach the subject.

I hadn’t realised we had a mouse problem until a couple of days ago, when Malcolm came to see me. He was very good, said he didn’t want to make a fuss but he and the other mice felt that we enjoyed the kind of relationship that benefitted from us all being open. Anyway it transpires that Kate’s been buying the thick rice cakes. Apparently if you’ve got a little mouth, that extra 3mm can be a bit much, particularly after you’ve had to chew through the plastic wrapper because someone (I mention no names here though Malcolm has suggested it might be someone whose name begins with a K) has left the packet unopened.

I’ll have a word with Kate and I’m sure that we can overcome this situation.

Oh dear, I’ve just read Kate’s post whilst looking for inspiration. Perhaps I can still rescue the situation. Afraid I may have to sacrifice Malcolm. I’ll just go and see Davy.

Bloody typical! Davy’s been playing cards with the mice again and Malcolm owes him 7 rats. It seems he couldn’t possibly kill the mouse until he’s received at least 3 rats. Great. Right mousetraps tomorrow.

I see Kate’s been stalking the owls again. She’s a braver man than me gungha din. I find the barn owls quite eerie. Their appearance is almost like they’re at a masque ball; pure white faces with emotionless eyes. There used to be programme on Channel Four set in the early ’60s US about a secret war with aliens who were taking over the planet. Can’t remember what the programme was called but I suspect it was produced by barn owls who thought they could throw us off the scent.

The simple fact is that when Kate is sat watching them, they’re actually using the time to watch her. How else can we explain the fact that last night we set the camera up on time lapse mode, taking a picture every minute, and we didn’t take one picture of an owl? If Kate’s not sat there, there’s no reason for the owls to stick their heads out.

This wouldn’t normally upset me, however having been woken at 4 o’clock to find the instruction manual for the camera and to then use that manual to set up the time lapse mode, only to discover that Kate had already set the time lapse mode (admittedly at 1 hour intervals), I had rather hoped that my sacrifice would have a reason greater than looking at 150 close up pictures of the barn that we’ve owned and lived with for the last 12 months. Hope I don’t sound too disappointed.

Looking back at the week, the animals have yet again shown us the good and the bad. Losing Spot was a blow. All the orphans had bonded to an extent and it’s quite nice when they come trotting up to you whilst all the other sheep run away.

When the scour started, we treated her for worms. In the few days between that and realising that that wasn’t helping, the scour had done enough to make any remedial action pretty ineffective. It shows us how quickly a seemingly minor problem can become more major.

Each problem we encounter teaches us another thing, and as long as we learn from them then it’s not a complete waste.