Sheepwork On A Sunday Morning.

This morning The Farmer decided we needed to move a mob of sheep. They were on a rocky outcrop just near the house and the plan was to move them down to graze the grass in one of our laneways.  Apparently it was only going to take 10 minutes or so.  (I can hear all the other farmer's wives saying "yeah, right" to themselves - who hasn't heard that one before?).

Anyway Farmboy and I gamely set off on foot while The Farmer took Farmgirl and the border collie down to sort all the gates out.

Here are the sheep.  You will note they are dotted around the rocky landscape and are difficult to see.

Sheep.  Rocks.  Similar From A Distance.

Now if you are more of an urban warrier than a farmer, there are a few things you need to know about sheep.  First of all they are really stupid.  Incredibly so.  Secondly, the sort of rocky country in the photo above is the worst sort of landscape to get sheep out of.  Mainly because you can't get a vehicle or a motorbike in, so you have to go in on foot.  And use tools like dogs and small children to help.

Anyway - Farmboy and I were ably assisted by Herbie The Wonder Puppy.  Traditonally miniature dachshunds are not known for their sheep working ability.  However we seemed to have wound up with him instead of our border collie who was riding happily around on the back of the ute.  Like all good farmer's wives do, I made the best of what I had.  Farmboy and Herbie applied themselves with considerably more enthusiasm than skill.  The end result was the fact that the sheep in the above photo should have been heading somewhere behind my left shoulder.  Unfortunately Farmboy had got a bit excited and yelled at the wrong time......  Reminding myself that the most essential tool when doing sheep work has always been a sense of humour, I eventually got them going back the way they came.  The Farmer then turned up and we all managed to get them through the gate.

The whole thing took over an hour but according to The Farmchildren it was all good fun.

Farmgirl Running Very Fast And Shouting Loudly (Good Sheepwork Methods)

In other Farm news - school holidays have started and The Farmchildren are super excited.  We aren't going anywhere but have some fun stuff planned.

After all that running around this morning we are having lamb for dinner.  I found this recipe on a lovely blog No Fuss Food I have just discovered.  Needless to say I doctored it to fit what I had on hand. (Particularly the fact that I am clearly using a leg of lamb and not a shoulder....!)

Marinated Lamb

I will let you know how it goes.  The marinade smells amazing so far.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Take care.