sheep

03/12/2014

Fog

Most of November was looking like this:

The Fog

or like this:

misty landscape

We had some minutes of sun in between two banks of grey clouds though. I liked this a lot:

Spider silk in the sun

Spider silk glistening in the sun. never seen that much spider silk before. Busy spiders. Saw this on a walk with the dogs up the hill in front of the property.

Rudi (terrier) got a new grey sweater for Christmas. He’s already wearing it and scares the sheep. Sheep are confused by and afraid of new colours. They don’t change their colour and expect everybody else to be like them.

The sheep wonder about Rudi's new sweater

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22/11/2014

Feeding season has begun

Winter has arrived in Normandy. We already had two nights with only 2 chilly °C (35.6 °F). The sheep are complaining about the lack of fruits.
Mäh

-“Where have all the chestnuts gone? Long time passing.” -“Fat sheep ate them every one. When will they ever be full?”

And then they walk into the sunset.

Pinke Schafe

I filled the tube feeder for the birds with sunflower seeds and hung up fat balls. The weather is rather bad, grey and gloomy, sometimes even raining and thus I can’t take good photographs at the moment.

Feeding season has started

Poecile palustris or Poecile montana (marsh tit or willow tit) and Parus major (great tit).

At the bird restaurant on a dark day

Three Chloris chloris (greenfinch).

I bought 5 steres of wood and feed the wood stove. The house has no insulation and no other means of heating.

28/10/2014

Careful, Bach

Warning
This sheep warns Bach, the Bernese Mountain Dog. Sheep stomp their feet to tell the rest of the world to leave them alone. If a sheep looks at you and stomps its feet, it will jump with its head into your belly.

Bach knows the sheep well and he didn’t come near this one.

Sheep in the shadows

These sheep pretend to be harmless. They look as if they couldn’t hurt a fly.

Photographs are my own, stored on Flickr.

16/10/2014

Winter is coming

And even the sheep catch a cold.

Poor Brad had a cold and stayed 5 days in the barn. The vet visited us, a very nice young woman. She gave Brad 3 injections and he took it like a ram. Then I gave him every day an antibiotics injection. Brad felt better after one night and it was so boring in the stable. We played who eats the chess tokens first. Brad always won.

Poor Brad has caught a cold

After his release from the barn, he followed me everywhere. Even in the house. And other sheep followed him. Kleines for example likes to come in the house anyway.

We follow you everywhere

On the picture Kleines and Brad come OUT of my sleeping room. Needless to say, that my sleeping room doesn’t belong to me alone. The dogs and at least one cat sleep there too. That’s why Bach is a bit worried. “Will those sheep sleep here as well?” Don’t worry Bach.

I gave them some sweet chestnuts to bribe them.

Sweet chestnut

Sweet chestnuts are the best. (sheep proverb)

I’m the author of the photographs, they are available under a Creative Commons licence on Flickr.

06/10/2013

The animals of my new neighbours

Deutsche Version hier.

I got new neighbours. And they have lots of cute animals. Their animals move too much and too fast for my camera, especially if I’m too stupid to use the sport-scenery-preset.

They got a goat and her little daughter. The goat is complaining the whole time, if a human is around. It wants food. Clever goat. There’s no way to stop it. She climbs on people to reach the food.

The goat of my neighbours. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

They got three horses. A miniature horse of the size of a dog, The Irish cob Aquarelle and Quitty, a paint horse. All the horses are very friendly. Quitty likes to eat. Good that she and the goat don’t get the same food.

Quitty. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Like I already said in Moon over the pasturage, they got a cat that got hit by a car in the first week after they moved here. They got four cats. Two hairless cats, one is a Sphynx. And I got to admit, I’ve learned something. I always thought it’s terrible to have hairless cats. But their cats were so cute and nice to me. Sitting on my shoulder and purring in my ear. That really changed my mind. I still wouldn’t want to have a hairless cat, but it’s really not the fault of the cats. They are just as cute as cats with hair. Took no photographs inside the house and can’t show those hairless cats.

The poor cat, that has lost its tail. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Apart of chickens, horses, goats, cats, and a rabbit, they got sheep. The sheep are rather new members of the “zoo”. I will get the cute ram in November and he is supposed to get in close contact with my ladies. For Christmas my neighbours want to eat him.

Wtf? They want to eat me for Christmas? Are they crazy or what? Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

“We’re so small, cute and harmless.” Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

“Hey little girl, do you like to dance with me?” Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Guardians of the property are three dogs of very different size. A Leonberger by name of Vulcain, some kind of spaniel called Forever and a Beauceron puppy by name of Isak. I don’t have any photos of Isak yet. He’s very cute, gives kisses and eats hairs.

Vulcain the Leonberger, he’s ten years old and a really lovely dog. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Vulcain and the little Forever play with each others. They are very good friends. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

09/09/2013

Young sheep and old sheep

This is an article in (more or less) English. Die deutsche Version gibt es: hier.

Where's the food?

Brad sniffs at my hand. It smells faintly of food. But there’s nothing left. How dare I have no food with me. I should at least scratch him behind his ears. Own photo, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Brad is castrated. It was necessary. Rams that are raised by the bottle are not scared of humans and become dangerous when they grow up (with balls). If castrated there’s nothing they got to fight for. That means I got no ram. And I need a ram if I want to get lambs.

The evening sun in Brad’s eye. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

I told this to an old farmer and he said he could get me a ram. Then he even said he found a ram for me. I could get it in September. In September I asked what about that ram. The farmer said, it’s too early. It’s only for rent and I will only get it, if I have sex with him. I said “no”. He can have sex with the ram instead. I got to get a ram somewhere else. I went up the hill to my “new” neighbours. A homosexual couple. How wonderful, that they would never get strange ideas about me.

They got a very small six months old ram. I asked them if they lend me their ram. Yes, after he has done his duty with the two ewes. And at Christmas he’ll be the dinner. So in November I’ll hopefully be able to introduce the little boy to my girls. It’s not a black-headed one. Which is good, because I prefer them to be of lighter colour. My sheep aren’t pure bred anyways, except if “wild mixture” is a pure breed.

The lawnmowers advance. The dark one is Kleines. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Daffne looks to the right. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Why's that human over there not in the queue?

The sheep walk in a queue back to the sleeping stable. Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Stirnlöckchen on the other hand has still decided to live forever. She feels quite good atm and gets up on her own. Doesn’t even need a lift. She’s just old. An English worker, who has done some repairs in the castle would love to kill her. I don’t let him. And I won’t ever let him. I think it’s enough to say, he has already proven, that he is not capable of killing sheep properly. If necessary I’ll call the vet for euthanasia. It costs only 30€ and the animals feel no pain. It’s a much better death than the one proposed by the worker. Can’t explain that to him though. I know his way is cheaper. But it’s not cheaper for my soul.

“Hey human, don’t you think the evening sun is wonderful today? And while we’re talking so nicely.. how about some food?” Own photo on Flickr, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

01/09/2013

Walking with the sheep

Deutsche Version: In einer Reihe dem Ende des Sommers entgegen.
We decided to end the “summer” and reenter the pasturage. To walk in the park in the morning and to walk on the pasturage in the evening. To sleep in the stable.

Bach says that’s really exciting.

We disturbed this during dinner. Own photo: licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
There’s a cute Brad. Own photo, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
He’s so cute. Own photo, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Poor dogs behind the door and nobody lets them in. Own photo, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Sheep in line. Own photo, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Hey don’t leave the line over there! Own photo, licence: CC by-SA/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

I have seen galleries like this on Misaki’s Blog and wanted galleries as well.