Baah!!!!
Lakeland Sheep…
Here’s one of my current favourite photos. Taken at the top of Ghyll Head near Windermere in Cumbria this wooly fellow, wonderfully nonchalant in the face of a 100-400mm lens carried on stuffing himself with all the gusto of a football with a meat pie at half time.
These used to give me a hard time when I fished up here, whenever I arrived they would break rank and encircle me, forming a boundry, making casting a line an impossibility unless I wanted to use a sheep as bait. Walking to the waters edge in a straight line was out of the question. The sheep recognised the gate and its pathway and graciously left natural deposits all the way along and then some. The sight of hairy Cumbrian fishermen tip toeing in a zig zag fashion down the hill always amused me. I made sure I arrived before anyone else!
So here is the inspiration behind some of my best lamb dishes, every time they would stop me from fishing in a favoured spot I would stare one right in the eye and say “thyme, rosemary, juniper, red wine, garlic….”
Miles,
I’ve always found it a bit intimidating walking on land where there is livestock wandering about. Past experiences of being chased by a herd of wildebeest ….. well they might have been sheep (
) have left me more than a little cautious. I prefer meadows with trees and grasses and flowers, perhaps a stream and a table laid with tea and cake 
I must say I do admire anyone who gets up at first light to go fishing…. it must be a wonderful feeling to see the day in and be the first to set up. On the rare occasion I’ve been out and about at that hour, the beauty of it always makes me think I should be photographing the scene.
Cid
March 15, 2009 @ 10:54 am
Miles,
I wonder what those sheep thought when they were encircling you?
Your favourite sheep needs a name!
Elsie
March 15, 2009 @ 3:27 pm
Miles and Elsie,
That is a sheep with horns…. therefore I name him sheepy in preference to the alternative
Cid
March 15, 2009 @ 3:59 pm
Cid,
With you on the tea and cake all the way
Miles
March 15, 2009 @ 6:06 pm
Miles,
The photo is great! I can vividly imagine him chewing slowly on his grass with that, ‘What are you looking at?’ face on him. Mister March in the Countryfile calendar, for sure.
With regards to a name, I’ve always been childishly amused by animals/pets with human names. To me he looks like a Trevor. Trev the sheep, biggest bruiser in the meadow. I bet he baaaahs with an East End accent.
GDave
March 15, 2009 @ 8:28 pm
His name? It is Baaaaab, of course.
March 15, 2009 @ 8:51 pm
GDave,
You’re right there! They don’t care who you are, you’re trespassing!!
Miles
March 15, 2009 @ 9:39 pm
Annie,
Very good, very witty
Miles
March 15, 2009 @ 9:39 pm
I have met a friendly sheep.. every year there was the same sheep she was called 6510 or Mildred to us. The farmer was always having to drag her back home, everytime she’d see my grandparents van she’d come running with her bell clanging.
Every year until she died she’d come, the important thing about her though was she lived real old and reared many fine lambs.. not that I would ever have eaten one of her lambs but bet hers was the best lamb in the world because she was happy and quite free.
March 15, 2009 @ 9:53 pm
Sharon,
That’s a really nice story. It actually ties in with something I talked to my brother about today. We were talking about kid’s playing computer games all day and missing out on all that the outdoors have to offer.
Your experience has stuck with you all of this time, I bet a Playstation game wouldn’t have the same impact.
Miles
March 15, 2009 @ 10:06 pm