Stampeding sheep

It was a glorious day, yesterday. A bit breezy at times, but sunny and bright. The lambs were lazing in the sun early in the day, and frolicking in the afternoon. They were so adorable as they jumped, bucked and kicked as if they were horses at a rodeo trying to dislodge their riders. The weather being fair, we took a walk in a nature trail on the edge of our landlord’s estate.

This area is public and had two small ponds on either side of the path with daffodils growing wild. At the end of the path were tall trees that have not yet bloomed and I could not identify them. They were very tall and when the wind blew through here, it was as loud as a waterfall. The path ended with two gates, one on either side. To the right was a grassy area sloping down towards the A road, with some newly planted trees surrounding by their supports. To the left was another pasture that stretched towards our house.

We chose the left gate as we spotted a stile leading onto more grasslands. The gate had three different locks or fasteners and we laughed at the security. Crossing at a diagonal to the right, we went over the stile and saw another one ahead. We crossed that stile and were following a path at the bottom of a hill. The kids, however, decided to run towards the crest of the hill. “Come on, Daddy,” they called. “You’re supposed to follow us.” My husband called back, “We need to stay close to the edge.” Nevertheless, we followed them up to the top. From there we surveyed the lovely landscape all around us.

Suddenly, we hear a noise and turned around to see a flock of sheep charging at us from the left. “Uh-oh. Run!” my husband yelled. The kids screamed and we were racing down the hill with the sheep chasing. We could not help laughing as we probably looked ridiculous running down the hill with that flock following. (Where were the video cameras?) It might not have been so funny if it was a herd of cows, though those sheep were big enough to run us all down, including my 6’4″ husband.  We crossed over the stile and looked back to see that the flock had stopped some distance away but were still eyeing us. We made our way across the other stile, only to be confronted with another flock – this one even closer! We ran for the gate and as I struggled to undo all three latches, my husband had to divert the flock away from the gate. We didn’t want to be blamed for letting some sheep loose. We managed to get across safely, panting to catch our breath.

That was fun!

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2 Comments on “Stampeding sheep

  • Very funny story. I tend to find that British sheep are more aggressive than Bulgarian sheep. I used to be quite afraid of them there, but not now.

    I can see that flock running after you all, like you say pity you couldn’t get it on video. Next time maybe!

  • The farmer tells us the sheep have been trying to escape. No kidding! A lamb went through the wire fence and was nibbling on our daffodils yesterday. When we tried to sneak out and take a picture, it got frightened and ran away. Then today, a couple had gotten through the hedge and were almost out onto the road.

    Yank’s last blog post.The English fog

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