baa, baa, brown sheep

As an aficionado of livestock, I naturally took great interest in the local Iona sheep. They have massive, deep-pile coats – the kind into which you just want to dig your fingers – and seem to roam unrestrained, though the greatest concentration of the wooly beasts are to be found at the northern tip of the island, where the turf – and the view – are more agreeable. There they also do something really curious: they burrow into cutouts between the grass and the sand, as though seeking shelter from the wind. The sight of it only serves to reinforce the anomaly of today’s calm skies and bright sunshine. It must be a wildly inhospitable environment when even the sheep are seen ducking for cover.

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have kilt, will travel

It should be a week of semi-sporadic postings as I’m off to the island of Mull in the Scottish Hebrides for a week of hiking, haggis, and (hopefully) abundant whiskey tasting. I don’t expect the internet to be terribly reliable; after all, I’m traveling to an island off the coast of an island – where the sheep population far outweighs the human one. Stay tuned and I’ll do my best. First stop: Glasgow.

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martha, found

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hung for a sheep as for a lamb

A Croatian village about 40 kilometers from the capital of Zagreb has come up with a unique program to combat the stresses of modern life: playing shepherd. In addition to the care and keep of 25 sheep in a meadow on the southern slopes of Vuglec Breg, the weekend includes the feeding and grooming of the village’s ponies. All shepherds get a three-legged stool, a shepherd`s stick, and the services of sheep dog Riki at their disposal. Interested in additional activities? Join the villagers in the seasonal work of the vineyards and orchards, like chopping wood or other farm activities. The three-day program includes overnight stays in one of the traditional village houses as well as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The counting of sheep is not only requested, it’s required.

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a break in the wind

I am a sucker for the livestock when I’m in Ireland.  Nothing makes me happier than to be out on a hike and chance upon a field of horses, cows, or my favorite woolly friends:  the sheep.  There were no sheep in proximity on this particular visit but after walking the length of Doughmore Beach I came upon a windswept field of cows abutting the ocean.  The pair in the foreground were just inside  a field-stone wall; they looked like they were trying to catch a break from all the wind.

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