The Baaaa bies arrive

Even fields need to be looked after, or they go out of condition in one year ! We had several options, ie, leave the fields to grow into hay, and pay a contractor to come and cut and bale the hay later in the year, and then try and sell it, or get some animals to graze the fields. As we are concertrating on sorting out the vegetable garden ( hopefully market garden)we thought that we would be biting off more than we can chew by adding animals to the equation for this year at least. So we decided to tack the fields out.- this means basically another farmer will put his animals onto our land to graze the fields, we have no responsibilities with regards to feeding, or the health of the animals, our fields get eaten and fertilized, helping to maintain the fertilitly, and we might even get a couple of shillings in the back pocket, or a lamb in the freezer. Farmer Alun from across the road did say he would bring some cows for a while, but we have yet to see them. Cows are quite heavy on the land and can "poach" ( farmer talk for wreck the land ) it quite easily. Another couple (Derek and Heather )who farm quite near us ( so they say, across the road at Five Roads, not sure which road they are on ) , stopped by and wanted to tack some of their sheep to our land. We thought this was a better idea than cows as sheep are not so heavy on the land, and thinking ahead, if we do  get some sheep in the future this would be good practise for us. So we decided to foster the sheep. Derek arrived with a double decker trailer full of 25 sheep one Sunday afternoon.These ladies are last Febuary's lambs, so just over a year old. They are here to rest and put on a bit of weight before they have lambs themselves early next year. There are two sorts, a few with pale mottled faces and the rest have black faces. Derek did tell us what flavour of sheep they were, but neither David or myself caught the name. These sheep are used for fleeces and will be shorn towards the end of June.That should be fun to watch, and Heather has promised to show me how to fold the fleeces before they are sent off to the Wool Board... something else to put on my CV.. fleece folder, GCSE. As Brian still hasnt come to do the fences or gates, Derek brought a couple of tempory gates, which are held in place with baler twine ( the stuff they use in the machines that harvest the hay and bale it ) It seems like all you have to do is keep the sheep in, keep a distant eye on them and make sure they have some water. Easy peasy, dont know what all these farmers moan about.(though I am sure we are going to find out ).
Well David cannot just look at the animals in the distance. They were not particularly friendly, but give David a bag of sheep food and plenty of time, and he soon has some new friends. The most bold sheep who comes at every opportunity we have called Maud, and she gets cheekier by the day. After two weeks , she is even coming to the top gate in the field to look for David and calls him as well. I am sure she says Daaaaa vid Daaaa vid . She now eats out of his hand and is quite bossy, not really letting the othere get a look in side ways. I just wonder what Derek and Heather will say when they have 25 sheep waiting to be hand fed and entertained. LOL( laugh out loud ).