Wet and wetter

The swallows are flying low, slugs are in heaven, it can mean only one thing - damp weather. Understatement! Did I say damp? Wet would probably be a truer description, or even wetter than wet may sum the situation up better.

Now I have no idea who or what has been poking bloody great big holes in our clouds but I think it only fair that they now get the darning needle out and do some running repairs. I never knew clouds could hold so much of the wet stuff, but seemingly they do.

There again it could be the giants thumping around up there and putting their feet through the clouds letting the wet stuff out. Giants? Well you see, as a kid I was told that thunder was the giants up in the clouds and they were angry and as we've had a humbdinger of a thunder storm today it made me imagine them stomping around and causing holes in the clouds, coz after all, the rain we've had today could only have come out of big holes, it was pretty big rain, actually I think the giants were tipping buckets of water out of the skies and laughing at us! At least I have grown out of hiding in the wardrobe when it thunders, just as well as today there wasn't a wardrobe handy!

Yup! I can see you all rolling your eyes - Shep has got water on the brain alright!

We've had a number of downpours, also showers, persistent showers, damp showers, wet showers, wetter than wet showers, more downpours and a handful of drier days - honest! there has been a handful, we just tend to forget about them between the wetter than wet days.

Burns have swollen, burst their banks and traveled where they fancy, as have field and hill drains. Roads have also been transformed to look like rivers, saves Shep getting the pressure washer out and removing all the muck and grime from the wheel arches of the car, it happens naturally when you drive on the roads!

I have no idea how much rain falls every day but there is a days worth in these dogs dishes - saves washing them out an' all - wonderful!

Today saw Shep clipping sheep, I only do a couple of days a week, not because I'm getting lazy but due to the fact that for the other five days in the week sheep are sopping wet. Today was one of those couple of days, fortunately the sheep had been housed overnight, otherwise Shep wouldn't have had any to clip as a misty morning would have guaranteed they would be damp of the fleeces and with rain commencing by mid morning they would definitely have never got dried. Fortunately I was working for someone prepared to house sheep overnight. Yesterday saw the clipping finished and then helping to gather, run lambs off and house ewes ready for today, it's a comfort as the raindrops hit the windscreen on the way home to know you'll get on in the morning.

As today's clipping drew to a close the heavens opened, it wasn't a hole in the clouds this time, more like a bloody great big tear, the wet stuff came down whole water, a spate no less. Lightening flashed into the shed and them giants commenced grumbling as the thunder brattled louder and louder. As clipped sheep were reunited with lambs and returned to their pastures Shep quite enjoyed the rain piddling down on her bare shoulders, a humid day had seen much sweat lost and the rain was truly refreshing, until I was wet that is, then it got somewhat tiresome, fortunately a change of clothes was on hand.

Gear was packed up but a delay ensued when it came to leaving and heading for home. The rain was torrential, the thunderstorm was right overhead, lightening and thunder complimenting one another, there was no way Shep was taking to the road in those conditions!

Overall, the storm would last a couple of hours and eventually Shep headed South and back into England. Water was running all ways, through gateways, down bank sides, almost running back up them, burns were boiling, some overflowing onto the road, driving with caution was necessary.

Once back into Northumberland everywhere seemed even wetter. I have never flashed my headlights to oncoming vehicles so much as I did in this particular journey, neither have I had so many flash theirs at me, there was much waving of acknowledgement for consideration to others on the roads. Broken down cars were passed just yards from flooded areas of the roads, police even had roads blocked and diversions set up as I got closer to home. What is normally an hours drive took me an hour and a half, there was much creeping through puddles (more like lakes) on the road.

I eventually had to stop and take a photo, I had passed some sheep just half a mile prior to this stop which were marooned in the flood water, ewes and lambs huddles on a tiny patch of soggy green surrounded by what looked like a raging torrent, I wish I'd taken a photo, but due to a police road block and redirecting of traffic there was much traffic on my tail and no where safe to pull over, so no photo. Hopefully the river would begin to run in and the sheep would find their 'island' growing in size before finally once again becoming their pasture.

The above photo is of the Rede, a twisty narrow river in the next door valley to our own, it is noted for flooding but even so had managed to do remarkably well in such a short time. It had swamped much ground and presumably was the cause of the redirecting of traffic a short way back down the road.

The excitement of my journey still wasn't over. There were still many watery obstacles to negotiate, small hill drains and burns had swollen to ridiculous proportions, running across roads and bringing down stone walls which were in the way of the spate. My mind was full of "Ooh", "Blimey", "good grief!" and even "Wow!". I just can't help feeling full of awe and respect for the power of nature.

The water levels began to subside quite quickly, an hour from returning home and it was more than obvious that water was draining away and heading at a rate of knots for the coast.

It left much damage in it's wake, stone walls down, tarmac lifted on the roads, trees washed away, land slides. Our pub got flooded out, not for the first time in it's life time and probably not the last, we have been extremely fortunate though in many ways, television news coverage tonight shows people far worse affected than ourselves, we don't have houses standing in water, nor cars with only their roofs showing above the water level. Them holes in the clouds may have left their mark but we have much to be thankful for.

We have a private weather station in Tarset and they sent the following report through Yesterday (28 Jun 2012) the temperature ranged from 12 to 18°C with 54.8mm rain. The wind gusted up to 18 mph. Follow the weather on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tarsetweather

For those of you like myself who don't quite follow the millimetre thing and prefer measurements in 'old money' as my mother would say then I have googled a converter and can report that 54.8mm equates to 2.1574803149629598 inches. Doesn't really sound a lot, however, the majority of it fell in just a couple of hours and believe you me, it did equate to a fair amount! BUT.......... apparently on 28th June 1917 243mm (9.5") reportedly fell at Bruton in Somerset, SO we ain't really got anything to complain about have we?

A pleasant find

Bouncing around in what only could be described as being in the middle of no where Shep stumbled upon something. By bouncing around I would like to add I was riding a quad bike on overgrown, rough, un grazed moorland, I wasn't actually physically bouncing around like a chimpanzee, although it is fair to say I have been known to do such things, just not on this particular occasion.

There I was, out in the middle of no where on a quest - trying to track down some wayward sheep, when I spotted a deer. Nowt unusual with that, there are roe deer a plenty in the Tarset valley and many to be seen on this particular hill ground which is surrounded by forestry.

This deer acted in a different fashion to many which you stumble upon. Usually a deer takes flight, all you see is the white rump disappearing into the distance. This one behaved in a totally different manner.

I would easily be 100 yards off it when it just seemed to spring up from nowhere, initially I thought little of the fact, just another deer. Until......... it only ran a few yards before stopping and heading back to the spot it had sprung from. As I was still bouncing along on the quad it then ran away further, but hesitated, stopped, looked back before disappearing over the edge of the hillside. Strange behaviour.

Now if that deer had been a sheep I would have guessed it had a lamb lying back there somewhere, why else would it hesitate and head back before running further away?

I looked across to the spot where I had first been aware of the deer and thought I could see something moving. Time to stop the bike and go and investigate I thought.

All movement had ceased as I slowly and quietly walked towards the spot, just over the edge of the hill I could hear a deer barking, she had definitely left something behind.

 

And sure enough, I wasn't disappointed, as tucked away in the long, overgrown heather was her fawn. A roe deer fawn. Acting dead. Squatting down, lying flat, pretending it wasn't there. Take flight and the hunter might hunt, lie and act dead and all may be well. It had been well taught for it's tender youth.

 

 

Moss lay away back next to the bike, curious as to what I was up to but wiser than to disobey his orders, he remained alert, waiting to be called, although that wasn't going to happen.

 

I took these photographs as quickly as I could, the photographer in me wanting to remove annoying foliage to enable a better shot, the shepherd in me telling me not to loiter, leave well alone and move on as quickly as possible. The doe was still calling, although out of sight she wasn't far away and so I retraced my steps, mounted the trusty stead and bounced off leaving mother and offspring to be reunited.

It is hard to believe, that this is Sheps first ever encounter with a roe deer fawn, I have seen many youngsters trotting alongside their mothers but never come across a little chap of just a few days old. It doesn't take much to cheer one up and this was one of those little things which puts a day on a high, all that bouncing about on the 18th June was well worth it!

Sheepy mischief

Sheep ain't as stupid as folks would like you to think and given the opportunity they are more than capable of running circles around you. Shep and Moss have been dealing with their mischievous ways over recent days.

 

This picture might appear quite innocuous but them there sheep know what they're playing at, running down a steep bankside full of brackens, they were forever hopefully of hiding from sight. Fortunately at the moment the brackens are only just growing, by the next time these sheep are gathered in July the brackens will be higher, denser and give them far more cover. Should they get away with this ploy again there is no doubt some of them may well give shepherd and dogs the slip.

 

When gathering it is always wise to look back, the above photo is the reverse shot of the one previous to it, so, there are sheep running and trying to hide in the brackens ahead, but nothing behind..... look closer - just to the right hand side of the self seeded tree, is there something showing above the heather?

 

Aye! crafty beast, tried to slink off whilst the fore runners were causing mayhem, too wise to keep running, she just stood still, forever hopeful she would be overlooked.

There is a final ploy in a sheep's life. To sulk. They like to take flight, run and hide, run in the opposite direction to the one you'd like them to, then there are those who once they think the world has got the better of them they go in a huff - sulk and refuse to budge.

 

If they can run into water they're more than happy, in fact can almost be suicidal in their attempts to take to a burn in a desire to be petty. Fortunately this time the burn wasn't full. This ewe had decided enough was enough, taking flight hadn't worked, trying to hide hadn't been successful either, the last resort was to go in a sheep huff, take to the water

 

and face up to the dog - do the battle of wills thing. So it was, like staring someone out, see who gives in and blinks first. Moss was more than happy to stand his ground, it had been a long and fraught gather, the water was cool and he wasn't in a great hurry to go anywhere, he actually had the ace card up his sleeve but was being patient for the time being. The ewe may well find her nose being nipped if she continues to dig her heels in. Whose nerve will give first?

 

Good old Moss came up trumps, his nerve did hold as he was edging for a fight, mebbes the ewe realised he wasn't gonna take any prisoners. He managed to stare her out and move her on, although still in the water and travelling down the burn she soon realised she'd be able to travel far faster on terra firma

 

and off she went as though the devil was on her tail, rushing to join the safety of her mates further down stream.

Sheep are anything but stupid, they can be far wiser than those of us who try to handle them!

Twicey Show (Roman Wall Show) 9th June 2012

A day off! Or ought I say a day off which was pre planned. Everyone I worked for knew that Saturday 9th June was going to be a day off; no one would have dared suggest Shep changed her mind. It was time to head away and catch up with some crack, view some decent sheep and basically enjoy a leisurely day at the Twicey show. Which was exactly what I did.

Once again old Glen and myself disappeared off for the day and headed away for our annual trip to Hadrians Wall and it's annual sheep show.

 

A beautiful setting for a show, even when the weather is somewhat anti social as it was on Saturday.

 

The weather was threatening as these clipped tup hoggs were showing themselves off in the ring, it must feel strange to get the rain on your backs when a good covering of wool had been the norm for the preceding months, but they aren't the only ones bare, Shep has already clipped ewe hoggs on a couple of farms and there are many more to do.

 

By the time the Blackfaced tup lambs were being judged the weather had indeed broken. It didn't just rain, it poured down, like a thunder spate, all that was missing was the rumble of thunder itself. A true cloudburst which seemed to be relentless.

 

There are some wiser than myself, these two retired shepherds took me by surprise when an umbrella surfaced. I had been enjoying their company and crack but there wasn't room for me under there as well, I took shelter behind them instead. Two very sound sheep men from which much can be learnt if you take heed. They did inform me that they thought the umbrella ought to be fitted with down spouts - just shows how wet it was!

 

The mule men seemed to hold off judging their lambs until the downpour subsided, the sun even came out! As did the midges!

 

The rain held off whilst the blackfaced championship was judged, all the first prize winners from the various classes, both male and female were in the ring together before the judge decided which one he deemed the best of the lot, this year it went to a ewe lamb from Wanwood Hill. The mule ewe lamb championship was won by Carry House.

 

There was a good turnout of sheep on the day and of a high standard too, although there may have been slightly fewer entries in the classes than previous years, the weather may have been responsible for this or maybes the change of date for the Cumberland show may have had a slight affect on the show, regardless there was still plenty of sheep for the judges to scrutinize.

 

It would seem this Swaledale tup collected more than one rosette, in actual fact there was more than one sheep in the pen, I just zoomed in!

I had decided upon arrival at the show not to show old Glen, he got out of the car and seemed a bit lame and wobbly, he is 12 year old now and suffering badly from arthritis so it was asking a bit much, however, a friend suggested I really ought to, so I got him out of the car and took him onto the field, he really perked up when poddling around meeting other dogs and children who wanted to stroke him.

 

He seemed quite cheerful when he met this pack of Border terriers, showing his best side and trying to woo the girls amongst them! Anyhow, to cut a long story short, somehow we missed the judging. It must have been meant to be is all I can say! He has won there for the past two years by sheer luck and now, even older and wobblier, it was really asking a bit much, so we were saved the embarrassment of not being chosen by actually not even competing - a fine way to bow out I would say! (I have since met the judge of the day on the road and had a crack with him, the first thing he asked was why I hadn't shown old Glen! Oops!!)

 

The day came to an end. It had been a most enjoyable day off. Fortunately I had been wise enough not to park on the field upon arrival and there is no doubt my car would not have got off it at night without this sort of assistance. The day was rounded off nicely by calling on a long standing and very dear friend whom I hadn't seen for a couple of years, supper was offered and accepted with the result Shep didn't arrive home 'til bed time - that's the way to enjoy a day off!