What an amazing day!
7:00 a.m., we went with Glyn on his morning feeding rounds to check on the ewes and lambs and to feed concentrates. Cap, his older trial dog went with us. I fell in love with Cap, a wise old soul who is very adept at catching lambs! Cap is a big rough coated tri color dog with a split face. He gets to go on the morning rounds because he becomes " annoying" by howling if he is left behind in the morning. I think it also mainly because he knows the job and is a perfect working partner who only rarely needs to be told what to do...most of the time he was already doing what was needed before it was asked of him. Truly a great dog and one to appreciate.
The three of us plus Cap went on the side-by-side through several fields of sheep, up and over all of their farms and up on the mountains with groups of ewes with twins, ewes with singles, etc. The Berwyn Mountains were nearby and the two peaks were called (in folktale lore) Berwyn and Bronwen (two giants). The views were beyond amazing, and the numbers of sheep, beyond my comprehension. Field after field of ewes and lambs, on a beautiful crisp and sunny morning.
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| Cap |
It is a family farm that has been held for generations, through good times and bad, and hard winters as well as mild ones... the sheep are mostly Welsh Mountain ewes, and some are crossed with South Country Cheviot, or Charolais, or Texels, to produce butcher lambs. There are a few crossed with NCC or BFL. Cap was amazing and helped to catch several lambs that needed treating for this or that. A piece of heaven, up on top of the world...wow, just wow! When we'd finished all the ewes and lambs, our last stop was at a field with 28 yearling Welsh Mountain rams. They were fabulous. A few will make the grade to stay, some will be sold as rams, and the few not so good, for butcher.
To be continued...
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