![A quick tale of my latest adventure in an extremely wet Dordogne…🌧Anyone that has followed us for long enough will know ...](https://img4.travelagents10.com/594/489/928332375944895.jpg)
11/01/2025
A quick tale of my latest adventure in an extremely wet Dordogne…🌧Anyone that has followed us for long enough will know that whenever Ian is away, and I’m home alone in haphazard charge, then some incident, disastrous or funny usually occurs…of course this time has been no exception! 😂
It was the weather that brought about the latest crisis for me as it seems Ian took the sunshine away with him and left behind high winds and torrential rain!! It’s been a super fun week slogging through mud and driving rain to keep the animals cleaned, fed and out of the worst of the weather…choice words have been uttered as I push endless barrows full of p**p round to the poo pile whilst sloshing through mud and getting repeatedly stuck…I mean we lived in Scotland for 12 years, mud and rain were second nature but it seems I have become soft in the usually much more temperate Dordogne and definitely do not have enough pairs of waterproof trousers or gloves and coats. Wellies are a whole other issue as well as I only have these stupid short things which are not woman enough for these extremes! The goats hate rain so they stay indoors all day punishing me, because, obviously, the rain is my fault. 😂 A constant supply of hay is demanded with plaintive bleats and to relieve the tedium of being confined they amuse themselves by peeing in their just cleaned stalls…Maisie actually watched me finish cleaning her stall around her because, of course, they can’t make it easy for me by moving aside and then promptly let out a stream of p**s that a racehorse would have been proud of!! Arthur goat looked impressed by this behaviour and I saw a nod of respect towards the newcomer…maybe he will warm up to her a bit now that she's shown her lack of respect for me…he thrives on my misery…
🤣So Thursday morning I woke up to yet more relentless torrential rain and as I squelched up to the top field, where the sheep are currently residing, I was met with torrents of water pouring down the field and the boys were stuck on a little island of dry whilst huge puddles and streams of water formed around them and in and through their shelter!! 😱The girls shelter fared a lot better so they were ok thankfully but the boys could not stay in their area and there was no other choice but to move them. But they don’t yet trust me enough to follow me and herding them through the girls field wasn’t an option either…omg, can you imagine..Eddie might be old but he still has a twinkle in his eye…😝the top field is quite a way from the main stables so I was buggered and back up was needed! After a panicked text to Ian he leapt into action and tee’d up some youth and muscle in the shape of Fin and Ned and a four wheel drive truck to come and help rescue the boys from their watery emergency! I honestly thought the truck would get stuck but it made it up to the top field without incident and the boys were rounded up fairly easily which was a relief as I have not yet honed my herding skills and humiliation is only ever a step away when dealing with animals that are obviously smarter than me 🤣They are very good once cornered though so I could catch them and hand Ned and Fin a sheep each to lift onto the back of the pick-up. They cheerfully put up with me fussing and wittering away about being gentle with the little old men..I’m nothing if not a vocal worrier. I clambered in and held on to Eddie whilst Ned held Sid and off we went back down towards the stables slipping and a sliding. Once safely down they hefted them out and popped them over the fence into their new area and I heaved a sigh of relief. I can’t thank them enough for dropping what they were doing and heading over to help, I was a bit stressed as you can imagine but at least I managed not to burst into tears, result! So the little fellas are now residing in the old goat area and have access to a warm, dry, straw filled shed palace which they are very much enjoying!! I had to stagger up and down the fields a few more times though to lug back hurdles as there were a couple of gaps in the fencing that needed plugging…that’s already been added to Ian’s to do list when he gets home…so by the time I’d done that I was a ball of sticky mud and I definitely couldn’t get any wetter but very relieved that it was a job well done. Sid and Eddie seem non the worse for their little adventure and were quite at home when I went to feed them this morning.
I have to say that the sheep are an absolute joy…they are sweet, gentle and very very relaxing to just sit with and watch the world go by. I spent half an hour sat with the girls earlier in their shelter as the rain rattled down on the roof and it was very therapeutic…🥰Tinkerbell sat next to me, occasionally pushing my face with her nose for more affection and Bluebell and Annabelle were brave enough to come into the shelter also but kept a slightly wary eye on me. It’s progress though as they wouldn’t come anywhere near when they first arrived. As for Sid and Eddie, well, I’m utterly in love with those tiny little men…Eddie is already tame and trots up for strokes around his little frosty face but Sid is very nervy at the moment although starting to come closer and hopefully the jumpiness will improve as he gets to know us. I’m going armed with ginger biscuits tomorrow to see if I can buy his love…I have no shame…😂
Edit : I typed this last night ready to post this morning and I’ve woke up to silence…no rain hammering down…woohooo…but of course it’s stopped as Ian is due home later!!! 🤣
Have a lovely, and hopefully dry, weekend everyone!