tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691606.post807624861194676774..comments2023-09-15T13:58:59.817+02:00Comments on Pyrénées adventure: Another lamb and sheep shearingLee Sharphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17699745969441333370noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691606.post-22480367814792522092017-05-26T07:12:22.061+02:002017-05-26T07:12:22.061+02:00Were I a sheep I would think your place was heaven...Were I a sheep I would think your place was heaven, and then some. A friend used to breed, raise & show goats and her attitude was: We take them from their natural environment so we have a responsibility as long as they're with us to give them a good life and then a good death. She also commented a bit wryly, unlike the way we treat our fellow humans. She had one doe, great for milk, not for show but she wouldn't sell her when people wanted a good milk goat, she swore Matilda had a sense of humor and she needed someone around like that (her husband was rather dour). I saw the same thing and when I went to visit I'd fill the back of my VW Rabbit (back seat out) of good trimmings from our place...she loved the young blackberry and wild rose vines and the owner said they were ok for goats (no spray). After the first trip Matilda recognized the sound of my car (the place was on a mountain side, rather like yours) and came running. No sooner had I parked and opened the back hatch than she climbed in and as she ate, she also defended HER vines and kept the other goats away. She never soiled the car but she did a great job of defoliating the vines. I brought them home to soak, and later use for rough baskets or wreaths. <br />I've never been around sheep and I know they're different from goats but I'm sure they have their own personalities.<br />And seeing yours reminded me of a book I got after reading a review in the Independent ten or so years ago. It's about sheep. You may have already read it. My copy has made the journey from friend to friend, as good books should. Here's a link to the review:<br />http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/three-bags-full-by-leonie-swann-trans-anthea-bell-6097379.html<br />When I lived in the area where the goat lady was, there were wild elderberries also, but people tried to make wine from the berries. And then give bottles of it for Xmas gifts. It was truly god-awful. Seems there were recipes for both elderberry blossom and elderberry berry wines, so people went for the berries. They couldn't add enough lemons to cut through the foxy taste and the sediment would have done justice to a several hundred year old grape wine taken from an old cask. Seeing what you've produced redeems that poor shrub as a useful one for me now. No more bad associations. gabriele grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16127869830708518973noreply@blogger.com