So, where were we (apologies for the cliff-hanger)?
Ah, yes. So Lambie and Bert were best friends and along came ‘Ster and war broke out resulting in Bert leaving to go and live in the hill for nearly a year.
And the thing is, living in the middle of the hill as we do, I would often see Bert go past. I even went over to the hill sheep’s shearing pen (crö or cru) in September to ask Bert if he wanted to come home but he just said no thank you, he had his own friends (the hill sheep) now. So I had to leave him there and it broke my heart.
While Lambie and Ster were very happy growing up together, it didn’t seem right that Bert was not here.
I would be lying if I said either Ster or Lambie missed Bert. They didn’t but I did.
And then, one day in October 2016, I said to Ster “I really miss Bert” and, with that, Ster left – it is pretty easy to escape from here if you want to. Lambie, of course, was thrilled because his dream of being an only sheep (child) was finally coming true but I would leave the small gate open into the hill just in case Ster wanted to come home again. Two days later Ster came home accompanied by a very thin moorit (brown) sheep. I could hardly believe my eyes.
This sheep was emaciated and I didn’t honestly know if it was Bert or not. He was distrustful and wouldn’t come near me but I sort of knew that it must be Bert. I spent the day digging up his old lamb photos and looking at this emaciated sheep and wondering. Could it possibly be?
That day was very strange – magical, so special and Bert was finally home.
Wow! That was amazing. So glad Bert came home and got his weight back up.
What an incredible journey that your four family members have had. You’ve lived through the joy & drama, but it is lovely to be reading (and seeing through your photos) of the family growing & intertwining. Life is just so amazing! Thank you, again.
Oh ! That is wonderful….it’s almost as if Ster knew Bert was in distress, so he went and brought him home. Animals are amazing !
I am enjoying your story so much Frances. How wonderful that Ster went and got Burt and brought him back home. What a wonderful surprise for you.
That is really the most amazing story.
So happy Bert came home and got loved on.
I really enjoyed learning about how Lambie, Bert, and Ster came to live with you. I’ve always had a soft spot for Bert because he is brown/moorit. However those baby pictures of Ster were just so cute! Lambie’s story was so sad but at least he survived, thanks to you and Bert and Ster. Thank you for sharing some of your memories with us!
Any chance you might tell us how you came to have all those ducks? I rather like the independent girl I call Penthy; she’s the one with a black head, I think?
The ducks….. a friend put an advert up on FB saying free to a good home. And gave me eight. One boy, rest girls. They bred. Penthesilea is one of the ducklings. She stayed. I sold her brothers and sisters as we were far too many. They get on fairly well but we have a too many boys to girls ratio.