The Storm of 2017

 


This is my favourite photograph taken by the boffin Cameron .
It’s a real stunner
It is of my Soay Ewe Irene during the harsh snowy winter five years ago.
She was hardly bothered by the weather.
Irene was a particularly difficult Ewe. After her mother Sylvia died ( and yes I did name both sheep after the flower show matriarchs ) Irene spent most of her days in the livery stables fields, shunning any attempt to be caught and moved, and there she lived with the horses until her peaceful death today 
Her face lying straight on the grass facing the ponies in the top field 

Don’t anyone say they are sorry. She wasn’t my ewe for nearly a decade, so I had no real investment in her care.
But I kind of respected her chutzpah at choosing where she was going to live.
Thank you to Rachel who runs the livery for allowing her to stay for so many years 

36 comments:

  1. I well remember Irene. She lived to a fine old age, it seems. I won't say I am sorry for your loss, but I think you felt a little something, enough to immortalise her final end here on the blog.

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  2. As I understand it Irene has lived a wonderful life free to be herself - Run Free Irene xx 🐑

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  3. What an impressive photo, worthy of the Countryfile calendar! And what a feisty lady Irene was. RIP Irene. xx

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  4. Anonymous9:03 pm

    Very regal, lived a good life on her terms

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  5. That's a cracking photo of one of my favourite breeds; my passion is old Scottish breeds, I love their feistiness. Soay is a lovely fleece to spin. Have saved the photo - just for me personally in my sheep file :) - hope Cameron doesn't mind x

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    1. If not ok I'll remove it.

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    2. You're more than welcome to save it :)

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    3. Thankyou Cameron, appreciated :)

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  6. Anonymous10:00 pm

    Great photo, I remember her

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  7. What a great photo! Straight from the pages of National Geographic.

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  8. Rachel sounds like a wonderful person providing a place for Irene through the rest of her life. The photo of Irene could be enlarged and framed. Alternatively, some people can take a photo and create a nice oil painting. Either one would be lovely.

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  9. Whoa. That's quite the photo!
    And I loved this story!

    XOXO

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  10. A life well lived is nothing to be sorry for.. And it sounds like she lived her life her way... Hugs! deb Quite the photo Cameron!

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  11. I see determination in those eyes. I think this is probably accurate.

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  12. Such a beautiful face for a sheep ... her eyes are quite soulful. May she run in the pasture of Heaven!

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    1. Anonymous1:46 am

      As a fan of sheep and shepherd blogs, I'd say they all have beautiful faces. Did you know they also recognise faces, human and sheep, better than we can? Tina in west oz here.

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    2. Interesting to know, Tina in Oz. Thank you!

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  13. I love that photograph and I love that Rachel allowed Irene to be a sheep in charge of her own destiny.

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  14. That IS a wonderful photo! RIP to the feisty Irene.

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  15. Thank you Rachel as well.
    We all should be able to live as we wish and die as we wish.
    Cheers Irene,you handsome beast !

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  16. Barbara Anne3:51 am

    Lovely photo of sear Irene. May she frolic to her ehart's content in the hereafter!

    Hugs!

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  17. For a Sheep, she has very nice eyes. Usually they're quite menacing.

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  18. That is a fantastic photo.

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  19. Great photo. She sounded a force to be reckoned with and certainly lived and died on her own terms.

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  20. That’s a brilliant photo.

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  21. Great photo! Respect to an independent and stubborn lady who knew what she where she wanted to be.
    And thanks to the kindness of Rachel she was able to.

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  22. That is a striking photo. I remember the many attempts to catch her but it seems she just didn't want to be caught. I am glad that she lived out her days on her own terms.

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  23. Such a beautiful photograph. I too remember the attempts to catch her. It is wonderful that she was able to live out her life with the ponies.

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  24. She lived a good life, on her own terms didn't she. (As we all found out when we tried to catch her!!)

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  25. A handsome ewe...and Says are toughies!

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  26. Wonderful photo and what an incredible life she had.

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  27. What a fabulous picture! xx

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  28. Anonymous2:45 pm

    Wonderful photo . Thanks for sharing . Reminds me of a ward sister I once knew !

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  29. Anonymous3:49 pm

    That is a fine photograph!

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  30. I like to think that she slipped out of this life thinking that she was right there with the ponies at the top of the field.

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