Saturday, August 12, 2006

Rescued a Sheep



We went to Devon to stay with my sister on her partner's farm near Honiton last week. There were several trips to the beach, shopping in Exeter and a visit to my aunt in a retirement home in Honiton itself. She's over ninety and physically quite fit but finding life in the home a little boring so my sister and other relatives nearby visit often. It was my first visit and I was glad I went. She has serious trouble with her short term memory so it was rather confusing because my aunt is unlikely to remember the beginning of a conversation by the time she reaches the end of it.
My nephew aksed me to help him rescue a sheep on Thursday. The unfortunate creature had escaped into a field adjacent to the one it
should have been in and was stuck in a patch of boggy ground. Sheep hooves are rubbish for crossing muddy ground! It had sunk up to it's armpits in mud and couldn't get free. When we arrived it was exhausted with struggling to reach firm ground the mud under it was at blood temperature. We managed to lift it to firm ground but it wouldn't or couldn't stand up, so we left it to rest and went back to the farm house to phone the farmer who owned it. The next morning we were on our way out and saw many more sheep in field and - you've guessed it! - another sheep stuck in the same patch of mud. It might even have been the same sheep again.

No comments: