Feeding time

The day started with misty rain and got worse, weatherwise. Both tsuken and I chose not to run in the rain. Mid morning, S chivvied us out the door to go a few kilometres north of Warkworth to Sheep World. We watched a demonstration of the work of sheep dogs, then a demonstration of shearing (with audience participation; one of whom was tsuken), and then the children fed the lambs.

The presenter has two dogs; a huntaway (Sam) and an eye dog (Boy). The huntaway is bred (and trained) to bark and bring the sheep to the shepherd. Very useful in the early colonial days when many New Zealand farms still had a lot of bush (i.e. forest) on them, in which the sheep could hide. The eye dog is basically a short haired Collie, and will gather sheep into tight groups, and then escort those groups to where the shepherd instructs through whistles and commands. Very interesting display.

I did get quite a good photo of tsuken shearing the large ram, with some assistance from the presenter. However, this photo of my four grandchildren feeding some of the lambs cannot be upstaged. Young L made sure the bottle was up high, Miss 8 (assisted by Mrs tsuken) is so delighted, Master 6 wasn't really pulling the bottle away, and Mr H is quietly blissed out after thinking he wasn't going to get a bottle to use.

Lunch at the cafe at Sheep World, and then S and I left to bring the Auckland grandsons back to Auckland. I have an early appointment tomorrow morning, and we decided that it made more sense to come back this afternoon.

Barely out of Warkworth on the road south, and the traffic was not moving. A quick decision, and I turned back and then went west across the country to the west coast at Kaukapakapa, before going back eastwards to join the motorway south of where I thought the blockage was (and was right). A one hour trip became almost twice as long.

Now relaxing in the apartment.