Sheep Antics

Bess asked: where is this county fair I was speaking of in my last post?

It's the very nice Montgomery County Agricultural Fair, in Montgomery County, Maryland, not far from Washington, DC. It's a surprisingly homey event considering how built-up much of that area has become. And for anyone who happens to be in the general vicinity, it's going on for a couple more days yet, so if you're in the mood there's still time for a visit! Prizewinning pickles, and skeins of handspun, and quilts, and old-time dry goods, and antique engines, and carnival rides, and funnel cakes, and farm animals are there waiting for you. :)

Back behind the barn, where the animals were getting prettied up for a turn around the ring, I got a chuckle out of seeing the sheepwash. To be honest, though, I'm not exactly sure whether that was a freshly shorn sheep or a goat. It may have been a goatwash.






Either way, it looks like this guy is saying, "uh-oh, I think I might be next!"

Visiting all the animals in the barn reminded me of something. Wandering through the barns at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year, my friend and I spotted a little lamb standing perched atop his Mom's broad back. He was swaying around trying to keep his balance, and probably thinking "whoa, how on earth am I going to get down from here?" We, on the other hand, were asking "how on earth did he manage to climb up there?"

Somebody wiser in the ways of the barnyard soon snorted and straightened us out. Apparently, it would have been much easier to climb aboard when the ewe was lying down in the straw. And then she stood up. That pretty much trumped all our wild theories. But it was fun to imagine him clambering up there somehow.

And anyway, well... OK then, smartypants. How do you explain this? :)

Everyone's Patience Has Limits

World's-most-patient-husband pointed out a video to me this morning. Before he let me see it, though, he was careful to say, "You can't do this." Well, for goodness' sake, there was no need for that, was there? Really, I'm sure I wouldn't have been tempted. But it doesn't hurt to be safe. You just never know, do you? And even world's-most-patient-husband has his limits. :)

With no further ado, the link to a CNN video: Pet sheep lives with UK family. You can't imagine how cozy a full-grown ram can be until you've seen him lay his little chin adoringly on a family member's lap!

[I don't know how long CNN keeps these videos on-line, so I apologize if the link is broken by the time you try it.]

News of the Wooled

The newspaper has been unusually entertaining this week.

From it I learned of the hitherto unsuspected (by me) creature of wonder, the woolly pig. It seems there is a breed of pig called the Mangalitza, now rare but common 100 years ago in Austro-Hungary, that has a sheep-like woolly coat.

Hearing this, my imagination ignited. If we can spin and make sweaters of goats, rabbits, the downy undercoats of dogs and the fur of New Zealand possums, why not the wool of curly-coated pigs? A little investigation, however, dashed such hopes. One article referred to their coats as thick and bristly. Perhaps a better candidate for scrubbing pads than sweaters.

But they're really quite cute to look at. Have a look here or here for pictures. Evidently, the blonde variety is the most sheep-ish in appearance. As for me, I'm tickled just to know that such beasts exist.

In other news, it seems that the rusticating pop star Madonna has caused a wool-related ruckus. Yes, she of the-ever-changing, carefully-orchestrated, controversial image has found a way to create controversy with sheep. Apparently, she and her film director husband were due to have their estate in the English countryside featured in a book. Not content for the resident sheep simply to look like sheep, she ordered them dyed in pastel colors for the photo shoot. The RSPCA fears a fast-spreading craze for pastel-dyed sheep.

No doubt they look cuddly in coats of pink and blue. They might be just what the sleepless would picture, jumping one after another over a fence, for counting. About this incident, though, there does hang a slight, effete whiff of treating the sheep as decorative props for the bored rich rather than as living creatures.

Plain sheep being too ordinary for her taste, perhaps she should look into woolly pigs!