Sunday afternoon

         Our new group of Cheviots was due for a health check and hoof trimming (standard sheep spa treatment) yesterday afternoon.  Normally, catching, checking eye color and hoof trimming is a sweaty, exhausting task, but Sunday was the dictionary definition of a fall day. I couldn't se a cloud from Cumberland to Amherst and the air was crisp and cool enough that we hardly broke a sweat. 

        

         

We also had lots of help from Case, our working Border Collie, and Sadie, our new barn kitten.                                                                                                                      

Case makes working sheep possible. Or at least sane. He gathers the flock and holds them in place so we can examine them.  

        

Sadie kept appearing from around the corner of the barn.  Fearless kitten that she is, she'd walk right up to the suspicious Cheviots who did not know what to make of this tiny black, furry thing. One of the ewes' eyes got wide and her ears perked up when Sadie approached her. I thought she was going to stomp at Sadie (a sheep's way of saying, "back off!").  Maybe Sadie has a future in herding?