On this evening I brought a longer lens in when I was visiting the pet sheep. It works only for a short time before they see me and come over! Astrid was the first to spy me.
Eunice and Beth came over too.
Titch and Esther, meanwhile, stood on top of the hill majestically.
Penny was grazing.
Lovely Esther.
Audrey.
Pearl was at the far side of the field and had gotten left behind by everyone.
Primrose.
Beth.
Ivy.
And finally, Hazel.
This winter Blue Belle is in a small field at the bottom of a hill which isn't far from the lough. I took her there once, years ago during the spring, and we had a lovely picnic. The weather this time around was a bit duller but we still had a lot of fun.
When I say that she's near the lough, what I mean is that we have to go through a narrow gate, across a stream, across a field, through another gate, down a lane and then across a busy main road... but then we're there!
Blue Belle wasn't sure about all this at first.
But once she got onto the road/path and started her walk she calmed down. There were a few people out on the lough in a small motor boat, likely from the local angling club, and the noise kept catching her attention. I don't think she has seen a boat before which is fair enough.
A day for landscape photography it was not.
They ran off before I could get a picture of them, but there was a small flock of Blackface tip lambs grazing in this field and Blue Belle very much wanted to join them - she is, after all, just a large sheep in her mind.
The lough is surrounded by farmland on all sides, so every time I come here I expect to see some animals. Further on there was a herd of cows.
They were curious about Blue Belle.
Blue Belle wasn't very curious about them, really. She wanted me to tell them that their hedge tasted nice, though.
Next we came upon a field of calves. They were curious too. This one was the bravest.
Soon a friend came over as well.
Before she knew it, Blue Belle had an audience for her browsing.
We had a very lovely time at the lough even if it was a bit grey. I'll be sure to take advantage of Blue Belle being so close to here and go for more walks.
Since Beth had bitten right through my camera shutter release cable, I was in need of a replacement. Sometimes it's very useful to not have to be right beside the camera when you're taking photos. The shutter release cable was very useful, but limited, so this time I decided the replacement should be wireless. Once it arrived I got it set up - one part attaches at the top of the camera via the hot shoe, the other is a remote I can carry around.
Susan and I headed up to the fields to try this out. I set the camera up on a stone wall, with a nice view, and drove back and forth a few times. For a first attempt I'm pretty pleased with the results.
One of Susan's favourite things in the world is racing the quad so she was very happy too.
This remote opens up a lot of fun creative possibilities that will be interesting to explore.