Ben the Sheepdog

Ben was helping us again yesterday, this time with some lambs that were ready for market – the last lambs of last year’s lambing season to be exact.

Ben made sure the lambs didn’t escape.

Nothing wooly will get past me.

He was very serious about his task.

King of the lambs!

He was doing a pretty good job.

So far, none of the sheep had escaped.

Ben was keeping his eyes wide open.

One of the lambs to go was Daisy’s lamb, Annie. She has always been small.

And there was also this cute lamb.

And this one.

Hang on – isn’t he a bit close?!

What happened next could only be properly captured on video, because it is so funny.

Ben has a new best friend!

Just before the lambs were put on the trailer, I took another photo of Annie:

And a photo of Darkie’s male lamb from last year, Roy.

Once the lambs were loaded, it was time to set off in the Land Rover, but Fly wanted to come too.

But she couldn’t come this time, because it was a long journey right through the Mourne Mountains and there wasn’t much room in the Land Rover.

The views along the way were wonderful.

Once we’d arrived at the lamb collection point, the lambs were unloaded and I met an old friend. Prince the working Kelpie. Here are the original photos I took of Prince back in June 2010:

I was happy to see him again. He’s around 9-years-old now, so he’s slowing down a bit, and he was quite happy to have a rest in front of the camera.

And then there was Jess – what a dog!

Jess had never seen a camera before, or me, but she liked the treats…

…So she just sat and looked at the camera.

For ages.

I love this dog – and not just because she’s my favourite collie colour!