Sheep may safely graze

But only where they are supposed to. S seems to have acquired the role of assistant shepherd by virtue of being the only person in the village able and willing to yomp about the mountainside chasing errant sheep. Our shepherdess neighbour M is a bit lax about repairing fences, so it happens rather often. Today nearly half the flock (about 30) had wandered right over to someone else's land on the other side of the mountain. M doesn't have a large enough vehicle to transport them, so although they weren't that far from the road, they had to be escorted back over the top and down the other side.

M has a border collie, but it is pretty useless at herding sheep, hence the need for an assistant. Luckily the bag of stale baguettes was sufficiently tempting bait for the ladies to follow her, with S bringing up the rear. It took them a couple of hours to herd them the 5 km back home.