Moved to Cornwall ✅
Purchased Farmers Gillet ✅
Looked into buying Sheep Farm ✅
I didn’t think much about sheep until the above check list seemed to systematically check itself
during the mobile only internet days of winter earlier this year. Funny what dot’s connect when you
have a think back.
Decision made! Let’s not get into ‘Sheeping’ we concluded, whilst deciding what DVD to watch,
now Netflix was out of reach for our meagre 3g blandwidth. Ugh.
Sheep are not for me. Especially after chatting to Mike up the hill, who told me all I needed to
know. He looked down at my dog Bruce and said:
“…not like dogs ya know? I get a look in the morning and everything’s okay, then BAM two dead
sheep that afternoon! They have a habit of developing problems and dying suddenly…”
Sheep are not for me.
But Sheep are considerate neighbours and, didn’t seem to mind me staring at them for hours on
end. In fact they gave me a few things to think about, as I compared their standard day with my
new Cornish state of mind.
When I thought of Sheep, I imagined them moving together, like one big cloud doing sheep things
together as a team.
However, our sheep neighbours chilled all year in small parties of 2 or 3 across the whole massive
field they were in. I stopped counting when I got over 100 sheep. They look just like cartoon
clouds on a fallen green sky.
But the scene changes quickly when the farmers arrive to move them on to the next grazing field.
When they hear the big noisy quad bike, plus keen sheep dog, there is a chorus of ‘sheep noises’.
Just as expected, the sheep quickly get into a tight flock, hit the noz and exit stage left through
the newly open gate to an uneaten meadow.
Sheep stop their usual routine of; eat grass, chewing cud, fertilise, repeat, to consolidate for
safety. Well, maybe the fertilising continues a bit…
Perhaps we don’t do the same thing enough eh? You know listening to our gut instinct for
dangers to our space.
What would it take for you to stop doing the things you do on autopilot and consolidate like sheep
with a highly motivated boarder collie on your 6? For me it was waking up to the sad and sobering
fact that some people, no matter how close, they have are or have been, are toxic and dangerous.
I’m out. Can’t soak a sponge in vinegar and expect to wring out water. Environment is
everything…
I tolerated abuses, due to an agreeable and empathetic nature, for far too long, and for too many
years seeking safety… ooh but when I did, demands got much louder! Toxic behaviours followed
on and off line, disguised poorly as concern or worse still, virtue. To say we were chased by dogs
really is a fitting metaphor here.
For us, consolidation was a move to Cornwall, a world away from the previous paragraphs
unpleasantness – environment is everything. Sadly we had to cease all communication with
almost all people from our community and past. Those of you who’ve dealt with old fashioned
narcissism and toxic behaviours likely will understand this challenge and how it effects everything.
But sheep don’t stay consolidated for too long, just until the ruddy faced farmer gets his noisy
quad and his T-800 border collie the right side of the field gate. Sheep get back to their purpose
and spread out to enjoy pastures new.