Baa Baa Black Sheep.......

Sorry this is a tad late again, but I have been herding sheep! (Or should that be 'flocking' sheep?)

Now I can see you all visualising me with a crook, a floppy hat, a faithful dog to help me, and a bunch of 'baaaadly' behaved ovines dodging and weaving in front of me playing 'follow-my-leader' and ending up exactly where they started.

Wrong. In all respects! Apart from the faithful dog who was lying on the couch, that is.

A friend asked me last week if I could make twenty-five sheep, from felt, to decorate her home-made crackers. She always makes her own crackers for Christmas and saw some little sheep somewhere, fell in love with them, and phoned me!

My little cottage key rings

I love making things from felt, (except when my hands are extremely dry and the felt catches on my fingers). The colours are vibrant and varied and there is a wonderful feeling of satisfaction when I cut into a brand new square and end up with something useful!

These purses make lovely gifts for kids.

I make purses, key-rings, bookmarks, and little toys, so I was keen to try something new.

Shaun the sheep!!

A few minutes later (well, more like half an hour), I had made a paper pattern, cut one out and sent a photo (isn't Whatsapp wonderful?) Back came the reply, yes please!

Now the next problem was felt. I had enough white felt to make a couple, so I phoned our local Fabric Shop. They stock everything from buttons and bows, to patterns, material, cottons and felt. Sorry, no white, the Christmas rush had begun and black, white, red and green were out of stock. Would blue do? Or orange? I didn't think so, so Plan B. There is a tiny shop in Vredenburg, tucked away in the main road, that sells a real mixture of things, including carpets and wool...and felt! So I found the number and phoned. Yes, plenty in stock, so I jumped into the car and headed for town!

Baaasil and Baaarbaaara!!

I also bought black elastic for the legs. And with a knot on the ends to look like hooves, and wobbly eyes quite high on the heads, I think they look jolly good!

Half the flock!

Thinking about sheep naturally led me on to Google! I simply had to find out if sheep have a patron saint! And they do! Two in fact! Saint Drogo (who seems to be more involved with coffee than sheep) and Saint Germaine de Pibrac (1579-1601). The latter was born near Toulouse in France, but she had a deformed hand, so her father put her into the barn to live with the sheep. When she went to church she left her sheep alone and none of them were ever attacked by the wolves that lived in the forest nearby. She shared her meagre meals with beggars and became well loved by the people around but refused to live anywhere else except with her sheep.

Saint Germaine with her flock.

So, there is a little bit of trivia to end this fascinating blog.

And now, for me, it's 'baaaaack to work'.