Sue: Day Seven

This is the lunar landscape that Jim Cropper describes. He says he expects to see dinosaurs coming over the hill. Way north on the west coast of Lewis. We wound our way out of our inn on Loch Erisort where we are staying for three days.

And let me tell you what I like about the inn.

Guiness on tap. Delicious scallops with salad(!). We passed on dessert. Good wifi. Clean sparse rooms with the longest tubs you’ve ever seen. Heated towel racks (I love those). Hot pot for coffee in the room and switches on all the outlets. My grandmother would approve. She used to plug in the clock to get the time.

The food has been pretty good everywhere.

Potato and leek and lentil soup with fabulous baking and great tea at all the concessions run by local ladies. I am very fond of tea cake now and had an interesting sandwich today- Cheese and pickle.

We did actually see a stone circle. How they got there who made them why…. No one knows. I did not feel the energy of the spheres concentrate in my body. So i took a couple of quick pics and ran back to the car (you guessed it–raining).

On to Shawbost. Where the rocky field looked a bit treacherous. Rock littered peat bog with holes dips and initially invisible drive gates. The hill gently slopes up to the set out (280 yards).

Somethings fishy here we decided. What’s the trick here? Just then about 80 blackface dashed across the top of the field with a large horned Black Hebridean in the lead.

Ah, it’s the sheep today!! Dashing fighting turning splitting facing the dogs. Two flocks. Blue marks and blue and red marks. One flock pastures on the field to the left. One on the field to the right. Choose your side if you can they run both ways and back and forthat the top.

Sheep are set here by men. With maybe one dog not unusual to see two or three guys.

They try to just push them out and let them settle. Today a lot of great work by the shepherds dog. Wide fast smooth there at the right point to settle the scattering groups. We ate lunch with the shepherd I thanked him for his sheepand yhe work. Especially his dog. Ah, he laughed, you’re the only one who’ll thank me today!

Anyway. A fun day. Raining off snd on. We sit in the car a lot.

By now we recognize handler which is a lot more rewarding than the first day when anonymous rains suit clad figures crashed and burned in the rain at Waternish.

The dog work and handling is often impressive but the sheep have proved a challenge and many groups have come to grief.

Want to hear about me?

Thought you’d never ask.

The stone circle did not help Flo. She did a very nice outrun with no help from me but sheep bolted to the left and I can only hope she did not see them on the steep hill. redirect and she got them but they were from the field on the right and they charged the fence line. Flo could not/would not go between them and the fence. I stopped her they eased off the fence slightly and she started them towards me. One turned on her her from atop a hummuck and the exhaust dog was sent. On the plus side–good spotting outrun and listening. Just not able to cope with the breaking bad sheep.

Peat on the otherwise felt the power of the stone circle. Nice gather from left hand outrun. A little pushy on fetch but straight and he was stopping listening and flanking.

No one spun on him and we had an one big bellied high headed ewe.

Good drive but circled the pen. High Nose did not want in and we were both surprised by the sheep. All the time we spent at the pen allowed us to learn to work them and Peat relaxed laid down in the right places and covered without overflanking. Not a brilliant shed but the terrain madevit awkward to call your dog in. We finished ahead of the 27 point standard.

I csme off to applause. Bev had collected some American tourists from Florida. Glad to oblige but it was a little embarrassing. A great run for me and Peat but not really good enough here.

And I have two thank you’s. Donald Macritchie from Ness.

Booked us into these trials and answered a lot of questions. Very nice guy. A retired school teacher who runs the circuit.

And Michael Gallagher put this idea in my head last June and called Donald for me.

I am very grateful to both of them.