Yes, it's time to set Pollyanna free. She's a year old now and no longer a lamb. She's just as adorable and we all love her being here but it's time she went off to boarding school.
She's an absolute delight and gets herself into no end of trouble. If our kitchen door is left open she takes the opportunity to make her way upstairs and rummages through my filing tray. Bills, statements, they are all very tasty you know. Here's whats left of a voucher for a meal for 2 at a local restaurant. You try explaining it wasn't your puppy that ate it but your pet sheep!
Then of course, there are her intrepid trips into Feathers Lodge. If there's food, she'll find it! She'll go down on her knees to get their seed or she'll scale the fence to get all the goodies higher up.
Sadly though she needs to be with her own and realise she isn't a dog, a human or indeed a chicken. She's a beautiful sheep and we felt the best thing for her was to find new accommodation.
Tam O'Shanter very kindly said they would take her back but that's a good 25 min drive from me and I want her to be somewhere that I can visit every day. Even bring her back here to Taihape House for days out. Then of course there are her "public". She is known to everyone and loves to be out and about on her lead with Buffy.
Lady J (her Godmother) suggested some friends who have a small holding only a few minutes walk away and when they kindly agreed to have Polly on a Boarding School residency we were thrilled. Once they saw how gorgeous Polly is they went as far as to purchase two of her cousins from Tam O'Shanter Farm. Perfect - you'd think.
Oh no, it was never going to be that easy. We're now on day three and she still hasn't stayed the night on her own yet. On day one (Sunday) I stayed with her for a while and then left her with Helena. Apparently she bleated for almost an hour. On and on she went but eventually she decided if I wasn't coming back she may as well fill her belly on the lush grass underfoot. I went back a couple of times and each time she fretted so I brought her back to Taihape House for the night.
On day two I duly went back but Helena wasn't there so when I went to leave she hurled herself over the barbed wire fence to get to me - evidence below!
And so here we are now on day three. This was a very exciting day because we were collecting her cousins. First thing this morning I took her down and introduced her to the goats and a few sheep that already reside there. Half an hour I stayed with her while she followed me round. She was curious about them but really didn't want to have anything to do with them. I was pointing out her new friends to her and trying to encourage her to go and play but she steadfastly refused to leave my side.
It really is worse than leaving a child in nursery school.
Back home she went while we went off to Tam O'Shanter to collect the cousins (as yet unnamed). This afternoon I spent a couple of hours watching her as she tried to settle in. The cousins were quite curious and were happy to have a chat to her but she just ran off. They just carried on grazing away happy in each other's company. Strangely enough Polly seemed happier with the goats and they seemed to like her too. Button in particular was nuzzling her and she wasn't at all bothered.
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