The wood fire is burning, a kettle is heating the water for a ginger tea and I am feeling pretty relaxed, until I hear little bells outside the window and paranoia sets in once again...
I take a deep breath, put on my pantoffels ( Dutch for the warm type of slippers ) and head outside. I have to check if the sheep have escaped again - for the 5th time today - or whether they're still behind the fence.
Since yesterday morning, when my twin sister, brother-in-law and niece and nephew left in their camper van, I have been house sitting, taking care of 4 cats, a dog and 4 sheep.
Usually these animals are very independent and not much of a hassle, but lately the sheep have started escaping. My brother in law added some new fencing and fixed some holes a couple of days ago, so I wasn't really expecting any escap(ad)es.
I guess I've counted too many sheep before falling asleep yesterday night though. As mentioned in my previous post What Are You Thinking Of Before Falling Asleep? this has led to me manifesting plenty of jumping sheep in real life.
I literally saw them jump over lower(ed) parts of the fence several times today. Not just to escape but also after I lead them back to their designated area. The fact that I'd put up some barricades, as pictured ( that would probably stop a plague of zombies - are sheep more intelligent than zombies??? ), made it a little harder to get them back on the right side of the fence. It also didn't help that Mungo, the dog, is a labrador and the opposite of a sheep dog.
Escape Count:
The sheep escaped twice yesterday. Not too bad.
Today was a litle more extreme though.
Every hour or so, from about 9am ( just after I woke up from a tough night ) to 2 PM onward, I heard those bells ringing again, sounding way to close. After leaving the house, I found the four MEH's grazing in areas around my sister's house, garden and guest house. Areas where they aren't allowed.
The first couple of times I got annoyed and frustrated. Later, after having some food in my stomach, a couple of ( zero caffeine ) chais and having meditated, I managed to look at it differently and to think more positively about the situation.
To get back to the scene sketched at the start of this write up, the last time I heard the bells, about half an hour ago, I headed out to discover that the sheep hadn't escaped. The last reinforcements to the two key points / escape routes are holding up splendidly. I conquered the sheep and my Ego did a little celebrationary dance.
For those who are wondering, no need to pity these sheep. They have a shed with hay and water with an open door ( where they tend to spend the night ), they have hundreds and hundreds of meters of grazing area on several terraces. It's just that the grass is always greener on the other side: the neighboring land with olive trees or my sister's garden.
They won't outsmart me though. Veni, Vidi, Vincent ( I came, I saw and I was ME ).
What are your tricks to fall asleep? Bonus points for those who have tricks up their sleeve to not wake up ( several times ) during the night.
I used to picture ( and count ) jumping sheep to fall asleep when I was young. Back then, I was living in a city though. The next couple of days, on my sister's quinta, I will make sure though to find other tricks to meet the sand man. I am getting way too good in attracting what I think of ;>)