Pru and Tru II have shot through

The sheep have bolted. It's a relief in a way - they'd eaten the grass down to bare earth and were starting to eat the fruit trees down the back. Plenty of fertiliser around (courtesy of the non-stop pooing efforts of sheep, chooks and ducks), but no rain to make more grass grow.

At least one of them has previously attempted escape by pitting brute force against a fence, but this time it seems they sauntered casually out through an open gate. I couldn't remember whether I'd even used that gate during the day, so Anthony rather sensibly claimed responsibility for having left it open.

We did have some immediate concerns to do with the possibility that Pru and Tru II were at that moment eating our neighbours' gardens, or positioning themselves in front of very expensive vehicles on the Hamilton Highway, but after several hours of walking and driving around the block we were fairly convinced that wherever they were, they were no longer anywhere where they could be connected to us. There is a paddock a little way down the road with some pretty shoddy looking fences and I'd like to think they've moved on to (literally) greener pastures and joined the flock that live there.

By the way, Tru II suddenly appeared one day in lieu of the original Tru, who had been a bit prone to flystrike. If I don't ask Anthony any questions, he doesn't have to think of a lie to tell me.

We might get some replacements in a couple of months time, but in the meantime, we are going to indulge in the luxury of leaving gates open and see if we can watch some grass grow.