To England...

The ferry ride back to England was pretty exciting. We were on the "fast ferry", a massive katamaran-style ship and the Irish Sea was very rough due to gale force winds. Looking out the ferry window, one minute we'd be looking at the water and the next minute all we could see was sky. Apparently the ship ran out of sea sickness bags, and even Mary Lou and Linda decided some Gravol would be in their best interest.

The ferry captain had to divert and zig-zag across to avoid the worst of it, but every now and again a particularly nasty swell would hit us with a bang and the ship would shudder, which was somewhat unnerving (can you say "Titanic"?).

Mary Lou and I went out on the back of the ferry, which was essentially covered in a cage to prevent anyone from being tossed overboard. The water was crashing on all sides and I could taste the salt of the sea. We had to hang on for dear life but it was exhilarating!

It was a long drive to Lancaster, and the following morning came early. We were bleary-eyed as we drove to our next trial at the Kilnsey Fair. The sat nav (GPS) took us over hill and dale, but it was a spectacular drive. Neither Linda or I faired well. The sheep were let out at the top but not spotted by anyone and the field was small. I had an independent Swaledale ewe who was halfway down the field before Craig got there, and we never got things settled. A few ewes had jumped back into the set-out or the exhaust and my ewe was trying her best to do the same. Linda had a very good run up to the pen, when Bet got frustrated with another tricky ewe and decided to put some manners on her. Mary Lou and Dyna had a great go, finishing 4th, only a couple of points behind Jim Cropper's winning run.

It is such a different game here. Many people won't go to trials that are more than an hour away. Have a bad go? Tomorrow there's another trial 20 minutes away with only a £5 entry fee. Had a great go? Not to worry...sheep, the great leveler, will likely bring you back to reality tomorrow. The motto in sheepdog trialling... "This too shall pass..."

Today we are off to another trial, to have another go with the dogs!

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