Bodacious The Cat Shepherd

It's not every day you get to meet celebrities but recently, I finally made my acquaintance with a fabulous feline, who is a veritable star within the Facebook and Twitter communities. With several thousand followers and his own website, Bodacious the Cat Shepherd is, well, a cat who, along with his human, oversees a flock of the wonderful rare breed Zwartbles sheep in beautiful rural Ireland.

I first got to know about Bodacious when some years ago, I linked with his human on Twitter, but that is a story for another blog post. Instantly, his character appealed. What with that 'take me seriously or else' look, this fluffy cat had a way of captivating his audience whilst giving the low-down on the daily sheepy activities. Forget the A-list celebs social media tantrums - this is a C-list celeb who has also been known to tweet a strop or two when he hasn't had his daily fresh egg.

It was a beautiful early autumn day when I visited the Kilkenny farm, and whilst I was initially greeted by some wonderful canines, I wondered when Bodacious might deign to put in an appearance for this English human. We had probably wandered the farm for around an hour and a half before his human said "There he is" pointing to a corner of the farmyard from the far side of the field we were in. Suddenly a little flutter of excitement ran through me (Yes! I know, for a cat!) As we walked over, he put on the typical 'look-at-meee' greeting...for his human, it certainly wasn't for me!

Knowing that I was keen to capture a few shots of this big little star, his human paid a quick visit to the hen house and returned with a handful of fresh eggs.

Oh yes! His eggs and didn't he make it known he wanted...

Up on his hind legs with a loud meeow - give me!

However, it wasn't yet time for his treat, as there was a photo shoot to do first. And for once he wasn't going to be the centre of attention as this photo shoot was to be for his human. I'm not sure if he appreciated me engaging with his human for this time, when really, all he wanted was his egg.

The photo shoot completed, his human invited me back to the cosy farmhouse kitchen for a welcome bowl of soup, heated up by the Aga. On one of the counter tops, and looking even more cosy was Bodacious's fellow feline Marley, snuggled into a special cat-sized Zwartbles blanket. She looked really happy and content and quietly rested whilst we enjoyed the soup and a chat.

However, we had not long finished when Bodacious hopped up onto the kitchen chair and gave me the kind of hard stare as if to say "You are distracting my human from giving me my egg"

Oh dear!!
It still wasn't time for his treat as now it was time to go and feed the Zwartbles rams in the orchard.

Here, we met Ovenmitt, the third feline resident, along with Bear, a lovely and very lively young dog. It was a case of hey guys, time for a family portrait...if you would just stay still for a moment please Bear!

Ovenmitt is quite used to having his picture taken and even has a trick...

Feed time over and we made our way back to the kitchen where Marley was still resting in her Zwartbles blanket.

Sadly, it was time for me to leave and I had had a purrfectly wonderful afternoon with Bodacious the Cat Shepherd, his human and all the wonderful animals that lived in this beautiful corner of Ireland. I was delighted to come away with lovely memories, and a bag of my favourite Worcester Permain apples picked fresh from the tree - delicious!

And finally, his patience would be rewarded. Bodacious could have his delicious egg.

My thanks to Suzanna for her hospitality and a wonderful afternoon.

Reportage Roundup - March

Saturday 19th March

Chris Baker - founder of B.R.A.V.E

March roared in like a lion with over 300 motorbikes joining 'The Bomb Run' charity ride from Coggeshall to Carver Barracks in Wimbish, to raise funds for B.R.A.V.E.  Bikers Respect All Veterans Equally
Chris Baker, a former Royal Engineer, who became paralysed after suffering injuries when his military vehicle was hit by an IED, founded the organisation which raises funds to be shared around various military charities.

The ride was led by Chris on his special Harley trike, and riders from all over the region roared onto the windswept airfield behind him for a group photograph in front of some of the military vehicles stationed at the barracks.

Give us a wave! Just some of the bikers for the group photograph.

The all-important charity patch, to sew onto the riders cut-offs.

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Saturday 19th March

Follow the instructions for the treasure hunt.

By contrast, the gentle pastime of an Easter Treasure hunt, took place at Thaxted URC, where children were given a booklet of clues, to help their in search for letters hidden around the church. Once these had been collected and re-arranged to form an Easter greeting, families were invited to sit back and enjoy tea and cakes in the newly opened-up community space within the church.
View the gallery

Hunt the letters.

Cakes and organ pipes. The new community space opened up after removal of pews.

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Saturday 26th March

Hunt the bunny - hiding in the pak choi bed.

Continuing in the treasure hunt theme, Saffron Walden County High School Farm Club held their open day on a cold and dreary Easter Eve. This didn't deter masses of families arriving for the indoor barn activities, in an attempt to dodge the unpredictable weather. Once again, clues were provided to guide the young visitors to the hiding bunnies.

All the usual farm animals were there for visitors to become acquainted with - Dexter cattle, goats, sheep, guinea pigs, ferrets...
There was some reserve when encountering this constantly wriggling mustelids but thankfully all children went home with all of their fingers, although the farm club crew-member had nicely scratched hands (and a smelly sweatshirt!) Despite their odorous faults, I do have rather a soft spot for ferrets myself.

View the gallery

"If I stroke it, will I keep my fingers?!"

Am I pretty or what?!

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Monday 28th March

Sponsor a duck.

From furry wrigglers to yellow swimmers. Easter Monday brought the crowds out for the 1st Rayne Scouts annual duck race. These quackers, some of them veterans of many races, were assigned to hopeful custodians and over 1,000 ducks were released into a fast flowing River Brain. Storm Katie had just passed through and so the trailing wind helped to rush the bobbing bath-mates along to the finish in swift time, with the crowds keenly following on alongside the river bank.

View the gallery

Under starters orders. Over 1,000 yellow ducks waiting to float away.

Crossing the finish line - come in no.1000, you are the winner.

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As March came in like a lion, so it had to go out like a lamb, and just to oblige, one of the four-week-old farm club lambs provided a cheeky baa!

 

Day 12 - August Challenge

Challenge - "Zwartbles sheep. A breed,which I photograph every day. Would be interesting to see someone else take
                     a few beautiful artistic shots. As I take images of them everyday my challenge would be for you take
                     a photo that has me seeing them as I've not seen them before"

Suggested by - Zwartbles Ireland via Twitter

When I was set this challenge I felt I might be up against it when trying to locate a flock of the rare Dutch breed of Zwartbles sheep. Where to start?
Why not the British Zwartbles Sheep Association! (Thank goodness for the internet) It took an email and a phone call to Christina to gain the information I required, and was I pleased? You bet!

"We don't have anyone listed around Cambridge who has a flock" She told me.
"How about, Norfolk, Suffolk or Essex?" I asked.

"Hmmm, a couple in Norfolk. Nothing in Suffolk and... one in Essex in a place called Saffron Walden"
I suddenly had a smug smile on my face.
"Perfect!" I said

Who would have thought that there was a breeder of these sheep, right on my doorstep! A couple of emails later, and I was all set for a shoot on the glorious 12th (no grouse involved!) Next came another tricky bit, how to photograph them in a way that the challenger had not seen them before.
I had another trick up my sleeve. Himself has a thermal camera which takes low-res (sadly) infra-red spectrum images and which he uses in his business. No email required to organise this, just a quick bit of buttering-up over the dinner table.

...Et voilà! or should that be En hier! An image of Zwartbles sheep like you've probably never seen before, and if you have, it isn't a regular way of viewing a Zwartbles flock!

The flock included Linton the ram, who was more than friendly and kept right up close to me the whole time I was on the shoot. And just so no one thinks I was getting away with using a different breed, here is a conventional photograph of one of the flock to prove that I was being eyed up by Zwartbles sheep.

The grab shots

My thanks to:

Zwartbles Ireland for the suggestion

Christina at the British Zwartbles Sheep Association for the contact

Mick and Hazel for letting me photograph their Zwartbles sheep

Gay and Vyvyan for organising the sheep in the field
Himself for the loan of the camera

Tomorrow, Day 13

"Galloping horse"

As an addition to this post, I would like to provide a background to some of the work taking place at Stonebridge Farm.
As well as the flock of Zwartbles sheep, they also have Highland cattle and are planning to increase the horticultural sector on the farm. There is an old Essex barn on site which is earmarked for renovation. In partnership with Walden in Transition, it is the hope to run this farm as CSA - Community Supported Agriculture. For those with an interest email waldenintransition@gmail.com for more information.
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Accuro, the Community Gardening Project, which supports people with a disability also work on the farm. www.accuro.org.uk