dream sheep lady

 

My gosh, isn't she great. 

Beate the sheep lady is my hero. I saw her on my dream farm trying to inspire the sappy alpaca lady into some kind of action. She is very much the woman I'd like to be, roaming about, catching lambs in my crook, wearing a combination of waxed cotton and chunky knits. I know my dream farm, as a tv show, sounds pretty naf but I actual have enjoyed watching it. Not least as I feel ralph and I have much more wits, knowledge and sense of the land between us than just about all of the folk they had on there. Possibly the ex-engineering executive excluded, she was pretty hot at it all. If monty thinks that some of these folk could actually make a go of it I really can't see why we couldn't. The thing I require is some bravery.

You can watch it here, I tried to get a clip from somewhere but failed. It's so nice to just have it here so folks don't have to go trekking off somewhere to see what you are talking about. Sorry I failed.

The bit with the sheep lady is at about 14.45, really just skip to that or you might not make it that far.

This is her shop and blog etc.

This is monty don.

I really wish I knew him, as if he was my next door neighbour or my husband. Ralph is obviously my monty, but better as he has a beard. And monty has a lovely wife already. I went on a hunt for some monty pictures and came accross this article in the daily mail. Crikey, those words I thought I'd never write...

Yew must be joking! Growers' fury at Monty Don's call to use only British plants

By REBECCA CAMBER
Last updated at 11:08 26 April 2008

They say you reap what you sow. And when Monty Don returned from a tour of the world's greatest gardens to extol the virtues of British plants above others, he presumably hoped to inspire.
Instead, the BBC presenter has ignited controversy by telling growers to stick to our native species and turf out foreign ones.
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Monty Don has been accused of losing the plot by other plant experts after he suggested that gardeners should stick to native species and turf out foreign plants

Don - who recently hosted the Around The World In 80 Gardens series - now stands accused of trying to uproot thousands of years of plant-collecting history in the UK.
At the Oxford Literary Festival, he told his audience: "British gardeners must learn to tell you a story through their gardens.
"Gardening with indigenous plants and working with nature by tweaking it is so much more interesting than imposing on to the natural world.
"The interesting gardens are related to geographical/historical/ personal context.
"Growing plants in a garden that would not exist without you is not very interesting."
In a recent interview, the Gardeners' World presenter - who has pledged to plant only native species in his Herefordshire garden - said: "Elsewhere in the world, indigenous plants play a key part in establishing national identity.
"We have an incredibly rich and fascinating plant heritage which we downplay - so I am planting oak, ash, hawthorn, yew, aspen and alder, as well as primroses, violets, roses."
But his rallying call met with a prickly reception.
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So, should we go native in our gardens? The rundown of British plants and their foreign friends

Dr Mark Johnstone, a lecturer at Myerscough College, Preston, and an expert on native versus foreign planting, said: "I'm amazed someone as high profile as Monty Don should recommend sticking to native British plants.
"He is confusing biodiversity and native plants. Plants and trees are used for social, economic and environmental reasons."
Luke Harding, manager of Westonbirt-plant centre, said: "Doing away with 'foreign' plants would effectively wipe out several thousand years of plant- collecting history.
"The vast array of non-native plants available in Britain is something that we are recognised for and that has given us our identity."
Nottingham University grounds manager Ian Cooke said: "Has Monty lost the plot? Does he think gardeners will take his suggestions seriously when we have a wonderful palette of exotic plants from around the world that seem to thrive in our unpredictable climate?"
Guy Barter, of the Royal Horticultural Society, said: "The RHS suggests that a range of native and non-indigenous garden plants are good for wildlife. There is no reason to restrict yourself to native plants, of which there are rather few.
"In fact it's essential for wildlife to have a healthy mix of native and non-native plants."

This is part of the problem I was talking about in my post about gqt. What he says makes so much sense and yet it has been rubbished. One of the comments on the article complained how she'd have to did up her whole garden if she were to follow this advice. What a total ignoramus. Gosh, plant what you like you loony but I dare say my garden will be much nicer than yours if you are unable to appreciate the subtlety of hawthorn. And I don't really follow the objectors argument, is there a plant from elsewhere that can be introduced to be really useful for biodiversity? If so, great if you like to grow it and it does no harm. But by the same token you could plant a really useful native plant and maybe it'd be working much more holistically, maybe it'd just be pleasant to have around, if there were no gardens, nature would be doing fine I think. The point is what monty says about imposing on nature, that not being very interesting. 

In my dream farm monty wears a shirt like this, all worn and soft. I have been keeping an eye out as there is usually something along the lines in toast but I think they have the heavier denim ones in the winter set of clothes. Makes sense.

 

There is this one in the sale and the shape is pretty much exactly what I'm after, just in something more substantial than the linen.

So, from hero rugged lady to looking at clothes.