What a difference we saw in Lucy who visited with her Mum and Dad over the weekend! At four years old she is certainly doing the growing up quick. The weather was a missed bag with showers and some sunshine. Clapham Street market was bathed in sunshine and rhythmic drums of the Batala
Batala is a form of Samba Drum music which originates in Salvador de Bahia in North Eastern Brazil. Batala was formed as the European wing of Cortejo Afro (a style of Brazilian Samba) by Giba Gonçalves in Paris in 1997. Giba is the maestro of the Batala sound, which he composed after the style of his home town Salvador, in Brazil. The music has its roots in African traditional music which found its way to Brazil and has been incorporated in to Brazilian culture since. Using this influence, Giba formed a 60-piece drumming band, called it Batala, and encouraged anyone with an interest in his music to form their own Batala group under his name. There are now eight such groups across Europe playing the same funky rhythms. Samba-reggae compositions with noted African influences beaten out on four different types of drum. The result is a raw, hypnotic combination of emotion, beats and rhythm.
However as expected the Ouessant Sheep took the prize as far as Lucy was concerned! The breed comes from the small island of that name, about 12 miles off the most westerly point of Brittany. These charming little sheep are claimed to be the smallest in the world, with the rams shoulder height at just 48-50cm and the ewes 45-46cm. Comparable measurements for the smallest British breed, the primitive Soay are 51-61cm for rams and 49-54 for ewes. They very rarely produce twins, and it’s unlikely that such a small sheep could carry or raise more than one lamb.The little Ouessant sheep carries a thick fleece of long wool with a dense undercoat. The ram’s fleece weighs 1.2-1.8kg, the ewes fleece 1-1.5kg.As with most primitive sheep, lambing is usually easy and this hardy breed can live outside except in very wet or exceptionally stormy weather.The Ouessant can be kept on a smaller acreage than other breeds, but they must be moved regularly to to avoid the build up of intestinal worms or other parasites.The original breed of Ouessant sheep existed purely on the Isle of Ouessant until the start of the 20th century. The inhabitants spun and wore the wool for their clothes.There were originally two lines of Ouessant, the Morbihan and the Vendeen, that eventually merged. The Morbihan was of a small size and black, brown or white in colour. The Vendeen was taller, only black with impressive horns.Some people suggest that the Ouessant breed descended from a Viking breed carried on board the ships and left behind on conquered lands.The Ouessant sheep were kept on the Island until the mid 1900’s. The breed almost disappeared and was saved from extinction by a group of Aristocrats, who allowed the sheep to graze on the land surrounding their chateaux.
Sunday saw a visit to a children's farm where Lucy was in her element feeding the lambs. Then relaxing in the rain back at Highfield.
We now look forward to Robin's arrival from down under to be joined on Saturday by Andy! With everything crossed for some sunshine or at least dry times August has arrived like Autumn! Terrible wet rain that has soaked the ground and effected tourist visitors. We hope that Robin and Andy can stay awhile and see some of the Yorkshire Dales in that elusive sunshine before they resume their travels thoughout Europe for three weeks!
