The Sheep's Stell. On having some grit and following your dreams.

August 2024.

Good Morning from My Life in the Wind.

When I was in London, I used to seek out opportunities for lambing because I had a plan to get out and work on a sheep farm - I did lambing every year in Sussex but I also did a few springs for an old shepherdess called Janet White.

She was in her 90’s when I first met her; tiny and shrewd, she lived in this beautiful old house in the Quantock Hills. It was big and simply furnished and I remember being shocked by her collection of soap by the sink; an old plastic yoghurt pot full of tiny slithers of old soap, she was using every last bit until they ran out.

Once, when I climbed the stairs to bed she said  “watch out for bats in your room”  👀. At the time it felt like a rather primitive way to live but I now realise we could all learn a lot from the way she lived (maybe not the bats).

She had twinkly eyes and on first glance you might think ‘oh, this poor little old lady’ but she was well travelled, extremely well read, sharp as a tack and had clearly been a beauty in her day. Deaf as a doorpost, she did not miss a trick and would be quick to point out if you had missed a trick.

I was introduced to her by a family friend who was her literary agent. She’d written a book (published twice) about her experience on a remote island hill farm, off the coast of NZ. She had come from an intellectual family but was hell bent on being a farmer so that’s what she pursued. The book is a riveting read - total isolation with a rather unhinged admirer - there is a part of the story which has a gripping, scary twist.

The first time I lambed for her, it snowed heavily (in March)...