Partly cloudy. High (70%) chance of showers in the south. Snow possible above 400 metres. The chance of a thunderstorm in the late morning. Possible hail in the morning and afternoon. Winds west to northwesterly 25 to 35 km/h tending west to southwesterly 25 to 40 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the late evening. Overnight temperatures falling to around 2 with daytime temperatures reaching between 5 and 9."
Even for Tasmania, that's a schizophrenic and scary forecast: thunderstorms, with hail, followed by SNOW? (I'm at 400 m) Not to mention the wind, which is a given up here.
So, this afternoon I moved the sheep into the Lucerne Reserve, where they can have a change of forage from the cocksfoot/ryegrass/clover/capeweed diet they've been on in the Racecourse, and also have much more extensive shelter from those NW to SW gales. It was a tad tricky getting them out of the Racecourse because they had to leap a small stream. Remember that my youngest sheep, at 3 years of age, have never seen running water, let alone been asked to jump it. Albert, one of Vicki's staunchest (3 yr old) boyfriends, was my hero and valiantly braved the 2 foot long jump, and the rest followed. When I last saw them, they were making their way up into the top part of the Reserve, where there's good shelter and a lot of forage diversity, much of it native.
Now I can enjoy my day inside, with the heaters turned up and a good book to read (I'm re-reading the Mary Grant Bruce Billabong series, and enjoying it just as much as I did the first time), and not feel the least bit guilty about not shepherding my sheep tomorrow.
Heading toward Curly Sedge and the streamlet. They were going well until they saw this:
Then they baulked, and the lead sheep tried to circle back up into the flock.
Finally, Albert came to my rescue and bravely jumped the stream, and the rest followed:
This storm over Table Mountain was threatening as we made the trek to the lucerne, but didn't get us after all. Just a taste of what tomorrow could be like!
A view across the Lucerne Paddock to give you an idea of the topography of the sheltered area up top.