Baaa-d Hair Day

You may recall that not long ago I blogged about overlapping research and how I’d learned about sheep for my next Amana book and then I'd begun researching about golf. During my golf research, I discovered that shepherds are attributed with developing the game by using their crooks to hit rocks. So nowadays, I perk to attention whenever I hear anyone mention sheep, shepherds, wool, golf, links, and clubs. But today I wasn’t searching for any of those things. I was researching some colors. And look what I discovered:


These sheep can be seen when driving on the M8 in Scotland, and I would love to go and see them in person. Can you imagine driving down the highway and seeing red and blue sheep grazing in the fields? You’d think you were suffering an hallucination. It seems that Scottish farmer Andrew Jack started painting his sheep in bright red and blue colors to “spice things up” so people could smile on their way to and from work.




The sheep are sprayed with animal-friendly paint, something they don’t mind at all, and they will remain colorful until sheared. Supposedly this all started when the farmer wanted to paint them blue to mark St Andrew’s Day, but when the colorful sheep became such an attraction, he decided to use red, as well. You must admit they are a colorful lot, but I wonder if they look down, see the color and think they're having a bad hair day.

Now on a completely different note—and this has nothing to do with sheep or golf--if you haven’t been watching Downton Abbey, I want to give it a two-thumbs up recommendation. The second season has begun on PBS Masterpiece Theater on Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. central time. If that conflicts with your church schedule, do what I do: record it or watch it online later in the week. It is a delightful show that you shouldn’t miss. The first season and first two episodes of this season can be downloaded and viewed on your computer or iPad—

Watch Downton Abbey: Elizabeth McGovern on A Favorite Scene with Maggie Smith on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

I love many of the characters on Downton Abbey—each one for a different reason. For those who have been watching Downton, I’d love to know which characters on the show you like and dislike the most. As writers, it’s fun to discover what readers think about different characters. So do tell, who do you like on Downton Abbey or who are some of the favorite characters you’ve recently bonded with while reading a book? And if you don’t mind—tell us why.

May you find joy as you deal with all the strange characters in your life (such as Tammy). Just sayin… Judy