How I Invented the Newest Breed of Sheep...and I Didn't Have to Use a Clone!

Driving down the motorway with my husband, I was peering out the windshield in the driving rain and trying to see what was on the road. It was in the dead of night and the rain was coming down in sheets. We were on the way to London, and the weather could not have been any worse.

As we were driving along, there were signs telling us about road works farther down the motorway. Now this is bad at the best of times, but on a night like this it was really bad. So as the traffic was moving along very slowly, I was looking ahead and I saw a large clump of something white along side the road in the distance. I told my husband that it looked as though there was a group of sheep about 100 metres up the road and he better be careful so he did not hit them.

I kept thinking to myself, oh those poor sheep. They must have wandered onto this very busy motorway through a hole in a fence and they must be absolutely terrified. I voiced this to my husband, and he said not to worry, they could be Sunday lunch. After a sharp intake of breath on my part, and ignoring my lamb in mint sauce loving maniac of a husband, I got back to worrying about these poor sheep on the road. Funny thing was, the closer we got, I noticed that they weren't moving. I thought they were either scared stiff, or worse, cars have hit them and they were all piled up at the side of the road. I was in a total panic now, telling my husband we needed to call the authorities and advise them of this catastrophe.

We finally get closer to the sheep, and as we slowly passing by, I was about to turn my head away as I did not want to see the blood and gore. But in the second I was going to turn my head, I looked back. The sheep had turned out to be a pile of sandbags that had been placed at the side of the road to be used to weigh down the signs , as there had been high winds in the area for a number of days. My husband almost ran off the road he was laughing so hard at my pile of 'sheep'! Did I have fleece on my face or what???!!!!!

I admit it; I was doing the menopausal blonde moment there. My glasses obviously needed to be stronger! But I say when life hands you sandbags, go ahead and make sheep. So I did! I created a new breed of sheep - Road sheep! They are the hardest working sheep in the world, they are out in all weathers, do all sorts of jobs we need done, from flood protection to boundary marking! They are easy to feed, don't complain about poor working conditions and are easy to clean up after. I even decided that the needed their own union - hence we have the RSPRS - the Royal Society for the Protection of Road Sheep!

Next time you see a road sheep in your area, give a thought to them and mentally thank them for all the hard work they do. And while you're at it, think of me too. I might need visitors when they cart me away to the Looney bin!