General Chat

The Sunday before the patronal festival of San Juan here in Menorca is Dia de Be or the day of the sheep.
This morning I got up close & personal with the star of the show ;-)
A man carries a sheep on his shoulders round the town, accompanied by a dozen or so local dignitaries, dressed in 17th century costumes, 4 local police, 4 national police & 2 Guardia Civil.
The sheep is shampooed, brushed & primped within an inch of its life & has coloured ribbons tied to it´s fleece. With it is the Master of Ceremonies who announces the progress round the town with a flute & a drum.
Periodically, the procession stops at a "palace" of which there are many, for liquid refreshment. Needless to say, eventually, none of them except the sheep are entirely sober.
Hopefully my luck will change now as I actually managed to stroke the sheep as it came into the house where we were taking part.
Wonder if this was a relation of yours Errol.
(By the way, it´s a fully grown sheep. not a lamb)

I can't help but feel sorry for the poor sheep.
:-(

Who shaid the seep were shober?

Not the best way to treat a live sheep.

I agreed that it´s a bit unkind, but they,ve been doing it annually for several hundred years & the sheep seems quite happy.
Now you come to mention it Errol, it was sort of glassy eyed.

My feet have gone all wobbly

Is that the place where after all the celebrations they slaughter the sheep and spitroast it? :-D :-D :-D :-D Very uncivilised. ;-)

I think that other Europeans have a different attitude to animals from the British. Take bull fighting for example. It´s a national sport in Spain, although I believe it has now been banned in Catalonia.
The sheep is in no way ill treated. It is selected months in advanced of the fiesta & trained so that it knows exactly what is happening.
Far more worrying is the use of the horses in the San Juan fiesta. British Health & Safety would be horrified, although again, the horses are trained for months & most of them are bred for the purpose & none of them are ever caused any pain.
Errol, the drink of the moment is gin & lemon. Don´t know what sheep think of it, but it´s mighty potent to humans.

Not too much lemon for me please.

Merlin I am saying nothing!

No Merlin, it isn´t.
Even the Menorquines wouldn´t stoop so low, although there is a firework display at night, after the sheep has been returned to the bosom of it´s family.
From the moment it is selected as star of the show for the year until it is returned to its home, it is treated as a celebrity.

Wisechild, Please don,t mention "Bosoms" to Errol. :-D He,s having enough problems with Fluff in his Belly Button. :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D ;-)

Sorry.
Should have said "returned to the fold"

Ooh I say!

you can get fluff in folds as well

Do you get fluff under bosoms?

how very dare you

AnnCardiff I wasn't referring to your gazzumbers. It was just a general question.