The sheep get a new home

Today my hubby finished building yet another shed the shelter for the ewe lambs. They are in the top of our two paddocks and have no real shelter to speak of. The boys in the bottom paddock have the benefit of the woods at the bottom to shelter from sun but the girls have nothing really. It's taken him quite some time to figure out the design as it had to fulfil quite a long list of criteria:

• It had to be sturdy - to try to make it survive the strong winds we get up on our hill. 
• It had to be light and airy enough that the girls would actually be tempted to go into it (sheep are notorious for ignoring all manner of offers for shelter). They have been, thus far, sheltering from the strong sunshine we've had under an old flappy tarpaulin we erected for them in the corner of their field whilst we thought about their permanent shelter. Once we managed to work out a combination of knots that would elude Flossie - our naughtiest sheep - it worked out quite well, but there's no way it would afford any protection from the elements during the winter. 
• It had to be portable - so that we didn't have to get the planning department involved and so that if the ground got poached around it in the winter, we could move it elsewhere in the field
• It had to be big enough so that when we eventually breed the girls (they should be going to a ram next year) then they'd have somewhere large enough to lamb in.

Hubby has managed to incorporate all of these features and the wood arrived this week in order for him to begin building it. He decided to build it on our driveway, as the field is quite sloping, and tow it down later - once fully built. It didn't take too long in the end and I'm certainly pleased with the result. Our neighbour towed it down in the end, as he has a 4x4 and so could use much lower gears to tow it down gently (and not pull it to pieces, thus ruining hubby's hard work).
The girls were thrilled with the arrival of their new house, not least because it was being pulled by A CAR!!! Our sheep get ridiculously excited at the arrival of motorised vehicles in their field. I have no idea why. They will fawn over them like they are long lost members of their family, jumping up, sniffing, licking, trying to get in...very odd behaviour in a sheep I'm sure you'd agree.

Daffodil asking Jasper for a fuss...

So, after having given the neighbour's car a good going over, they turned their attention to their little wooden house (after a brief detour to visit Jasper in his pushchair - they also have an unhealthy attachment to the pushchair and Daffodil has a particular fondness for Jasper). Suzie marched straight in, and baa-ed loudly (amplified by the enclosed space) - scaring the bejeezus out of the three young children who were also in there investigating. Suzie is the matriarch of our mini flock and so if she approves, the rest will follow!



Here they are chasing the 'sheep kennel' (as Ellie called it!) down the field...

"Hey! Come back with our house!"

I am thinking of making a sign to hang outside the shelter, to make it seem more homely. I was going to call it 'Tŷ Dafad ('sheep house' in Welsh) as these sheep, although a Dutch breed, came from a Welsh flock and our family is mostly Welsh! Hubby's suggestion was 'Mi Casa Ewe Casa'! Any other suggestions?