Not sure if you’re getting tired of the north Cyprus scenery, but I always love it.  We are holding off on doing much castle or museum touring until our friends Charmaine and Linda arrive in late March.  Then we’ll rent a car and see everything.  They will stay with us until we all move the boat from Cyprus to Israel in April.  If the weather is nice we’ll probably make some trips to Famagusta and Girne where, hopefully, we can meet Heidi and her husband in person.  Until then we’ll do our Thursday Deks walk and I’ll continue with my Turkish lessons and we’ll continue our walks around the hills of Sipahi.  And I’ve decided to try to create a Turkish picture dictionary for myself.  I sketch a sheep or cat or hill and then write the word in Turkish and make flash cards.  Actually sounds like fun rather than like work!  Amazing!

Ru

Sipahi Trail and Sheep

I took the dirt trail that leads up to Sipahi rather than the usual paved road. It’s pretty hard to get lost since the trail is through fields rather than forests and as long as I can see the sea, I know how to get back to the marina. This trail actually looks as if it were made by humans rather than by goats or sheep so it was easier to follow.

An animal skull skeleton.

It’s amazing the amount of animal bones I see when we walk the trails. I didn’t pick it up, but if we go back I will and add it to the leg bone and the electrocuted lizard in my collection. Randal found the tiny lizard behind a 220 outlet he was fixing.

The Med and tiny bit of the marina are visible: a security blanket when I hike.

The path is easy to follow.

Everything is green now with small green plants and tiny yellow flowers.

On the left is a pasture for what looked like a hundred sheep. You can hear their bleating and bells throughout the valley. Their Bahaahaa, Clang Clang attracts me like a magnet.

Sheep

I didn’t want to get to close because when they saw me they started to bleat louder and walk closer to the fence. They seemed to look at me very intensely which is a bit off putting when it happens. I didn’t want to disturb them and possibly attract the attention of any herd dog that might be around. I saw neither dog, nor human, but still since I don’t know proper “sheep viewing etiquette,” and didn’t want to do something “wrong,” I just took a few photos and went on my way. These sheep for some reason reminded me of the sheep from Wallace and Gromit! http://wallaceandgromit.wikia.com/wiki/Shaun_the_Sheep http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/

A pile of stones arranged to support the branch of this tree.

But not really.

It was such an unexpected sight, very intriguing as to who would have placed the stones there and why.

I came out from the dirt path onto the pave road to Sipahi and heard more sheep so went to look. They were behind what might or might not be an empty house so I didn’t invade the yard to get close. Being watched seems to disturb sheep, and this flock had a shepherd, so I just walked off to see if I could find the high school boy and his flock since it was after school time in the afternoon.

Cat on a ladder.

This house was where I found help cutting the choking twine from the puppy that found me in the basilica last August. I hope the puppy is doing well; too many abandoned dogs here on Cyprus.

I turned around to walk back to the main road and saw the sheep coming my way. So all I had to do was stand there and watch. I did say “Merhaba” to the shepherd and he returned my hello but only focused on his sheep.

Notice the sheep on the far left looking at the camera? It’s so odd because you just feel as if they are staring at you and waiting for some kind of explanation of what you are doing.

The lambs would jump and folic and butt heads with each other and play! I want one!

With just his voice, the shepherd could keep the sheep moving where he wanted them to go.

The stick was just for show….though he would tap it on the ground and that got the sheep’s attention.

Off to another pasture for the night.

All of this walking wool and no wool yarn in the local shops. It is all acrylic!

I probably shouldn’t add this, but Rustam said the meat/lamb on North Cyprus was wonderful because it was so fresh and there are several butcher shops in the small village of Yenierenköy. But at least their lives seem good until the end with lots of lovely grass and scenery and shepherds who really seem to care for them.

And to change the subject…

A sculpture? Archeological find?

More geologic than archeological or art, just part of the hillside on the road to Sipahi, but interesting.