When Dolly found her way to us, having escaped numerous times from the neighbouring farm, we had to quarantine her but of course she was very lonely so we urgently needed to find her a companion. We found a local Ryeland breeder who wanted to "get rid of" a pair of 6 year old ewes who were "past their usefulness". So we went and collected Mary and her sister Annie. Somehow we wrestled the big girls into the back of the car and out again when we were back home, into the stable with Dolly. They were to be kept in the stable for a week in order for us to check their health thoroughly and allow them to get to know each other and us before we released them out into the fields. Oh dear! Mary and Annie decided to show little Dolly who was boss and with the benefit of their huge size, beat poor Dolly up as often as they could. "The Bears" as we began to call them could even growl and make booming noises that sounded uncannily like Stephen Fry's "Melchett" character in Blackadder. 

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As time went on, they became firm friends though & all fitted in to the flock, just fine.

Mary was the cuddliest, loveliest girl but sadly, she succumbed to arthritis and found life  more & more difficult. She had a wonderful final summer, and we had her gently put-to-sleep in October 2021. She was a really brave girl and died in our arms looking into C's eyes. Annie, her sister, was as usual few yards away & came over when the vet had gone and had a good old sniff and look at her. For the first day, Annie lay in the field facing the direction where Mary always laid but since then, although she clearly misses her partner-in-crime she's been fairly normal and mixing in with all the others thank goodness. We miss Mary terribly but would only want her to still be here if she wasn't in pain. It's such a hard job for us simply because we love them all so much but we know it was the right time for Mary. 

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R.I.P. Beautiful girl, Mary Beary.