Curly

Don't you just want to sink your hands into this? At the end of the day I walked the circular route over the hill that takes me past the paddock where the three beautiful Valais Blacknose sheep live. I've blipped them before - they have beautiful thick, curly fleece, black faces and black knees. They were munching rhythmically, very close to the fence which separates them from the public footpath, and when I paused to enjoy looking at them, the most distant of the three came to put her head over the face and seemed very friendly and sociable. I talked to her, and as I walked away she followed me the length of the fence. I never see them without smiling. The curly fleece is my close-up photo for abstract Thursday - thank you Ingeborg for hosting.

Today's more serious photo is the oak tree extra. It's one of a group of three beautifully shaped mature oaks on the edge of the hilltop meadow, and the low evening sun was lighting the textures of the trunk and patterning it with crisp shadows. I've been photographing the trees on the hill, many of which are very old, throughout August and also for a while last winter, and editing them in black and white with the idea of making a photobook with the best of them; but I like this one best in its evening colour.