Ringo the Ram

While in Canberra on Australia Day, we took the munchkin to hang with her great grandfather John before heading across town to another part of suburbia, where Doug lives with Ringo the Ram and his new Labrador pup, Cleo. Doug invited us in with a warm smile and put the kettle on. A Special Research Fellow at the CSIRO, Doug was telling us about the book he's writing as we sat perched on an ecclectic  array of chairs in the living room, sipping tea and munching on homemade ANZAC biscuits (some of which the baking paper needed a little help peeling off the bottom).

We had heard of the infamous Ram that resides in the backyard and curiously stepped outside. Well, I'm not sure what I expected him to be doing but there he was, a ram, just doing his thing. Chewing grass.  Hanging out. Cleo, with her chunky paws and shining black coat, went bounding off the verandah through the grass towards Ringo, her coat glistening in the morning sun. And so it began, bleeting and barking, cutting  through the air as the two chased around the vacant glasshouse atop it's  brick plinth in the middle of the yard. Doug tells me he used to grow tomatoes in there but he has been too busy lately. He says it is a lovely place to sit in the winter with a cuppa to warm up. And Ringo and Cleo do another lap. I'm fascinated with Ringo and his suburban home. All of a sudden I notice the silence as everyone else  plus Cleo has stepped back inside, their attention elsewhere as I have made my way to the back corner of the yard. Ringo stares at me with my camera, we're both unsure what to do. Will he charge at me? Would it hurt? And do sheep bite? I feel silly wondering wehther to stay where I am or to tiptoe away. Ringo glances away and I relax. Laughter spills out the window into the yard. Then Cleo pounces off the verandah once more, and Ringo comes my way at a speedy bleeting pace! Giggling and hoping no-one is watching me, I run towards the verandah and scramble up out of the yard as Ringo runs by with Cleo at his heels. I straighten my hair and step inside.

Time to head back to the big smoke...