Cider with Rosie

One of the most frequently used cliches I hear about the weather at the moment is "it's lambing storms". In fact, one of my neighbours told me his conspiracy theory about lambing this week: "it's lambs that lead to global warming" he confided in me. "All that gas. If they just stopped breeding the bloody things, we'd be all right."

Whilst I do not wish to cast doubt on this dead certainty of a resolution to our current environmental problems, I do think that banning lamb would lead to a revolution on the scale of the French. It has to be said that lamb is one of the most popular meats in the restaurants, and whenever we do special dinners where a set menu is required, the usual request is for North Eastern lamb.

It was while gazing at the lambs in the park across the road from the restaurant last week that I decided that Comfort needed a new mascot. After a couple of heated arguments with the husband, the issue was settled: and on Thursday night, Rosemary the Lamb became Comfort's new figurehead.

I realised the blog potential of updating people on Rosemary's development. She would be raised on herbs, as her name suggests: just imagine the gentle exercise required to get her to her fighting weight. Ah, yes, I thought, about six months' blogging would get us to the final day when Rosemary would form an autumn feast for us.

But there's a hitch: Rosie is just too adorable to even consider this. It must be said that she does have a penchant for pre-weaning nibbling of wild garlic, parsley and chives (as well as the odd camellia), and her hungry cries every morning for her milk substitute (which smells like Horlicks) have softened even the most hard of hearts.

Bertie the terrier is her best friend, and she argues over sticks with Islay the spaniel. So whilst weaning may prove tricky, she's definitely the best Lamb Retriever in the county. As someone said "you may yet have the ultimate Sheep-Sheep"...

Whilst we sat on Sunday afternoon having a post-work drink, Tom put down his glass of cider on the ground and, lo and behold, Rosie started to stick her nose in.

Whilst that may have been a step too far, Rosie is drinking her milk from a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc bottle. Not very local, I concede, but does this make her New Zealand lamb?

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