The other weekend, we let the dog out at 7am as usual for her morning pee, then went back to bed with a cup of tea.

Half an hour later, we looked out of the window to see a huge flock of sheep had mysteriously and silently, with military precision, materialised in the garden like a mass of fluffy clouds, as if we had suddenly been transported into a bizarre live action episode of Shawn the Sheep!

Perhaps they knew we had been tardy this year in cutting back the grass and fertilising the veg beds, and had decided to help us out.

Leaving the over excited dog inside, to bark important orders from behind the patio doors, and with the additional help of a kindly neighbour, we plugged the hole in a fence the expert woolly sappers had uncovered, and quickly herded the flock back through the orchard into their home field next door, where they looked suitably, well, sheepish, at having been caught on their great escape.