Introduction: How we became urban shepherds

Cant believe I have been sheepherding for 4 years already!!  I started with 4 sheep, just to clear the land on the property I own with my siblings in Ojai, Ca.  Our parents bought the 2 acre ranchita back in 1966, and we grew up their with horses, cows, chickens, lots of fruit trees and organic gardens. Weeds were always a problem, and a neighbor suggested sheep to keep them down.  Our 1st 4 sheep did an excellent job of that and also procreating.  Our flock has grown to 12 as of November 2010. Now Ojai is RURAL rural, and a bit, well,  uh, how do you describe a town that hold memorials for fallen trees? The sheep were no big deal up there.  So my place in Newbury Park is up in the hills; my property is ALL HILL, and its 39 stairs to the front door.  Clearing the place for fire prevention is a horrible job, and when the fire department asked us to rake up the grass as well, we knew we needed to brng the sheep to the city.
In contrast to Ojai, Thousand Oaks is covered in concrete and very few people here respect diversity or nature.  I mean one time I had a friend over, and when we were OUTSIDE she saw a beetle and had to step on it!!   People come over and freak out over all the Daddy Long Legs hanging out in my house.  Then they go back to their own houses and spray chemicals all over to kill flies and the other bugs that spiders take care of.  Oh and dont get me started with the SOCIAL POLICE.

So into this fine city come our little sheep to eat down the brush around here, and protect our $$$$ homes.  Bob (my business and marriage partner and best friend) is a natural when it comes to sheep herding.  The sheep fall in love with him.  We experiment  with different ways of staking them out, but discover that a good fence is best.  However, on weekends we let them out and herd them up and down our dirt road. Most of the neighbors are estatic to get free weed abatement, but some are anal retentive when the sheep leave their little gifts of organic fertilizer around.  Well I'm going to stop here and try to upload some pictures.  Will write more later.