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“Oh Holy God, sheep, sheep, SHEEP !!!!!”. The only relationship I have with them is when Im cooking them!!!. I have actually never touched a live sheep/lamb & I never intend to. I have never had to deal with them and I have no interest in them what so ever, I knew the majority of the others have so I said to myself “this task should be fun !!”.
The task didn’t really go to plan, not to say they’re was a plan in the first place. When it was my turn for the task, the judges asked me how I was and I answered “Céart Go léor agus ní maith liom sheep”. I know as soon as I said that I had gotten off on the wrong foot. To say you hate something before you try it is totally the wrong approach.
I went into the task full steam ahead. I firstly tried to separate the buggers in the main pen and when that didn’t work. I tried putting them all in the race and divided them up with the gate. My luck went from "OK she's not doing too bad" to " Oh Lord I feel sorry for her now"....
One little spanner of a lamb decided that he/she/it, wanted to come back in the race after I put it in the lamb pen. so every time I went to get more out he/she/it would hop back in. As a result it ended up with that sheep facing the others sheep and causing a riot!!!. As usual I ran out of time, which is the story of my life. I managed to get 4/5 lambs in one area. I was happy I got some in at all, I gave it a go and I still DISLIKE SHEEP !!! SIN É.
The tractor driving task was our next challenge and once again there’s another tractor that I have never sat my dairy air into before, but I determined to give a good stab at it. We had to pick up 3 bales and sort out the letters, to make Feirm Factor. Looking back I now know I should have probably picked up all three and put them in first, but it was my first time using a bales grabber; I took my time (as per usual) and actually got them in the right order. Unfortunately I didn’t get the tractor back to the finishing line and once again I ran out of time. I was annoyed that I didn’t complete the task. I take me time at home with what I do, I’m not a speed merchant around the farm so I'll hold my hand to that, but I was over the moon I got the bales in kind of straight.
I was first up for the EU task and when I was given the cards and I saw the veg I nearly went weak, I could of said any country around the world if they hadn’t given us only the EU ones !. So once again I took my time, scribbled down some countries and hoped for the best. I was very surprised to hear I came second, yet saying that John got four and I got 3 so it really wasn’t a great reflection on any of us, yet saying that. I really feel if you got the judges to do that task they wouldn’t have done very either ! (harsh) Second place again, not bad for a girl!!.
I wasn’t feeling very hopefully about the elimination. To be honest I was dreading it. If they were looking at my potential then maybe I thought there was a chance I could stay, but when you hear the words "Sarah, please hand back your key" Slán abhaile.
It’s a horrible feeling but at the end of the day it’s a competition and someone has to go. Unfortunately it was me, my time was up and I had to burst the bubble of winning, there are some great competitors here and I wish them all the luck in the world. I just wished I could have gotten to show them, I am better then what they saw.
If the timed tasks 30 seconds I know I could have done it, but look I’m not going to look for excuses, I tried-I learned, I failed-I learned. I’m glad I took part plus I met some very cool people and I got some snazzy Blue Dunlop’s.
Fencing ----> For this task we were paired up with a partner, I was paired with Pat, my housemate. We get on surprisingly well at doing the task. We discussed how we wanted to approach the task and then we basically got on with it!. We talked to each other through out the task and helped out each other, where we could. I felt that we did a good job at the fencing, But what the judges think is a different so we will just have to wait and see.
Handling Calves ----> Ok so this task I thought I'd be ok, we used to have calves years ago and I remember as a kid playing with them....I know this is a bit different but... Lets see. Oh my dear Nancy, what did I ever do the Calf no:2108 ???? I ask, the little rotten fecker didn’t want to co-operate at all, talk about women being stubborn....Well I literally made a muckery of that task, I only hope I have shown my determination and will to be here. Believe me I will never forget calf no 2108!!!.
General knowledge ----> So this task comprised of 9 dates and I had to match them up with the corresponding headlines, for a single second I thought I'd be clever and read the small print but nope, they were all the same, clever!
So this task I think / hope I got at least at least 5 correct any less I will literally will kick myself, anymore I will be delighted.
Task 1 Dosing ----> If every there was a time I get the jitters it had to be when Sean asked me about what dosage. I looked at him and my brain turned to mush. Anyway got the dosage, gave it to her, she spits it out, seriously!!!! It haunts s me.... How better I could have done and how bad I did. It’s so hard when you know you can do something and then it blows up in your face.
Task 2 Breeds ----> Ok so our second task was to identify different breeds of Horses, Sheep and Pigs. I actually think I did ok with this one. I got about 9 correct, here's hoping I did well after the last task. I found out I got the second highest along with Sharon,11 out of 16, ok so I know it not an 'A' but still, I’m happy enough :) girls rule!!
Task 3 Tractor Driving ----> This task had my heart racing, I have NEVER driven a John Deere Tractor in my life, now I have to do a task, driving one, around an obstacle course, pick up the bucket and drop it off on another trailer. So I knew I was going to take my time but we only had 5 minutes to do it in, I was really hoping I would get it done, but alas I ran out of time, just as I was dropping off the bucket, Dag nam'it!!. I really wanted to prove I could do it.
Meeting with the Judges ----> Lord that was a scary day, I had no idea what to expect. Surprisingly it went ok, they talked about the tasks I had done and how I did them. Walking away I wasn't sad or happy but content, but I know I need to do better I need to improve.
So today we got our new clothes and keys for the Land Rover. We had a great debate with Maura Duran. The day flew so quickly before I knew it, it was 8pm and I was wrecked. I can’t wait and see what the tasks are going to be!!
