Husb and I had a couple of days away in mid-Wales and drove back along the old unnamed road between Trecastell and Tafarn-y-Garreg in the Brecon Beacons where we stopped near the source of the River Tawe. We only had time for a short walk so we followed a dry stream bed down the hill and came across patches of bright yellowy brown. There were two types, one a fairly hard stone and the other a softer, crumbly clay. I left a coin in exchange – just in case there’s one of the Gwragedd Annwn thereabouts – and brought them home to try and make usable pigments with them.
That’s my weekend sorted! I’ll link this with my work in the FIRE Lab at Swansea University.
And then we saw some bright blue sheep!
scribblah 
Yes, what is their story. Definitely not wool sheep as that much dye, even if only a tiny bit was left would ‘ruin’ a fleece for sale. Maybe someone had a mad party.
Apparently it’s to deter thieves as they’d have a problem selling them. The sheep are free-range so there’s always a risk of rustling 😦
Yes, we have that problem here too. They back up a semi-trailer cut the fences and load whole flocks. It seems like something out of the 19th century.
It’s terrible, poor sheep 😦
Any thoughts on the “origin” of the bright blue sheep?
A local farmer – the sheep are all daubed with dye this time of year to deter sheep rustlers 😦
Wow!