25 Dec, 2009 @ 06:00
1 min read

Away in a manger, a sheep for a song

JUST in case you were thinking about lamb chops for Boxing Day, think again.

While John and Sonia Orme have picked the festive season to sell half their flock of sheep, they are insistent they are not for the table.

The Welsh couple, who moved to Spain 22 years ago, are selling some for just 50 euros each.

The only hitch: They are only available as the ideal 2010 lawnmower.

Today they have 14, including two sets of twins Sharon and Oz and Peter and Jordan, as well as Lamb Chop, Mint Sauce and Fudge.

“It is why we have no intention of selling them for the table,” explained Sonia, 55, from Cardiff, in south Wales.

“We can’t bear the idea of selling them to be eaten. In any case they are the perfect lawnmowers and eat all the grass and weeds.”

The couple, who live on Rancho Navazo in Pruna, near Olvera, have quite simply run out of land to keep the rapidly expanding flock.

Since their pet sheep Old Samantha had her first lamb in October 2008, the flock has rapidly expanded.

Today they have 14, including two sets of twins Sharon and Oz and Peter and Jordan, as well as Lamb Chop, Mint Sauce and Fudge.

“We are offering some of them for 50 euros each,” explained Sonia, who has promised to name their most recent addition Olive Press, after the couple’s favourite local newspaper.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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