Letters from the Country

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Look at any occupation from the outside and it will seem at least a bit
humorous. What seems to be the norm after you’ve experienced it for a
while can amuse the most empathetic outsider—as Boulton found out when
she gave up high heels for rubber boots and traded big-city slick for
barnyard muck. Her transition from public relations writer to sheep
farmer didn’t come easily, and her sense of humor rapidly became an
essential tool.

Boulton’s style is low-key humor, a gentle twist that plays up the
smile value of everyday events. The “letters” are reflective essays,
grouped by season, that comment on daily life as a shepherd. There are
accounts of lambing; encounters with porcupines; challenges posed by the
weather; adventures involving dogs, geese, and other barnyard animals;
the annual marathon of sheep shearing; and the personal challenges of
adjusting to a very different lifestyle.

That the work won the Stephen Leacock Medal for humor speaks to
Boulton’s success in sharing her observations in such a way that both
urban and rural readers can enjoy her insights and smile with her as she
trudges off to the barn.