Holy Sheep!

I had my first lesson in sheep shearing and let me tell you I got a work out. The sheep were great not to bad to catch, didn't put up a fuss we just happened to pick an extremely cold day to do it! I think that I'm still recovering! There truly is nothing like squatting in odd positions on cold, hard, dirty concrete for hours......

This is a shot of Rob with Oreo. Being only a year old this spring she was new at this just like I was. Not as relaxed and her mama but she did fine and her fleece was great! Sadly Kizzy's wasn't so hot since she was not sheared this past fall.....I hope to get a nice cut from her later this year. They are Finn sheep and they are known for a nice fleece. The amount of Lanolin that I found I was covered in was unreal!

The whole family took part in the lesson with different jobs for everyone and the majority of these pictures were taken by the boys! They did really well with helping to keep the sheep calm and learning along side of me. This is a picture of Bryce collecting Oreos good fleece!

Elizabeth, my best friends (Sue is her name and she also joined us to lend a hand! Not only did she do a great job at holding the sheep she was wonderful comic relief) niece is originally from this area and was home from SUNY Morrisville on Spring break. She is by far the hardest working young women I know, and maybe have ever known. She loves the farm life and all that goes with it. She is outstanding with animals and it's very clear to the animals as well as anyone around her that she not has a strong skill but also passion for the things that she does. Her calm in control manner set the sheep and myself at ease. When it was my turn to try my hand at shearing she was great with instructing me and very positive, I was scared to death that at any given moment one was going to want to bolt and that not only could I hurt the sheep I would also hurt those around me. The shears were massive and very sharp! But all and all I did OK and most of all I had a great time doing it. I really think that in time with practice I could get good at this!

Kizzy and Oreo are now looking very slim and brighter. I'm hoping to that in time we will have enough fiber to take to a mill and have changed into yarn.....some day I hope to spin my own but I think that probably with four growing boys and many other Bakers Acres project that spinning may have to wait.....just a little while!