Friday, July 25, 2008

More from the Long Day Shearing

Last Monday, Julia arrived back from summer school in the afternoon just in time to watch five more hours of shearing. She was a very good sport in deed. Farming isn't a passion of Julia's. It is something her parents do and she puts up with it. No matter how hard I try to explain what it is we are doing - whether planting, gathering sheep, shearing sheep, harvesting vegetables or flowers - she just looks at me with glazed eyes and asks when we can go home. I'm trying folks but it's just not happening... And that's okay with me. She keeps telling me she is a city girl. She sure does love her Dad.... so she will have to come back and visit one day, I hope.

Here Julia is communing with Cora before Cora gets sheared. It still surprises me how much Cora still likes to chat with the humans - especially Julia. We shear all the white sheep first, and then the black ones so that the black fleeces stay separate.

Once the shearers were paid and left for the year, it was time to move the sheep back to their pasture. Julia and I drove down the hill and waited for our big moment - waving our arms so the sheep will go where they needed to go. After a few false starts up the hill, the two dogs finally got them on the road. Here they come!

Don't they look funny with their haircuts?


And now it is done for another year - Yippee!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, they look so bare! I think they need a sweater! Thanks so much for the "play by play" the past few days. I've enjoyed reading about the whole shearing process.

Dianne MacDonald said...

That's the best feeling when you know it's over for the year! My sheep always act so much younger and friskier without those pounds of wool on their backs. Somewhere I have a book called "The Weaver's Gift" (20-some years old, at least). Is Kevin Ford the shearer in that book?

Anonymous said...

My word Julia has grown so tall she is hardly a lil girl anymore and is becoming a lady! Cheers Julia!
Hugs Rooth

countrychicken said...

I love your blog and seeing what goes on at your farm. Just want to say, I was a country girl, grew up on a farm. I definitely made it known I was going to the city first chance I got. As kids we would have to help out in the fields, either hay, potatoes or pumpkins. I either had to go to the bathroom or I was allergic. Those were my 2 best excuses for not being out there. I grew up, did get married to my school sweetheart - he as a city boy. We lived in the city for about 10 years. I embraced it. Finally, no more farming I don't think we had ever discussed that he wanted to be a farmer, but eventually it came up, ever since he was a little kid he wanted animals and to live in the country. I came kicking and screaming back to the country. We have raised kids, animals, rented land and farmed a 100 acres for 10 years. Wev'e worked hard and loved every minute of it - except that 800 bales of hay we did last Saturday with no more children power - just us two old folks. Who knows - sometime down the road Julia may be more farm girl than you could imagine.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Julia has grown a LOT since I last saw her! She's getting tall and glamorous! Has her hair been curled and styled in that first picture with Dad? Pretty!

Miss you, and hope you're doing well up there on the hill!

fibergal said...

So when are you going to sell some of those lovely fleeces???

Willow said...

MMMmmmmm, all that wool makes all that YARN!

Anonymous said...

Julia and Amber have a lot in common then - she's a city girl too and plans to live in New York when she's 18!

Btw she looks so different now - quite the young lady.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing the "joys" of shearing with us. It is nice to read about but I'm glad that I'm on the knitting end of the wool!
Sara

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