At long last shearing day has come. I’ve been hoping the girls didn’t lamb until afterwards. Well, they didn’t. And the shearing is finished. Whicih means…
I got up at 4;30 a.m., mixed up the dough for the cinnamon rolls, and while it rose for the first time, took a bit of a nap. Then up, breakfast, dressed, turn out dough, roll out, cut up, put to rise a second time, set table, make coffee, get soup from freezer and “decant” into pots, turn on simmer to thaw and cook. Lucas arrives. Out to the shed, corral the sheep in a small pen for shearing, set up skirting table, set up shearing board, get hoof trimmers ready, get out hay and put it on the pasture for post shearing. (They will be hungry!) Go into the house, put cinnamon rolls in oven to cook, get out CDT vaccine, needles, syringes, get out sandwiches, wipes, cards and pen, plastic bags for the fleeces. Everything down to the shed. Come back inside. Vicky arrives. Check cinnamon rolls, not quite ready. Oops 9 a.m., Kay, Ann, Cally, and Suzie arrive, and lo and behold, Gwen, the fantastic shearer, and ON TIME! Yes! And RoAnne a few minutes later. Cinnamon rolls out of the oven, flipped onto trays, distributed to everyone to eat warm. Candace calls from the other side of the Sea of Mud. John takes the ferry (4 wheel drive truck) to pick them up, along with George’s puppy. And, after some conversation about the Sea of Mud which all navigated, we head down, some with coffee, some with rolls, to begin. Gwen sets up her shearing machine, and Lucas grabs a sheep. We’re off! First the white coopworths, then the other two coopworths, and then the smaller jacobs.
Here is a photo of Gwen shearing Cordelia Coopworth.
