Shearing Day was Great!

Great weather, in the fifties, blue sky, lots of friends, good food, good help.
Here's a picture of several women skirting a fleece in the great outdoors:

One of me trimming hooves, while big Dave holds the ewe captive (look at the pregnant finn ewe belly!  3 weeks yet!)  Dave Little holds a sheep who's next for shearing;  Mike Anderson's bent over another ewe.

Candy T., with her back to the camera, bagged fleeces as they came off the sheep, labelling the bags with the sheep's name. 

My daughter, Emily, played vet tech this year, and gave the CD&T vaccines and ivermectin wormer.  I was fiercely proud of my girl, and very grateful for all the fine helpers.  Afterward, we ate pretty well in the house, and collapsed.

Fleeces off the sheep, half sold, and now some will go to Zeilinger's woolen mill this week.

Happy Spring!

Aaagghhh! A skunk lives in my chicken barn!

Or visits it daily.  He likes the cat's food, for which he must somehow get from floor to table about 2 feet off the floor.  Then he washes his food (Like a raccoon?) and leaves debris in the cat's water bowl.  We haven't been getting many duck eggs this week, either-- they lay their eggs in nest boxes on the floor, you know. . .
There's a live trap in front of the chicken barn-- we are hoping he'll wander in.  So far tonight only one or our cats got caught in it, and when I put her up to her cat entrance she did a quick reverse to come back outside. . . and that's when I Knew.  I went inside and saw Mr. Skunk up on the table, washing down a little cat food dinner with the cat's water.
I don't know yet how we'll get rid of this freeloader, but we will, and we will have one more great little farm tale to tell forever.

Shearing Day March 21, 2010

March 21st, Sunday, 10 am.  Mike Anderson from WI will be here for the third year to shear the little flock of little sheep.  "How many ya got?"  "Twenty-four."  "Okay, Sunday at 10 will be fine."

It'll be a two-hour flurry of hoof trimming, vax and wormer shots, fleeces gathered up, skirted and bagged, and we'll eat a little at lunchtime. 

If you can come and plan to eat, you might bring a little something so we have enough!
Just wanted to get the word out. . .

And oh, my friend Lori in New Prague had her first shetland lamb yesterday, March 2nd.  She bought two ewes from me and a ram--
but this baby came from the natural breeding that agreed prior to that on my neighbors' farm.  Remember I  bought some sheep back from a neighbor last Oct/Nov and sought homes?  Lori'd bought a bred ewe at a bargain!  CUTE baby, she said. 
Happy Spring