Borrowed Images

He's such a charmer.

Hercules.

People often stop and take pictures of the sheep, and the other day a nice couple pulled up and admired them for quite a while; these images arrived yesterday - and, since my camera is still not working, it's great to be able to post a few images of the sheep after the shearing. Thanks to the photographer!

Callie is doing well - her cut seems healed and she's not showing any signs of fever or discomfort. And, the two ewes who were unsure on their newly pedicured hooves are just about back to their normal gaits.

Shearing and Wool

Shearing day can sometimes be stressful, and this year seemed especially so. With so many sheep and so few shearers in this area, the Links are in demand - no doubt because they are so good. The father and son team have close to 75 years' experience between them (or more) and they shear the majority of flocks, large and small, in southern Maine. With the wet weather and complications of scheduling so many people, it was a challenging spring for everyone in terms of shearing I think. The call came twelve hours before they were coming to my place, and I was out of town for eleven of those.

before shearing...

So, the power cord came out and tarps - everyone was in the barn from the night before - so gathering them was not a problem. All fourteen of them were done within two hours, and the barn felt twice as big last night when they were all in for the night. For the first time in ten or more years, we had a significant cut, though; Callie, my eldest ewe, apparently kicked and the angle was just right (or all wrong) and she lost a bit of blood. I was not as prepared as I should have been so we used corn starch to stop the bleeding; and, the lanolin acts as the best healing agent around. She was up and grazing within seconds and showed no signs of lethargy, but I'm going to need to keep a close eye on her for a while and may get some antibiotics to be sure she doesn't get an infection. Poor old girl. I did worse that she did, and the shearers were a little unnerved by my less-than-stoic-shepherdness, but oh well.  Her fleece will still be gorgeous after it's skirted and cleaned, and I will probably set it aside as an homage to her this year. I'm glad it's all over. And, so are they. Much more comfortable for them - and since we're finally having some warmer weather, it's great to have them sheared.

It's always good to see how they're looking underneath all that wool, and they are in excellent shape. The Poulin grains have made a difference in their fleeces, I think; in spite of a warm winter, the wool looks just fine - not much different length than other years. Hercules has a less springy, crimpy fleece - and it is gorgeous with those spots. His tail, all cut close, is absolutely beautiful. I will have to try to get some pictures to post. He's quite a specimen. And, a romeo, too. From the looks of those shaved bellies, we may have a few fall lambs here. Not at all what I'd planned...so, we'll see.

ultimately...this.  gorgeous naturally dyed,  hand spun yarn.

I'm looking at a new mill that may be able to spin this very fine, short fiber and am eager to see what they are able to do. The specialty yarn niche is something that intrigues me and looking into whether we could make a name for ourselves here at the Salty Ewe in that department. The gorgeous hanks of hand spun yarns that Lori (walkingwool.blogspot.com) has done up for me are incredible and a joy to knit my hats from - but with fourteen fleeces - something's got to give.
Stay tuned.