Worn Out But Swimming in Wool

Another shearing day down, a few months to figure out what went well, what we need to work on, how we can get better organized. Tom Horton and his son, Michael, did a terrific job with the rather primitive conditions we shear in. One problem with using so many different shearers is not knowing what we need to provide and what they bring with them. Our last shearer, Jim Baldwin, brings his own raised platform. Tom wants us to provide the platform and somehow that wasn't mentioned in my phone call with him. Matt found two of the most gnarly, dirty ragged pieces of plywood I've ever seen, making it difficult of me, the sweeper, to get rid of the previous animals fiber. A raised platform helps keep hay and dirt out of the fleece. Somehow we made it work, and did we have to hustle! With two shearers going full tilt it was all I could do to get the bag ready, gather up the wool while trying to leave out the soiled and matted parts, sweep the board and get out of the way so Matt can hand over the next victim. Tom told me about a local shepherd who has a holding area where the sheep spend the night on a slotted floor so that any dirt and hay can fall through as they are milling around and it doesn't end up in the sheared fleece. This guy has chutes and runways AND his wife is a VET! Some people have it all figured out...Anyway, we survived. Matt has a new assistant, Trevor, who came later to help us give shots. Always good to have people we can pull in to help. Somehow I lost a giant roll of clear plastic bags in the middle of the melee, and had to use big black contractor bags to put my fleeces in. Made me crazy. Maybe it got trampled and buried...another reason to buy more hang up buckets to keep everything off the ground. My syringes were knocked over several times (I need some dose guns) but my camera came through okay. Now I have the awesome job of sorting through 50 odd fleeces. We did all the lambs, all the goat kids, and any big ones that had fleece three inches or longer. Last year was such a shearing disaster in terms of finding someone who would, or could, do the entire population of sheep and goats, so the fleeces are in a different stages. I plan on sorting through as many fleeces as I can to bring to Rhinebeck to sell as raw fleece. This is a market I have no yet tapped, foolishly, and want to take advantage of. Some of the lamb fleeces are so tiny they will fit in large zip lock bags. A cute picture and description inserted and there we go. I have some bigger fleeces that I think are show quality. I am disappointed in the lustre in some of them. Tom tells me to feed them oats for at least six weeks before shearing to give them more lustre. The sheep look big and healthy, just on grass. They were so happy to be able to scratch all those itchy spots under the wool. The goats look good, too, although I look forward to seperating them from the sheep so I can give them some goat-specific minerals. God bless Central New York. Tom comes from Towanda, northern central Pa., and says there is NO grass where he is. Nothing on the ground for them to eat. As I look out my window the fields are still bright green with lots more for them to munch on. Tom and his son are already scheduled to come back in March and do everybody. I let the crowd out of the barn and the goat flock ran up the hill, past the pond, and across the road. Matt went up in the truck and they ran back onto our land. We crawled back into the house after paying the guys and I heated up this morning's coffee to wash down the Aleve. Oh, my aching back. Matt is getting Stouffers veggie lasagna for dinner. Have to feed the bunnies and chickens, rest a bit, then do some sewing. A new Bill Mahre is on tonight...hope I make it.