My faithful friends, Kim and Darryl, came south from Canada with their kids, Jared and Lindsay, to help me through shearing day. I needed wool to dye and card for sale at Maryland Sheep and Wool, and this lovely weather was not going to last for long. They arrived at 9 along with Andrew and Eric, local kids from New Berlin who I knew from BOCES, to wrangle the sheep and get them on the shearing board. Once Jim Baldwin got the shearing done, Darryl took the sheep and held it so I could do shots and hooves. Kim gathered up the fleece and took it to the skirting table for a once-over before it went in the bag. Everything went fantastically and after six hours of hard work I had forty beautiful fleeces to play with. We got the big fat wethers (castrated males) seperated from the girls and into the side pen with the goats. Wethers tend to be big bullies and push moms and lambs away from the food. Unfortunately when I was paying the boys and saying goodbye to Jim, we forgot to put the gate up inside the barn and the wethers all ran back to the girl's side. It's such hard work to catch them it will have to wait for the next shearing day which will take place after Md. Sheep and Wool when Jim comes back to do the goats and the rest of the sheep. We ate lunch then took a hike up to the pond to throw the ball for Holly and watch her swim. Billy Goat followed along and ran with Jared and Lindsay, so adorable.
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