Running Hot and Cold

My sheep have been running very hot these days, with temperatures in the almost 60’s. They’ve been panting under the weight of their lovely wool. It’s been, for the most part, a very warm winter and their heavy coats have made them stay out of their shed to try to stay cool. After much deliberations with the shearer, I booked a shearing date and then anxiously started following the weather report. We had to move it once due to rain, but the girls were eventually all shorn yesterday. I now have over 37 lbs of beautiful (and very dirty!) wool that I have big plans for!

Shearing is hard work, you have to balance a 175/200 lbs sheep while shearing their coat off in one piece. One good thing about sheep is that (most of them) once they are off their feet, sitting on their bums or laying on their sides, just comply and stop fighting to get back up. I say most of them, because especially Astrid had not gotten that memo!

And what do you think happened once the sheep were shorn? Yup, you guessed it, it got cold. Freezing actually. And windy. The sheep all seemed to be doing ok for the evening, but in the morning the next day when we went down early, we found the sheep huddled together in their shelter, looking very cold. Scott looked at me and said “See- next year you should listen to me and shear later”. Fitting into the shearer’s schedule “later” would have been too late as it would have been much warmer and our girls would then suffer and risk over heating- while being very pregnant which then puts the baby at risk. (-And they say farming is easy?) So I opted for the early shearing date and crossed my fingers for continued weather in the 50’s. No such luck.

A quick run to Walmart provided the supplies needed for me to construct a very easy tie-on fleece “tube coat”. My girls were not entirely sure they liked it and quite honestly, they did -do- look rather ridiculous. They got over feeling silly very quickly once they realized they were warm again. Tomorrow when the days AND nights are back to being warmer they will go back to looking like “normal” naked sheep again (Pretty similar to the story in the book Scott’s daughter gave him for Christmas – “Farmer Brown Shears his Sheep” so I’m calling jinx)! Scott is determined to be the one shearing them next year! For those of you who know him- please remind him of this!! Or maybe even better- talk him out of it! 🙂 I’m perfectly OK letting some tasks fall to professionals.

They went from looking like this…..

…To this……

….And lastly to this!!!

And naturally the color choices do represent my wishful thinking. Astrid who didn’t get pregnant is my “black sheep”. Allie, who is due any time now is wearing blue since I have someone interested in her baby if it’s a ram lamb! And lastly Alma and Anna who are due in May are sporting different shades of pink since I’m wishing for sweet little ewe lambs that can take my breeding program to the next level!

So what then are my big plans for all this wool? Well, first it needs to be picked clean from all debris such as hay and poop, washed (and washed again while trying not to end up felting it by mistake) and finally carded prior to me starting to weave with the wool. My goal is to make beautiful rugs! I was lucky to locate and old floor loom that was being sold by the West Chester Art Association. It’s about 70-80 years old and incredibly solid, so solid it will probably outlive me! Since I have never worked on such a loom before, I’m starting weaving classes at the Hand Weaver’s Guild of Philadelphia. Needless to say I’m very excited and full of gratitude for being able to pursue so many new and wonderful things.

“Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul.” – Amy Collette