Sunday, March 11, 2007

Fresh Fleece









Look at these coats. Last year we sheared in May, but it's just March and they need these off. Earlier in the week, Mim emailed me to say that she couldn't go to the Guild meeting on Saturday because Devon was coming to shear. I got on the phone and called Devon to see if he could do our four boys since he'd already be in our valley and he said sure. He drives over from Yreka so got started after lunch on her 36 sheep. It was almost dark yesterday when he got here, but he had those coats off in no time. Mickey Mouth, on the left, was the Reserve Grand Champion last year at the Nevada State Fair. Devon said sheep don't ordinarily have repeat fleeces of that caliber, but Mickey's fleece is just as nice as last year.


I was driving out of the yard this morning when the boys caught my eye. Buster was visiting them - he and George rub noses through the fence. I was surprised at how small they look without their fleeces compared to the dog. They look so bare and they probably feel the same, I'm sure to their relief.






Mim brought these skeins over on Friday to show me how many colors she is getting from her sheep. There are seven separate colors here. Shetlands and Alpacas have the most color range of fleeces, and since Alpacas aren't in my future, I'm glad our sheep are Shetlands. I have four bagged fleeces upstairs in my workroom - black, white, brown and oatmeal. They are lovely.

2 comments:

Birdsong said...

Yahoo! It's a good thing you were able to get them sheared, considering how warm the weather has gotten for March. I might have to beg and plead (or even pay) for some bits of colored Shetland fleece, at least until I can convince DH to let me have some of my own!

Jodi said...

Those were some beautiful and fluffy looking sheep!