Shearing day

Shearing came off without a hitch, it was a beautiful day, high 40's and calm. We got the sheep gathered in the big barn, got their coats off, got their regular barn cleaned and stocked with water and hay for their return. The shearer arrived just in time and we began shearing at 9:30 and were finished by 11:30. After David left, Jack and I re-coated most of the sheep. I had a few coats to clean and so I did that during lunch and we put the rest back on by 2PM. Most of the sheep dropped down 3 coat sizes after shearing! We took them all back to their barn where they spent the afternoon lounging around in the sun. I do believe they feel so much better with their fleeces off. Crystal, as usual, was the big winner fleeceweight-wise; her fleece weighed in at 17.5#! Most of the rest weighed between 7-9#, with the exception of a few in the 10's. So begins the skirting and prepping of each fleece for sale and show by the end of April. I also need to get fleece samples from the yearlings to send to Yokum-McColl for micron tests. www.ymccoll.com

Regretably I can't get these pictures in the right order but here they are top to bottom:

Charlotte, shearing complete; Half the flock sheared; David bringing a ewe out to the shearing area; me bagging a fleece; flock heads back to the barn after shearing; David Hinman, the shearer upon arrival, caught him just before a smile!; David setting up the shearer; Getting the blades set in the shearer; the flock just before shearing started; Peach getting sheared.

Be careful what you baaa for

I took a few extra minutes this morning after chores to get the shearing area ready for tomorrow. Our sheep are sheared in the big barn; they are always excited to see us over there; mostly they sense a change. I opened the barn doors today, cleaned the floor area where the shearing will take place and so forth and all the while I heard the baaas, on and on. Every sheep has their own voice, hard to believe I know, but it is so true. We have a couple of "fog horns"; Daisy and Georgia for sure. If our Sheltie barks, even once, one of those two sheep is at the ready with a big old vocal sound! So this morning as I got things set for shearing tomorrow I muttered to myself...."be careful what you baaa for girls".

Sugaring ~ part 3

As you can see, it's peak week for maple sugar producers. Sunday Jack and I went to Lyle and Sandy's in the afternoon to visit and spend a few hours at their sugar operation. They have a great sugarhouse with a wood fired system, and just enough room to squeeze 12 people in and around the boiler! On a chilly day it makes for a very warm atmosphere. It was great fun, listening to stories and jokes as the sap boiled away. They too are having a good run and putting up a nice stash for sale and personal use. Pictures top to bottom:

The sugarhouse; Lyle getting ready to feed the fire; Lyle filtering some syrup through; Drawing off the syrup; you can tell two things from this last picture, it's mud season and most of us drive pickups/ 4-wheel drive vehicles!

Sugaring ~ part 2

Saturday we went back to Ted and April's with the intent to help them gather sap. Saturday morning was spectacular....40's, sunny, real nice spring weather, and perfect sap running. Weather report said a front was coming in for late day; it was hard to believe. We went to their farm at 2:30 but by then the clouds had rolled in, not a good sign. April, Jack and I drove out to recheck tanks while Ted and a few friends stayed to keep boiling. When we got to the sugar bush the sap had stopped running. The run in the morning, according to Ted, was one of the best he'd seen in years....guess that was the gift for Saturday. That night we got an inch of wet snow. You can buy syrup from Ted and April, online at www.millbrookfarm.com

Pictures top to bottom:

Ted and April checking consistency before drawing off syrup; a customer and son sampling the syrup; bringing back more sap to biol; TJ Ferguson headed into the holding tank to scrub it out, there is already a teenager, Spencer, in there! It's actually a retired milk tank, all stainless and great for sap storage.

Mud season ~ part 2

I drove the roads around our farm today to get some photos of mud season....not too bad based on past years.

Set to shear

Shearing day is set for the end of next week. It is a fleece farmer's most exciting event! Before the shearer, David, arrives, we prepare the barn with a clean floor area where he can do the shearing. David shears electrically so we have a pole devised where he can hang his machine from, good lighting and by the time he arrives we have them all in the right pen with their coats off, ready to go. We put all the sheep in one pen adjacent to the shearing area (shown in top photo) and then one by one they are brought out, sheared, the fleece gathered, bagged and labeled, the sheared sheep then put in a separate pen with other shorn sheep. The one management issue is to shear a mellow sheep first and also last so there isn't chaos for the one at either end in a pen alone. Sheep have a natural flocking instinct that comes on strong in situations such as this. Good old mellow Crystal ALWAYS is first or last and I am thinking Wetherby(shown at last year's shear) may be the other this year. Jack and David will manage the sheep and I do the fleece gathering, bagging and labeling. I will also weight each fleece and record it on the labels. It is fast work for all, probably 1 1/2-2 hours for the 16 sheep. It's fun though; lots of jokes, catching up on the year's events, and at the end bags and bags of fleece to review! Many of the fleeces are already reserved and so begins my job of sorting, skirting and preparing for sale and judging. Yahoo, the day draws near!

Cut, split and delivered

Sunday we took a load of firewood down to family friends in MA, Priscilla and John. Although we told them we would unload and stack the wood for them, they insisted on helping and my goodness, they were quite hearty! Priscilla is 86 and John is 89 and they are avid walkers, sometimes 3-5 miles a day, which certainly keeps them fit and agile. After we got the wood stacked we enjoyed a visit with coffee and some snacks they had set out for us. It felt good to know they would be sitting by a fire in short order!