Just in time

The sheep that graze in the Orchards here at Swan Barn Farm have been having a bit of a miserable time of it recently, the weather had been horrible for about 6 weeks, and they were starting to look like slightly soggy sponges. Getting them shorn is a priority at this time of year, as if you don’t the fleece can attract flies that will lay eggs that hatch out and cause all sorts of horrible medievel type nasty problems for the animals.

The problem is you can’t really shear them when they are wet, so I have been hoping for the weather to turn (admittedly as much for my own sanity as for the sheep!). On saturday the sheep finally dried out and the weather looked set fair, so it was time for an appointment with Rob the shearer.

Willow the collie is making a very enthusiastic looking face int he picture above, those of you who know her will know she was next to no help in rounding up the sheep…

My shearing is awfull I’m afraid, they tend to look like they have been through the mincer when I do them (and it takes ages), so a bit of help was the order of the day.

They look like completely different animals after they are done, half the size and with a bit of a dazed look.

Since they were done the sun hasn’t stopped shining here, I reckon it was just in time.

The fleeces will be going to my freind Polly, who in her spare time is a very accomplished knitter and spinner. She will be here at the Green Woodworking day this saturday demonstrating her skills, so if you are interested in that sort of thing I would recommend coming along and having a chat to her, as well as seeing all of the other countryside skills and crafts we will have on display. If the weather holds it should be a fantasctic day. Hope to see you there.

Sheep shearing

This week the sheep that graze the speckled wood orchard got their annual haircut.

Unfortunately my shearing skills leave rather a lot to be desired. I get the wool off, but they look a bit like they have been through a mincer and my time per animal is so bad I wont even mention it here.

So, Susie the shearer came to visit, and I am sure the girls were gratefull to be dealt with by her rather than having to put up with me.

Even so the one that is waiting to be shorn in the picture above has a decidedly suspicious look on her face. She is the oldest of the sheep and has seen it all before, she still didn’t seem too grateful though.

The fleeces will go to my freind Polly to be spun. I am told Jacob’s produce good quality wool for spinning, with the added bonus that you get both light and dark colours off one animal.

Its incredible how different they look after their haircut, they look about half the size. You might not believe it now, but it was a really sunny day and you can’t help wondering how it would have felt to be wearing that thick a wooly jumper and then taking it off, must be quite a relief.

The new building will be insulated using sheeps wool. Unfortunately my tiny flock only produced 8 fleeces, so the insulation will have to be bought in. Its been nice to see it being used more for insulating buildings in recent years though, it always seems a shame that at the moment many people still struggle to find a market for their fleeces. Wool production used to be such an important industry in this country, it shaped many of our best loved landscapes, maybe it is something that will become more important again in the future.