Saturday was our sheep shearing day. On Friday we picked up Eifion – that was the good news. The bad news is that his shearing equipment in his luggage wasn’t on the same plane he was. He tried to shear the first flick with my Lister shears and got it done, but it was clear that the other 20 or so sheep were not in the cards. We got them all rescheduled to Saturday and Sunday. The lost luggage came in at seven PM, and we finally got home at about 9:30. He shore two rams to test his equipment, then went to bed.
The next day, we got started at around eight AM. He did the rest of the boys first, as it was starting to rain and they were not under cover. The girls all had coats on, so even a light rain would have been OK.
Next, we started on the pregnant ewes. We had elpers – three neighborhood kids, plus our friend Monica. All of them were most welcome! Eifion got through all 118 remaining sheep by one PM, just in time for lunch. Many of the fleeces are really nice, and the sheep were all in good shape.
After that, we did some other sheep that had been rescheduled. He did 31 of them at one place, then four at another. We were home in time for a good mutton steak and wine dinner.
On Sunday, we stopped at several different places. Two of them were at a winery, where we also got a bottle to try. Two more were at a new place for a person with her first sheep. We did six at another new flock, then four more at another new location. We had one person flake out on us. I’d called to confirm that we’d be there on Sunday, but when I followed up to say we were on the way, I was told that they’d already shorn them. They didn’t even have the courtesy to call and tell us to cancel our stop! I was rather angry about it – they won’t be getting their sheep shorn by anyone I help with in the near future.
Our next stop was for two groups, totaling 20 sheep. Five of them hadn’t been shorn in a few years, and they were a fast-growing breed, too. Eifion soldiered on and did an excellent job, but it was tough going. He charged more for them, of course, but not nearly enough for the amount of work he did. Our last stop of the day was for 15 more dairy sheep, then we went home for dinner.
This morning, we woke up to about an inch of snow after major rain, hail, and wind last night. I’m just glad we got all the sheep done, as you can’t shear wet sheep. It would have been a real disaster if the storm had arrived a day or so earlier.
We took Eifion to the airport today. I think his planes got messed up, as flights have been delayed and diverted, but he hasn’t called. I assume he’s managing somehow.
Our next sheep activities will be vaccinations, federal flock inspections, and wormer before they go on pasture to lamb.