Sheepish Makeovers

Yesterday was sheep shearing day...

and not a minute too early for these gals.

The pictures start here...

with two calm sheep just waiting in the barn for the shearer...

actually... one calm sheep and one hiding sheep.

The story, however, starts a half hour earlier.

And no... there was no way I could take photos of the process of getting these two sheep

moved from their yard to the barn.

To say it was difficult is an understatement.

It was almost impossible.

It took me pulling with all my might and Hubbs pushing with all of his to get

these gals to move.

We had to do it one-at-a-time...and the process moved along an inch at a time.

When these gals decide they don't want to do something...

well... it pretty much takes a village to change their minds.

Next time we hope to have a village.

Once they were in the barn, though, they settled down and were compliant.

Meanwhile, Hubbs and I and the dogs waited out on the lawn for the shearer.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, so we enjoyed just sitting there

soaking in the sun.

The shearer arrived and got right to work.

Hope went first.

In less than a half hour, her fleece was removed...

about ten pounds of wool.

What remains is the softest (and much cleaner) wool that is just drenched in lanolin.

I rubbed my hands all over her to get some of that lanolin on my skin.

It's got to feel so much better to have that wool gone and to be able to see again!

Next was Faith's turn...and it progressed exactly as Hope's did.

In a matter of moments, our chubby brown sheep

became a mottled, grey sheep.

As soon as they were finished, I opened the front door of the barn

and they ran the whole way home...

with no need for encouragement.

Boy were they happy to be back in familiar territory...

and were no longer panting from the heat.

It's tough to wear a wool coat, that is more than two inches thick, in this warmer weather.

I've donated this year's fleeces to the 4H.

They will use them to learn to card and spin and weave.

(I still have wool left from last year's shearing that I can use.)