Sheep Shearing Time

The day finally arrived.

After weeks of warm weather and hot, wooly sheep...

shearing day arrived yesterday.

The funny thing was, though, we awoke yesterday morning to a frigid 25 degrees!

Luckily I had covered my flowers.

I did not, however, cover any of the veggie plants.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that these poor frozen plant-lings survive in the long run.

We had confined the sheep to the barn for the night,

in preparation for their shearing.

Getting them to the barn and into a stall is the hardest part of the whole ordeal,

so doing it a day ahead is essential.

And having them confined in the barn made it so much easier

for Dr. Becky to administer their yearly vaccinations.

They didn't even flinch.

When the sheep shearer sets the girls back on their butts,

it is quite obvious how chubby they are.

Thankfully, much of their size is due to their huge fleeces.

But still... they are chubby sheep.

(It's a breed thing!)

Yesterday morning I had one dirty white sheep and one brown sheep.

Today I have one white sheep and one sheep that is grey with black spots.

Faith used to be my black sheep.

Now she looks exactly like her Mama, Gracie, looked when she was alive.

Shearing was done without any issues.

Half of their entire size was made up of fleece.

In the end I think the girls are happy to be rid of their woolens.

The trip back to the sheep yard was uneventful.

They ran right home without any detours...

happy to be finished with their ordeal for another year.

Lots of treats were given as compensation for their travails.

(My goodness... we can finally see your eyes!)

After treats, they both got busy on the fresh hay in their feeder.

These girls are stress-eaters.

What a stressful day!

And if you remember dear Gracie... doesn't Faith look just like her now?