Gettin' naked, down on the farm.

WOOHOO!!! Hot Girl under a bear skin rug......?
Well...hot girl wearing muck boots lying on the dirt floor under a fleece.
 Incidentally, she's also wearing jeans and her tank top, but I was a model once, and I learned the eye only sees what it wants to see.
And because I was there, and equally decorated, I will add we are coated in sheep lanolin, dirt and poop.

Mother has kept us on our toes with 80 degree days in March and 30 degree days in April, but it seems the irises think it is time to begin their show, and they know the Mother well, so, I can't argue. When the irises bloom it is time for the sheep to get naked. This is a process every year. I have been so lucky to have Kendra, or her Dad willing to come over and take it on. But, I'm thinking Middlest will have to start stepping up soon- she's getting pretty strong, and this is her flock. In the meantime, Kendra made room in an afternoon to come tackle the ewes. I was "helper" and photog.

The first step is to ask the ewe to stand on a blanket. This is Dolores, and we are using Samantha's winter blanket (horse). Then, you ask the ewe to "sit pretty"....

We have exceptionally calm and easily handled ewes, but the truth is they don't actually sit on command. It does take some persuasion. Here, Kendra has begun to shear the belly of  Dolores. My job is to help hold her up so she can breathe, and keep the poop swept off the blanket. I don't know why I bother, it isn't like she has been averse to flopping down in poop for the last year, but it just seems more fastidious. Besides, those clippers are fierce! They are happy to take skin with fleece. In fact, in about three minutes, Dolores will wiggle, and loose a sizable chunk of skin, which I will debate about sewing back up and decide to treat topically with pain numbers and antibiotic creams. Kendra will feel awful, and I will beg her not to quit.

The clippers, close to a fragile part, and Kendra taking it slow...



The fleece comes off to reveal the creamy white underside of the fleece, and a beautifully white sheep underneath. I have to mention this is not necessarily the conventional way to shear sheep. But we aren't as fast as the pros, and the girls should be as comfy as possible while enduring their spa day.  

We have to periodically call a halt to the job to scrape out the build up of the lanolin in the clippers. It is thick, like dried wax, but so very oily. My hands will be dirty, but wonderfully soft.

Dolores is shorn! All that is left is to take the fleece off like a too-warm sweatshirt.

And, Kendra peeks through the neck hole, also demonstrating her Herculean strength. These fleeces are heavy! Note, that this is not a good fleece this year. Dolores' fleece for 2012 is too matted. The length of the strands are not uniform and the crimp of the strands is only nice near the base. So, the negative is it is not a good spinning fleece. The positive is we have an excellent Halloween costume for Youngest this year, should he wish to be "a wolf in sheep's clothing".

Up next is Dancer, who has a better fleece. She has a "duck rump" appearance due to the crutching I performed prior to lambing this winter, but that part of the fleece is a throwaway anyhow, as it if full of poop and dirt.

Her fleece was soooo heavy and not matted- a real challenge to keep on the blanket. But, she was patient, and Kendra revealed her silvery grey base.

Dancer is in there! Her fleece is flipped up over her head like a princess prom gown on a girl trying to use the potty. She is lying on the floor and Kendra is working up her shoulders and neck. My job is to keep a breathing hole open for Dancer. The blue is the halter around her nose and the mouth and nose are to the right of the halter. Even her eyes are covered. Again, not the typical sheep, nor the typical method of shearing....Unconventional, that is how we roll. You might be able to note in this photo that the wool strands are all about the same length, and the crimp part is the same all the way down each strand. This is a better, fluffier fleece with tones from gold to  gorgeous silver.



The fleece is also enormous. I tried to get a picture that would give you the idea of how big it turned out to be, and so had Kendra kneel behind the fleece for comparison. That is when we started joking about how luxurious it looked- our version of the cliche bearskin rug....and after that, our laughter got the better of our sense.

This is Blondie, wearing a toupee. The fleeces have to dry before being bundled and skirted. But there is no where on the farm exempt from dog/goose/chicken/hog feet and general interference. Kendra thought of putting the fleeces on top of the horse trailer. Brilliant! So Blondie is finally blond!