We finally got some sunshine around here, so we’re spreading out the fleeces a few at a time to dry them, before “skirting” or picking off the dirty bits around the edges. The quality of the wool is very good, confirming our decision to shear the sheep twice a year instead of once; we’re getting cleaner wool, although not quite as long staple. We’ll be picking out some color combinations to send to a spinning mill nearby; they made some lovely soft two-ply yarn for us last year.
In the meantime, the lambs are gaining quickly, and we are pleased to note that they are getting a little too large to squeeze through holes in our fences. We are having less of the problem of lambs which got out, then found that Mom was still inside, and they can’t remember how they got out so they panic and so does Mom. This is wearing on the patience of the shepherds, but it is self-correcting as the lambs gain size quickly on our good grass. Life goes on..
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Nice wool
Friday, June 26th, 2009Waiting for sunshine
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009Sunday June 14, 2009 -
Welcome to the new Painter Hill website - almost as pleasant as Painter Hill Farm itself. The sun is shining on northeast PA this morning, and I trust it will dry up some of the soggy muck left by several days of dreary rain. Tomorrow is the semi-annual event known as shearing day; with the help of a couple of strong-backed high school boys we will take the wool off the ladies (and a couple of gents). This is best done when the sheep are dry, but getting them dry is not quickly done since they don’t like the sun and are always looking for a place in the shade. The shearer will just have to deal with it as best he can, and so will we when we’re skirting damp fleece. We’re late with the shearing this spring, because we had an event here for some people who like our yarn, and we wanted them to see the sheep in full fleece. We will next skirt the fleeces and send them to a mill for spinning into yarn for our blankets. Lots to do, but pleasant work and a good place to do it.