The Sheep Are Shorn

We got it done this morning - thank goodness! Last night we drove them to a friend's (Don and Margaret) place - they have a shearing shed and live about 1.5kms from us. So with the help of Nolan and his dog, Meg, plus bodies on bikes to stop them from veering into driveways, the little flock scurried along, and were shedded up for the night. About 8:00am this morning, young Danny from Feilding, arrived with his gear and the lambs were shorn first - not that there's a lot of wool on their backs, but the summer will be easier to bear.
Here's Alice awaiting her turn - she's our favourite. She comes when she's called and just loves to find bread or nuts in your pocket. She has twins and her wool is a grey/cream colour.
Here is Coco being shorn, she is our 'black' Romney - although her wool is very light brown on top now.
I have kept only Alice's, Coco's and Rosie's fleeces. These I will get washed and carded and eventually spin the wool - I will probably ply Coco's with a brown alpaca fleece I have.
While we were there, Don and Margaret had a baby Alpaca (cria) born. Here is the little sweetie (female) at 1 hour old.
After the sheep were drenched (all purpose worm) we 'drove' them home again - funny how they remembered and were keen to get back into their own paddock.
That's a great job done, but we won't get much for the wool because prices are down from last year :-(

11 Days and Counting - Not!

I feel like groaning, but the sighs are getting heavier instead. I haven't got up the Christmas tree, but last night I did clean the front porch so some decorations can go up. Just need to get something to spray and keep the spiders away, they do make it look untidy!
Tomorrow, if the weather holds - dry that is - we can get the sheep shorn and I'm hoping that it will only be a couple of hours 'cause there's only 26 to do.
One more week and then Sarah will be home. She will probably sleep for 2 days, but there is a stopover in Bangkok for 12 hours and she may get a chance to walk, rest, eat some good food, whatever! The airport there is very smart so she may not even get outside :-)