The wonderful work of wooing

This morning, Sarai eagerly ate grain out of my hand. This afternoon, I fed her some more by hand, then offered her the crumbs in a pan while reaching out to touch her. She wasn't sure about the hand, but did let me make contact several times. Then she tried to go around behind me where there wasn't really room (I was sitting on a little stool with my back at their gate). The opportunity to catch her was just too easy to pass up, so I put my arms around her chest and hindquarters and held her for awhile, indulging in the chance to fondle her fleece. She feels stupendously soft, too, with a more distinct crimp than Marta or Cadbury (you can click to biggify):
Then I haltered her and spent some time letting her figure out that the contraption on her head wasn't going to kill her, talking to her and petting her all the while. I don't think this will take long!

Next, I caught Marta. She scraped her right front leg somewhere in the quarantine pen, so I just held her quietly instead of haltering her - I didn't want her bracing with her sore leg.
As you can see on her neck, she is rooing. I might just work on rooing her the rest of the way instead of shearing her; we'll see. I did pull off some loose wool from her hindquarters; it was hanging down between her legs and getting wet when she urinated. I do believe Marta's "waste wool" is softer than what the rest of my sheep produce mid-side - maybe even on their necks!

Cadbury, being a ram, won't get wooing work. I will work with him a bit so I can move him on a lead when necessary, and change coats without a panic attack.

That's it for today from . . .