Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Good friend, good progress, good news

Jeannie braved this rainy, rainy day to sit on a hard stool in a cold barn to pick out little pieces of hay from squirmy sheep, and she did it with a smile. Now that's a good friend!
We started with Bardot. Her first fleece has already been reserved by Iris, so I didn't take a photo of it – no point in tempting anyone to covet! ;-) Next up was Bacall, above and below. The fineness, crimp, and length of her fleece couldn't make me happier.

Then it occurred to me that we could squeeze into the tack room where there is a wall heater and be a lot more comfortable, so that's where we went with Brigitte. It's kind of hard to tell in this photo, but Brigitte was so content with all the attention that she laid down between us!
 Her fleece is even more incredible than Bacall's; breathtaking!
When I took Brigitte back to the fold, I discovered that four of the girls had slipped out the unsecured gate and were wandering around in the pouring rain. Bette's still uncovered fleece was now sopping wet, so she got a pass for today. We moved on to the two ram lambs, little man Butler and big (neutered) boy Bogie. No photos of Butler, whose fleece struck me as unremarkable at the moment; here are two shots of Bogie's pretty color and broader crimp:

 So, five of the six lambs are now cleaned up (as best we could) and coated thanks to hours of help from a good friend. And when I got back to the house, there was a message on my phone from my mom. My folks are coming for Christmas! WooHoo!

That's it for today from . . .

5 comments:

Theresa said...

Such wonderful gifts for a gloomy day!

Mama Pea said...

Hoping this is all the beginning of a much smooooother time for you, Michelle! Christmas will be even more special than usual for you this year. What fun to look forward to it.

Yarrow said...

Such beautiful wool, I'm almost drooling. How lovely to have your family with you for Christmas, (I love Christmas) :D

Retired Knitter said...

I know nothing about wool in its virgin state but I would love working with the animals. Great fun. Sooovery glad you have Christmas to look forward to. You deserve a wonderful holiday.

Susan said...

Such beautiful fleece! It is so much fun to share sheep time with a good friend - sounds like a wonderful day. And YAY for Christmas!!!