Saturday, April 2, 2016

Shearing a sheep....vet trip....and a super windy day!

Shearing sheep is one of my LEAST favorite tasks here at Heavens Door Acres. Luckily, I only have one Ewe to shear every spring. Her name is Laura. She is the last Shetland Sheep we will ever own. Not because I don't like them. On the contrary. I just LOVE the Shetland breed. They are small, easy to manage and have wonderful personalities. However, I am just getting to old to be shearing sheep. I don't have electric shears, nor do I have electric out at the barn....yet, so I have to shear her by hand. April 1st, was shearing day. One of my neighbors volunteered to help so I took her up on it. I am sure she will never offer again, after the long day we had on the cold floor of the barn, for 4 hours! *sigh* The scissors I had were not the best...so it took way too long. Poor Laura suffered through, she behaved so well. Because it was taking so long, we didn't get to trim her up and make her look "good" so she is looking pretty rough for now. I will have to give her a week, then get her down and finish the trimming. Here are the before and after pictures. Don't laugh...Here she is in all her glory....
And poor Laura after we "finished" shearing....
My poor Laura...but at least she feels better. Today I had to take my big boy, Caesar, to the vet to be weighed so I could get his flea pills. He is a big boy... 74 pounds....and very protective. He has a mean bark that makes some peoples blood run cold. However....he is terrified of riding in my truck..this is how he rode to the vet and home...
Yes...my big farm dog rode all scrunched up in the floor board of my S-10. I tried to get him to ride in the seat next to me, he would not come out of the floor board. I stopped on the way home to get him a hamburger as a treat for being so good at the vet. He was so scared he would NOT eat his hamburger in the truck. Only after we got home, and he got out of the truck, did he want his treat. *sigh* Today the winds were crazy!! There was a constant wind of 20 - 30 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph! There are several reports of power outages and downed trees. We have a lot of branches down...and my poor old barn really took a beating. Looks like I will have to call the insurance company tomorrow.
With the one piece missing, the hay inside is exposed. Luckily I had a large cardboard box and was able to get the hay covered. It didn't cover all 70 bales....but at least that corner is mostly covered. I am hoping I can get it fixed before we get too much more rain. Now the weather man is saying we are supposed to get a few nights of FREEZING temps. I really am ready for this cold weather to be gone, ready to get in the garden and to have fresh vegetables!

2 comments:

  1. DH did some sheep shearing years ago. He wishes he still had his shears so he could have done this for you!

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    1. Oh boy....this was a bad shearing job...I am SO glad it is done. I am sure Laura is happier too!

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