Sheep shearing with the girls

Saturday at Littledove was awesome. We got to watch sheep shearing and hang out with the girls for a few hours. If all goes as expected, the six ewes will be at the farm tomorrow afternoon.

Four of the girls. As you can see, they're not particularly thrilled once they've been sheared. 

A few lessons from today's visit:

• Shearing sheep is one hard job. It involves lots of bending and repetitive motion, plus new lambs tend to lose control of their little bladders when being sheared for the first time. Not fun.
• Sitting on the ground with sheep and meeting them at eye level is a great way to get to know them. I probably sat with the girls for a couple of hours. Vita, the lead sheep, let me love on her for quite some time. I think we're going to be good friends.
• Bundling fleece and picking through it for debris takes a good eye. We can only hope one day to be as skilled as Franny and her crew are.

Shearing, hoof trimming and giving meds all happen at the same time. Those sheep in the larger photos  are part of the girls coming to the farm.

Still haven't quite come up with a flock name yet. Perhaps "Masego Shetlands." Masego's a South African name that means "blessed."