Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Yesterday...

You might recognize this farm from Fiber Gathering.
Yesterday, the horse really wasn't feeling well. The farmer handed me her feed: I fed her the oats with medicine in them.

The sheep were ready for shearing.

Gerald came to shear them.



Courtney helped pack down the wool that the shearer took home.


I was encouraged to take fleeces. "Oh, but I'm moving to Canada!" I said. Fleeces came home with me anyhow. White Romney....




Black/sunburnt tipped Romney/Border Leicester cross wool





Gray Romney

By the time I got home, I'd come back to my senses and realized I wouldn't have time to wash these before moving. I skirted them and packaged them up. The post office was busy on a Tuesday after Memorial Day! A little less than 40lbs later, I had no more raw fleeces. They were on the sheep Tuesday morning, and in the mail Tuesday afternoon.

Unfortunately, the farmer also wasn't feeling well. I just got back from visiting him in the hospital...he left the farm to go to the doctor just after I went home. What normally would have been a wonderful time on the farm is now bittersweet. If you liked that chapter of a farm on sheep shearing day in my book, remember the man in the red suspenders? Please send a few healing thoughts in his direction. (and thanks in advance...)
PS: I love every single comment you've written lately! I'm so sorry that I'm too overwhelmed to write back to every one just now. The first moving estimate was today--tomorrow? two more. Just keeping my head above water over here.

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9 Comments:

Blogger Cathy said...

Get well Man in Red Suspenders!

And good luck with all the things you need to get done before moving to another country! I'll enjoy your posts whenever you can squeeze them in.

May 27, 2009 at 4:19 PM  
Blogger knitalot3 said...

Good healing thoughts to the Man in Red Suspenders.

I hope everything is going smoothly for you and the professor.

LisaK

May 27, 2009 at 5:11 PM  
Blogger Willow said...

Sending healing thoughts to The Farmer In The Red Suspenders.

Oh, I know about moving (I quit counting after 25 moves) and we are leaving on the weekend to help a daughter move her things half way across the country!

But Oh My! I'm do envious of those fleeces!

May 27, 2009 at 5:21 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I am so excited about your big move!!! Great fleece pics even though you are in the midst of planning. Good thoughts to Red Suspenders, too.

May 27, 2009 at 10:47 PM  
Anonymous Deborah Robson said...

I hope the man and his horse are both feeling much better already.

May 28, 2009 at 1:08 AM  
Blogger SueJ said...

Get well Man in Red Suspenders! & if you are at the 'packing up raw yarn stage', moving to another country should be a walk.... on the praries! Good luck on the move anyhow!

May 28, 2009 at 3:47 AM  
Anonymous Alison Hyde said...

I had a glitch in my ISP and last night's comment never arrived in my inbox, but I wanted to say thank you for the good wishes. I'm sending them right back out to your farmer friend, and thank you for letting us know.

I'm also laughing: I once sent two fleeces off in a box to a mill for washing and carding, and they sent them back in one giant super-duty black plastic trash bag. The UPS guy came staggering up my walk with this awkward thing with puffs of wool poking out of it, and went, "Ya got the whole sheep in here, lady?"

"No, two!"

May 28, 2009 at 12:11 PM  
Blogger Geek Knitter said...

In all the rushing around, please don't forget to take care of yourself.

May 28, 2009 at 2:26 PM  
Blogger annmarie said...

I know you're busy and exhausted, but give us an update on the man *and* his horse when you get a little moment, okay. :)

May 29, 2009 at 4:49 PM  

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