Mud...Boots

My dear Isaiah boy is finally healthy. He is happy, mischievous and laugh provoking. Nate has been staying home with him the last three weeks, and now the weather is finally nice enough to take him exploring out of doors. On Tuesday afternoon I got home at a reasonable time and decided to take him outside to enjoy the spring temps. Kohen was napping, so that helped with competition. Isaiah was so excited when he saw mud boots in his size. He started clapping and pointing out the window, and then patting his head and saying 'hat'. Well, after we got his hat we headed out. Our journey only went as far as the chicken coop, but took over 20 minutes. Isaiah was enchanted by the mud and running water, so enchanted that he bent over to check it out and promptly landed on his backside in the water. No cries or tears, just looks of awe.

We are gearing up for true spring here. Day old chicks are scheduled to arrive next week, and lambs may be born the week after. I've been reading and rereading all my sheep and lambing info, packing a lambing kit and making sure we have any supplies we may need on hand.

We are struggling with shearing. Our shearer from last year has not returned calls, and we have made phone calls/contact with over 15 other people. All in our area use the same shearer. The only person whom has been able to get him to confirm a shearing appointment isn't shearing until May. Much too late for us. The girls are all starting to roo, loose their fleece, and look pretty shaggy. Nate attempted the hand shears today, and did a fine job, but it is way too time consuming to try and do all 13 of them that way. We contacted a farmer friend who is going to bring over his electric shears for us to borrow. I'm glad I have a husband who is willing to tackle any project.

Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the hand shearing today since I was assisting. Kizzy was our victim, though you would never know it. She is so calm and friendly, she just had to smell the animal crackers in my pockets. He also tried to tidy up Fiona. Being an icelandic she has a lot more fleece than the shetlands, and needs some trimming in expectation of lambs looking for milk.

I met up with four wonderful ladies on Sunday and spent an enjoyable day spinning. I haven't lost the love, and it made me itch to get some nice fleece. I still have bags of last years shearing, which were poor quality from some of the sheep having not been shorn for multiple seasons. I'm hoping that I can work out a daily schedule to have time to work with wool this summer.