A neighbor came over today to help us shear Erin. He brought an old pair of hand shears which he'd sharpened just for the occasion and we put a large tarp down in the barn to catch the wool. What an ordeal! Poor Erin - she still thinks she's supposed to be running around the house in a diaper...hasn't quite accepted the fact that she is a SHEEP and lives in the barn. And here she was subjected to the indignities of being thrown to the floor and knelt on while her beautiful locks were unceremoniously hacked off. Sam, our neighbor, was a trooper, especially since he hasn't done this particular task for many years. But he hung in there, and although Erin suffered a few nicks (mostly from being squirmy), she now has a summer haircut and you can see that she is, in fact, white. She's ignored me all day and I'm hoping that in time she'll forgive me for initiating this activity.
Unfortunately she wiggled so much the wool didn't stay on the tarp, but got scattered around the barn and quickly became integrated with hay and other assorted barn goodies. So I guess we won't be able to experiment with carding and spinning this time. I'm now looking for a pair of used shears to buy and will attempt to shear her myself (with assistance) in the fall. From that point on, she will wear a coat in hopes that it will keep the wool a little cleaner and more usable.
I'm amazed at how thin she is! She looked enormous under that massive coat, but in reality is a very slender, svelte ewe. I only hope Tally doesn't get any more ideas when he sees her new trim figure.
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