Before shearing….
After shearing…

Erin & Brandon Greene took care of this year’s shearing for us. They and Brandon’s brother Curtis showed up June 5th with their table and shears and took care of between 20 & 30 animals in a day and a half. Mom & Dad used to do the shearing entirely on their own. Being the lazy daughter I am, I tried to avoid shearing like the plague. For Mom & Dad, shearing would usually last most of the month of May. This meant that shearing the whole flock in 18 hours was quite a welcome change!

While Erin & Brandon ran the show, we had quite a number of guests and assistants. The newest members of the crew were Clarke Merrill and Bob Benites, members of the local Orchid Society (another of M&D’s pet projects). Clarke and Bob offered assistance and stuck it out much longer than I ever expected, assisting in grooming before sending the animals to the shearing table. Poor Bob even took a full-on spit to the face, and continued to carry out grooming duties – what a trooper!

Linda Brier of Ever Thanks Farm and my ever-patient husband Travis both were also instrumental at keeping the process moving. From both Mom and myself, thank you to everyone for your help. It was probably the most fun we have ever had during shearing.

By the way, in-between being spat at and getting stepped on, Bob also did a nice job of documenting the shearing process. Above are before and after shots of a few animals, but you can see his full running commentary by clicking here.