farm day

Yesterday we had the students from the Monday Homeschool Classes that I taught this past semester, and their families, come for a visit to our farm to participate in shearing a sheep. Kudos to The Map Man for taking these great pictures while I had my hands full (literally!). If everyone looks like they are freezing, it's because they are -- it never did get above freezing here yesterday. (Spring? What spring?!)

Hope you enjoy the photos!:

I introduced our guests to our sheep, and everyone got to pet Bella, a month old lamb.

I gave a brief sheepdog herding demonstration with one of our Collies, Joy, who was cleverly hidden behind trees or fences in every photo.

Then Joy (there she is!) and I penned the sheep so we could get down to the task at hand -- shearing!

Each child got a turn taking a clip of wool straight from the sheep. They got to keep the locks they cut as a souvenir.

A few hardy souls braved the cold to hang around until I finished shearing the sheep the kids started with a set of hand-shears. Not the fastest way to shear a sheep, but a lot more merciful on the skin than electric shears (at least the way I use them!).