July 6, 2010

Busy Weekend, Busy Week

I hope everyone had a great weekend! We were able to accomplish quite a bit, and fit in some fireworks and swimming. It feels great to work hard and get things done, but it also feels great to take a break!

This weekend, we FINALLY sheared our Jacob sheep! It is LONG overdue, and I have felt horrible for them on really warm days. They DO have shade and PLENTY of water, BUT I know I would hate wearing a winter coat in the summer!

So I found a neighbor who actually has Jacobs also (small world!), and she showed me how she shears her sheep. She doesn't have the big, hot, noisy clippers. She uses fabric shears! She showed me how she does it, and I will say that I am personally NOT interested in shearing with the noisy, hot ones anymore! This went a lot faster, and the sheep weren't scared at all.

Here are some pics from the whole event!


We put the sheep in our milking stand, and they liked eating the grain!!! What a treat!



Notice in this picture all of the wool that has already been cut, it is all rolled up on her back!


Here she is afterward, enjoying the coolness!!!


Here is my happy hubby holding all of the wool that we took off of her-


This week, we are also preparing for 4H, which is starting on Saturday! This will be our first year in 4H! I say OUR because any parent who has a CHILD in 4H, knows that they are also roped into 4H also, helping with projects, feeding, staying on top of training animals, staying on top of records, all of the prep work for the fair and MORE.... Sometimes I wish I could just get the $$ for the projects! ;)

Here are some pics of Deklyn with his animals that he is taking:




The broilers were hiding out, they are getting big tho! I think these broilers should be pretty tasty... they have been pasture raised since they were 1 week old, and have got their brooder moved to new grass everyday. This weekend we propped up the side of their brooder to give them some more space to hang out. They stick close to the brooder though!

Fair starts on Saturday! I pray that we haven't missed anything that we were supposed to do! It is so hard keeping up with everything!

Are you a seasoned 4H parent? Any advise for a newbie? I might be just as nervous as Deklyn! :)

4 comments:

carrie said...

It is hard work but so much fun!!! don't stress about shows... first year is usually a learning year!!! Good luck Deklyn... let us know when and we will try to come to your shows!!! we love you!!!

Megan said...

Have a great fair week, Deklyn!! You'll do great!

Christine said...

I just started hand shearing my Shetlands this year. I found it's MUCH easier to start at the tail and work your way forward. You can see where you're going and the end result looks much, much better. Of course, I figured this out on the very last sheep I sheared. :( The girls first in line are still mad about their bad haircuts. LOL

Sarah said...

Christine- We have LOTS of bad haircuts around here! haha! :) Hopefully they will forgive us someday!