Shearing Day 2013

Shearing Day 2013 will be Saturday, March 30. This is an informal, free event held annually here at Havencroft Farm. The farm and both Common Threads and Laffing Horse studios are open to the public that day. We'd love to see your smiling face.

Hocus Pocus and the girls would like to invite You to come visit!

Highlights of Shearing Day
9:00 a.m. - Open House begins farm, garden, spinning and weaving studio, broom and woodworking studio
10:00 a.m. - Shearing Demonstration on a stand
10:30 a.m. - Sheep and goat hoof trimming demonstration
11:00 a.m. - garden tour and open discussion
12:00 noon - bring a brown bag lunch and enjoy some of our herb tea, goat cheese and fresh greens with us.
1:00 p.m. - Farmer's Cheese making demonstration
2:00 p.m. - Shearing Demonstration on a stand
2:30 p.m -  Sheep and goat hoof trimming demonstration
3:00 p.m. - Spinning demonstration, and other fibery fun.
4:00 p.m. - Time to head home and Thanks for Visiting!

By that day, Lena and I will have most of the sheep and angora goats sheared, so we will have lots of new fleeces for sale. We will do one shearing demo at 10:00 a.m. and another at 2:00 p.m., with hoof trimming demos at 10:30 and 2:30. If all goes well, we should have lots of lambs and kids on the ground and many will be for sale. Last year, both Basil and Demi provided lambing demonstrations during Shearing Day. The year before Nilly gave us Gift on Shearing Day. Of course, we can't ever schedule anything like that, but it might happen again.

There will be lots of handspun yarn, handwoven shawls, beautiful brooms, fleeceyful rugs, fleeces and other farm-made items for sale.

Wow, 2013... hard to believe. I also think we did our first shearing day on Laffing Horse Farm in La Junta, Colorado in 2003. So this must be the 10th Anniversary of this fun open house. I do hope you can join us.

Leave a comment here or send me a message, email or even call if you have any questions. Carrier pigeons don't work, Kitty is a heck-of-a-good hunter.

Shearing Days - or was it Lambing Days - Open House?

Our Shearing Day Open House yesterday could have been called Lambing Day - but it's easier to schedule shearing. When I checked the ewes right before daylight, I thought Demi was in labor, but it' not the first time I've thought that this month. At 7:00 when I went out to feed, I found these two little boys.

Demi's twin boys - Demi always does have to be different.
The little spotted one is "Hagrid" and we are keeping him for
at least his first fleece. You've never seen such curls. The
other one is really white.

Diane Smith and her new ram
"Rambo"

 Diane Smith and Sue Legg were the first to arrive at Shearing Days. We had been corresponding about possible new sheep for their starter flock of Jacob sheep. They fell in love with Dapper Dan X Basil's little boy. He has a gorgeous pair of horns and a superb fleece that I kept for myself.
They named him "Rambo" and he headed home to meet his new ewes.

Several people asked me for pictures of the shearing/milking stand we use. Obviously, it is home-made. In fact, my kids, Lena and Juna made this one for me. You can find lots of plans for goat milking stands and sheep shearing stands if you google them. Just adapt what you find to fit your flock. We have to work around some pretty good sized horn sets. We sheared Sultan in this stand yesterday and his horns are more that 4-foot across.

Another shot of the shearing stand.

It was a good day, we sheared Rambo, Gypsum, Nibbles and Sultan. We sold a few fleeces, a ram and Shawn got an order for a 7-foot triloom. We visited with lots of folks who read about our event in the Stone County Leader Weekender.

Basil had been trying to give birth to her little girl and boy
all day and about 2 p.m. I decided it was time to help her
out. The little ones were tangled up inside mama, trying
to come out about like they are here.  But with a little help,
They are out and fine and health. Basil is doing ok.

The biggest group of people arrived right after I decided that Basil had been pushing too long with nothing to show for her labor. Shawn did the tour, while Lena and I helped Basil sort out the tangle of lambs. Basil's little girl and boy are doing fine.

After almost everybody was done visiting, we turned the ewes and their lambs out on the rye grass in the middle pasture for the first time. It was noisy chaos for a bit, but then little babies went to sleep in the grass and mommas went to work mowing.

Our last visitors of the day were dear friends Troy and Linda Odom who took time away from getting Aunt Linda's Apothecary Shop set up to come see the newest babies. All in all, it was a wonderful day here on the farm.

In the afternoon, everybody got turned out to mow the
middle pasture.

Three bags full

Demi in full poof.

It was a beautiful March day to work sheep and shear the ones that are due next.

Demi, Basil and Cowslip are due right about March 15. They are waddling about, stretching their legs over udders that are starting to tighten and easing their big bellies up and down the hill.

Demi is half Icelandic and half Corriedale.  Her multi-layer, multi-color fleece makes the most fantastic rugs. She just keeps getting more silver-tipped as she ages.

Basil's fleece is usually one of my favorite spinning fleeces, but this year, I think it will make a great rug.

Cowslip's fleece, too, all poufy and fluffy as always, is a little coarser than usual this year. It will be a fantastic, big, soft rug.

Shearing Demi

Too much Demi wool for one pillow case.

Clean and cool and ready to scratch and have babies,
in that order!

Basil says to "get on with it!"

 These fleeces and many more will be available at our farm open house, Shearing Day, on March 31 from 10 to 4. We'll also have fiber wethers and angora goats, and Jacob sheep ewe lambs available to reserve.

Cowslip, born in '03, says she'll just nap through shearing.