This past weekend, on Valentine's Day, I decided to go to a sheep shearing day with a friend. It took place at
Rising Meadow Farm in Liberty, North Carolina. It was a wonderful day, and the weather was perfect!
We rode in her little Smart Car, and really enjoyed talking and looking at the scenery.
When we got there, we went straight to the sheep barn to watch the shearing.
Here are some of the sheep, waiting to be shorn:
More sheep:
Here's one of the sheep, about to be shorn by the master shearer. It just quietly let the shearer grab him, lay him down, and cut his hair without complaint.
Here's the shearer, hard at work, giving the sheep a good haircut.
Here's the sheep after his haircut.
And here's the big fleece that came from that sheep.
We also saw a brown lamb being shorn. Once again, it was quiet and patient during the haircut.
There were severals bags of fleece, ready to be purchased. I think it was cool that they included
the name of the sheep each fleece came from.
After watching the sheep shearing, we wandered over to the next field, and saw some alpaca or llama. (It's hard for me to tell the difference between those two animals.)
They were so friendly, and would just walk right up to you. This one went straight to Brenda and stole her heart on Valentine's Day.
I got a visit from that one as well. I think he liked the way my handknit alpaca wristwarmers smelled. :)
After walking around the farm, we went into their little shop. I checked out the roving, to spin on my wheel at home. I decided to buy 4 balls of Corriedale in a light natural shade.
Brenda bought some of the handspun yarn the farm had prepared.
After our long drive and walk, we were tired, so we sat down outside to eat the picnic lunch Brenda had prepared for us. Thanks Brenda!! Next, we drove to her place, to sit and knit for a while. It was a perfect way to end our day together.
