This past Saturday our goats were professionally sheared by Emily, who came by on her way home from Juniper Moon Farm. I have to admit, I’m such a huge fan of Juniper Moon Farm that I’m a little star-struck to have secured the services of their shearer. Small world! Unfortunately, Lucas and I were out of town for a wedding reception, so we didn’t get to see (and photo-document) the shearing – but I do have some before and after pictures:
Admittedly not a well composed shot, but it shows off their coats. It was taken about 1 month ago (the phantom hand is Lucas). It was so funny to watch them run around with all that wool attached – very floppy!
They’re so tiny now! And so leggy. And now I have two very large boxes with a fleece in each. I spent some time looking at Ivan’s (the larger one) fiber while it was still attached. There’s a high percentage of coarse, thick guard hair – which isn’t great for spinning yarn – so I think I might just toss that fiber (though I hate to do it). But his sweet personality more than makes up for not getting to use his fiber. As for Hamlet (with the horns), I think I’ll have to spend some time picking through his fleece for areas that aren’t heavily laden with vegetable matter – this goat has a serious bramble addiction. Sigh.
This additional fiber is a nice kick in the pants for me – I need to sit down and process BOTH this fiber AND the fiber I harvested from Hamlet last Fall (which I’ve stored in cedar chips). Wish me luck!
