Gloves on, gloves off...
Merino Ewe and Lamb
It's a weekend with lots of handling - tasks like weeding, and carting and stacking used bricks are definitely 'gloves on'. Then I'm helping with the sheep shearing - definitely 'gloves off'. I love the feel of that lanolin...
Sunday 23th September
Early this morning I spent a joyous hour doing happy, cheerful weeding in the Stables Garden. I dug out a lot of lone daffodils (they've just finished flowering) and stuffed them into a pot of potting mix. I shifted some rogue irises, and stuck to my weeding rules. Please note the adjectives 'joyous', 'happy', and 'cheerful'.
Bricks
Then we went off to get the first trailer-load of used bricks for the herb spiral, and I laid out the proposed shape on the vegetable garden by eye. I love it!
'You've got a lot of digging to do' said Non-Gardening Partner, ever helpful. Hey! I can do digging! I'm certain there's inherent power in a spiral, too. I felt a tingle of something when I was wandering around between the bricks thinking.
Beginning the Brick Spiral
In the late afternoon I helped with the sheep. It's shearing day tomorrow, so our modest merino flock were trailered down the road to the farm and the shearing shed. The ewes with lambs went last, in two trips, so there'd be no danger of lambs being trodden on. It looks like we have three boys and two girls. The last lamb was born only three days ago - she's small and strong!
Ewes and Lambs
Monday 24th September
This morning I have the length of the Brahms piano concerto (No. 2) to write, drink coffee, and prepare for the day. First I'm off to do some more smiling, contended weeding (gloves definitely on). NGP will come and get me after he's cleaned the sheep's bottoms, and then I'll spend the rest of the morning in the shearing shed.
Pretty Purple Pansy
Smelling Like a Sheep
I will end the day smelling like a sheep (this is a good and a bad thing, since I have to go to choir practice), but guess what? My hands will be oh so smooth, thanks to the lanolin in the fleeces I'm handling.
Later...
The sheep are shorn and back in their paddock, much lighter and bouncier. I've dug the main circular path of my herb spiral down to the correct level, bought some Thyme and variegated Marjoram from a roadside stall, and sent NGP off to look for some easy-mix mortar suitable for a brick wall in a vegetable garden.
Now I'm baking some bread, the evening meal is cooking, I'm clean, and I even smell nice! Tra-la-la - choir here I come. I've handled these last two days really well, gloves or no gloves!