Counting Sheep

The sheep are jumping—and not in my sleep. If you check out the flock page, you’ll see that several of our wooly friends are on the move. The Cotswold decided to roam, but was careful to stay close to home just in case he wanted to make a quick return. The Cambridge, American Romney, and Shropshire trotted off to entirely new towns and the Lincoln is moving all over Kansas trying to escape the heat! The Australian Merino arrived late but has already slipped out of his paddock and moved to another locale in South Australia and the Hampshire has crossed state lines! I’m not sure, but I think he was looking for water somewhere in these dry Midwest states. Now that the rains from Hurricane Isaac have dumped on some of the Midwest region, he may be swimming for higher ground! And if you missed the link on the Contest page, you can go here and learn a little more about the particular breeds. It has been great fun watching the sheep (books) begin to move and I hope you’ll enjoy their travels, too. These little lambs are having fun frolicking over the rocks and I had to smile when I learned that many lambs will stand on their mother's backs to get a better view of things going on around them.

While writing A Hidden Truth, I needed to learn a bit more about sheep and their care. In the process, I became quite fond of them. Because the people of Amana raised sheep to produce wool for their mills, shearing was an important time of year. Needless to say, shearing was all by hand in the 19th Century—no electric shears or shearing machines. That’s a picture of the hand blades that were used by the men.

Along with lambing season, shearing was the other time of year when people from other villages and outsiders made an effort to visit East Amana. Everyone enjoyed seeing the new lambs as well as watching the experienced shearers complete their arduous task. Even the sheep appreciated being relieved of their wooly coats as summer arrived. I watched any number of You Tube videos of hand shearing to gain an understanding of the process. I was much relieved to learn it’s not any different than a haircut for us. However, I’ve never had to be rolled around like those sheep in order to get my hair cut!

For those of you who have already finished reading A Hidden Truth, the apparatus below should be familiar. Pictures of the sheep at the top of this post were taken in a pasture near Tiffin, Iowa, just east of the Amana Colonies. Sheep are no longer raised in the Colonies, so there was a little scouting required to find this flock grazing in Tiffin. There was no one at home when Lorna Seilstad, Dawn Ford and I descended on the farm and started snapping pictures. Soon thereafter, a truck drove into the driveway and the owner, a lovely woman, was kind enough to answer many of my questions, although I think she was a little leery of us when she first arrived home. And who wouldn’t be? I’m guessing that’s the first and last time she’s come home to three women snapping pictures of her sheep!

Although they no longer raise sheep in the Colonies, the woolen mill is still producing beautiful woolen products that can be purchased by visitors or through their website.

What about you? Any interest in spinning, weaving or the wooly creatures that provide the wonderful yarns we use to create sweaters and scarves?

The winner of A Patchwork Christmas is Meghan. I'll be emailing you for your mailing address, so watch your in-box. :)

May you find joy as you rest in the arms of the Good Shepherd. ~Judy