In April 2008 my daughter Deb, her dog Chappy, and I went to a shearing on Martha’s Vineyard, our first shearing ever.  The weather was gorgeous… low 70’s, bright sunshine, soft breezes, good food, good friends… it was great.

The sheep and goats and the older kids (goats, not humans) were already out and about when we got there a little before 10 am.  You’ll notice in the bottom picture the adults have closed ranks around one of the young kids and are all focusing their attention in one direction…

They are staring at Chappy, our Boykin Spaniel who to them is a predator.  Chappy on the other hand is looking at them increduously and wondering, what the heck are these animals?

Whenever Deb and Chappy moved to another spot the sheep would move and face them… it was really interesting,

I’d never seen shearing  before and it’s very interesting.  The sheep and goats look almost in a Zen state while they’re being sheared and having their hooves clipped.  The wool is mostly in one piece when the shearing is finished, it’s amazing. The wool is so soft you can hardly feel it,  it’s also still a little warm to the touch.

They seemed really happy to get their coats off.

Random pictures from a lovely day.

In the beginning of my post I said the ‘older kids’ were here at the shearing… the ‘little kids’ were not.   The following day however we got to meet them up close and personal at the farm.

Cuteness overload.

The moms kept an eye on us, especially on Chappy, but they let the kids come and sniff at us and let us pet and snuzzle them.

It was a great weekend for all of us.