WhirldWorks Farm

We got it done in half a day and they will be nice and cool for the summer.

Last year we didn’t get sheared until late August and so this years fleeces, being sheared at the beginning of June, only have 9 months of growth but they are still absolutely fabulous!

I recorded our shearer Chloe doing our old girl Wanda. Wanda is around 8 or 9 years old and have been here sine 2016. She was one of our first four sheep. The only one that is left. She has a fantastic crimp and length isn’t bad either. So without further delay here is a link to the video of her being sheared.

Chloe Shearing Wanda 2023 Whirld Works Farm

We are having a great dewberry season here and this morning it was cool, so not so much worry about snakes in the vines.

Whenever I pick dew berries I can see the vines and berries every time I close my eyes for a day or so.

It’s like when you’ve been on a boat and you feel like you’re still in motion. I think these are experiences that fill up our senses in ways that media cannot. Go out there and fill up *your* senses!

Here you can see the tumult in the sky above our farm after a good rain. You can see the side of the tractor shed that burned over the holidays. In the background you can see the forest and the barns. You can see the hay feild and you can see our house and new, detatched garage. But what you don’t see…

What you dont see is that yesterday when I arrived at home after a morning errand, my puppy was sleeping *with* my jack donkey, Boaz! Ofcourse as soon as I stopped the car to take a picture he got up and started coming towards me. But I can see it in my memory. What you don’t see are the wild flower seeds that are getting ready to sprout in fields. What you don’t see is all of the hard work it has taken to finish out the old garage and turn it into living space. What you don’t see is the trails that we have forged and marked, through our forest because we love to take walks back there.

What you don’t see are the stiff necks and sore muscles, the skinned knees and the bruises and scratches. But that’s all part of it.

You don’t see the dead animals, the ones we didn’t care for well enough, the dog fights, ehem and sometimes people fights. All of that happens here too. Just like at your home. Farm life is not for everyone, but I wouldn’t want to live this life anywhere else….well okay maybe the Talladega National Forest lol but…it gets too cold for me there;p

Whirld Works Farm will be demonstrating spinning and selling yarn at the Wendish festival in Giddings TX today from 10am till 3pm.

I haven’t had a chance to update the online store but we have natural and dyed handspun Debouillet yarn and we have raw fleeces! If you have been waiting for these to be back in stock wait no longer! Send us a message and we’ll send you the details:)

We have been working hard to increase our creative space here at the Homestead and now have a bonifide full time studio for our products. (The unwashed fleeces are still outside) but anytime you visit or want to know what we have in stock, all we have to do is look on the shelves!

Circumstances beyond my control have left me with unsheared sheep in one of the hottest driest summers I’ve ever seen in my 25 years in Central Texas.

I thought to myself ‘why can’t I do it myself?

So I bought these shears…

They had great reviews and weren’t too expensive and they do cut… but…not merino.

I chose my dwarf, yes I have a pure bred dwarf Debouillet! I’m working on developing a repeatable dwarf Debouillet but it will take time. She has never been shorn before but she handled it well. Even when I nicked her. Poor thing. I did not have any trouble trimming her feet with my set up.

But I just could not get through the wool on her back with these sheers,…and my inexperienced sheering body gave out. And this as far as we got

Sometimes You just can’t.

There are other things we have recently discovered we can’t do our selves, replacing struts on the truck is one. Sometimes things get stuck so back you just can’t do it yourself. I am thankful in those times that we have others who can help,..when we just can’t.