Sheep Shearing Day at Thistle Cove Farm

by Leslie Shelor 

Arriving at Thistle Cove Farm

April 21, 2006 was a day of adventure, as fellow spinners Sally and Linda and I took off across Southwest Virginia for a day of fibery fun. Every year Sandra and David of Thistle Cove Farm host Sheep Shearing Day in April and I love to go when I can. It was great to have company on the trip, and we had a beautiful drive through the sunny morning.

Getting Ready to Shear!

I usually bring a few things to sell, and also do a little spinning, to show off what is done with all the lovely fleece to visitors as they come to watch the shearing.  But mostly I help with skirting the fleece.  Skirting is removing the worst of the mess at the edges of the fleece so that it can be stored safely.  We heard music on the hill as we were setting up, and singer Linda flew up to listen, like a moth to a flame!

Ready to be sheared

 

The farm is beautiful this time of year, and I walked around a little.  I can never get enough of beautiful Tazewell County.  A peek into the barn revealed the sheep, all dry and ready for the shearer to harvest those gorgeous fleeces!

 

Skirting the fleece (Photo by Sandra Bennett)

 

Linda, Sally and I all came back down, though, because the shearer arrived and a gorgeous fleece landed on the skirting table. Each fleece was more beautiful in the last, and it was hard to decide just which ones would go home in the car with us. Our choices were made soon, however, as finally "just the right fleece" came before each spinner.
 

After the Shearing

We were all pretty tired when the shearer left, and glad to accept Sandra's gracious invitation to lunch. The sheep that were bereft of their fleece scampered off through the fields, except for two who hung around the barn hoping for a treat.

Relaxing in a beautiful place

Our lunch appeared on the lovely front porch of the old home place, and new friends and old settled in to eat, talk and enjoy more music and the wonderful setting. The sun was warm and I got so sleepy, but all too soon we had to pack up our wooly treasures and head back toward our part of the mountains.

 

A Camel, really.  In Tazewell County.
 

On the way home we saw this fellow, out in a hilly, stony field with some horses and cattle. According to a fast web search he's a camel, although I wasn't sure because he was so wooly! He wouldn't come over to the fence, which was probably a good thing with three greedy spinners so close!

 

Pearl's Fleece

And of course I came home with wool! This gorgeous fleece came from Pearl, and I fell for the gorgeous luster and crimp. As I said, it was a hard decision; every fleece was gorgeous! Many thanks to Thistle Cove Farm for another fantastic Sheep Shearing Day!

On the way down and back we noticed sign after sign with prayers and thoughts for Virginia Tech. There were signs in front of churches, businesses, and even private homes. The outpouring of sympathy was touching, and made me think of the book I've been reading lately. "There was an end to weeping. Mourning, however, ebbed and surged but never ceased flowing." - The Autobiography of God by Julius Lester.