Why Purchace Wool - Twin Willows Farm

Don’t get me wrong, I love being a shepherd. I love everything about it. But there are times when I wonder at the sanity connected to those of us who raise sheep. Let me explain.

Last week in -13 F temperatures, I was helping a ewe towel off twin lambs at 5:30am. It was a race against nature to get them dry enough not to freeze. After my third change of gloves (a good shepherd always has 2 or 3 pairs of dry gloves stuffed in their coveralls) and several towels that were freezing stiff, I gave up and put the lambs in a box. I waded through snow drifts well above my knees to get the lambs into the house where I could get them warm and dry. (And find more gloves.) After an hour in the warm house they were dry, warm and crying for MaaaaMaaaa. So back out into the storm I go, wading through drifts and battling winds with my arms full of a box that keeps wobbling all over with active lambs.

Normal spinners call me on the phone and ask, “Do you have fleece for sale, Pegg? I’m running low.” They do this without wading through drifts, without pulling off freezing wet gloves and with no birthing fluids soaking into their knees.

Another ewe, just a yearling, delivered twins to the surprise of both of us. I was surprised because yearlings normally have singles. She was surprised because ‘those things’ came out of her! She was looking at me as if to say, “no way!” I was encouraging her and telling her, “way!” This went on for about an hour. She was particularly sure that ‘those things’ were not supposed to go anywhere near her udder. I was equally sure that they should. I’m awfully glad nobody was around with a video camera at the time. With patience and persistence things eventually got worked out.

Normal spinners e-mail me and ask, “Did you shear EweReka yet? I really liked spinning her fleece from last year.” They do this without getting bruised by a nervous new mom who tramples over the top of them trying to get away from ‘those things.’

Most ewes just go about the business of delivering their lambs without any interference from me. I keep my eye on them, make sure everything progresses normally and try to stay out of their way until the lambs are born. They know I’m near and for the most part just ignore me. But occasionally after repeated attempts to push out a lamb there will be a change in the ewe’s voice. She’ll give a strident sort of baaa. To the untrained ear, it just sounds like “baaa!” To the experienced shepherd, it is translated into, “are you just going to stand over there looking stupid or are you going to do something!?!” At that point it’s time to lend a helping hand. This requires removing your arms from the nice, warm overalls and pushing a nice, warm sleeve up to your elbow leaving a goose bump covered arm to go exploring with. Sorting out tangled twins or triplets is a necessary part of being a shepherd but slides far down the list of fabulous things to do on a Saturday night.

Normal spinners ask me to send my fleeces on to the processor for them so they don’t have to deal with the “dirty stuff.” If they only knew.

Twin Willows Farm - Why Most Spinners Purchase Their Wool