Monday, November 3, 2008

MY WORLD ~ 3

For those of you who asked what the lovely
flowers on our paddocks were, here they are
again. An intruduced species commonly called
Salvation Jane, as it can provide subsistance
fodder for sheep in a drought; or otherwise
known as Patterson's curse, having plenty of
unpleasant poroperties from skin rashes to asthma
as well as suppressing beneficial pasture grasses.
It belongs to the Echium family.



This post is thrown together in haste as we are
in the middle of shearing. Below, ladies in waiting.



Faithful old sheep dog Kip, arthritic, grey muzzled
but game as a pebble. Best sheep dog we have ever
had, willing to work till she drops. Overseeing from
a wool bale where she played dead until I arrived
with my camera. It was a long day for Kip.



Finally, the wool coming down and being skirted
on the table, then rolled up and baled.



Next week, something entirely different.

Thanks to the My World team for this wonderful meme.
For other stories, please click on the logo to the right.

44 comments:

  1. Shear and shear alike!

    There is an old ex-shearer who plays a fair role in my first novel.

    By the way, in answer to your question: yes, with my boarding school background, I vacuum, I do the laundry and I iron like you wouldn't believe!

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  2. This reminds me of the film Charlotte's Web...=D (I think that was shot in NZ)

    Where do you take the wool afterwards?

    Thanks for an letting me peek into your interesting and enjoyable world!

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  3. So versatile world and things, what you have and do!
    Have a good week, Arija!

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  4. Looks like hard work. I've never been around sheep much but just about every other farm animal. Special dog. I had Australian shepherds for many years, not the same breed but similar temperaments. Wonderful, intelligent helpers and loyal companions.

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  5. This was so interesting, Arija. WT and I had the romantic notion when we were newly married about taking off to Australia and having a sheep farm. Seriously.

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  6. I love the flowers, but the sheep shearing is wonderful. Perfect piece of your world. It reminds of of childhood days at our friends' when they sheared sheep.

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  7. Wonderful my dear! I have to admit that I'm always looking forward to what you show next! ;)
    Cheers, Klaus

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  8. Looks like it's a lot of work but very interesting.

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  9. Hard work shearing! But I'd love to see the work in action. Australia is definitely on my list of places to see some day!

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  10. so this is how you do it lols. the wool i mean... thanks for sharing.

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  11. Ah i remember trying to shear a sheep once, Great photos

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  12. Thanbks for showing your woolly world!

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  13. Your posts are always a delight! I love the purple flowers, the lovely dog and the sheep! Thanks!

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  14. Very interesting! Thank you for shearing, uh, sharing this with us...

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  15. I don't believe I have ever known anyone who has shorn sheep...

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  16. How interesting to see your flowers and the sheep and Kip, of course!

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  17. Sheep shearing is something I have often seen on TV especially on ABC when I was in Australia, but never in reality! It's fascinating. Thanks for sharing the shearing!

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  18. That echium family is well-known us too - one in nature and many of them in garden as annual - your field is really beautiful:) Interesting pics of your dog and sheeps too! We used to have some sheeps earlier, but not any more, they were more pet8] Thank you for sharing and happy week to you!

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  19. What an interesting post! Thanks for sharing about shearing. :)

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  20. Wow that must be an interesting job.I have always wanted to see how to shear a sheep. Thanks for shearing with us.lol Your sheep dog looks a bit tired but very cute.Thanks for stopping by my place.

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  21. Those are great shots and an interesting post. Fascinating seeing the sheep sheering.

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  22. How cool, literally! Looks like you won't be getting bored any time soon!

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  23. The shearers have even been known to come to Norway to assist us when needed!

    Thank you for the pleasant comment ;-)

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  24. I think shearing is pretty amazing. I saw a little of it at the fair. Hair today, bald tomorrow. :-)

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  25. Interesting to know about shearing, that's something new for me.

    Kip is so cute!

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  26. Thank you for such an interesting post, especially the shearing shot

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  27. Es ist so interessant, einen Einblick in Deine Welt zu erhalten. Ich komme mir vor, wie in einem Roman. ;-)

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  28. Pretty flowers and interesting sheep shearing photos.
    Drop by to see Gothic architecture on My World

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  29. Such a wonderful post of your world. I loved to see it all. What a work effort to take care of all of this. *whistles*

    ...and the loyal old dog, how sweet. I love dogs and it's so fantastic with working dogs. I've only seen 2 into work, that was in Ireland.

    We stay at a farm in the summer (the island Gotland, Sweden) and the farmer has always had lots of sheep, but now he has retired and his sons is taking over and they live on another farm. He only has a few on the farm for them.

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  30. I bet shearing is hard work. I helped shear sheep once many many years ago.
    I love the purple flowers!

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  31. Oh wouldn't I love to be there during shearing with all that wool. skirted or not.. I love it all.. I used to soak the skirtings and use the tea water on my garden

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  32. It's so nice to see everyday stuff form around the world. Thank you very much for your visit, bye and greetings from Croatia

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  33. Interesting! Shearing and sharing are both fun, worth the hard work, right?

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  34. Hi Arija! Haha, that's it!
    Thank you for your nice comment on my blog! I love you saying that you have a "competitive spirit"! I'll come to see your skies!

    BTW, I love your pictures showing sheep shearing. My 21 year old nephew and his friend dreamed about working as a sheep shearer in Australia last summer, but somehow it did not work out. His friend's relatives own a sheep farm somewhere in Australia, but they did not even ask them for a job, they scythed steep mountain meadows in Austria instead :)

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  35. I'm sure the sheep shearing is hard work for everyone involved, from 2 legged to 4 legged.

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  36. Terrific post! This is so interesting and I know it must be VERY hard work, but it sure looks like a lot of fun to those of us who have never experienced it!! Great post!!!

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  37. Lovely to see photos of the shearing taking place - and of the lovely wise old sheepdog.

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  38. How cool! I have never watched sheep being sheared. Kip is a beautiful old lady.

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  39. hmm...I always thought Kip was MY dog (after all, she was purchased by me with the proceeds from selling one of my felt rugs!)
    and for those readers who wanted to know about the purple flower...it is properly called 'echium plantagineum' and variously known as Salvation Jane, Paterson's Curse or Viper's Bugloss

    ...a comment by she-who-yards-the-sheep-and-presses-the-wool

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  40. Love the views of the sheep shearing! Kip looks like a wonderful old dog!

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  41. Fabulous look into your world. Sheep shearing. How amazing.

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