Spring means shearing

Here's the littlest Uambyite Brodie with his Mum Rachael, my daughter. Brodie started crawling a few weeks ago, and has discovered the ground, dirt, stones, dogs that lick his face.
He had a 'coming out". Like the Balinese who wont let a child touch the ground until it is a full 12 months old. Well Brodie is nine months - close enough. He took to the ground like a puppy dog.





This curious little ewe lamb wandered over to aks me if I had any more hay after we had fed out to welcome the lambs to "Shearing 2007" - their first experience of getting their woollen jackets off. The chilly winds will be gone by tomorrow when they start losing their pure new wool underwear.



Xavier just loves tractors. He won't be hard to recruit as free labour in a few years... He and his mom and little brother Brodie are up from Sydney for 10 days to help with shearing. It was a brave call by Louisa to have them up during shearing, because the stress of shearing is added to by the stress of having an active 5 year old (X-man) who wants his Nonnie's attention all the time. But he was a good boy and amused himself playing outside the shearing shed.



Here are some of the rams looking longingly towards the ewes who are by now heartily sick of them, with the first lambs already having arrived. The rest look ready to lamb.


Father John Frawley is our Parish Priest. We celebrated his 25 years as a priest last Sunday with an "RSL" meal at the RSL. John was made a Monsenior (spelling looks wrong) by the Pope recently for his long and distinguished service. He became a priest after a long time as a Christian Brother, the teaching order established by Irish businessman Edmund Rice. I was taught by the Brothers and they were not ones to spare the rod (or the strap). I got my share of "Six of the best" - which, in Tamworth on a cold winter's morning, could make your hands throb for hours. That was then. This is now. John Frawley is the best churchman I have known in my sporadic relationship with the Church. He works hard each week on his homily (sermon) which he delivers to on average 15 people at Goolma. He comes out to us from Gulgong where the parish is a difficult one for a man of John's age. I'll tell you why later.










Louisa and Lucy the cross kelpie/collie that we bred have become a good team. Lucy would have got a bullet on most other places. But this dysfunctional dog is finally starting to understand. She's got a criminal mindset. Always leading the other dogs astray.







After a hard day's shearing - Louisa is wool classing - we have a couple of drinks with the crew. He we see Col and Louisa chilling out. Col is a brilliant giant of a man. I should be his PR agent.



Len Cooney is roustabouting for us. Daniel is working outside the shed, mustering and feeding out. Len gave me the words to a song - well the first verse - and said 'you can finish it...' What?