wool-and-wanderlust

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 30: Woke up today to the news that someone smashed the wing mirror on my rental car overnight. It was parked on the road, and someone hit it...didn't leave a note, so now I'm left to pay for the damage. Some people...

Was going to run some errands today, but can't really do that without the drivers side mirror, so I went shopping with Cathy instead. Was hoping to get a dress and/or shoes for Brian's daughter's wedding next weekend, but just ended up with a cardigan. Thought I might start on the new farm tomorrow, but it turns out the timing isn't great for that farmer, so I've got the day off tomorrow...time to try to get my car fixed.

July 31: Called the car rental place today to tell them I needed to report some damage, and the first thing the guy said was "Right — what have you done?" I'm sure he assumed the young-ish American woman who can't drive a standard would damage the car, but SHOCKINGLY it wasn't me. 🙄 Anyway, they told me I could just pop the mirror back in place since it's shattered but still in the frame, and I can drive it like that until I return the car. So I decided to go on another shoe shopping hunt. Went to a nearby town and finally had success. Then went grocery shopping and made tea. Seems like the new farm this week isn't working out quite yet, so I'm back to the original farm tomorrow. I guess I shouldn't have said such a dramatic goodbye already!

August 1: The fields at Brian's and Tom's farm needed rolling, so that's what I focused on today. They needed to roll the fields to press any stones back into the ground so that the stones don't damage the machine that bales the silage. So I had a quick refresher on how to drive the tractor, and then went for it! The perfectionist in me was annoyed because it took me a very long time to get the lines straight without any gaps between them, but I eventually got there. I was listening to the radio while driving, and when a certain song came on the radio I had to make this video. Then in the afternoon, we did some sheep work. I got to drive the quad bike around the field gathering the sheep which is one of my favorite things, and then we sprayed them with Dysect (which treats blowfly strike and prevents lice and ticks). It was nice being back on the farm...

August 2: Back on the original farm again today for more field rolling. I really shouldn't have said goodbye yet 😅 I got promoted to doing 2 fields instead of one today, so had my work cut out for me. I felt more confident in the tractor which meant I could drive a bit faster, so I was able to cover a lot more ground. My only bad moment was when I had to drive the tractor around a tree, and I thought the branches would just flexibly go *whoosh* around the tractor, but they hit it with more of a *thunk*. 😳 One of the big side mirrors got pushed in, so I tried to get out of the tractor to reposition it, but it had actually been pushed in so far that it trapped me inside the tractor. I was totally stuck and had to decide whether to call for help or climb out the back window of the tractor. I climbed out the back, fixed the mirror, and got back in! I also noticed the mirror on the other side needed adjusting, so I went to fix that one but realized the metal arm holding the mirror was actually broken😩 Wasn't sure if I'd done it or not, but figured I should probably let someone know. Had such a pit in my stomach about telling them! Thankfully, they told me it was already like that...phew. After lunch, I helped put up a small marquee for this weekend's wedding. We went inside for a drink in the afternoon, and when we came back outside less than an hour later, it had blown down and broken :( So they will have to hire a new one for the wedding. Such a sad moment! Should be leaving the farm for real now, as tomorrow I really do start at the new farm...Here's a video I made of my last few weeks with the Longmynd Commoners.

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 27: This morning after checking on the cows, we needed to sort some sheep. We had to wean some lambs from the ewes, which is done by sending a line of sheep through a sorting chute and moving a metal gate to send the ewes in one direction and the lambs in another. Sometimes they will jump, or two will try to go through at once, so you have to be ready to move your body to pin them against the gate so they don't go the wrong direction. If you mess up, it's nearly impossible to catch the one you missed without starting over again, so it's important to stay focused and make as few mistakes as possible. Once the ewes were separated, we checked their teeth to see if any needed to be marked for market. Then Brian and I went to pick some mushrooms in one of the fields. After lunch, Brian, Tom, Phil and I used the quad bike to put up an electric fence to keep sheep out of the field where Brian's daughter is getting married next weekend. And to end the day, I got to sit in on a meeting they had with someone from the National Trust to discuss a project that involves a report on the status of the wildlife on the Longmynd. It was a productive discussion and interesting to see the ways they need to work together to keep the hills in good condition. For those of you who have been following on instagram, I'm also happy to say that I have finished separating and organizing the tangled mess of blue rope. See the before and after — satisfaction score 9/10. Loses one point due to some kinks that wouldn't come out, but it's still so much better!

July 28: A few weeks ago, I saw a box of amazing old documents relating to the Longmynd Commoners Association, and the administrator in me desperately wanted to organize it. I didn't say anything at the time, but waited until the box emerged again and asked them if they had any interest in the documents being digitized. They thought it was a good idea, so I was legitimately THRILLED to spend today creating a google drive and scanning every single document and map. There was a lot to get through and this is one of my last days on this farm, so it definitely ranks in the most productive scanning days of my career, haha. I think I probably scanned and labeled a good 750+ pages in one afternoon.

July 29: Today was my last day on the farm. Tom and I went to Ben and Richard's farm to sheer one last group of sheep, and it was a nice quiet morning with just the four of us. I say it was quiet...my job (wrapping wool) was quiet — the shearers always have a tough job and would probably not describe it that way! When we were done there, we went back to the farm for lunch with the rest of the family and I gave them some small gifts from Minnesota. I managed to hold it together while we finished lunch, but I was really sad to leave — had a pretty tough drive back home 💔 Cathy and Adrian took me out for pizza and a movie to take my mind off things which was a good call...we saw Indiana Jones, which was a bizarre movie 😆 but it was good to get out of the house. New farm next week...

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 24: Today I drove to Chester to visit my mom's cousin Jo and my great uncle, Brian. The last time I saw Uncle Brian was 2017, and I had never met Jo before today. I met Jo at her house first, and then we picked up Uncle Brian from his care home and took him out to lunch in the town center. After lunch, we took Uncle Brian to the nearby model plane shop. He loves building those and his room is full of them. I asked Jo whether Uncle Brian remembers which ones he's done, and she said he's done all of them! :)

July 25: Today was the last day of shearing at Brian & Tom's farm. Tom and Ben sheared today and Jana, Brian, and I wrapped wool. Sorry for those that are squeamish, but I included a photo here of a sheep that has had maggots. I mentioned before that sheep need to be sheared for health reasons, and this is a big reason why. Flies lay eggs under the sheep's wool, and then their maggots feast on the sheep's skin, creating sores that will eventually kill the sheep if not discovered and treated.

Later, I helped Tom check the ewes' teeth to see if they were health enough to spend another year on the hill. The teeth are a good indicator of the sheep's overall health. The only have bottom teeth, so if that row of teeth is good, they are good to go...if not, they got an orange dot which means they have been marked to go to market :( Checking them is a tricky business because in order to keep them still and keep track of which ones you've checked, you have to use your body to hold a group of them in one place between the fences. You can see here that the ones Tom is holding in front of him have not been checked yet; the ones behind him (closer to me) have already been checked. Brian and I checked on the cows to end the day, and on the way back, noticed the lowest rainbow either of us had ever seen. Brian showed me some other photos of rainbows from their farm that I'll add below. They have some amazing ones!

July 26: Adrian took me to the Royal Welsh Show, which is a major event in the British agriculture world. If your animal wins a prize here, you not only win prize money, but also the respect of other breeders who will pay big money for your animals. We watch the welsh pony competition for a while, then looked at all of the cows, chickens, goats, and pigs, and spent about an hour watching tug of war. Brian was a serious tug of war athlete and traveled internationally to compete. He also coached Tom's team. It's a big thing here. There are weight limits for each team, so teams will often have to carefully monitor their weights, sometimes literally going for a group run the day of a competition to shed weight if they are at risk of being disqualified due to being over the limit. Most pulls seem to be 1-2 minutes, but a well-matched team might pull for over 30 minutes! They wear supportive boots, but they aren't allowed to put anything on their hands except resin for gripping. My forearms are tired just thinking about how long you would have to grip that rope. It was really fun to watch. I could have stayed there watching all day if it wasn't raining!

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 22: Today was another rainy day. Tom and I spent the morning using a tractor post driver to replace some fence posts and install a new fence next to the holiday lets to stop the sheep from entering that area. The problem was that it was so muddy that a couple of times while we were trying to create enough tension between fence posts, they would slip and slide around and it was making things pretty difficult. We ended up having to use the ATV to pull the fence posts back so we could finish installing the fence. After lunch, we finished installing the fence posts and talked with some guests staying in the holiday let.

July 23: Today, I went with Tom and James to the Welsh International Speed Shear competition. I realized on the way there that I didn't quite know what I was getting into. I was envisioning something like a sparsely attended rodeo atmosphere with some people drinking beer here and there. But no. This was nothing like I could have imagined. Picture post-Covid spring breakers partying in an arena so packed that you were touching every person around you, so crammed in that you can't exit so people bring in 12 packs of beer to your seat to keep you going, women dressed in mini skirts and dresses clearly on the prowl for young available farmers, constant loud music, dancing, shouting, cheering, singing...and so much drinking😅 There was also speed shearing which was very impressive, but in some ways did not seem like the main event...! They had junior, intermediate, and senior skill level competitions with shearers going two at a time. The winners from those heats competed in semifinals and finals. The quickest ones could shear an entire sheep in about 15 seconds!! There were mostly Welsh contestants, but several from New Zealand as well. A couple of guys who have been shearing with us in Shropshire were also competing, so it was fun to watch them. We watched and drank beer from about 2pm-9pm, and then everyone flocked to the town pubs. We stopped at a chippy (being a vegetarian, I had a chip butty — French fries on buttered white bread). It was my first time having one and after several beers and more ahead, it was much needed. One of the pubs had put up a marquee/tent in their parking lot, and it was apparently the place to be, with hundreds of drunk young people partying and dancing. I think I saw 5 people being sick in the streets. It was not my scene to be sure, but quite the spectacle. Got home very late and can't remember the last time I was this tired!

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 19: Yesterday I had the day off from the farm, but I got a text last night from Brian letting me know that even though we had a full day planned, we needed to squeeze in one last (for real this time) gather today to collect the sheep that we missed the other times. The commoners had estimated together that there were probably over 100 sheep that we missed. So we got up extra early today and were up on the hill with the dogs before 7am. This might have been my favorite one, because with each gather being on a different hill, each one feels new to me. This one was a repeat of the coldest wettest day, except this morning it was beautiful, so I was more confident in where we were going and could be a little more independent. I got dropped off with Finn who is the oldest dog, and she did a great job of staying with me and listening to me even though I'm not her owner. She is super smart and actually does a lot of work with the sheep on her own without instruction. We finished that in a few hours and managed to retrieve at least 100 sheep, so it was definitely worth the re-do! After a tea break, we did some shearing and wool wrapping, and then had to dock the tails of some young male sheep. (Hill sheep typically keep their tails since they need them due to the extreme elements, but otherwise most sheep usually have their tails docked.) Young male hill sheep are kept down in the lower fields so they can't impregnate the ewes at the wrong time of year, so we did need to dock those tails. It was not my favorite activity. It doesn't smell great, and you end up with a pile of tails that the dogs like to chew on. Later in the afternoon, we headed to a neighbor's house for more shearing there. At their farm, they choose not to wrap and sell the wool, and instead keep it to use it for cattle bedding. So instead of the usual wrapping and packing, we threw it in a giant pile outside. It started raining right after we got set up, which is not good for shearing. The oils in the sheep wool makes the floor extremely slippery and it's dangerous and frustrating for the shearers. After they were sheared, the sheep needed to be marked again according to the appropriate farm and then put through a shower to prevent infections.

July 20: There comes a point on most of the gathers where you have to leave the quad bikes behind due to the terrain. So the morning after some of the gathers, Tom and I would drive the ATV up into the hills to find the bike, and each drive one back down the hill (down a safer route). Just being outside and driving around the hills like that is seriously good for the soul. So that's what we did this morning, and then we released some of the sheared sheep from yesterday back onto the hill. Here's a video the Longmynd Commoners created where the sheep are returned back to the hills.

July 21: Hard to believe it's the end of the week. It was a nicer day today. We did have to do some more tail docking, and I was in charge of bracing the sheep against the fence so they didn't squirm too much while they flinched in pain. My hands got pretty bloody (mostly from the damaged horns of a few rams). Moved some more silage bales in the afternoon. I'm getting the hang of it, but the diagram/instructions is so confusing it makes me laugh. I think it's upside down for one thing, but even so, it's so unintuitive!

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 15: Originally I was thinking I would take weekends off, but I am so enjoying working on the farm that I want to prioritize being here and soaking it all in. So today (Saturday) we went and helped some neighbors down the road with some more shearing. A couple of guys brought their shearing trailer into the barn, and we were able to shear under cover which was good since it was raining. I think I've said it before, but there's something special about being in a barn while it's raining outside. It's one of the best atmospheres I can think of. Took a photo today of the lanolin on my hands which never ceases to amaze me! It makes your hands so soft. The only thing is when you're wrapping wool you do often get thorns stuck in you hands, so it's not always that soft. I spend most evenings on shearing days picking thorns out of my hands. Sometimes I go to the grocery store on the way home, and I am almost always covered in sheep wool (see photo). Luckily I don't think folks judge too much around here!😆 In the afternoon, I got to try to improve my silage bale moving skills and got a bit better. Still slow, but at least mostly doing the correct movements now! On the way home I encountered some cows in the road snacking on a hedge, and they didn't seem to want to move. I had to inch closer and closer to them in my car until they finally got the hint and moved out of the way. Then Cathy and I watched the women's Wimbledon final to finish the day. Here's an instagram video I made of the shearing in the morning.

---------------------------------------------------------July 16: In the afternoon, I went back up to the farm to move a few more silage bales. I am getting the hang of it! But unfortunately, it absolutely poured and we got soaked before we even started tonight's evening gather. This was the most complicated gather yet. It involved bringing sheep down off of several different systems of hills and valleys, and we didn't really have enough experienced people and dogs to manage it all. It was SO COLD and wet, and the sheep wouldn't go where we wanted them to...when the system works it works well, but if something goes wrong, the amount of time and physical effort required to fix it is sometimes insurmountable. For example, you might be following a group of sheep going the right direction, but if something startles them (like a dog or someone else emerging from the other direction), they might decide to run into the bracken and become impossible to catch or see. Or they might decide to turn a run up or down a steep slope, and while you *could* try to chase them back, but odds are they will just run farther away from you. And the longer you take to troubleshoot the ones that run off, the more risk there is for the ones already following the path to lose momentum/direction and start to splinter off. It's a tricky business! By the end of the gather, all of our clothes were soaked through including our shoes and socks. We were cold to the bone. To celebrate though, we stopped in one of the farmer's gardens for lamb burgers and sausages. (I had vegan sausages...!) Didn't get home until about 10pm, so it was a pretty long day.

Here's a video I made of today.

--------------------------------------------------------- July 17: A bit sad today, because it was our last gather of the summer. We didn't start until after supper, so it was one of the later ones and when you start that late, it can often be a rush to get them in before dark. We drove to the top of the hill at golden hour and everything was sparkling. For a while, it was one of the most beautiful nights we've had up there. As the sun continued to go down, it did get extremely windy and cold and I actually wished I had my Minnesota winter gear in July...! It did take us quite a long time to gather the sheep tonight, and we didn't get them in until dark. While we were pushing them into the correct field, one of the sheep ran under a small bridge and got stuck in the equivalent of a drain pipe. It was almost like rock paper scissors to figure out who was going in after it...but someone eventually got it out. We rounded the sheep up into a farmer's field and then had to push them through a very small opening in the fence. It meant we had to surround them with the ATVs and dogs for quite about 20 minutes while while several hundred of them made it through the hole. We'd originally planned to have some beer after the gather, but we were all so exhausted that we just went home. It was another long day!

[wool-and-wanderlust]

I have been meaning to catch up on this blog for a while, but the more days that pass, the more like a chore it seems. But I'm realizing how many details I'm forgetting by not writing things down daily, so I'll try to be better at this.

July 12: After some work on the farm in the morning, we had a last-minute gather for a neighbor scheduled for the afternoon. I walked along a bottom fence line while people above me (out of sight) pushed sheep on ahead. The most important thing is not to get too far ahead of anyone else, because if you do, the sheep won't want to come past you and it messes up the whole flow of things. But it's difficult to guess how fast the others are going. I thought I was being conservative with my speed, but when I looked behind me at one point, I could see a group of sheep being pushed up towards me. If they saw me, I was at risk of messing up that flow. So I climbed over the fence and crouched down so the sheep wouldn't be scared to go past me, and thankfully they didn't see me and ran right past. We pushed the sheep down into a valley, and someone else had to drive down and open the gate. We had to wait a while for them to open it, so three of us had the job of holding the group of sheep there at the bottom and prevent them from running back up the hill, which was not an easy task...! Once one sheep starts breaking back up the hill, the rest will follow in a hurry. We/the dogs had to chase them back down a few times. When they finally opened the gate, we turned them and walked them down to a farm at the end of the road. We got them into a pen, and when we were finished, 5 farmers there stood chatting for a while. Between the topics and the thick accents I usually don't have a clue what they're talking about, so I was just entertaining myself by staring at the sheep and looking around. I noticed one of the gates to the field was open, which didn't seem like a very good thing...so I interrupted them to ask if it was meant to be open, and they all leapt into action to close the gate before the sheep noticed it was open. Not to give myself too much credit, but I'm pretty sure we all would have just left if I hadn't noticed it, and the whole afternoon's work might have been for nothing!

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July 13: We had an early morning gather for the neighbors today, and it could not have been a more beautiful morning. The sun was shining and while it started out cool, we had all taken our jackets off by the end. The problem with this weather is when the sun is out, you're baking, but when it's cloudy it's freezing and it could rain at a moment's notice. I wore waterproof trousers for this walk but didn't need them, and instead was roasting. Oh well — better safe than sorry.

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July 14: Did some painting today in the holiday let, and we went down to the other town to check on the sheep we dropped off there last week. We had to make sure the electric fence was still in good shape and that no sheep had escaped, were having health issues, or had died...The sheep were all where they were supposed to be, but sadly one of them had died of maggots. We had to move the dogs into the cab of the truck so we could put the dead sheep in the back, and the dogs didn't smell great but probably weren't as bad as the dead sheep would have been...I also learned how to drive a standard today by driving around in some fields, and later learned to drive the Manitou and move silage bales. The controls are a little complicated and not intuitive, so I tried my best but it didn't go great! I tore a few of the plastic coverings and dropped one...They were very patient with me though. It kind of feels like a video game and I can't help but want to get better at it.

Here's a short Instagram video of the last few gathers.

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 10: The last few days have been cold and wet (50-60F?), but still having a great time, especially when I remembered my waterproof trousers. On Monday, I got to the farm early to help load the sheep to take them to market. Tom and I took about 80 sheep in a trailer pulled by the tractor which took about an hour in both directions. The tractor is newer and has suspension, but the cab was still very bouncy. Almost wished I'd taken motion sickness medicine...! We were one of those vehicles you don't really want to meet when in either direction when driving down a country lane. When we got to the market, there were hundreds of sheep there in small pens that held about 10 sheep each. We guided ours to our assigned pens and then had to sort them by breed and size which involved a lot of opening of gates and chasing down sheep going the wrong way. When we finished that, we went to the auction cafe (think church fellowship hall vibes) which was full of English and Welsh farmers. I was the only woman. Some of them were having tea/coffee, but others were having a full English breakfast. I'm told sometimes at market there's a hairdresser as well so farmers can get their haircut while they wait. :) After having tea, we watched the cattle auction. They sell the animals by British pounds per kilo. I couldn't quite follow the pricing. Those bidding would stand in the very front and to signal their bid would supposedly lift a finger/eyebrow, but I never caught it. It was incredibly subtle. Then we watched some of the prime lambs being sold. They were making about 100 British pounds each, while a lean ewe might be sold for more like 30 or 40. Then we had another cup of tea before making the journey back to the farm in the tractor.

Had lunch when we got back, and then needed to tag some heifers before they were put out to pasture with the bull. We had to name them 3-letter names that begin with R (because they can tell how old the animals are based on the first letter of their name). It was more difficult to come up with them than you might think. We went with Roe, Rox, Rob, Ros, Red, Rae, Red, Rye, and Ria. To tag them, the cows were moved through a chute that doesn't allow them to turn around, and then a contraption braces their head so they can't thrash around while you're trying to tag their ear. But they were standing in a lot of rancid poop water, so every time they did stomp around, we got splashed with that. Tom looked at me and said "you've got shit on your nose." We all did. While all of this was happening, their bull was going crazy in the pen wanting to get at the heifers. We moved them all down to another pasture and left them to it...! By the end of this day, I was drenched.

July 11: First thing when I got to the farm today, Brian, Tom and I took the ATV down to the cow pasture to find a calf that had been born a few dais prior. It needed tagging but we couldn't find it the last few times we went down to look for it. We found it pretty early on this time, but catching it was another story. Brian drove the ATV again while Tom was standing on the passenger side, left hand hanging on to the ATV, right arm outstretched with a hook, trying to catch the calf's leg. I sat in the middle bracing myself between my feet on the floor and my back against the seat and trying not to fall out of the vehicle. Calves can run fast even after a few days, so he was basically flooring it on the ATV doing donuts around the field while Tom tried to catch it. We eventually did, but it took some effort! After all that, it was time for a tea break.

We had beans on toast for lunch, and then headed out in the rain to gather in about 200 more lambs. Biggest thrill of the day was that Brian let me drive the ATV across the fields to gather them. We moved them with the dogs through 3 or 4 different fields to get them back to the barn.

Once back at the barn, the sheep needed to be drenched (given oral medication) for worms. The medication was in a backpack with a long tube with a syringe on the end. One farmer would typically hold the sheep with his legs (harder than it looks to keep them still) and use two fingers to force their mouth open, and use the other hand to administer the medicine. But Tom was kind enough to let me help out, so he held the sheep while I administered the medication. I wasn't the best at it...he kept saying these sheep have never been treated so nicely, but I don't think that was a compliment because the medicine wasn't always going all the way down their throat. I had to redo quite a few of them. It was pouring with rain the whole time. I love rain, and being under a barn while it's raining is the best feeling. When we finished, we moved sheep back down the road to the fields. Beautiful here, even in the rain :)

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 8: Today was my first day off of farming, so I made breakfast for Cathy and Adrian (baking here is fun because American tablespoons/teaspoons are different than UK, and then there's the Fahrenheit to Celsius difference, and normal oven compared to fan oven temperatures to navigate). Then I went on a solo adventure to the grocery store 45 minutes away. I was surprised that I felt a little nervous driving on the bigger roads and being reintroduced to roundabouts. Even after only a week, I'm starting to be more comfortable on the tiny country lanes and feel out of practice with the bigger roads in town. I also stopped somewhere to buy a new raincoat and a cap (I left both of mine at home and regretted it). And the grocery store was...difficult. It was my first time doing a solo grocery store trip here with a full list by myself, and I couldn't find anything and probably walked around the whole shop 10 times.

In the afternoon, Cathy took me to a nearby village fête. The town was largely made of stone houses and stone walls with tiny lanes, and the fête took place on the grounds of the village vicarage. There were maybe 100 people there, an accordion band playing, a few antique cars, a second hand book stall, drinks, cakes, ice cream, and a "guess the weight of the sheep" game. It felt weird to take photos there, so you'll just have to imagine it :)

Made a red curry for dinner, and the red curry paste I bought was apparently much hotter than the kind I buy at home. Had to add about a gallon of yogurt to tame it! We'll just call this a day of learning...

July 9: I didn't have any plans today, but I woke up and felt like going for a long walk. I found one right next to the farm I've been working on, so I was already familiar with a few of the hills. It was nice to feel some familiarity but also explore some new spots. It was about 7 miles in 3 hours, which I think is the longest solo walk I've done. It was a little bit of a mental struggle and I almost turned around about 5 times between a very steep hill at the start, feeling like I wasn't walking fast enough, and then realizing I'd forgotten my phone charger in the car. But it's nice walking here because there are no bears, spiders, mosquitos, or snakes. Just plenty of sheep, horses, cows, birds, and dogs. More to come this summer I'm sure!

For more, here's an Instagram video I made of my walk today.

And one more commemorating my first week here.

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 7: When I got to the farm today, I learned we had missed gathering some sheep the day before (they must have been hiding amidst the trees), so after I left, they had to put off another job in order to go and gather those fields again. We could have sworn we got them all, so I guess it goes to show how good sheep can be at hiding. We had to continue the injections and flea/tick spray, and also needed to tag the lambs' ears. After seeing the calf's ear tagged, I thought there was no way I'd do that. But I surprised myself by trying it when Tom handed me the tagging gun. I pretended I was unfazed but I was silently screaming when I tagged the first few. It feels kind of like you'd imagine — like hole punching cartilage. Some of the lambs didn't care, but others immediately jumped, clearly startled and/or in pain. Sometimes the tagging gun would malfunction, and it would only go half way in, and then you're trying to mess with a disgruntled sheep's bloody ear which I found next to impossible. Once, the tagging gun poked the hole but didn't insert the tag, so the sheep's ear just had a big hole in it that was bleeding a lot. Never been splattered with sheep blood before. There's a first time for everything...!

After lunch, we traveled 45 minutes away to another town where the farmers rent more land. There's not always enough grass on their farm to support all of their sheep, so they need to let them graze in other areas. The sheep in the separate area are contained by an electric fence, which actually requires some training when the sheep are young. They practice on the main farm to get used to the fence so that when they are moved to other areas that have to use electric fences, they know what to do. Similarly, they have to spend a bit of time training the lambs to work with the dogs. When we went to the other town, we had to move some sheep to a different field but it meant they had to tie up the electric fence for the sheep to go under. The sheep were very nervous to go under the fence, so it took quite a long time to move them, even with the dogs. They kept getting close, but if even one panics and breaks away from the flock, the rest of the flock will follow. It's a vicious cycle. It was hot (for the first time this week) today, and with the sun beating down on us all day, I'm ready for a rest.

A peek inside a shepherdess's car boot. Full of...mucky boots. Hiking boots, safety toe boots, and wellies.

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 5: Brian and Tom were busy in the morning, so I made my way to the farm in the afternoon. When I got there, I helped Brian and his wife Alison with some painting at their holiday let. Lots of farmers here have holiday lets to help supplement their income. This farm has two pods for camping, and they are working on fixing up part of one of their houses into a rental. It's a gorgeous house that's been in their family for generations. I like painting in general, but it was fun getting to do that with the family for a few hours because it was nice to have a chance to talk and get to know each other a little more.

July 6: When I got to the farm in the morning, Brian, Tom, and I hopped in the ATV and drove to the cow pasture to find a couple of calves that were born the day before. To catch them, Brian drove the ATV and Tom leaned out of the side with a crook and hooked it around their leg. (I sat in the middle and observed...!) The calf obviously got scared and when it made some distressed noises, all of the mom cows came rushing over to show their support. They stood in a circle around the calf while Tom used a tagging gun to tag their ears. I was watching thinking "I could never do that..." too squeamish. Then we had a tea break and headed back to the barn to work with the sheep. For lunch, Alison cooked scrambled eggs and beans on toast and [vegan] sausages! She asked if I liked beans on toast (not a common meal in the US), and I thought, "I've been training my whole life for this moment." (Thanks, Mom!)

Back at the barn, Tom was giving some injections while Brian and I went to round up some more lambs. We drove around several fields with the dogs to bring them up to the main part of the farm. It's fascinating to watch the dogs work. As the farmers will tell you, sometimes it's super efficient and fast, and other times their instincts take over momentarily and they just start chasing the sheep. For the most part though, they are so helpful and do their job well.

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 4: Today I got to join a gather for another farmer's flock of sheep. They bring the sheep in off the hills so they can sheer them to prevent infections (and they sell the wool, but for next to nothing). Several neighbors joined in to help and we had 4 ATVs and probably 8 or so dogs. A few of us were on foot as well, but they primarily use the ATVs now. Some of the terrain is really rough — the bracken (an invasive species) grows up so high in places that it's up to your waist or higher, and you can't see where you're stepping. The sheep will sometimes hide in this, and if so, the farmers can't bring them down for shearing which leaves them vulnerable. The National Trust is supposed to keep this under control, but when it's allowed to grow wild, it can make the gathering process so difficult and inefficient. Felt like we were in the jungle at times. When sheep go in here, there's pretty much no way to get them out again because you can't see them anymore.

Since the sheep here are born on the hills and have been doing this for hundreds of years, they know the exact part of the hills that are assigned to their farm. So once you get the first few moving in one direction, most of the rest will follow relatively easily if you have enough people and dogs pushing the line down towards the farm. There are no fences...It's amazing.

After a gather, the main farmer will invite everyone who helped to his house for tea or a meal. This farmer had prepared bacon and sausage baps for everyone. (Being a vegetarian, I had butter and jam, but I was tempted to break my own rules for this...) I sat with them and listened to the seven farmers talk about some of the highs and lows of farming life and tell funny stories about some of the locals. I probably only understood about 50% of what they were talking about because of the thick accents and unfamiliar topics, but again, it felt like something special to be there for. This kind of lifestyle is so unique and I still can't believe they are allowing me to be part of it for a while.

After the excitement of the gather, the farmers went their separate ways and I went back to Brian and Tom's farm to help re-mark the sheep that were sheared on Monday. They are marked with a certain color of paint depending on which farm they belong to in case they get lost, and their ears are clipped in a certain pattern as well. Then, I got to help direct the sheep down the road and through the village, and back up into the hills. Then we sat in the kitchen and had more tea, sharing photos of family and talking about life. Past midnight now, and I need to stop accepting every cup of tea I'm offered because I am not getting any sleep. Renaming this blog #SleeplessinShropshire.

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 3: I was so nervous when I woke up today. It felt like the first day of school, which I guess for me it kind of was. They asked me to arrive at 9:30, and when I did, they had already been working for a while. They had to get up extra early to bring in some sheep because it was raining and you can't sheer when the wool is damp. The farmer, Brian, had me come inside and help them bring out the tea and coffee for the shearers, and we stood and had drinks in the barn while everyone had a break. They suggested I change into a jacket that I wouldn't mind ruining because when you get up close and personal with sheep, your skin and clothes get covered in lanolin. It's the strangest feeling on your skin — almost like a mixture between grease and wax. They taught me how to wrap the wool and pack it into the large transport bags, and that's what I did for most of the day. There were three shearers (the farmer's son Tom, and Ben and James), one farmer (Dick) helping to keep moving the sheep into the right pens, and a few of us (Brian and his wife, Alison, and me) wrapping wool. The shearing is a seriously physical job...they work hard. They played loud classic rock to keep the spirits up. They stopped for a tea break mid-morning, did a few more hours of work, had a rest and food at lunchtime (one man, Dave, took a nap in the barn on some wool), worked a few more hours, and had another tea break in the afternoon before finishing up for the day. We had a feast of sandwiches, pizza, pork pies, and cakes for lunch. It was amazing! The local farmers help each other out with shearing, trading labor, and it seems to be a nice social event as well since farming can be a pretty isolating job at times.

I'd heard that sheep farmers can't make much money off of wool anymore, but it's really incredibly bad. For example, with this breed of sheep the farmers only get about $0.45 per bundle, and professional sheep shearers can charge at least $1.00 to shear one sheep. Synthetics have taken over the world in such a short amount of time. We don't know how to appreciate what nature hands right to us and it's heartbreaking. They only really bother shearing now because they have to do it to keep the flock healthy. Some farmers don't even bother packing/selling the wool; they might just put it in a pile and use it for cattle bedding.

Towards the end of the day, Brian took me around his property in the ATV to see his cow pastures. The countryside is just so unbelievably beautiful. I'm sure if you live here you get used to it, but it's hard to imagine not waking up and being in awe of it all every day. I wish all farm animals could live as good of lives as these. Tomorrow there will be a gather to bring in more sheep off of the common land, and I've been invited to help with that. I'm told it will be cold! Drove home down the tiny country lanes, and felt a huge amount of relief that I've landed at a farm with some of the kindest people I've met who are open to teaching me things.

[wool-and-wanderlust]

July 2: Cathy treated us to pancakes this morning, and then I drove Katy to the train station and walked around the town for a while. When I got back, Cathy and I took the dogs for a long walk which was so nice. The countryside here is a little wilder than what I'm used to in Sussex, and my legs are feeling it! After that, Adrian took me to practice reversing my car down some very narrow country lanes so I can be prepared to maneuver past other vehicles. The last 4 days of driving practice have definitely helped, because it wasn't too bad…but I’m sure I’ll have some adventures in that department over the next six weeks.

Time for bed now...tomorrow's my first day on the farm. I'm exhausted and I haven't even started!

[wool-and-wanderlust]

Day 9: Katy and I left Sussex around 10 in the morning for the 4 hour drive to Shropshire, where I'll be working on the sheep farms. There was a delay on the motorway because of an accident so we accepted Google's alternate route that saved us 15 minutes, which turned out to be an adventure on its own. We're still not sure where we were, but the roads were so tiny and difficult to drive on! Stopped for lunch and I had a vegetarian English breakfast and one of the best lattes I've ever had. I think I just desperately needed caffeine. Katy had something that neither of us could pronounce, and neither could the restaurant staff. The drive took about an hour longer than expected, but we had a great time listening to each other's music...her music is much cooler than mine :)

When we arrived in Shropshire, we got settled at my godparents' house and had supper. This is the view I'll get to see every morning.

Afterwards, Adrian took us up to see the views from the Longmynd. On the way, we stopped to see one of the farms where I'll be working. He thought the family wasn't home, but they were and they waved us inside. We talked over a cup of tea in their kitchen, and I felt like I had stepped back a little in the past to a time when it was more normal for people to just drop in on each other and say hello. The world needs more of that. They were so kind and now I'm even more excited to work with them and learn about their farm. Some photos from my new commute:

We drove up a beautiful but scary road to the top of the Long Mynd, and I simply can't believe people get to live here. It's one of those places where the beauty is hard to describe because it's not just pretty to look at — you can feel how special it is in your bones.

I wish we had a word for the feeling I had when we were walking around up there. Maybe there is one and I just don't know it yet. It was a kind of peace, and relief, and excitement all at once. This trip has been a long time coming, and it's finally here, and I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be. I am so lucky.

[wool-and-wanderlust]

Day 7&8: Spent the last few days staying with my aunt, uncle, and cousin (and their dog and cat). I got to spend some really great time with them walking the dog, shopping, running errands, cooking, and playing games. I got a lot more driving practice in…Listening to to 80s music helped calm me down while I was driving. I think it helped me remember to breathe! I got to try a parking ramp (SO SMALL…). We went on a tour of charity shops which was really fun. Something even better about thrifting in a different country (and with your aunt!) Ended our time playing Jenga and a kids game called Mousie Mousie, which for some reason our family finds hilarious and we play every time we’re together. Katy won! Said goodbye to my Sussex family on Saturday morning, except for Katy who is supervising my drive to Shropshire :) TOMORROW!!

[wool-and-wanderlust]

Day 6: Wednesday was my last day staying with my grandpa. We spent the morning having coffee at some nearby gardens, and chatted about life. There were so many different kinds of flowers, but I think my favorite ones were the tiny pink and white ones that can grow out of the cracks between rocks. The water lilies were beautiful too! I spent the morning a little anxious waiting for my rental car pickup. My aunt came with me to get the car and we drove the long way back to her house via lots of different kinds of roads so I could practice. I’m so glad the car is small and automatic, because dealing with the small roads, driving on the other side, and roundabouts is plenty to be thinking about! Mini roundabouts, multi-lane roundabouts, roundabouts with traffic lights, small country lanes, motorways…tried it all. Only hit the curb once 😬 I did okay but I hope this gets easier! White knuckles and forgot to breathe much. My aunt is an absolute saint.