Easter Blessings
Ram lambs before shearing
Home Ranch
photo by Meghan Lally
We had an incredible Easter weekend. Friday, April 6th was our granddaughter Siobhan’s third birthday. This coincided with Easter weekend, and our grandson Seamus’s baptism. Many relatives showed up to celebrate these occasions. We had planned a branding for Easter Saturday, with the extra help for the ground crew in mind. On Good Friday, we got word that a shearing crew was in the country, so we quickly adjusted our plans. We have our replacement ram lambs here at the Home Ranch, and the opportunity to get them sheared before the main shearing later this month was a godsend.
Shearer making the long blow
Home Ranch
photo by Pat O'Toole
Seamus studying wool quality
photo by Meghan Lally
We will soon be shearing our main ewe bunches (watch this blog for details!) but it is an added chore to haul the bucks in and out as we shear. In past years, a number of small shearing crews would travel the country and shear the farm flocks and the odds and ends, like our bucks. These crews are almost non-existent now, as the sheep industry has shrunk, and the number of skilled shearers has too. We are the last big sheep outfit in our county, and most of our neighbors with small farm flocks depend on our crew when we shear the main bunch. They haul them in in stock trailers and pickup trucks. The shearing crew, as a courtesy, shear these odd bunches of sheep.
Motley Crew
photo by Pat O'Toole
The appearance of a crew before the main season allowed our neighbors to get their farm flocks sheared, and allowed us to get the bucks out of the way early. We were truly grateful to see them. The shearers, like our sheepherders, come in on H2A visas, since few domestic shearers join the crews. The shearing contractors report increasing difficulties in obtaining visas. This crew was keeping busy while awaiting their fellows for the main season.
We sheared Saturday morning, pressing our family and friends into service for corral help. Saturday afternoon and evening, we had a major birthday party. We still planned to brand calves Sunday morning since the Easter church service wasn’t until noon, but an unexpected snowfall postponed that plan. It probably meant that we had a chance to really clean up before church!
Baptism of Seamus Brian Lally
St. Paul's, Dixon, Wyoming
photo by Pat O'Toole
All in all, we had a blessed and productive Easter weekend, and for that, we thank the Lord.
Birthday Girl with her cousins
photo by Pat O'Toole
Easter Lamb
Red Desert, Sweetwater County, Wyoming
photo by Pat O'Toole
