Lots of events happening around town this weekend, but since Drew needed quiet time to complete his take-home midterm, I decided to take the girls to see sheep shearing, a May Day tradition?, at
Missouri Town 1855.
We stopped to pet a bull – Z cried;
and in a very un-1855 manner, this guy demonstrated shearing with electric shears and then pulled out somewhat dull traditional shears for the last snip. Incidentally, that wool was bagged for someone to take home.
The fleece-less sheep, who will be lambing in about a month.
We stopped to twist our very own length (about 6 feet) of rope. The girls took turns at the crank, which twists three pairs of the twine in one direction, and after it's twisted a certain amount, a man holding the other end, starts to twist in the opposite direction.
Along the way, we stopped to see women washing and drying wool; the blacksmith's shop, where someone was busy fashioning a nail; some other women dyeing and spinning wool; and this horse drawn buggy, where the girls asked if they might see the horse's shoe. Afterward, there was an unpleasant (for me) uphill climb to see some newly-renovated newly-opened house, which is laid out in the traditional 1855 way with the parlor on the one end, a receiving foyer in the middle and the kitchen on the other.
We rounded out our visit with a trip to the bathroom; a go at some stilts; and a demonstration of sheepdogs herding. (Z sat happily in the stroller holding my purse the entire time.)
p.s. At home, over lunch, I spotted our first hummingbird at the feeder. I was actually two days "late" (than
what the Missouri Dept of Conversation said) in getting our feeder out, but I'm sure our quick response time is due to the fact that at least our one neighbor also has a feeder available.
