Sheep Camp!

Today G and R had their last day of sheep camp. What is sheep camp, you ask? It's run by a local farm (also where we get our free-range chickens and pork) for kids ages 6-12; they spend their days learning all about---you guessed it--sheep. G and R were each assigned their own lambs and all week they worked with them; teaching them to walk on a harness, tipping them to get them in position for shearing, trimming hooves, helping with injections, taking their temperatures (that was fun), and giving them baths. They also played games like Hide-and-Go-Sheep (hard to play because a lamb all alone will start to bleat loudly, giving you away!) and ran them through an obstacle course and a maze.

R enjoyed working with his lamb the most, but G's favorite part was working with the wool. The kids carded, washed, and spun the wool into yarn, and then dyed it with Kool-Aid of all things! They also got to try their hands at crocheting and knitting as well as weaving on popsicle stick looms.

We also sponsor a ewe on the farm; her wool was sheared in the spring and sent away to be cleaned and spun into yarn for me. It should be delivered by the end of next month; I have no idea how much yarn you get off an entire sheep, but I'm hoping I can at least eke out a sweater!