Smoko View of Shearing

One of our young is overseas at the moment and Craig took the camera to work to snap some "daily life" for him. So I thought that I would share Craig's album of "this is where I am. what I am doing" with you too.

Above is the board where the shearers work. The bare boards are coated in lanolin naturally from the sheep. Looking down the board, there are nine shearers set up along and you can see many have slings as back aids to help take some of the strain of the day. Each shearer has a motor mounted above where he works; long tubes extend from them upon the end of which hand pieces are mounted. 

Down the left hand side are the sheep pens with swinging doors where they get the sheep from and on the right is the drop doors to the shute that they go through into the counting out pen. Each shearer has a shelf and nail where all sorts of vital things are kept to hand like a sweat towel, a bucket for the cutters, a holder of combs and other hand piece tools and sewing needle and thread in case of cut sheep.

Their boots are also hung because on the board each shearer wears moccasins made from wool that grip better on the greasy boards and allow better bending and ankle and leg flexibility, I guess they also absorb sweat...there is always a lot of sweat. Very hard to tell in the top photo, but they are all wearing moccasins. 

This is a shot of the sheep in their counting out pens. Shearers get paid per sheep so counting is very important. 

We've had inches and inches of rain this month but a beautiful day this day and a lovely view from their pen.

It's lunchtime and this motley crew of workers are also waiting for more to do.

Inside the other workers are lined up for masses of veggies.

(Oh look, you can see a pair of moccies in this shot and a typical pair of cut dungarees)

After smoko it's back to the office...

Glossary of Terms

The Board - the floor along the shed where the sheep are shorn

Hand piece - the main part of the shearing piece weighs 1.5kg/3lb $750-$1000

Cutters - three toothed blades that attach to the hand piece, several used in a day

Combs - many toothed piece that assists the wool lift and feed towards the cutters.

Counting out pen - each shearers pen of shorn sheep to tally with the count

Moccasins - (Moccies) soft soleless shoes made from felted wool

Dungarees - (Dungas) refers to specially cut shearers trousers made from sturdy denim, cut high in the back and split at the ankle.

Smoko - usually the short break like morning tea but also used for lunchtime too.

(ps still waiting to hear from Renae who won the cook book)

Day Rituals

I find it helpful to keep a some days especially for ritual jobs.

Monday is popular being the start of the week and still fresh in my mind!

A weekly ritual from now until Christmas is to "feed the cake" so on a Monday I unwrap it and trickle some scotch over the top and wrap it back up.

The other standard Monday ritual is my once a week high dose Vitamin D capsule.

Daily medication is much easier to remember but I'm glad I can just take one high dose capsule once a week. So Mondays it is!

Do you have Day Rituals?

Like a once a week clean of your wooden boards with salt and lemon juice...

Another day I set aside is Sunday for dog brushing otherwise the motivation to do this job is low. It is one job that I can't be slack about. 

In the old days, there used to be a day set aside for washing and a day for ironing.

There was a day for bathing and a day for praying.

A day for beating rugs and a day for shopping.

Do you still hold some days special?

Farewell My Friend

Gentle giant,

Arthur.

Eleven human years (99 dog yrs)

A massive wolfhound of 90kg of devoted doggedness with a face only a mother could love.

Passed peacefully into an assisted death.

Loved by his family.

Awed by many.

His story here

Give my love to Indy-Dog

xxx

Tractors, Sheep Dogs and Finery

All hand crafted in Tasmania by Geoff Murray from sterling silver.

Prices start from $25.

Geoff is also a gem facetor and has studs with sterling silver posts of amethyst, citrine and peridot for just $30!

Today will be a big day as all the townies will come out.

The pearl has sold but the earrings and the pendant above it are part of his Tarkine Collection. These are also available from the Makers Market design centre in Burnie (naturally at retail prices).

Geoff's work is also available at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery Shop but if you want a wholesale bargain, today is the last day at AGFEST.

Occasionally I pop out for a toilet break and ooh aah over the vintage machinery like this beautifully restored Massey Ferguson tractor.

or equally I ooh ahh over the working dogs in action.

They are amazing!

I would go to AGFEST just for the sheepdog trials!

I never get tired of watching them.

I once had a dog like this and his focus and attention was manic.

All day long he just lived for me to tell him what to do.

He lived for instruction and if I couldn't give him something to do, he found me something to give him to do!

What a dog! Miss him terribly.

Well hope to see you today. I would love to meet anyone visiting.

Phenomenons

Phenomenon #1.

Poor Rhonda really took a hit last week on her blog Down To Earth 

We all love her blog, well nearly  all of us.

Some people (2 in this instance) feel a bit "Holier than thou" and think judgement and censorship is a valid form of comment on an other's blog.

I once saw a post about something on a blog I followed that really disappointed me and went against my ethics BUT it was that person's lifestyle and their choice. I didn't comment. I can't help feeling differently about them and I can't bring myself to read any of their posts at the moment, but I didn't comment. 

If a post asks the question at the end and invites you to sock it to them, good or bad, then fine, go for it.

But I digress...

Phenomenon #1 is....

Despite receiving 466, 279 awesome and supportive comments,

it's the 2 negative ones that will cut most humans to the bone!

It's the same in the workplace, you might get 8 positive statements from your boss about your work but it's the 1 criticism that you will remember that night when you are brushing your teeth.

I'm no psychology major but I do think this is interesting and think a lot about what this means about the human psyche and those who know how to manipulate this energy.
So lets all try to think before we speak and remember the power of words.

Phenomenon #2

Why do dogs always want to be with you when you go to the toilet?

I know it's not just mine.

Other people's dogs do it too!

Is it a "protect the pack leader while they are vulnerable" thing???

Can anyone explain this phenomenon?

I know there are plenty more out there,

so please feel free to share your phenomenon in the comments and you can even number them.



Arthur

This is Arthur.

He belongs to Craig and his sister Leeann. Leeann loves him so much and he lives with her but while she has been on holiday at the Gold Coast in QLD, he has been at our place.

He looks like a lovely puppy....admittedly with a face only a mother could love.....

WRONG!

He is a very old man at about 9 human years and for his size that converts to about 90 dog years. Dogs his size have a much shorter life span than other breeds. The average for his breed is 6-8yrs.

You can definitely see the history and ancient heritage in this face. His breeds hark back hundreds of years (just like my standard poodles do). He is part wolfhound and possibly part mastiff. He was a rescue dog and Craig tells that as a pup of 6 weeks he was already 10kg (20lb)

Here is a shot with my hand as well. Compare the palm of my hand with Arthur's nose. Awesome huh!

This gentle giant will let me open his mouth and shove tablets back there with good grace and temperament.

He weighs about 100kg (200lbs) and no, he doesn't eat much, because he doesn't DO much.

As an older dog, he has arthritis and needs LOW to the ground, stable, soft bedding. His teeth are worn quite a bit but still need some bones for daily plaque management. Chicken frames and lamb/beef bones are great. He also needs good quality, nutritionally complete kibble that is free of artificial colours (gives him skin allergies) and salts and caramels (bad for old dog kidneys).

There is a lot vets can do to ease the pain of arthritis and provide quality of life with drugs like cartrophen. I am a firm believer in the benefits of fish oil and green lipped mussel extract for dogs too.

He has had a lovely time with the poodles but at the end of the day he regards them as the babies they are at a third of his age.

He is a lovely dog with a gorgeous nature and particularly protective of Craig and Leeann's mother, and I couldn't help sharing him with you. All our dogs have been rescued dogs, and they are just the best. We know Arthur had a sister also for adoption way back then and I know Craig always wishes he could have adopted her too. We hope she has had a loving home and long life like Arthur has and send her our love wherever she is.