W/E Tierra Vegetable Wool Festival

Edelweiss

Long before Madonna's W.E.,  WE (Walt and Esther James) established the second oldest flock of  Shetland Sheep on the US west coast. And this afternoon we braved the rain and cold to attend the Sheep Shearing and Wool Festival at the Tierra Vegetable Farm Stand. Unfortunately, most of the veggies had been sold by the time we got there, but the spinners were busy spinning and plying, the Shetland Sheepdogs were baying for attention in their make-shift kennel, and the Shetland Sheep were eyeing us with just a bit of nervousness. Such beautiful sheep, in a variety of colors from white (Edelweiss the ram) to chocolate brown. Amos and Andy, two neutered rams, had driven down from Sacramento to join the shearing.  Unbeknownst to us, this must have been an Occasion, because a busload of elders from a local Senior Complex arrived in their Sunday best and we surrendered all the benches and plastic chairs to them. Not sure that pearls are traditionally worn to a sheep shearing, but the ladies were charming. It was also interesting to learn that there is a need for small flock sheep shearers! As the current practitioners retire, there are few to take their place, but the number of small sheep flocks is growing. Might be something to consider....