I woke up at 6.15am to the sound of the generator going for the men to start shearing in the big shed. Ailsa had said I was to lie in and get up when I'd had enough sleep, but as they are 3 hours behind GMT (so 9.15am at home) I felt fine, so got up and showered, and then had breakfast with them all when they came in for a break.
I went out to 'help' with the shearing - just did whatever I could to help out. Did a bit of fleece sorting on the big table, pulling off any stained fleece, before rolling up and putting into wool sack. The wool is fantastic, so fine, and I chose a few fleeces to take to South Georgia with me to spin and look forward to working with such lovely fleece. Two shearers clipped 300 sheep - they dragged these huge sheep in, clipped them, and then pushed tiny ones out down the chute! They have such huge fleeces on them.
We then had to drive the sheep along the road back to their field, probably over a mile, with one Landrover in front and one behind.
You can't imagine just how quiet it is here. I love the isolation, the smell of peat smoke from the kitchen range, the wind generator whizzing round, the sound of the sheep. It is lovely to be back in the Falkland Island again after seven years, with old friends.
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