This morning I was lucky enough to be invited down to Lake Station , a nearby farm, to watch the shearing gang at work. Although I'm a born and bred Kiwi, I've never actually sat in on a shearing session before.Yes, I've been to a shearing demo at A and P shows, but this was the real thing. I was blown away by the skill and hard work of these guys - my back ached watching them! Each man had a different style , a different set of movements for their sheep. they made it look like a dance, but when a sheep struggled to get away I suddenly realised just how heavy and cumbersome they are and just what hard work this is. And the team sorting the fleeces were amazing to watch , too - tossing the armfuls of fleece as they discard any dirty bits , keeping the floor clear around the shearer's feet. The whole operation is such a wonderful display of teamwork. I'm sure that I sat with my mouth open, gawping for the whole two hours, but I did do some sketching as well! I tried to capture the different poses of each shearer in a series of little pencil drawings, as well as lots of photos. This has definitely inspired me!
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