Fine Merino wool

Most of you who follow my blog know that I come from a farming backgroud of which I am very proud.  My parents farmed wheat and sheep in the central wheatbelt district of Western Australia and the tradition continues today with my brother and nephew.

In recent years the weather has played havoc with wheat yields as the rainfall has either fallen at the wrong time (summer) with very little falling in winter, the planting and growing season for grain in that part of the world.  Despite the difficulties and challenges my brother continues to face, he is constantly looking for better ways to farm.

One of the areas in which he has excelled is with the quality of the sheep he is breeding.  There have been hard years of work to improve the the skin of the sheep from wrinkled (typical of the Merino breed) to smooth.  This is helpful on a number of levels.  They are much easier to shear and the chance of a sheep becoming fly blown is dramatically decreased.  With pressure from animal warefare groups about the practice of mulsing sheep (which is done to help prevent sheep from being fly blown, a hideous condition), my brother has endeavoured with the breeding programme to eradicate the need for this with the smooth skinned sheep now only needing to be crutched.   Another benefit of the breeding programme has been the increase in fertility with a ewe more likely giving birth to twins and sometimes triplets.  

So where does the part about the fine Merino wool come into all this.  A week or so ago my brother received a letter advising him that wool from his sheep sold was chosen by Qantas to contribute to the making of their new flight attendant uniforms.  Isn't that the most AWESOME news?!!  The wool they chose was of a very high quality and deemed perfect for the job.  The quality of wool is measured in microns, the link has an explanation far better than I can give. For my brother who has worked so very hard to improve his sheep on so many levels including wool quality, this is HUGE  and he deserves the recognition of people in the wool industry.  GO BIG BROTHER!!

Here is a peek at the new Qantas uniform which I believe will make it's entrance early next year.

All photos Google images.

Here is a small sample of the type of wool that will be used for the Qantas uniforms.

CONGRATULATIONS big brother on your achievement.  You ROCK cob!!

Anne  xx

Spotted Harrier rescue

Last week my brother rescued a juvenile Spotted Harrier from a paddock while shifting sheep.  The bird was unable to maintain flight and he assumed it was either underfed or a bit injured as the right wing didn't hang quite right when folded.

After a few days of feeding it seemed to have gained strength when approached and flapped around the cage fairly easily.

Photos courtesy of big brother.

I saw this bird myself (beautiful) and took a couple of photos but my brother's photos were of much better quality.

 The bird has since been released back into the wild.  Now I'd call that a success story.  Go big brother!!  

Anne  xx

Snippets from Western Australia

Hi everyone.  I wanted to show you a few more photos I took during my recent visit to my parents farm in Western Australia.  

This photo was taken late one afternoon.  I love the way the sun is giving the trunk of this tree a lovely golden glow against the blue and grey of the sky and clouds.

Looking  north/west late afternoon.

Early morning shadow.

Half an hour later and you can see how much brighter the light is.

As I was walking around the farm sheds on the same morning, I noticed these lines on the ground.  Not the tyre tread marks.

When I looked closer, I realised they were ant trails all going to and from their home in the centre of the circular patch of hard ground.

Communing with my brother's cows.  

This is Elmo a young Dexter bull who is very friendly.  My brother has handled him since he was a calf so he is very tame.  So tame in fact that he licked my feet and knees through the fence and even tried to lick my face.

You may notice that there is not a lot feed in the paddocks.  Western Australia has suffered a number of extremely dry years with 2010 being no exception.  These cows are extremely content and well looked after with access to other food sources not shown in these photos.

Elmo is very partial to a good scratch on the top of his head and behind his ears.

This stocky calf is Fifi who was born in July last year.

My brother was milking one of the Dexter cows in this picture I painted a few years ago.

 

See that gorgeous ginger kitten in my painting, his name is Teddy and this is what he looks like now.  A handsome, happy, affectionate, purring farm cat.

 Before I go, I have two more photos for you that were taken on an early morning walk.  A country road on the boundary of my parents farm.  The first photo looks north and the second south.

Thank you for taking the time to look at these photos of a place that is very close to my heart.

Anne xx