When I reminisce about my childhood one of the strongest memories I have is of shearing time. There were dusty days spent behind mobs of sheep and in the evenings Dad would skilfully slaughter ration sheep for the shearers. A visit to the basic but busy shearer’s kitchen meant the strong smell of mutton cooking and perhaps a treat from the shearer’s cook if we were lucky. It was our busiest time of the year and everyone had a job to do.
Things have changed a bit since the early 80s and now I have children of my own who are learning the ropes and forming their own shearing memories.
Nowadays shearers set up satellite televisions in their rooms and thankfully there are quite a few young females in the industry. Hard core dance music pumps out from the woolshed to break the monotony and shearer’s cooks don’t serve as much mutton as they did in the past, if any.
Some things never change. Sheep still have to be walked steadily from their paddock to the woolshed and back again.
A simple lunch is still eaten on the move when a job needs to be done.
Shearing time is as busy for the sheep dog team as it is for everyone else.
Wool is still woolly and loading it onto the truck is the final step in a full year of work and planning.
Whenever I have written about shearing in the past I am always amazed at how many people have some connection from their childhood with shearing, sheep or woolsheds.
Do you have any woolly memories I wonder?
Sarah @ Say! Little Hen
I don’t have any woolly memories, living in North QLD my childhood memories of farms is lots and lots of cane, and beef cattle. You know how much I do love wool though, in the form of knitting yarn, and I loved having our Dorper sheep for the short time that they were here.
I love these annual posts of your Jane, your images are just gorgeous and I love having a long stare at them.
Sarah x
Jane S
Thank you Sarah. You are very talented with all things wool! x
Carla
We only had cattle on our properties at Tilpa and Wagga, no sheep. Felt like I missed out! Though mustering and cattle yard work is a fond memory!
Jane S
Cattle make lovely memories too Carla! Thank you for calling in.
Cheryl
No wooly memories for me, I was a wanna be farm girl who never really got the opportunity. Nan and Pop lived in the bush on the South Coast, Pop raised beef cattle and logged tree’s, I would try and get out there as often as mum and dad would drive me (we lived in town 45mins away) but I have THE fondest memories of pop’s vegetable garden, big fields of potatoes (purely for their own consumption) , pop would drive the tractor, turning the soil over to expose the spuds, and us little kids would walk along behind, grouping them up into small piles, while the bigger kids and adults walked along behind with big hessian sacks picking them up. Such precious memories, I miss it all so much, pop has been gone a long time now, the family farm was sold a long time ago.
Jane S
Lovely memories Cheryl,thank you for sharing them with me. So many emotions are tied up in family farms, it doesn’t matter what sort of a farm it is. I appreciate you calling in.
Anne
One of the best things about farming is that the cycle of growing and harvesting (in whatever form) changes a little each year but it’s still basically the same as when we were children.
No woolly memories for me but I only have to hear the rythmical sounds of machinery in a milking parlour to be transported back to my childhood days helping my father milk the cows.
Jane S
Thank you Anne. Farming is certainly a cycle isn’t it? I always have romantic thoughts about milking cows although I am sure the reality is less romantic!
Lenore Rhodes
Hi Jane, thank you for sharing your fabulous photos. My husband also loved them. Brings back memories of our property at Roto during shearing, actually made me feel a little home sick for the central west. Wonderful memories. Cheers Lenore x
Jane S
Thank you Lenore. I actually grew up on a property near Ivanhoe…not too far from Roto in the big scheme of things. I am pleased I brought back some memories for you. I appreciate you taking the time to comment x
Judy Cinerari
My childhood memories are tied up with cattle as it was mainly dairy farming on the northern outskirts of Melbourne where I grew up. But my memories of sheep and wool are all about spinning and knitting the fleece. The smell and the softness of my hands after handling a fleece, and the gorgeous variations of colour. Love your blog.
Jane S
Thank you Judy. I have absolutely no knowledge or experience in spinning or knitting and I am in awe of people who can make things with wool! Wool is beautiful to handle, I agree.
Kate
No woolly memories for me I’m sad to report. I did read a book set in a shearing shed last year (can’t remember the name) and the feel of it has really stuck with me though. Your photos are so beautiful and evocative, thank you for sharing this time with us. xx
Jane S
Thank you Kate, you are so clever the wool…the knitted variety I mean! You are a kind blogging friend x
Chookyblue
I find lots of older people have fond memories from childhood……….sadly that connection is being lost in more recent years………..
Jane S
I agree Chooky. Nice to hear from you and thank you for taking the time to find me in my new space.
Jess64
Shearing was the calendar time on our farm too. We only had a little high country farm, so dad and neighbours all sheared for each other. Mum hated the kitchen and loved the shearing shed. So cooking quickly got delegated to me. I was doing the morning and afternoon teas in the wood stove by the time I was 8. But by 10 I was complaining to much and then I got the work of running sheep from paddock to yards and back again.
I think mum started buying biscuits then, much to dad’s disgust.
Jane S
Wood stove cooking at the age of 8 is impressive Jess. I enjoy the cooking but also enjoy escaping to the paddock when I can. How wonderful that your mum loved the shearing shed, great memories! Thank you.