We lost contact with our favorite shearer, Ian McCrae (shearers are the closest to gypsies in these parts, but he reconnected and showed up at 7 a.m. He’s excellent and did a fantastic job; he’s returning in December to check on their hooves.

Ian has moved from Vermont and is just a few minutes away. The rents in Vermont are now so high the rent he was paying in Vermont was $300 more than the mortgage on our farm. He moved to New York State.

He’s cut back on his shearing but will keep doing our sheep, which makes us happy. I shipped him three Tim O’Brien books from Amazon; he’s a reader.

The sheep have plenty of time to grow wool back for the winter (people will ask), and they are all in good shape. Liam, above, put up a struggle, but Ian got him in hand. Shearing is one of the rituals that remind us of the joys of having a farm with animals.