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Spreading out fleece off one sheep
Fleece rolled up
Echindna "hiding"
Echidna up close
August 11, 2011 Thursday

Today Elder and Sister Innes came to see us. They are in charge of flats and cars and came down with stuff for us. They brought us a lawn mower. They were amazed at how large the yard is. “It didn’t look that big online!” We laughed. They also brought us a TV set, but it didn’t work when we hooked it up to the antenna cable inside the flat. So they took it back. Pretty much, we think they just wanted to see our flat and have a day off of the regular rat-race that they run. They brought rolls and cookies. I’d made chicken noodle soup and apple cake so we enjoyed lunch together. She was not impressed with the location of the toilet—in the farthest possible location from the bedrooms. They also brought us some much needed DVDs and pamphlets, a Bible we’d asked for, a rake, pruning shears and a few other things. After lunch we took them over to see the chapel and then they headed back to Perth via the “Mountain Road.”
Later this afternoon we were tracting out on a country road when we came to a place that sort of looked like there might be a house amid the farm buildings. We didn’t really see a house, but there was some wash on a line. Anyway, Orson went into one of the sheds and stayed a while. Then he came out, told me to bring the camera and we went in to watch some sheep shearing. One guy with a good sized pair of clippers would grab a sheep, sort of sit it down on its haunches and proceed to shear the whole sheep in one large piece of wool. The other fellow would then pick it up and flop it on what looked like a piece of chain link fence. Little bits of fluff and grass, etc., would fall onto the floor. Then he’d go over and sweep the floor where the shearing had taken place and then come back, spread out the wool, pull off the filthy pieces and parts that ran down the legs. He’d pull off any wool that had blood on it (some sheep were nicked during the process although they never bleated). He’d check a piece of wool to make sure it was strong, then roll up the whole pelt(?) and put it in the box that weighed and packed the wool into bales. He showed us what made the difference between good quality wool and mediocre wool. High quality wool grows in kinky strands and is all the same color. Bad food or a ewe who lost a lamb will produce weak fibers or discoloration in the wool fibers. He seemed happy to have someone to explain all to. He was bald on top but had a beard at least 6 inches long, and he stood at least 6’5” tall. The guy doing the shearing was a little short fellow who looked to be about 55 or so. We asked him how many he could shear in a day and he said 130-140 but that his “racing days” were over.
After we left that place, we drove on up the road a ways, and I spotted something moving near a tree about 8 feet off the side of the road. It turned out to be an echidna. It looks sort of like a porcupine but smaller. The quills were really pretty, kind of a yellow gold in color. When it sensed that we were around, it curled up into a ball and pretended to be “dead.” It didn’t move for the longest time. We tossed a few sticks near it and wiggled a branch lying near it, but it just laid there. We finally gave up and left. That was a real surprise to see it.