Life Down Wattle Lane v2 - Shearing 2022

Normally I love shearing, its exciting, it means summer is coming, and once they are shorn the sheep are unrecognizable. It's fun playing Who am I? Also the sheep seem to love getting rid of the heavy winter coat.

Finding a shearer can be sometimes a challenge when you have a small flock. But there is the odd person who specializes in lifestyle blocks. 

The guy that I called in this time, was recommended on Facebook and was local so I made contact and arranged for the job to be done Monday morning. 

I was excited and had the sheep in the yards early. 

When the shearer turned up he was an older guy and had issues getting out of the car and complained of stiffness and a sore back. I didn't think much of this at the time, as I complain about the same thing getting out of Gary's car. But it should have probably rung alarm bells in hindsight.

I showed him to the sheep and he said they were tidy and looked healthy and should be no problems. So we got started.

Drench, trim the feet, and shear.

I suggested to do Whiskers first who is the big ram and has horns that go on forever. Basically for everyone's safety to get him done and out of the way. Whiskers is a very calm go with the flow kinda ram. Very chilled for the first 5 minutes or thereabouts.

Now I need to point out that Arapawa's are a smaller breed of sheep, and can be a little wirly at times. Arapawa's have character.

From the very start the shearer never seemed to have control of Whiskers. Whiskers always had the upper hand. This isn't my first rodeo and I have seen other shearer's handle Whiskers with no issues. The shearer was swearing and cussing and shoving Whiskers down. It was a complete shambles. I should have stopped it then and there. 

The guys back was giving him pain, and if he couldn't cope he should have said so. 

Then he attacked the girls, some who were very well behaved and some not. But I have never had a shearer swear so much and just struggle handling them. I am sure the neighbors could hear the commotion.

During the job I started questioning him, how many sheep do you do in a week, do you do this full time, any more jobs today... just to get a better idea of his experience. 

Sadly there was a few nicks and as soon as he had left I applied iodine and gave the flock some love... sheep pellets.

It was about this time I then noticed the shearer had managed  to cut and tear the lower eyelid on one of the ewes. I don't  know how I missed that.

I think it was Karen, who does have an attitude but I respect her for that. Karen has Kaths hair of Kath & Kim, and always stamps her feet at me... just because she can.

After examining and contemplating what to do, I called out the vet. There was about 1cm of skin hanging off, and I started to worry about the eye, infection and the future of the eye.  Karen is with lamb, and I didn't want anything to affect her baby.

The vet examined her and gave her some pain relief, cut off the skin tear, examined the eye, cleaned the wound etc. It was by some miracle that he didn't get the actual eye. It should heal and will have a scar, but it is something that I will keep an eye on going forward. I am very thankful for the vet.

While the vet was attending to Karen I was holding her and she basically just sat her full weight down on my leg. It was as if she knew we were helping her, so she settled down and relaxed too much, giving me a dead leg. I could barely stand up myself when all was done.

I haven't received the bill yet... but it's going to be expensive, at a guess it will cost me 3 gates.

I'm a bit angry at myself, as I should have stopped him when he wasn't coping. I am disappointed in the shearer.

Most of all, I miss my old shearer from Kaipara, Shanelle from Shanelles lifestyle shearing... she was always superb! Shanelle treated the sheep with love and respect. She would talk to the Mama's and rub their belly.

I need to find the same kinda person down here.

But the flock is looking superb!!

Life Down Wattle Lane v2 - Kaka Beak

A stunning plant.... I only planted this little shrub last year, and what a stunning show of colour this spring. 

You have to be careful with slugs when the plant is little... but so far relatively easy to grow.

Gary thinks the flowers look like chilli's.

Life Down Wattle Lane v2 - Larch Style Farm Gates

My latest creation that I have just finished... each gate is 1630mm wide and 1200mm high.

Made with Larch timber... the darker timber is easy on the eye 😃 also I gave it a quick sand so its smooth to the touch, and as the timber is rather dry it's in perfect condition to lather in oil 😋 

Down Wattle Lane... we make gates sexy!! 🤣

As this is a family post... there will be no photos of their behinds!

Life Down Wattle Lane v2 - A New Gate

I have had a request for a different style gate... so I thought I would give it a go. It wasn't too different from my standard farm gate styles, and I think it came together really well.

I'm a little cautious about new things as I find my Parky brain gets confused very easily... and  I have made a few extra gates because of it.  But I managed to assemble this gate with no mistakes during the entire process. Well Done Me!

Life Down Wattle Lane v2 - Eosinophilic Esophagitis & Me

One of my ailments is Chronic Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EOE), which developed not long after my chemotherapy treatment back in 2009. Although my EOE,  wasn't properly diagnosed until about 2018 when I ended up in hospital to clear a blockage in my throat... which involved a 4 hour surgery and a follow up Gastrocopy a few weeks later.

Eosinophilic esophagitis is an allergic condition that happens in the esophagus. The esophagus becomes inflamed and does not contract properly. It can get narrowed and develop rings or abscesses.  The symptoms happen when your immune system makes white blood cells in reaction to an allergen. The white blood cells are called eosinophils.

The gastrocopy confirmed my diagnosis with the white rings visible. 

So what does it mean for me... well when I eat sometimes food gets stuck in my esophagus. I take small bites, chew well, eat and drink together, and when I swallow all seems well. But it will be on the 3rd or 4th bite/swallow that then I realize that the food is not passing through my esophagus and is backing up. Sometimes I can feel it passing slowly so I then know I need to be careful. Other times it is a complete surprise... and it will be typically a bitch when I am or was enjoying the meal. When the food backs up your body wants to instinctively regurgitate it... which you have little time to run to the toilet. Sometimes the regurgitation works other times it doesn't. When it doesn't you just have to remember not to panic... as you can still breathe.  My techniques to help remedy the situation include beating my chest, jumping up and down, trying to force it down with liquid, or fizzy, which often backfires literally. When you have a blockage in the esophagus you can try to push it through with liquid but it does feel like you are drowning. But when it doesn't work your body starts to regurgitate up the liquid that is trying to unsuccessfully pass. Funnily enough... if the blockage is well stuck, even if you are not drinking every 15 or so minutes you will vomit up your saliva that can't pass. When regurgitating I try to put as much force into it to try to bring up the food as well. If I am still experiencing a blockage then I try again. Trying to force more liquid through the esophagus. If after a few attempts and no success then its off to the emergency department. If it does eventually clear. then I take a few big drinks and then continue on with my dinner.

There is medication, but that hasn't helped me. The best thing that I have found is to reduce the amount of bread in my diet.

After taking ozemperole for about 3 years with no success,  and the feeling that my insides were rotting, and trying an inhaler technique but again with no success, it wasn't until I then tried food elimination that there was a break from my troubles. I was suggested to not eat dairy for a month. Well I love dairy so I thought I would just start with reducing my bread intake first. I already know I have allergies to hayfever and in particular rye grasses... so perhaps there is a link to wheat. Well all has gone well for the last 3 or so months.

Until today. I got caught on chicken today. 

Just when you start to relax and feel like you finally have it under control... it comes back with a vengeance.

After about 6 or so attempts at clearing my esophagus it eventually passed... but I am left with a very sore throat.

Now when I am having an issue with a blockage the stress caused sets of my Parkinson's. The shaking steps up a few gears. The whole experience is very draining and exhausting.

What really bugs me is when people suggest smaller bites, chew more, eat slowly... I do and I know how to eat! I have once even had a blockage from eating fried rice!

EOE... you can live with it, adapt to it, but it still gives me a bloody good fright every time it happens.