Three exhilarating, exhausting, educational days with Pip Courtney and her film crew and we have captured the main elements of a Landline segment on White Gum Wool, ten years on from the first one. Lots of laughter, a few tears and so much fun being part of making a film!
Gadgets? Yes! Never say no to a new techie toy, and the film crew had lots—a tiny body cam they affixed to anything that moved, even trying it on Pearl’s collar; a state-of-the art drone to follow me and Pearl mustering sheep; a long-barrelled macro lens with amazing depth of field to point at crimps in the wool and Patterson’s Curse blossoms.
We filmed (and re-filmed, and changed the angle and filmed again) pretty much anything you can imagine on the farm, in the wool shed and in the yarn store. We talked about almost everything I’m trying to do, and why. We delved into past history, and we touched on topics that made Pip and me both cry.
I even pulled out the iron and ironing board, which have not seen the light of day for at least four years, to press a selection of tops to wear in the main interview, and discovered I’d nearly forgotten how to iron a shirt. My mother would be appalled. The cameraman got to choose which he thought would work best, though Pip had a say in which one had the best wool shed vibe (not the floral linen jacket).
While it was in many ways hard work, there were moments of real joy for me. I took the tiny body cam with me when I was moving the flock across a creek. They so did not want to go through the water, giving me time for lots of cameo shots of Freddie, Zac, Grumpy, Vicky, Albert, Horatio et al., as they waited their turn to hop from tussock to tussock across the stream. Because it was just me and Pearl, with no strangers to alter the dynamics, I could capture the essence of the connection I have with my sheep.
Filming the dogs doing their twice-daily mad sprint with the Polaris was a complete hoot! Cameraman Jordan was hanging out the side of the Polaris (seat belt firmly attached) capturing Fly’s great form as she raced us down the straightaway from my new house, going faster than the Polaris in top gear.
The drone shots are amazing— watching Pearl flanking and the flow of moving sheep from an eagle’s eye view. I can’t wait to see the rest of the drone footage.
We set up a little grazing experiment, using the macro lens to photograph a few specific plants before the flock grazed through, then checking to see what they ate afterward. One Patterson’s Curse plant disappeared altogether—blossoms and all!
We had 2 inches of snow the day before filming began, on top of several weeks of rain. So keeping sheep dry for crutching was a challenge.
Getting the stars to align with dry sheep, a shearer, a roustabout and Pip was well nigh impossible, but somehow I did it, so we have lots of footage of Dave Achesen and Karen Fish crutching with the stand-up shearing platform (my new techie toy). The tiny body cam got affixed to several people and places, including the machine. The sheep played their parts beautifully. (The top photo is Pip with Roger and Alva, Dave’s smithfield working dogs, who spent all day curled up in the two upholstered chairs—except when being petted!)
Nan, Pip, Dave and Karen in front of the stand-up shearing platform.
We visited the hilltop tree reserve where my sheep cemetery is located—deep holes dug by a big footings augur among the still young trees. Eventually, I’ll plant trees over each sheep grave, and the whole reserve will be opened up as a shady spot for sheep to rest in the mid-day summer sun.
Pip’s insightful questions in the main interview let me make some new connections about my motivations for starting and continuing down this outlier path of ethical woolgrowing. Talking to her in the interview also gave me an even deeper appreciation of the many people who have helped me find my way: stockman Davey Carnes and nutrition guru Fred Provenza, Karen Fish who doesn’t always agree with my methods but always makes me laugh, my yarn offsider Lyn Fish and others here in the Midlands, and the international community of knitters and spinners who love the way I farm.
Pip is hoping to come back to Tas in January to do an interview with Davey, and the segment will air sometime in 2023. You can watch the original WGW Landline segment from 2013 here.
Waterbaby Fly playing in the shallow waterhole—having way too much fun!