Hey! We got Fleece

I'll start from the short beginning. Mid May I was back in the US for a short visit. Went to an amazing fibre show. Small, but quality. Bought some felted soap. Wanted to make some while home. Put the call or email out to the local Fibre Arts Guild for anyone with wool in the area to email me. Got an email. Well several. Lovely people. But Lisa, whom I had met years ago under very different circumstances emailed me and lives close to Mom and Dad. She's a shearer, breeder, farmer... What a woman. Anyway, was up to her farm several times and got to talking about Irish fleece. Galway to be specific. I told her I'd look into it for her. Shouldn't be tough. HA!!! Three months later, still no fleece. I've tried everything to get a Galway fleece. As I spread the word that I was looking for some, the interest grew. "I'd like one too, if you find some" OK.
Well 2 days before we left for our holiday in Galway, I found a wool merchant. In Wicklow no less. Not far from Dublin. "I'll be down as soon as I get back. Oh, do you have Galway fleece?" Yes he does. Great! Finally! Amazing!!
Cheryl and I piled into the car and drove over the mountains as it was closer to go that way from her temporary residence. Unsure of where it was, we followed the map for a while, then went by instinct. On the way I discovered I forgot the camera. Cheryl said she had one in her bag. We made it. No cameras!! Photos are off her phone. Pretty good huh??

These are the boys loading fleece into a baler. Yes, the hay type. Most of the wool goes into insulation and anti-squeak mats for under wooden floors. I have never seen so much wool in my life. They seemed a bit surprised that I wanted them for spinning. Getting yarn the hard way. This is Christy pulling out the best Galway fleeces he could find.
The smell of one fleece in the tub is one thing, but thousands and thousands of fleeces is well..... Strong!! I guess you get used to it.

I finally have Galway fleece. 14 Kilos or 30.8 lbs of fleece for about $50.00 One for Lisa, one for Juliet, and two for me (1 Galway, 1 Superfine blend) Superfine is washed and dried and the Galway for Lisa is half on the drying racks and half in the tub. Can't send fleece back to US in it's current state. Doesn't pass Agriculture rules.

Oh yeah. Also came home with 2 Jacob fleeces from Sara
They're the black and white ones.