Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep, And Enough Wool To Save The Planet Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
What do you do when you love your farm . . . but it doesn’t love you? After fifteen years of farming, Catherine Friend is tired. After all, while shepherding is one of the oldest professions, it’s not getting any easier. The number of sheep in America has fallen by 90 percent in the last ninety years. But just as Catherine thinks it’s time to hang up her shepherd’s crook, she discovers that sheep might be too valuable to give up. What ensues is a funny, thoughtful romp through the history of our woolly friends, why small farms are important, and how each one of us—and the planet—would benefit from being very sheepish, indeed.
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books (April 26, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0306818442
ISBN-13: 978-0306818448
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #125,435 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #38 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional U.S. > Midwest #82 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Environmentalists & Naturalists #100 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Mammals
I guess I am a sucker for any book that makes me laugh out loud. I laughed many times while reading Sheepish, and, really, who can ask for more than that simple pleasure? Catherine Friend is a creative and talented writer with the rare ability to spin life's ordinary details into extraordinary stories. She weaves interesting details about Sheep and the history of Sheep farming into her chronicle of life on a Minnesota farm, while also telling the compelling love story that is her life. I found her devotion to her partner, her farm and her animals truly moving. Also, the quotes at the beginning of each chapter were fabulous!
After having laughed til I cried with "Hit By A Farm", Catherine Friend's first memoir, I couldn't wait for this sequel. I was not disappointed.From the first chapter on of "Sheepish", Catherine's dry sense of humor when telling of the adventures that can be experienced while running a sheep farm, is hilarious, entertaining, and not to be missed. Read the beginning story, and you will be laughing out loud and sharing with anyone sitting close to you. All is not peaches and cream, or better put, soft and fuzzy when dealing with these four footed farm creatures and the work necessary to keep a farm operational. While providing us with a delightful look at the humorous events that can go on out in the country, Catherine does not shy away from the realities of keeping a farm solvent and a relationship going through the 'middle' of things. As she has said, beginnings are fun and exciting, but when the novelty wears off, and times get tough, that is when observing and appreciating what is around you to help you survive, will make or break who you are and where you will be headed in the future. Ms. Friend uses her knack as a witty observer of life, to show us the funny, challenging, and redemptive aspect of being a modern day writer and shepherd in southern Minnesota. A book worth reading more than once.
This is a delightful book about many sheep, two women, and the life they have made on a farm. The author is a reluctant farmer, but has a committed relationship to her partner and to her writing career. She isn't convinced that the farm life is for her, but she grows to love and know the sheep they raise, and describes the animals, the mistakes they make, and the choices they make with much love. She starts getting interested in the wool provided by the sheep and starts knitting, which she had avoided for years. After finishing this book, I wanted to go visit a farm and scratch some sheep. She made me fall in love with the idea of living near sheep. I have been completely engrossed with pictures of sheep (and learning more about the different breeds)ever since. And the love she has for her partner shines through the entire book! I recommend this book to others. I was totally charmed!
I really didn't know what to expect when I bought this book. My husband and I had come to the realization that we missed the boat on farming by waiting until our retirement years. SHEEPISH gave me the "farm-fix" I needed. I read a couple of chapters each night, trying to make it last as long as possible. I laughed out loud, especially at the part where Catherine turns into the finger shaking, flipping-off vigilante. I was reminded of Lewis Grizzard's ELVIS IS DEAD AND I DON'T FEEL SO GOOD MYSELF. I loved all the facts about sheep, I loved the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and I loved the obvious care and devotion between Melissa and Catherine. I have tried without success to knit, but Catherine has inspired me to try again. I'm also thinking of buying wool underware. I'm a convert!
A lovely memoir well told with humor. As a woman who is on the brink of purchasing a farmette in the near future (at the age of 58) this is a good splash in the face with some cold water, for which I am grateful. anecdotes are very informative and are funny with a dash of pathos. will now read the authors other books. and am now anxiously awaiting the next installment of the ongoing memoir. thanks to the author for a great read.
This book gives a whole new meaning to the word "sheepish."No, seriously. The author starts off by proposing that, instead of sheepish meaning embarrassed and awkward, we think of it to mean "Of sheep," much like "Spanish" means "Of or relating to Spain."The interesting thing is that, at the beginning of this memoir, she's really not very much "of sheep" at all. Oh, sure, she raises sheep. She admits that the lambs are adorable and appealing and that there are worse lifestyles, but she just doesn't understand the appeal of things connected to sheep. Things like knitting, or spinning. We knitters have all been asked at least once, "Why knit it if you can buy it at Walmart for just a few dollars?"As the book progresses, though, she decides that even if she doesn't have the passion to help in the field when things get too intense, she should at least be interested in what their sheep can DO. Or, rather, what they can grow. She takes up spinning. She takes knitting classes. She learns how to weave and discovers the wonders of hand-dyed yarn.Like any good memoir, the book progresses through some major life changes and growth experiences. (Although it's refreshing to read a memoir that does not center around a relationship crisis or catastrophe.) The journey here is more about making the most of the life she's already in, not about giving it up to try another one.As a knitter/spinner/wool-fan myself, I loved watching the story unfold. The author tells an entertaining story, and each step on the journey comes with touching anecdotes and heart-warming moments blended with a seesaw of self-confidence varying with self-doubt, but always with humor, and always with love and support given to and from her partner Melissa.By the end? I don't want to give it away, of course, but I'll just hint that she's not going to be mocking people for knitting their own socks any longer.
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