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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Give A Dog Her Due

When Iris was a young dog she was a great babysitter for our bottle lambs. I'd picked her up off the side of the highway on my way home from work one night, so we don't know her background, but I do know as soon as she saw our sheep she knew she was supposed to do something with them. She didn't know what, but she knew there was a connection.

Maybe she took such good care of PPPP and Ewen because she was just happy to be with sheep. By the time Lila and Blossom came around, she was pretty much over that ;-).  Maisie?  Forget it!  Instead of putting Iris IN the pen with the lambs so they weren't stressed if I had to run to the grocery, I started locking her OUT so I wasn't stressed about coming back to find a pinched nose or a black eye.

I'm not sure what is different about Baaxter.  She's always been very tolerant of him and his lambie shenanigans.  Might be because he's a boy?  Maybe easier to train?  Less cheeky (Cheeky?  Who Maisie? ;-).  Possibly because he's marked like a Border Collie?  I'm not sure, but I frequently look down or around and there they are.  You are a good dog, Iris.

Yesterday's skirting nap.




"Can you even see me behind all this wool?"


Baaxter has a big pen in front of the Wool House porch, so when he's not up there sleeping he can watch me from below.


And I can watch the sheep come and go and wonder what on earth is Maisie up to now?  That old tree has been a staple in the front field.  The cats used to be able to climb it, Aria liked to scratch on it, it's been the home to various bugs that have fed various birds and, I don't know, I've always liked it.  It's gotten so frail though I think it's probably time to push it down.  With our bare hands.  It's been a good tree.  Thank you.


I am SOO happy to report all the 2014 fleeces have been skirted and sorted, ready to move onto their next jobs - spindle roving, quilt batting, wreaths, felted sheep, wool balls...and the porch has returned to it's normal, non-messy, ain't gonna break your leg trying to get to the rocking chairs state.  

The two boards at the end are to try to keep slow up Baaxter from jumping off the end because it's obviously much more fun to jump off than to use the steps.  And the pen out front?  When he wants out of it he jumps up onto the porch...



*   *   *  State of the Raw Wool Stash Report  *   *   *

  • I found one more Jacob fleece that I think someone would be interested in spinning (Annabelly).
  • Blossom's huge fleece was the only non-Cotswold fleece that didn't sell at the festival.  I'm wondering if it was because is was such a daunting mound of wool and if I'd divided it into two smaller offerings...  It does have a little VM in it, but nothing that won't shake out and it's a fabulously sproingy white fleece.
  • Cotswold!  Get your Cotswold!  I was hoping after Buddy, Woolliam and Rebecca Boone's cousins got such a nice shout out on the Yarn Harlot's blog a few weeks ago that maybe between that and how pretty Rebecca Boone's yarn turned out that some of the Cotswold stash might find new homes.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to dye it bright, bizarre (albeit beautiful ;-) colors (Hyperventilating! Breathe, breathe, breathe... ;-).  

17 comments:

Michelle said...

That is a sweet duo.

MarmePurl said...

Always such a pleasure to virtually hang out on the wool house porch with you. Iris and Baaxter make such good company too.

Shirley said...

I bet Iris likes Baaxter because he's black like her. I wonder, the day you found her, had there been a bad thunderstorm? My first border was a "finder" that no one claimed, and I often thought that she had run away during a thunderstorm.

Susan said...

Well, I think there is something very Zen about Baaxter. And dogs pick up on the Zen thing. I am so tempted by that Blossom fleece - giant-ness and all. But how can I justify it with all my own fleeci?

Far Side of Fifty said...

Iris probably sees him as a tall Border Collie because of his coloring:) Just when you think you have animals figured out they do something to surprise you! :)

Jo said...

Yep, I think it's because Baaxter has Collie markings! What a sweetie Iris is. She is repaying you for rescuing her all the time ago. Have a great day. Jo

Lisa said...

Do you sell your fleeces by the pound or just the whole fleece? I'd love to spin some of Rebecca Boone & Blossom!

Deb W said...

You too? I thought it was just me that had the impression there was an awful lot of neon-colored yarn at this year's KSFF.

Iris is SUCH a good dog, and I love her to bits. I think rescue dogs often are. It's like they are grateful......not grateful enough to lambsit all the lambs apparently, but a sweet wonderful, good dog nonetheless.

Deb W said...

You too? I thought it was just me that had the impression there was an awful lot of neon-colored yarn at this year's KSFF.

Iris is SUCH a good dog, and I love her to bits. I think rescue dogs often are. It's like they are grateful......not grateful enough to lambsit all the lambs apparently, but a sweet wonderful, good dog nonetheless.

Michelle said...

You've been a skirting fool! Just did two of mine today, a rooed one and a sheared one. Oh, that they ALL rooed; I hate those dastardly second cuts!

Spinners End Farm said...

Striking photo of the rocking chairs on the porch! How many fleeces total do you have left? Our alpaca shearer comes today and the sheep shearer the end of the week so we will be in your same situation! :). Not a bad one, just sometimes overwhelming!

Andee said...

What a good dog! And a good sheep for that matter. Dying fleece eeeek. That scares me. I'm a natural color girl myself. My sister dyes anything and everything she touches!

thecrazysheeplady said...

Iris IS very afraid of thunder, so I hope that's not what happened. We left notices at the local humane societies in the area and no one ever claimed her. Their loss for sure.

I can easily sell Cotswold by the pound. The fleeces are lock-y and loose and very much the same from front to back, so a good grab into the bag is easy to do.

Blossom's raw fleece should probably just be split down the center so there are too "same" sides to share. However, if I wash it and have it processed into roving, then I'd be happy to sell smaller amounts. Drop me an email if you are interested :-).

I have about 15 bags of wool left (guessing). Most are set aside for wreaths and quilt batting, but there are a few "rescue" fleeces left and two in particular - a medium brown and a curly white - are really too nice to get felted.

Overwhelming is the perfect word :-D.

thecrazysheeplady said...

I prefer only natural colors too, but there are some really talented dyers out there making beautiful combinations for sure.

sophy0075 said...

Who knows? Maybe Baaxter will decide to be a sheepdog when he grows up! (I saw a youtube of such a sheep; don't recall where)

Susan said...

Got to be some recognition with the colour thing going on. Just so special. RAW FLEECE? BEGONE SATAN!!! :) I must get into the 5 I have looking at me, VERY accusingly I might add.

Tombstone Livestock said...

If you get bored I have some fleeces that need to be skirted

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