March

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March was jam packed...but pretty darn good :-).

Under The Burled Arch

The 2026 Iknitarod is in the books.  The trail was pretty clear the whole way and about halfway to Nome I picked up a couple of Iknitariders who saw all the purple yarns and couldn't resist joining the fun.

"I wonder what this is for?"

"This purple matches my sweater!"

"And this one matches my whole outfit!"

There was a bit of clean up, but nothing the team couldn't handle and from there it was smooth sailing.

The front or "right" side.

The back, which is actually the side you are looking at while you are working.  This is technically the "wrong" side, but I always kind of like the back sides better.

As always, I learned a lot as I punched along.  I also learned a lot after I finished.  There are some colors here that are too close to each other, but I didn't notice how too close until I took these pictures.  I'm not sure if I'll take anything out and change things around or just leave it as is as a reminder to watch for that and a couple other nitpicky things that I wouldn't do again.

All in all it was very fun and I'm looking forward to my next project.  And it was nice to hang out with one of my all time favorite sheep for a bit :-).

Speaking Of Cats

I just added a cute picture of Bullseye to yesterday's post.  I'd saved it...and then promptly forgot about it.

On a crazy note, a video of Possum and Archie with a little bit of Bea went viral on Instagram last week.  Not millions of views viral (thank goodness), but as of this morning, 230,000 views.  

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Leave it to Possum, the Murphy of the cat world here.

I think part of why this happened was a short poem by Carl Sandburg that begins "The fog comes on little cat feet."  I wasn't aware of that, so am happy I got something of value from the 318 (!) comments that the post received...most of which I don't believe were bots.  

A Deep Dive

Does anyone remember Henrietta?  She came here with Heidi back in 2006, before the blog even started.  She was a grand old sheep.  A friendly Jacob who enjoyed a good back scratch and didn't need to be bribed with cookies.  She was a farm favorite.

I'd saved a bag of her roving from 2013 and in that bag was a big ball of yarn.  I'm not sure why I stopped spinning it, but I'd saved it for years thinking I really should finish it and a couple of weeks ago, when I was looking for my next Thursday spinning project, I pulled it down out of the loft.

I reviewed the thickness and twist from back in the day and did my best to try to match it.  I was shocked at how much VM (vegetable matter) was in it, but decided maybe I didn't know any better back then?  I thought I did, but there it was.  I didn't care.  It was Henri and I could pick it out.

I weighed the spun ball (a little over 6 ounces) and weighed out the same amount of roving.  I didn't get it spot on, matching yardage between old and new, but the yarn is nice and I now have almost 700 yards of one of my favorite sheep of all time.  

Now what to do with it... :-)

Here's something fun and interesting about wool and handspun yarn.  The ball of old yarn had been sitting for years.  The twist in that yarn was "dead".  The twist in the newly spun yarn was fresh.  When you ply the two together you get ramen noodles as the dead twist is taken for a ride by the fresh twist.

Not to worry.  When you wash (or steam) the yarn to "set the twist", the hot water wakes the dead twist up so it matches the fresh twist and you end up with a balanced skein of yarn.  That's the same skein, before and after. 

As I started working on this post I looked back to see if there were any good Henrietta posts to include and found this one.  Turns out she was just a mess in general and all that VM...was just Henrietta.  Apparently I'd tossed the previous fleece because it was just. too. messy.  I remembered that about Boudreaux, but had forgotten about Henri.  

That's okay.  Now that I remember the story, those bits make me kind of happy.  It's easily identified as her and that beats a "Walmart" fleece any day :-).

* * * * *

Updated to add this cute picture of Bullseye while I was spinning this yarn last week.  I'd saved the picture...and then forgot about it.  Sigh...

It Never Gets Old

I wouldn't want a whole flock of 'em, but it cracks me up every time he jumps the fence...every day.  

 

Revisiting A Snowy Trail

This picture was definitely not taken this week, but I wanted to save/share an interesting picture of Coonie and her grazing snow trail.  It made a fun puzzle, too :-).

Renny's Hennys

I ended up making a third baby chick and that used up all but a very small amount of dark green yarn and an even smaller amount of light green.  This was a fun project and I'd probably keep making chicks if I hadn't run out of Renny's yarn, but it's time to move on to a new fun project.

Off To A Rainy Start

The Iknitarod started yesterday.  I don't get as excited about the race as I did back in the "good old days", but 20 knew how much I still miss Short Round and he suggested that her punch needle project would be a great way to revisit and enjoy "the good old days" of both sheep and race.  

I already had the yarn dyed and the pattern drawn out.  All that was left to do was the "fun part"...even though I think the yarn and pattern drawing parts are fun, too.  It was a perfect plan.

I gathered everything up, set it out on the bench for an afternoon start once my chores were done and midway through cleaning stalls...

...a pop up deluge.

It had been steamy hot all morning and I was actually enjoyed hanging out in the barn with the horses, cooling off...and completely forgot about my "sled" sitting out...not enjoying hanging out.  

I can't blame my delayed start on equipment failure.  It was completely musher error.  Everything is now dried out and repacked and we are ready to mush on.

February

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Lots of fun things to remember last month.  It was cold, but I'd do it again. 

Sadly, But With Fingers Crossed

The extreme cold last month really hit my beloved rosemary plant hard.  It probably may have killed it.  I've lost track of how many years it's been living in the greenhouse, but at least seven per a "Facebook Memory" posted back in November of 2025.

 

I found one tiny green branch the other day.  It's in a random spot and there is really no other sign of regrowth anywhere else.  While I hope it may regrow from the base, I think it's definitely facing a challenge and I've been stewing on this green sprig for several days.

Part of me wonders if that's the branch it needs to feed itself to see if it can get back on it's feet.  Another part of me wonders if this is the plant's way of giving me a gift.  That it worked really hard to shelter this one tiny twig so I could try to save it.

I decided to cut it off and try to root it.  I also took three other tips that had a little hint of green, albeit dried out, but not gray like the rest of the plant, and added them to the pot.  

This window has started several injured plants over the years, so I have some hope.  The little rosemary is in good company with a favorite geranium and a tiny hoya that were both tiny broken branches not long ago.

I'll keep you posted.

Portrait Of A Sheep

 Just a nice picture of Murphy...and a new puzzle :-).

Portrait Of A Dog

Just a nice picture of Bea...and a new puzzle :-).

The Jumping Olympics

We looked it up and Pinto is going to be five this year (!).  That seems crazy.  He doesn't appear to be slowing down at all.  I got a lucky catch of him jumping over the high side of the barn lot fence yesterday.  

This just cracks me up.

Olympic Medal

I ended up really happy with my Winter Olympic spinning.  I didn't get yards and yards of yarn spun, but I did spin all but two days (the Superbowl and an Illinois basketball game ;-), I challenged myself to spin different types of yarn and I liked them all.

I spun two different weights of Murphy, a worsted and a DK.  I spun each a little differently, but that's a post for another day.

The creamy white is Peter, a special sheep from Tring Farm.  The prep on this was a bit rustic, but she wanted a bulky yarn so I tried to embrace the rustic and I got better at spinning bulky and I think it turned out pretty nice.

I spun the Jacob (Tabitha) on the right a soft bulky weight as well and was happy with how that turned out, too.  It could have used another pass or two through the carder to smooth out the fiber, but that would have smoothed out the colors.  I loved the streaks and speckles of gray mixed with white.  I think I'll do some more of that one. 

The light gray skein is Mini Moose and it's just a soft and squishy as he is.  The dark gray is Jared, always a lovely spin.  The white in the front is the Romney I posted a week or so ago.  I will spin some more of that as well.

I really enjoyed making pretty yarn during the games and I've left my wheel up at the house and have continued on.  I'm spinning some Muffin right now.  It's nice to get back to doing the things that remind me why I got started on this whole sheep journey in the first place.

Friends And Family

A local shepherd needed a place for her small flock of beloved sheep...so three of them came here.  The other two went to another friend.  

"Hi!  My name is Krista, but I've heard there's already a Krista here, so I might get a nickname.  I haven't met her yet, but I've been told she is my grandma.  I wonder if she'll recognize me when we get to meet?"

"My name is Coonie and I'm actually really friendly.  My ears are back because the photo lady told me to Stay Back so she could take my picture.  Me and Krista were trying to get a good sniff of her to see if she maybe had some of the cookies she gave us last night in her pocket.  She says my face markings look just like Mini Moose, but that I actually AM mini.  I have no idea what that means."

"My name is Holly and I've been told my cousins Biscuit and Muffin live here.  I don't remember a Biscuit, but I think I remember a little scrawny black lamb who hung out in the front of the barn with her mom and drank a bottle.  I'm not sure how friendly I am, but I was the first one to try the cookies last night and I really liked them."

I think Holly will come around, but Krista and Coonie are already pocket sheep.  That's how they ended up here.  You know there's nothing I like more than a friendly old ewe.  

Everyone settled in quickly yesterday and this morning I was standing out with them and noticed Krista's pink nose and it reminded me of Maisie's cute pink nose...and then I really looked at her right ear.  

I noticed it looked a bit off yesterday, but she's missing her ear tag so just assumed it had torn out funny.  On closer inspection I found the whole bottom had been sliced off along the edge, not from a torn tag.  I'm guessing an old freak shearing accident.

Why is this even worth mentioning?

I think it's maybe a little wink from an old friend.

Fire Horses?

A few mornings ago I walked up to the barn, saw Gato resting on the hillside in front of the barn, didn't think anything about it.  When I came back out of the barn a few minutes later I saw him flat out, legs flailing.  Instant panic mode.

I raced over thinking about what to do.  Was he colicking?  Having a seisure?  He's 29.  Anything could happen at this point...and then he stopped.  Okay, now what?  I still need to figure out what is happening and how to handle it.

I watched him for a few seconds and saw one ear flicking back and forth...sort of like he was asleep and dreaming.  I've never seen a horse run in their sleep, so I'm still thinking seizure...and then his lips moved a bit...like he was...dreaming...

"Gato!"

(Rolls up on his chest) "What?"

"Oh, good grief."

(Goes back to sleep)

A few days later I saw him sleeping not far from where he and Frankie are in this picture...and he did it again.  I have never seen or heard of a horse running in their sleep and I asked a few friends and they are in agreement, no, even though it makes sense that they could.  

Maybe Gato's just faster than anyone else's horses...in his sleep ;-).

Lancelot was standing watch.  Sometimes I'll catch all three asleep on a sunny afternoon, but usually one horse stays up.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Thursdays Are For Spinning

A friend picked up some leftover fleeces from the North American wool show last fall and I claimed a Romney fleece.  I think that breed is exceptionally pretty (and cute) and by looks felt like the wool would be a Sara fleece (aka Not Merino), but wanted to find out for sure.  I washed my fleece a few weeks ago and yesterday pulled out a big handful to process and spin.

There was no wind and the sun was shining so even with the snow on the ground, it was too pretty to sit inside.  I carried my wheel outside and thought this picture was kind of funny with my muddy barn boots contrasting with the pretty wheel.  I ended up using them to hold my waiting to be spun bundles :-).

Pretty (and cute :-).

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As the afternoon cooled, I moved back inside for the last bundle.

I wound my bobbin off into a center pull ball and wrapped it around a plying ball.  This is my favorite way to ply samples.  Putting the two ends together around the plying ball keeps the two strands tidy and well behaved.

Ready for a soak.

And after.

I've called some of my Cotswold/Texel crosses "fake Romneys" and now I can say for sure that I was pretty correct.  Not too soft, but not too coarse.  A nice bit of halo and a good bounce.  Definitely a yarn I'll enjoy using ;-).