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 :-).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady)

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 ;-).  

Tuesdays Are For Knitting

Some signs of spring!  Melting snow, a baby chick and an open door :-).

Pinot being outside is not a sign of spring because he's been going out all winter, but his muddy feet could be a clue :-).

I couldn't resist making my Emotional Support Chicken her own baby chick.  These are fun little projects and a great way to use up small amounts of leftover yarn.  Here's a link to the patterns.

The Spinning Olympics

There used to be a fun knitting challenge during the Winter Olympics, but I haven't heard anything about it lately, so maybe it's become obsolete...like so many things I like.  That's okay, I am pretty good at playing quietly by myself.

I am really trying to get focused back to more fiber art work so I decided my Olympic challenge this time would be spinning every night.  Actually, I'm trying to be more mindful of several things I love to do, but let get buried by daily home and farm chores...and too much phone time...so I created a weekly schedule that I'm trying to follow.

Mondays are for prep work (for what I want to play with during the week, not hoarding toilet paper ;-), Tuesdays are for knitting, Wednesdays are for painting, Thursdays are for spinning and Fridays are for learning.  I am trying to spend one hour each day doing something I love. 

I did reasonably well last week and I'm excited to continue on this week.  The picture at the top is from the last two Thursdays.  The little dark skein is actually from a few weeks ago, but I threw it in the mix too because it's Muuuuffin :-).  The medium dark is some vintage Jared from 2016, just before he moved to Kentucky and the light gray is Mini Moose.  Three of my all time favorite sheep :-).

Are you watching the Olympics?  Are you doing any knitting...or spinning?

In A Surprising Turn Of Events

 The "Murphy Murder Cam" has exonerated our favorite villain fearless leader! 

Murphy has long been the pokey piece of hay in my sock regarding Every Gate on our farm.  Over the years he has caused So Much Trouble letting himself and everyone else in the flock into Any Area he thinks there might be food stored.   

He knows how to manipulate several different types of latches, to the point I have added bailing twine around gates to double secure them at times.  If you want to walk in and out of a gate carrying hay, for example, you have to twist around while balancing a stack of hay to securely latch a gate for the 15 seconds it will take you to drop the flakes and return for another arm full.

You might get lucky leaving a gate unlatched while you are standing there taking pictures...after all the feeding is done, but don't think for a minute he's not watching you out of the corner of his eye for one moment of distraction.  

Getting into the hay storage area in the barn is his first goal, but busting into one of the Easy Breezy pens is a close second, to the point I have jokingly (sort of) said I should change the name of the Winter Breezy camera to the Murphy Murder Cam because some day I am going to snap.

The other morning I walked into the barn to find half the flock pillaging the Winter Breezy pen.  My first thought was that I'd left the gate unlatched when I'd given everyone some extra hay at the first check because it was so cold.  Then I noticed that the latch was broken.

MURPHY!

I wondered how long they'd been in there so I opened up the app to check the camera footage.  Hmmm...at 10:14 the gate was still latched...and at 10:15 it wasn't...but...wait a minute...that's a white sheep!

I'm not sure if it's because of the cold or if there's a glitch in that camera, but I couldn't pull up the recorded footage to watch exactly how it happened, but I have to own up to the fact that for once in his life, it wasn't Murphy.

It was Biscuit!

Murphy probably loosened the latch up trying to bust his way in too many times, but at 10:15 he was no where in sight.

The 74 Days Of January

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady)

It wasn't really that bad, but it does seem like a long time ago since we had green grass!

[Blogging]

Nineteen years ago today was a snow day.  I know that because I was out taking pictures of the sheep for my very first blog post.  The two pictures I shared that day remain two of my very favorite pictures ever, but I've shared them many times over the anniversaries so this year I'm going to share another old favorite instead.  I believe I only have these beloved pictures because I started blogging...nineteen years ago.

So many old friends in this picture from February, 2015.  I wish Hank was mixed in there too, but I'm thinking that might be what Elizabeth, in the front, is looking at.  Don't miss Comby sitting on the fence.  It's all part of the puzzle.

Praying

 

It doesn't have to be 

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

small stones; just

pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try to make it elaborate, this isn't

a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak.

Mary Oliver

Thank you for still being here and being my other voices.

 

Making Tracks

No, those are not Pinot's tracks...but not for the lack of trying.  He doesn't mind the snow at all and I've been letting him out for short runs in the mornings, but just in his fenced run, not all the way to the barn.  Crazy rabbit.

More rabbit tracks.

And some tiny bird tracks.

These "tracks" are actually nose prints.  I mentioned this in my IG live post yesterday.  This is where the sheep are eating mouthfuls of snow.  They have plenty of warm water to drink, but some seem to prefer hydrating with snow.

Snow ice cream!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady)