So...

I thought about titling this post "Saint Tim Saves Lamb Camp...Again" but since I hadn't shared "Saint Tim Saves Lamb Camp...The First Time" I figured there was too much back story needing to be caught up.  Suffice to say, a huge thank you to Saint Tim (twice) for making sure we could all enjoy adorable lamb pictures, now including Bullwinkle, this spring.

I was thinking I could title this something about "Sheep Dreams" (can I have a show of hands for Dianne to revive her beautiful blog? ;-) but again, there is more to the story than just sweet Bullwinkle taking a good nappy on/in my lap and having a big dream about something, probably More Babas.

I could title it "Goodbye Dear Henri" but that's not the whole story either.  The whole story is good sheep friends that get old and feeble, their sheep friends who understand and don't understand, and people who understand that sheep understand and don't understand.  Good husbands who borrow equipment from good neighbors so they can bury good sheep while sad shepherds sit in the yard with sweet babies while grass grows, the sun sets, birds settle in for the night and bunnies hop across the driveway while good dogs sit and watch, having understood that we are all here to take the best care of each other that we can.

If you turn up your volume you can hear a little talking :-).

And This Is Why You Should Wear Wool

We made it through the Snowpocalypse!  We've had big snows before and we've had big winds before, but I don't remember it all at the same time. Yesterday was brutal even for a snow lover. Actually, if I hadn't have been so worried about the old sheeps, I'd have still had a pretty big time even with the wind.  The trip up to the top run in shed with a bale of hay on the two wheel drive ATV was quite a hoot :-).  

So most importantly, everyone seems okay this morning :-).  The plywood really seemed to help yesterday...but Ford (on the left) wouldn't go in.  I ended up forcing him into the big barn during the day, hoping that if he could get out of the weather he might be okay.  He really didn't look or act good and I feared the worst.

At feeding time last night I let him go back into Del Boca Vista.  The snow had stopped and the wind was supposed to die down.  His grain was in there, I could safely shovel some cookies his way (he's very arthritic and unstable) and he could make it over to the water easier.  I made him a straw bed out front just in case he still wouldn't go inside.  

At 11:00, that's where I found him, nestled down and looking pretty happy.  It was a beautiful night. The snow had stopped, the wind was calm, the stars were out and it was once again a magical world. I tossed a few flakes of hay into the barn lot and the teenagers came out and partied with me :-).   We stayed out there for quite awhile.

This morning.  You know how if the roof of your house isn't covered with snow then you know you need more insulation?  How's this for insulation?  The snow on the boy's backs has been sitting there for almost 24 hours.  

Murphy

PPPP is sure wearing a warm woolly jumper :-).

Woody

Pretty much everyone had a snow blanket.  The very few that didn't had apparently gotten a good spot in the barn out of the blowing snow.

In the warm sunshine this morning, they were all so toasty that they started steaming as the snow cooked away.

I looked around for Maisie thinking it would be neat to take a picture of how warm her sweater was going to be.  There she was, not steaming, no snow blanket, not even a damp layer where one might have been.  She apparently never left the barn yesterday!  I guess that's one way to do it ;-).

Happy Hank, happy sheep, happy shepherd :-).

The Princess Of Del Boca Vista

Henrietta

She likes being the princess.  Jester and Ford go out and do "guy stuff" much of the day, even when it's cold.  Henri doesn't do any more than she has to ;-).

We Are Outta Here!

I've found that 48 hours is usually a good test of a new plan around here. The first 24 hours are the hardest, but if everyone can sit down and think about things, usually by the third day everyone is happy.  And if they're not, then even it *I* think it's a good plan, I usually give in and let them do what they want.

Henri lasted about 36 hours in Del Boca Vista before I was mowed down convinced to let her back out with the "general prison population".  For a sheep who's so arthritic she can barely hop in and out of the barn and totter out to graze, the lush, tall grass, unlimited food and a shed with a handicapped entrance I'd have thought would be paradise.  Um, that would be a No.

Ford seemed "okay" although he was upset when the rest of the flock would head out to graze and he couldn't join them.  He made it the full 48 hours, but yesterday morning he was still calling out as they left and he and Jester looked so sad that I opened the gate.  Okay.  We can make this work.  It's better for them to be moving around more anyway.

"We are outta here!"  

Henri was already out, but just can't make it very far.

J:  "I do kinda like that little paddock though."

F:  "Yeah, maybe it wasn't so bad."

F:  "It IS a long way out there..."

J:  "Henri?"

At this point I followed the rest of the sheep out behind the arena.  I thought maybe that would encourage the boys to come with and catch up.  I took some pictures, visited with Hank and headed back in to find...

Jester's still torn about the other sheep, but is leading the way back to DBV.

H:  "What took you all so long?"

J:  "Well, Ford, what do you think?"

F:  "There IS food in there..."

And since this time it was THEIR good idea... ;-D

The Queen Is Dead, Long Live The Queen

1998 (?) - November 5, 2014

I no longer remember who started everyone calling Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, but it's been a long enough time that when she passed this morning that was the first thing that came to mind and was corroborated by a friend as well.  

Being from the US, I don't have a firm grasp on the history of royalty and had to look that interesting sentence up.  

"The [Queen] is dead" is the announcement of a monarch who has just died.  "Love live The [Queeen]" refers to the heir who immediately succeeds to a throne upon the death of the preceding monarch.  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elizabeth was the second sheep I ever owned. Or maybe it was Jester who was second. Or Crazy Esther or Joshua or Jacob.  Those five Jacob sheep came together and I don't remember much about picking them out that day, but apparently we did a good job.

Those fine sheep were kindly given to me by a shepherd from Indiana who wanted them to have a good home.  She'd probably be amazed that Elizabeth lived so long...but we can't let her know because Elizabeth outlived her!

Jester is currently out with the rest of the flock, but knowing him, he'll want to go back in the small paddock this evening.  I think I'm going to see if Ford and Henri would like to move in with him as both are getting up there in years and not moving around as well as they used to.

Elizabeth was quite a character and I'm sure going to miss getting yelled at even as late as last night. I am honored she was a part of my story here and her stories will live on as all the good ones do. Petunia is heir to the throne and that's a good story as well.

The Breakfast Club(s)

"Did you hear Mom coming?"

"MomMom?" 

That's exactly what it sounds like :-).

To get from this point to everyone eating breakfast is a bit of a blur and definitely not something I'm able to take pictures of.  You'll just have to imagine Baaxter and Woody standing up on the back gate. They haven't figured out yet that I can't actually open the gate if they're standing on it, but hey, they're excited ;-).  Henri bangs on the gate with her horns.  

Henri will also run over you without a thought, so make sure when you do open the gate that you get it open wide enough and quick enough that she doesn't crash into you...but that then only the boys can race through before Rebecca Boone and Chocula and sometimes Hershey bum rush you as well.  

Mia and Ford patiently wait at the side door and calmly step into the aisle when invited.

The old folks (Henri and Ford) and Mia (the puny one) eat on the mat in front of the feed room. This shot was taken on an auto setting.  The camera does the best it can to balance out the dark indoors with the bright outdoors.  Kind of an interesting shot.

This was taken using manual settings.  I bumped up the length of exposure so the sheep were brighter, but knew it was going to blow out the white trailer in the background.  Neither are great shots, but I like both if for no other reason than they tell me the story about how these three sheep eat breakfast.  With Weaslie and Claire Bear ;-).

There's a cut gate in the middle of the barn aisle.  Among other jobs, it also separates the kid's table from the adults.  I leave it open until all seven sheep are inside and the outside gate is latched. Mia and Ford politely go past the cut gate to their food.  Henri bulldozes over and starts chowing down at the lamb trough.  Where you could never get a Cotswold to raise their head from a feed tub, Henri, a Jacob, can be persuaded to move along.  Eventually.  And then that inside gate gets latched.

Baaxter has apparently decided he wasn't happy with where he was eating with his brothers and is jumping around, getting ready to jockey for a new position.  Hershey is looking on with disbelief as to why anyone would stop eating long enough to goof around.  Hershey's got some Cotswold in him ;-).

Baaxter has some "spoiled" in him.  Honestly, I think he's still completely surprised he's not still getting a bottle.  On days when he's being especially pitiful I'll let him sneak into the feed room with me and eat big ewe nuggets (see above) from my hand.  

But mostly he's pretty well integrated.

And that's the sheep feeding portion of the morning program.  After everyone goes back out, the Adventure Chickens move in and get their scratch grains on the mat.  And then Weaslie and I go back to the house for a second cup of coffee :-).

A Tour Update

While I'm chomping at the bit to start on Miss Maisie's spinning, I'm not letting myself do that until I meet my Tour de Fleece goals.  Or at least most of them ;-).

This is Henrietta - some roving from several years ago.  She has a beautiful silky fleece for a Jacob and it always sells quickly.  When I noticed this ball had started to felt down into itself (it seems the silkier/looser crimped fleeces like hers and the longwools tend to do that if you're not careful...and sometime when you are :-o) I used that as an excuse to stick the last ball into my stash.

All it needed was a little fluffing up and some pre-drafting and it was back to spinning like butter :-).  Drafting is how you determine how thick or thin your yarn is going to be.  It basically means pulling the combed/carded (brushed) out thinner.  The fibers slip past each other and say the original roving is (just a random guess) 1000 hairs thick all side by side, you might thin it out until it's maybe 50 hairs thick.

It doesn't change the color.  There's just more air and light showing through.  It spins up looking like the darker gray.  Of course, it would have been helpful to have shown that, but it didn't cross my mind until just now.  I used to work for a man that always said "What a brain...", usually about one of his horses.  I find it usually fits me just as well.

Maisie Goes To The Wool Mill

Here she goes!

The washed wool gets dumped into the back hopper, gets picked up and picked out by the swinging arm thingy, then over the top...

...and falls out of this smaller hopper...

...where it's picked/fluffed some more and then onto the drums.  I think I counted 20 or 24 rollers, but now can't remember.

And then, after it's brushed and brushed and brushed through all the rollers, it gets pulled off the final drum into ready to spin roving.

Here's where it gets a little dicey on who this is.  It appears to be Maisie according to my camera files, but looks too clean to be Maisie.  My tongue in cheek post about her fleece being white as snow came back to haunt me.  I hope the shotgun shells don't jam up their machines!  Maisie, Maisie, Maisie...

This I know is Blossom.  Remember the huge fleece from the festival?  Yep, still huge.

Beth sets it all in neatly and then (over and over) pushes it down into the bag in the box...

...where it springs back out, ready to have more added to it!

This is Hershey's lamb fleece, flying free around the drums.  That'd be Hershey for sure!  Luckily most of it drifts back onto the drums, but some has to be swept up off the floor and tossed back in.  Yep, classic Hershey ;-).

B. Willard.  I thought this would be an interesting shot with the contrast between the stationary curls and the whirling drum getting ready to pick them up.  However, when I look at it now, it kind of makes me feel like someone getting ready to jump off the high dive for the first time. 

Ideally I'd hoped to show the gradients from dark gray to white, but the lighting was tough and I didn't have my "big girl" camera.  (Left to right) Hershey, Boudreaux, B. Willard, Henrietta, Ford, Allie, Maisie and Blossom. 

It's sure hard to beat a car full of fresh roving!

Ohio Valley Natural Fibers

The 2014 Tour de Fleece

It's time for the Tour de Fleece!  Some information from the TdF page on Ravelry...

This year, the Tour de Fleece starts on Saturday July 5 and runs until Sunday July 27th, 2014.
Guidelines (NOT RULES):

• Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday July 5 through Sunday July 27th. Days of rest: Tuesday, July 15th and Monday July 21st. (Just like the actual tour.)
• Spin something challenging on the challenge day (usually the toughest high mountain stage: this year, it’s Stage 14, on Saturday, July 19th, when they climb over 3,000m at grades from 4-6%).
• Wear yellow on Sunday July 27th to announce victory. Why not wear yellow on any day you feel particularly successful? (Yellow is the color of the race leader in the Tour - but here we are all ‘race leaders’) Other colors if desired: Green (sprinter - think FAST), Polka-dot (climber - as in uphill), and white (rookie).

 

The Captain for this year's Team My Favorite Sheep is Mia :-).  Our group is very laid back, very encouraging and not competitive.  Please feel free to join in even if all you'd like to do is cheer the spinners on.  Everyone welcome!

My  2014 "bicycle" basket - some treasures in a stash of old roving bundles. I also am hoping to spin some Miss Ewenice, but the way my days are going right now...  Sigh.

I think there are 20 mixed ounces of Peabody, Jester, Beanie Baby, Popcorn PeePee Pants and Henrietta.  I was happy to find the Peabody and PPPP because most of their wool has been sold over the years.  Mine, mine all mine :-).

It's important to have your porch cats at the ready.

Including Claire Bear.  What?  If CB is joining the team, it's looking like it's going to be an odd race for sure!

Note the tipped over bucket, potting soil, fern tears strewn about...  I woke this morning to sheep bells.  Outside the bedroom window.  There should not be sheep bells outside the bedroom window.  GRAHAM LAMB!!!

Add install flower protecting gate to Wool House porch to the TdF list.  While keeping the barn gate shut seems like a more logical solution, it's apparently not in my skill set >:-o.