Misty Monday Morning

We've had a fabulous stretch of unseasonably cool and rainy weather this past week. I enjoyed every minute of it! The sun is shining bright (and getting hot :-/) now, but this morning it was still cool, foggy and beautiful.

 

Early Morning

We have a group of early risers that hit the green at daybreak. I saw them out by the pond and grabbed the camera.

Miss Renny

Coming in from way back - Daniel, Burrnie, Lila and Graham

Graham might be re-thinking the early breakfast.

"I was just resting my eyes!"

See all the lines in the dewy grass?  Those are the sheep paths.  Mia is always the farthest out.

And here's what she thinks about having her picture taken ;-).

Crazy Miss Maisie

Kindness To Animals

Today's poem from The Writer's Almanac is one of my favorites.  It hit extra hard this morning though as we just got done 'tutering the boys this week.  There's no nice way to do it.  Period.  It hurts.  They're sad, I'm sad.  They do get better in a couple days and all seems to be forgiven, but still, it's a rough couple of days.

I try to take mostly boy lambs because they are the ones typically needing a home.  You can easily place ewe lambs in starter flocks, as replacement ewes...  Boys...there is only so much demand for breeding rams and only super trained professionals (like this guy :-) should ever keep a pet ram.

I tell the boys that getting 'tutered means they are extra special and that they'll get to stay here forever, and while for the next couple of days that's not going to seem like such a good trade, in the end they'll be happy. We make sure the weather is as comfortable as possible.  We give them pain medicine.  I sit out under the pine trees with them and Betsy's there, too.

Kindness to Animals

by Anonymous

Little children, never give
Pain to things that feel and live:
Let the gentle robin come
For the crumbs you save at home,—
As his meat you throw along
He'll repay you with a song;
Never hurt the timid hare
Peeping from her green grass lair,
Let her come and sport and play
On the lawn at close of day;
The little lark goes soaring high.
To the bright windows of the sky,
Singing as if 'twere always spring,
And fluttering on an untired wing,—
Oh! let him sing his happy song,
Nor do these gentle creatures wrong.

"Kindness to Animals" by Anonymous.

The Writer's Almanac July 18, 2014

Some shots from yesterday evening.

I am not completely set on Spud as this boy's name. I still have to "think" to come up with it when I'm calling him. That doesn't seem right.  Auntie Reg has suggested Teddy and that seems to work, but one of our neighbors is named Teddy, so that's a little awkward as they like to bring their grand daughters down.  I think a two syllable name might be easier for my brain.  Any thoughts?

This portable gate is blocking Hank's cut through between the paddocks.  For some reason Baaxter never figured out sneaking through the "portal", but the other three loved to bust into Del Boca Vista. Our retirees (Jester and Queen Elizabeth) had ZERO interest in being visited by grand kids! ;-)

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.

Sideshow Bob

Around here, the more names you've been given usually reflects how much we like you. Keebler is also Keebs and Kaner, Count Chocula is also Choculon, Murphy is now Donut Murphy...  There are some exceptions, like Miss Tilly/Weaslie/Tilly Bobby/Short Round/The Little Shriner or Graham Lamb/Kevin/bleep bleep Kevin. Just kidding ;-).  

Hershey's other name is Sideshow Bob.  That's "little" Burrnie/Burrnerd racing to keep up :-D.

Hershey is only Sideshow Bob because of his hair, not his character.  And if you're wondering why I'm calling this super light gray sheep Hershey after just seeing his chocolate brown bag of roving from Ohio Valley, it's because that was his baby fleece sheared last August and his hair has since turned almost white! Probably from living with Graham ;-)  

It's very pretty with his dark legs and head, but still, confusing as to why he'd be named "Hershey". Hopefully you can biggify and see his moppy top.

Some more shots from last week.