July

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One month closer to fall!

BYFC - Random Tip #2

Would you really like to knit a sweater, but are too intimidated to try?  Make a teddy bear sweater first!  You are probably going to make a mistake or two, but if you have to rip it out and try something again and maybe even a third (or fourth) time, you are only ripping out a small amount of knitting, not a crying amount whole month  of knitting.

There are quite a few patterns on Ravelry and other places online.  You can try raglan sleeves, drop sleeves, top down or bottom up, sweaters in the round or in flat pieces...

I wanted to try a cable sweater and picked this fun one for Chocula Chip.

Tiny sweaters are also a great way to test your handspun yarn for suitability in a bigger project...but that's a tip for another day ;-).

Speaking Of Names

A couple of weeks ago I walked out late one night to check the back gate and turned around to find that Krista Two/White Krista/New Krista/K2 had walked out in the dark to come see what I was doing and we stood out there together for quite a while.  We do this a lot.  She's just. that. sweet.  

Having two Kristas though is just. not. working. 

20 and I went to see The Sheep Detectives movie yesterday. We both loved it. It was so good and so fun that we are going to probably see it at least one more time and I've promised the sheep that as soon as it comes out in DVD (I think they still make those?), I'll get a copy and we'll show it in the barn so everyone can watch.

In the meantime, one of the main characters is named Lily.  This is not a spoiler as she's in all the trailers ;-).  By the end of the movie, as I watched how she and her shepherd interacted, it was obvious that Lily would be a perfect re-name for a great little sheep who deserves her very own special name.  I told her she'd understand when she got to watch for herself.

In the meantime, meantime, if you are not aware of the new Sheep Detectives movie, I've included one of the trailers here.  There are tons of clips all over and it's currently sitting with a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and I saw somewhere that it's Hugh Jackman's highest rated movie.  It's that good!

Don't miss it!  Grab your best sheep friend and go to the movies :-D.

New Smol Rabbit Fren

Last Saturday 20, Pip and I were on our way to Maryland when we spotted a rabbit in a heap on the side of the side of the interstate :-o.  We'd left Kentucky at 5:00 that morning facing a long drive and I made the quick decision to feel sad, but keep driving........ . . .  .  .  .  .    .     .      .       .

We passed the first exit... . . .  .  .  .    .    .     .       .

.   .   .   and turned around at the next one.

I probably would have turned around anyway, but I really couldn't not stop with Pip sitting right there.  Remember that story?

I pulled way over and quickly jumped out of the car, grabbed the rabbit and jumped back in.  He or she did not appear to be injured, just wet and scared, and I gave them a big hug and told them they were safe.  They tucked in behind 20, looking very sad.  Pip promised them everything would be okay.

At the next rest stop they were starting to dry out and everyone repositioned and decided they were all feeling much better.  I'd added 20 or so minutes to my drive, but I was feeling better, too.  A good hug and snuggling in with some friends will do that for you :-).

Now home and washed and with a good brush out, we are all settled in.  Sadly, when I did an internet search, I found that this is probably a rabbit who originally had a baby rabbit sewn to their chest.  Maybe.  I hope they didn't lose their baby on top of losing their family :-(.

The name Sebastian had originally popped into my head, so maybe that's a sign I'm wrong, but the string on their chest seems important.  Maybe someone will see this and recognize their friend and they can all be reunited.

Until then, with the weather still so chilly, I'm thinking they might need a nice warm wool sweater :-).

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.

August

I know this is really late, but as the month progressed, I knew what was coming and I just couldn't bring myself to go through pictures and videos.  I decided to put it off until the end of September and just get all the heartbreak done on one day.  

Even though life was still pretty good in August...  

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Meanwhile, Back In Nashville

Wait, what?  Nashville?

Last year I heard that the purple martins in this part of the country gather in Nashville to prepare for their fall migration.  The video clips were amazing.  The amount of birds, staggering.  I talked all year about going down...and then didn't go.

I hate to disappoint myself.  I had really wanted to go...but it's hard to leave the farm, especially in a hot summer.  It's easy to talk myself out of taking trips.  Maybe next year.

We were working on Saturday morning, normal farm chores and helping load up fence posts for a friend.  I stopped to get some lunch and, of course, picked up my phone to see what was happening on Instagram.

Sheep, painting, knitting, cats, rabbits, squirrels, wool...and a post by Margaret Renkl.  

"They'll be on their way soon.  If you're anywhere near Middle Tennessee, you don't want to miss this.  This sight will get you through whatever hardships the next year brings."

Summer is hard for me, especially the heat of this past (I hope it's passed) summer.  I've spent almost an hour trying to think of anything besides these birds that I like about summer and have come up with nothing.

Sure, flowers are beautiful, fresh tomatoes are sweet, butterflies and bees, the bats, but I'd trade all that to not have to try to make it through the rest of it.  The martins moving in is a good day.  The quiet when they fly out is deafening.  

I found Tim and asked if he'd like to go to Nashville for the day, the rest of the day.    

20 is always up for a road trip.  Pip, too :-).

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Nashville on a Saturday night was not for the faint of heart and if we hadn't driven four hours to get there, I'd have probably said some grown up words, given up and hightailed it back north.  Tim handled everything like he always does, but I'm sure he wasn't having a great time either.

We found where we needed to set up at dusk, gave up trying to find someplace to eat downtown and headed to the outskirts and had a good dinner, found our way back downtown (holy $%&#). 

I had been quiet panicking to myself that we were a day too late and they would have moved on.  The tips online had been to get there by the 22nd (it was now the 23rd) around 7:30.  It was 7:15 and we didn't see any birds.

And then there were four.  And a group of six.  And some flying into some small trees along a sidewalk.  

And then there were birds everywhere!

The trees got heavier and heavier as thousands of purple martins settled in for the night.  And this is about all the people who were there to watch.  There were thousands of people two blocks away and they missed the best show they'd see all year.

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These two videos are short.  The next video was while I was filming "live".

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Some answers from questions from that IG post:

Yes, I believe they gather here every year.  

No, it doesn't seem like enough trees.  They were all bent low by the time everyone found a place.

They gather here each August.  If you follow @birdsafenashville or @nashvilleurbanbird they apparently post the details each summer and give best dates to see them.  

Do not go on Friday or Saturday if you can help it.  Watch for downtown events like football games...and avoid those as well.

We did not get pooped on, but the truck got a couple hits.  It wasn't bad and I even walked up under the trees near the end.

Even Tim enjoyed seeing them, but would probably have rather stayed the night than pull back into the farm at nearly 1:00 a.m.

It was absolutely worth the drive.

The 2025 Tour de Fleece

Against my better judgement, I'm putting Murphy in as our Team Leader this year.  What could go wrong...

Hopefully he'll just lead us to good grazing and some grand fiber adventures...but he could also lead us into trouble, so everyone should be prepared.  I have a small stash of bail money.  20 knows where to find it.

The Tour de France and Tour de Fleece start Saturday, July 5 and run through July 27.  The women's race starts July 26 and finishes August 3. This is primarily a spinning challenge, but any fiber work counts on our team.  You can officially join our team on Ravelry or just spin along on your own.  Feel free to tag me on IG if you'd like to share your progress.

I think I'm going to once again do a sampler of some of my favorite sheep, but this year I'll also be including some processing as well.  I have several fleeces already washed and ready to card or comb, but I'll be washing a few more and hopefully I'll take some pictures of the entire process from sheep to spinning.  

Air up your bike tires and get ready to ride :-D.

And May...

Much of May was second verse, same as the first.  Pinot was still digging his hole and filling it back in.  Bullseye kept getting friendlier and friendlier - just a charming young cat.  More rain.  More green grass and also a special mix of grass planted out front for Pinot.

The cake baking continued.  

Short Round made it all the way out into the yard to graze a few evenings.  Maisie grazed in the driveway.  Baaxter had been kicked out into Summer Breezy because he was being a bully.  Boys...

The cicadas arrived and that's been...interesting.  I can stand the mess and the noise, but fer cryin' out loud, get off me while I'm trying to weed eat!  

There's a funny story about poison ivy and Short Round getting some props for helping support the removal at a friends house...by goats.  Since Short Round will eat anything, I figured she should be there in spirit :-).

Betsy enjoyed another party.  Bea enjoyed a trip to Dairy Queen.  Everyone enjoyed the beautiful full moon.  

The gardens are coming along, both vegetable and B Garden.

The horse shenanigans continued.  Boys...

Knitting as fast as I could to get. this. project. finished.  My Iknitariders had fun riding along and didn't mind too much when Bullseye fell asleep with them.  

Maisie is a Good Sheep.

Losing Burrnie and Kaala was not unexpected, but still sad.  I love the barn camera shot of her sleeping tucked up with Liddy near the end.  Kaala enjoyed her friends here.  So did Burrnie.

Speaking of the barn camera, I love being able to check in with everyone whenever I want, but also, if I see something odd I can go back and see what happened.  One evening I saw the sheep all jump up startled.  I switched to the barn lot camera to try to see what they were looking at.  Something small and light colored, but I never could decided exactly who it was.  

The month ended with a fun steam train ride at the Heavenly Hilltop Railroad with 20 and Pip and Skipper (Rebecca's lamb), who is now far too big to pick up.

I love these scrapbook compilations :-).

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The I-64 Spring Fiber Fling

I don't travel much.  It's hard to leave a farm full of animals that count on Things Being Done Like They Always Are.  Having the barn cameras now may help at least my peace of mind if I decide to go somewhere, but taking care of animals, especially lots of older animals can be a challenge.

Some nights Maisie likes to eat her hay on the steps.  Some nights she wants to eat from a bucket.  Some nights she'd like a pile of hay placed in front of her in bed.  Sometimes a young sheep gets mud stuck between their toes that dries into a hard stabby rock and you have to pick it out and at the same time grab the thorny rose branch that they got stuck in their wool...Big Moose!

That being said, I do like when people come to see me.  We don't have the fanciest place and I'm never going to fix you a gourmet farm to table meal, but the farm is peaceful and fun and the sheep, horses, cats, Bea and Pinot are good characters and if you are here around lunchtime, I'd be happy to make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

I also have lots of wool in all stages of "production" - raw fleeces, washed fleeces, roving, batts, handspun yarn, small batch mill spun  farm yarns, learn to spin kits, felting supplies, quilt batting, punch needle ideas, ideas in general...so many ideas...

I also have some fiber processing equipment, a couple of spinning wheels, a loaner weaving loom and a whole bag full of knitting and crochet needles.  Want to give something a try?  Come on out.  And while I'm not an expert, I'm happy to teach you what I've learned along the way.  

We've dabbled with participating in more agritourism ventures, but are just far enough off the main road that it would take a little more effort and experience than I really have time for right now.  Did I follow my "schedule" and spin yesterday?  Nope.  I spent my time wrangling with a feral kitten/cat that you can meet on my Instagram feed because I haven't had time to share all that over here because I'm trying to write a blog post about the I-64 Spring Fiber Fling because someone else has done the agritourism prep work for me and I'm pretty excited to be given the opportunity to participate.  (inhale...exhale)

20 and his friends are pretty excited about this "yarn crawl" as well.

I'm going to send you to the I-64 Fiber Fling website for all the details on how to join, who you can visit, what each store or farm is offering, prizes you can win...  I'll also do another post over here next Thursday or Friday telling what I have planned for our stop.  It's going to be fun!

In the meantime, I'm headed out to make a quick barn check and then to the house to make my peanut butter sandwich.  The feral cat escaped from the greenhouse so I don't have that to contend with today...unfortunately.  Maybe I'll get some Iknitarod knitting done this afternoon.  I am working my way down the trail, just not as quickly as I'd hoped.

Whew!

It's Lovely Weather For A Sleigh Ride...

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring tingle tingling too.

Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.

Outside the snow if falling and friends are calling "Yoo hoo!"

Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.

 

Driving a sleigh was something I've always wanted to experience, but honestly never thought I'd get to do.  Kentucky is not known for it's outdoor winter sports so I really had no reason to even think about owning a sleigh.  This epic snow fall has been crazy fun.

In areas where snow is common, sleigh trails are compacted with a big roller and can go on for miles.  I used our utility vehicle to create and then daily maintain (even that was fun) my little figure 8 track in the side field and really, that was about all Frankie was going to be able to handle anyway.  

While Frankie may never be able to power up a big hill or hit the big time in a competitive ring, one area where he cannot be beat is safety and dependability.  We were loaned this beautiful antique sleigh because "It's Frankie."  It meant a lot to me to hear that and I'm very proud of him for his good reputation.  

I'm grateful he gave me the opportunity to try out something very special and the opportunity to really enjoy it.  Thank you, Frankie.  

Of course I had to take 20 and Pip for a ride :-).

Bea does not ride in my cart.  I've tried several times and she just isn't interested.  The sleigh?  Holy moly, she loves the sleigh.  I can't remember what 20 and I are talking about, probably how good Frankie was doing :-).

"Are you getting a good picture of me?"

If you zoom in on the painting on the back you can see a dog following the sleigh.  That was Colonel and Kathi's dog at the time of the sleigh's restoration :-).  

I loved getting to watch our friend Leslie take him for a spin.  Bea did all the rides.

Then we both took a lap so I could get a video from behind. Bea was disappointed, but not deterred.

She does not follow me with the cart.  I think this is funny and interesting.

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling...

.

... ring ting tingling too...

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A huge thank you to Colonel and Kathi for the loan of your beautiful sleigh and for coming over to help with the first drive.  Thank you also to Leslie for your joyful Frankie encouragement all along the way.  These great pictures were taken by Saint Tim.  There may be more pictures coming :-).