I almost blew it on day two. I thought I'd taken a nice picture of Andy yesterday, but when I pulled it up this evening, it wasn't in correct focus. I looked through the last couple of folders of pictures, but none of Andy...so I picked up my camera and headed for the barn.
Night pictures are usually not a great option, but are a good challenge. I'd hoped to sneak in and find him sleeping someplace easy to compose, but everyone was immediately on to me and jumped up. I tried to find a shot, but this is what he kept giving me.
"This seems deeply suspicious. What's going on?"
"I'm the Solstice Sheep of the Day? And if I let you take my picture I get a treat?"
":-)"
Andy likes all treats, but grabbing a bite of the fancy alfalfa the old sheep get is maybe his favorite. I was able to sneak him a handful which he grabbed and then quickly backed out of the melee. Not everyone got treats tonight. It would have been too crazy. Andy tends to fly under the radar, so it was nice to let him know he was extra special today :-).
Andy is one of the bell sheep. You have to look closely to see it in these dark pictures. He wears the bell in memory/honor of Graham Lamb. Graham babysat Andy when he first moved here and after Graham passed, I took the bell from his neck and placed it on Andy's. They'd been good friends and I hope the bell reminds Andy of his old friend.
One thing you don't want to do is get between a group of sheep and a fresh grazing area. Whenever I open a gate, I am very careful to make sure that the gate can swing wide enough, fast enough so no one gets wedged and that I am clear of the gate as well.
Last night I decided to open up Del Boca Vista. The chain rattled as I unhooked it and the chorus of baas started and everyone came running. As I moved some sheep around so the gate could open, I quickly stepped back, pulling the gate towards me.
The sheep started swirling around, jostling for position, but no one raced through. This all happened in a matter of seconds, but still long enough for me to notice the strange behavior. And then Murphy walked up, through the group, out the gate and everyone followed him.
I find this whole Murphy thing* fascinating. Did he do something to earn their respect? Are they all snickering behind his back as they send him off to look for lions and tigers and bears? Has he pulled some sort of Graham Lamb scam to trick them into believing he's the only one who can go out first?
There's a story here I'm sure and I'd love to hear it.
*I linked this to all of Murphy's posts, so you'll need to scroll down a couple to find the stories about him leading everyone out. If you are new to the blog, you can click on any of the "labels" over on the right side of the page, down a bit, and read all sorts of stories about any of the individual animals or events. For example, if you don't know who Graham Lamb was, those are usually pretty...um...interesting ;-).
I've spent the last month (or so) working on the new Lamb Camp yarn release. Remember the bottle lamb fleeces I sent to Stonehedge Fiber Mill? Here's a video link.
I've got the yarn "finished" (skeined, washed and ready for tagging). I wrote a short book telling a little about the yarn and all the sheep who made it. I also created a picture of each sheep as a lamb to go with each story. There was a huge learning curve there, but I'm happy with the end results.
At that point I realized that the project was much more than just throwing together a pamphlet with some yarn and more of a celebration of all the sheep and each of their special stories, so I designed a small project bag, some Equinox Farm inspired stitch markers, a project tag and a wooden ornament to all go with it.
Whew! I've got way more time in this project than I should, but I always end up putting more time into each lamb than I anticipate as well, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.
The first batch.
The yarn isn't "finished" until it's washed and dried. The main reason you need to wash it is to get rid of the spinning oil and any residual dirt, but washing it also wakes up each fiber and allows it to relax back into it's original character. Some fibers bloom into fuzzy yarns, some get really stretchy, some get puffy, some relax with more drape and flow... This yarn, being a blend of several types of sheep does a little bit of all of that.
One skein before washing, on the right. One skein after, on the left. Isn't that fun?
The yarn is really pretty. I've made a lamb sweater from it and also a matching short poncho for myself. The lamb sweater was pretty straightforward, but I have some epic stories about the poncho that need to be shared here so I can add more details than what hit Instagram at the time. Miss B made a gorgeous sweater from the yarn and I would love to share that as well. My poor neglected blog.
So, yes, there will be some of this yarn for sale and my plan is to post it on Sunday for Mother's Day, mostly for sentimental reasons. Of course I don't have any pictures taken and it's crazy/normal springtime on the farm and Frankie and I have our first horse show tomorrow... so it may be the afternoon before I can actually pull that off.
Wouldn't it be nice if I got all that done and posted a horse show update tomorrow evening like the good old blogging days? I'm going to try.
There has been a group of sheep here over the years that I've considered titans. Buddy, Woolliam, Ewen McTeagle, Jester, Marcel, Keebler, Graham Lamb... Big in stature...and personality. Count Chocula was The Titan.
We've been trying to fight through a bladder stone attack for a week. He patiently tolerated everything we tried and we tried pretty much everything. I finally had to call it.
I will sure miss seeing you standing in your doorway. Thank you for one final classic picture last night. You were a good sheep. The bravest Titan of them all.
The most frequently asked question we get from visitors to the farm is "Why does that sheep (Andy) wear a bell?"
That's a very good question (they all are!). I originally put bells on Petunia and Graham. I picked Petunia because I knew she liked bling. I picked Graham because, well, I had a feeling the bell might be a bit irritating to most sheep and if I was going to irritate one, it might as well be Graham. Bless his heart, I think he loved it.
The bells started out just for fun. I loved hearing the tinkling bells on sheep at a friend's farm. Turned out, having Graham belled was actually quite helpful because you could always hear where he was and usually quickly figure out what he was up to. It wasn't uncommon to hear him out grazing in the middle of the night.
One night I heard two bells and was surprised to find the whole flock out. Up until that point, I'd believed the majority of the flock (aka everyone except Graham ;-) stayed in for the night. Without the bells, I might still think the kids were all safely tucked into bed each night.
Another reason I think the bells are helpful is the difference in sounds they make and what that might mean. Tinkle tinkle tinkle - moving around grazing quietly. RING RING RING - they are running. Running could mean just racing back to the barn, but it could also mean something was chasing them. We can hear them from the house...if it would just cool down enough that we could open the windows :-o.
I was sitting out on the porch this morning surrounded by fog. I could see the martin house, but not much further. One lone sheep was grazing down by the creek, Blossom. Normally one sheep out by itself would be a red flag, but not Baba. She frequently marches to her own drum.
Do you see her?
I was surprised though that no other sheep were headed down the hill to join her. Seemed plenty light enough. And then I heard it, Andy's bell. Where was he... I had to listen for a few seconds and then pegged him out in the lower small paddock. They were out there and I just couldn't see them
From Wikipedia: A bellwether is one that leads or indicates trends.
The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram (a wether) leading his flock of sheep. The movements of the flock could be noted by hearing the bell before the flock was in sight.
You'll have to listen carefully, but it's there. More towards the end, but I love hearing the doves and other birds waking up while I wait. It's Andy, wearing Graham's bell.
Do you see them?
Interestingly, I'm not the only one listening for Andy's bell. The other night I was walking in the front field with Bullwinkle, Kate, Tilly, Hank and Comby. It was pretty dark and we were about halfway up the far hill when a group of late grazers (trying to beat the heat) meandered down to the creek. Bullwinkle heard Andy's bell and took off running.
Bullwinkle loves Andy and I think Andy considers him a funny kid brother. They play fight at the water trough almost nightly. Bullwinkle jumps on the wooden shade cover, which puts him right at Andy's level and they taunt each other and butt heads. When he got down to Andy that night, he looked back at me excitedly, "Andy's here! Look, Andy's here!"
I wouldn't be surprised if Hank listened for the bells as well.
Other than taking care of the "live" fiber, there has been very little "fiber" work done here lately. Am I just not good at prioritizing my time? Probably. Is there really just not enough time in the day? Surely I could Find Five somewhere. Am I just lacking some inspiration? Uh, I'm surrounded by inspiration every day :-o.
Well, guess what! It's Tour de Fleece time...again...seriously...it is almost July and the Tour de France already...again?!? Time to prioritize my time, Find Five (why do I have to keep fighting the same battle over and over?!?) and get ready to be inspired. Hopefully this will be just the kick in the pants I've been needing.
I did actually finish skirting all the spring fleeces the other day. Well, almost all the fleeces. Right after I took down the skirting table, put away all the sheets and bags, cleaned up the discarded wool...I found two huge bags of wool from Baaxter's cousins at Foxglove Farm. Sigh...
As I was skirting, I started washing fleeces headed to the mill next month. Boudreaux was his usually messy mess, Ford is so old and frail that I wasn't sure his fleece would even be salvageable, and Graham... I'd taken some fleece off him before I took him to the diagnostic lab. I'd not saved any of his adult fleeces, assuming he'd live forever :-(.
My dear old guys... Three of my fanciest and favorite-est fleeces over the years. How did it get to be so many years. I knew Graham would be okay. Ohio Valley Natural Fibers always does an amazing job cleaning up Boudreaux. Ford...I wasn't so sure. I decided to dig out my wool combs and see what I had.
Gray - Ford White - Graham Dark gray - Boudreaux
Beautiful, as I knew it would be. I'm not sure how I'm going to spin this or what I'm going to make, but I'd like something to have and to hold from one of the funniest, most irritating, Why you little...! wanted to strangle half the time, dearest sheep ever.
Ford. You can almost tell by looking this is a bit iffy. Not only is the fiber maybe not as sound as it used to be, but he has some skin scurf in there that would be gross not be fun to work around. Combing is always the best bet for fleeces like this.
The combs will catch most of the VM and it did take out almost all of the little stuff. And yes, it does look like a lot of waste...
...but what is left is classic silky soft Ford :-).
Boudreaux came from Nistock Farms and should have stayed there and been the superstar of the wool world that he could have been if he'd lived the life of luxury, wearing a protective coat and been meticulously maintained. That's what it would have taken. Missing something? Boudreaux probably has it stuck in his fleece somewhere ;-).
Luckily the big machines at Ohio Valley do a great job cleaning most of his yearly collection. Combs would be my choice if I wanted to process it all at home.
Ooh! Ahh! Sort of...
This picture looks horrible here now that it's uploaded and that's because blogger "auto enhanced" it. There is a way to turn that off, but it's 71 degrees this morning and I have better things to do than sit in front of a computer. Sigh...
And yes, I'm still using my trusty beer cheese container lid diz. Boudreaux and I are classy if nothing else ;-D.
Boudreaux's "bird nest" - an actual spinning term, not just a reflection on his (lack of) cleanliness ;-).
Have you ever tried to take a picture of dark wool or yarn (or other dark items) and had this happen? The color is correct on the pictures above this one. Would you like to know why your camera does this and what to do about it?
A tiny gift basket, ready to kick off the Tour de Fleece Saturday.
Once again we have a Punkin's Patch/My Favorite Sheep team started on Ravelry. This is open to anyone! You do not have to be a good spinner. You could even use this event to LEARN to spin. It's just for fun and to challenge ourselves to make yarn, maybe lots of yarn, maybe just a little each day, learn something new...actually get a wheel out, dust it off and see if you remember how to spin.
Not to worry, it's just like riding a bike! ;-D
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I have no books to share this week. I started three different (very popular) ones and haven't loved any of them enough to keep listening. Wait, I did listen to the latest Stephanie Plum mystery, Tricky Twenty-Two, and Bullwinkle and I powered through that.
Any recommendations for something silly like that?
It wasn't always the case this weekend. We used up the last of the messy, but yummy hay last week. I tried to switch them over to finish up the leftover orchard grass from last year, but they didn't like it any better this year than they did last, so I moved on to the new hay.
I set out two bales Friday night and they dug into it with enthusiasm. Saturday morning I woke to everyone feeling bad and about half of the sheep foaming at the mouth, drooling and starting to bloat (!). The vet was here within the hour and we spent almost two hours at 12 degrees, basically up to our elbows in cold water (it started warm), dosing everyone with antacid and mineral oil.
There was some clover in this grass mix, but not enough that it could be considered "rich". It was also not a significant change in quality from the other hays. Several people have now looked at the hay and can't find anything wrong with it including any sort of noxious weed...but something sure was.
Buddy (gasp) was in the worst shape. Petunia and Woolliam were not far behind and there was a large group in slightly better shape than them, but not by much. We re-treated eight of them in the afternoon and Buddy got a third treatment Saturday night. At the 11:00 p.m. he was looking better, but still not great, but he did eat a cookie, which at least made me feel better.
I walked to the barn Sunday morning worried at what I might find, but thankfully everyone was pretty much back to normal. While Buddy still didn't want to eat any hay, he did eat some ewe nuggets (large pelleted food) and once he realized he was getting special treats, he was completely back to good old Buddy. I have never been so relieved.
The super cold is breaking (thankfully) and we had snow move in late in the afternoon as the temps started to rise. The sheep, in their well insulated wool sweaters, were covered from head to tail with a thick layer of snow and they were so beautiful.
After I finished evening chores I stood in the barn lot watching everyone picking through the orchard grass hay that they don't really like, but at least won't kill them. Petunia noticed and walked over to see me. Buddy, who is behind her with his head down eating hay (yay :-) saw and rushed over, too.
And sweet Spud on the left. I'd like to think they were just coming over to see me and tell me they were feeling much better, but I think they were probably just hoping I was still doling out ewe nugget "cookies" ;-).
"This hay is the pits."
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Buddy sick was a sheep anyone would have noticed as something wrong. He was standing off by himself, head hanging down, looking miserable and wobbly. Graham kept going about his days like everything was fine...when it wasn't. After reading the lab report and thinking (and thinking and thinking) back, there were some signs I should not have missed.
He did have a bad tooth and it had apparently been bothering him longer than I knew/noticed. If I'd been able to put two and two together earlier, the outcome might have been different. A sheep not getting enough to eat, especially a fat sheep, can get into dire trouble quicker than I'd have ever guessed.
Trying to care for animals can be heartbreaking, especially when you try very hard to care for them and care so much about them. I did learn a lesson from Graham that might have helped Buddy this weekend, but the cost of that lesson was so great that I doubt the scars will ever heal. All I can do from here is keep watching and caring and hoping all the rest of the lessons I need to learn come from books, not best friends.
So as not to end on such a sad note, here is a short clip of Hank bedding down for the night. Keep in mind he has a barn, his own private stall and an insulated dog box in his stall. He and I are both going to be sad when the snow is all gone tomorrow.
As everyone could probably guess, Liddy has always enjoyed "special privileges". She is allowed to come out into the barn aisle to eat her food by herself, she can go into the hay stall and eat hay while I'm doing the rest of the feeding chores, she can go out into the yard and eat grass while I'm around to supervise.
When Andy moved in, he fell right into the special privileges club. I hoped he and Liddy would buddy up and enjoy being teenagers together and they did. Where Andy had no interest in hanging out with the other lambs at Frontier Farm, he adores Liddy having special privileges and Liddy is happy to have a kid brother someone her own size to play with...besides Maisie ;-).
This morning I let them both "escape" to graze in front of the Wool House while I raked up in front of the horse stalls. The sun came out for a few glorious minutes and I ran to the house to grab my camera. Of course the sun didn't hold, but the pictures are still pretty sweet.
I also took a couple short videos, but after they'd split up some. Still, Graham's bell is pretty and the spring birds are already moving in and singing. I was having trouble focusing and holding steady, so these aren't great, but all in all, not a bad way to start the week.
When I got up Monday morning, I thought I was taking Graham to the vet clinic to get a mouth x-ray. He'd been losing some weight and we were pretty sure he had a tooth issue, which is common with older sheep. Not usually a big deal.
I don't ever like to haul a sheep by itself, especially an older one. As with most things in life, having a buddy with you always helps. When we took Maisie to Hagyards, I rode in the trailer with her. I picked Maisie to ride with Graham.
And why did I pick Maisie? Well, um, let's see...how to put this, um, delicately...Maisie has a big boob. She always has what the vets and I refer to as her "fat girl boobs". Right now one is extra fat and I wanted it checked out.
I tricked her into the trailer with food (partly why she has "fat girl boobs" ;-) and then led Graham in behind her. When we got to the clinic we unloaded Graham, I gave Maisie a flake of hay and told her we'd be back in a few minutes. We weren't back for over an hour.
Graham collapsed in the hallway, they pulled a blood sample, his numbers were awful, there was something very wrong with his liver that the chances of fixing were pretty much zero, we talked to several other vets to make sure, Graham calmly sat next to me, the vet cried as much as I did as she gave him a shot and he laid his head across my lap just like he did when he was a baby, a class act to the end.
And then we had to carry on.
As we walked outside, I carried Graham's bell to the truck and quickly warned the vet not to open the trailer door until I got back there. She knows Maisie and completely understood ;-). We carefully slid in and as I slammed the door behind us I heard "Oh my goodness, what's on her head?!?"
I took one look and knew exactly what she'd done. I just had to figure out what she'd done it on. Maisie had eaten as much of the hay as she wanted, felt like she'd stood there as long as she should and with no people around to punch (the little darlin' ;-), had head butted the next best thing, the aluminum trailer divider post.
"Yeah, I know. I'm kind of a little stinker."
Maisie's boob doesn't seem to be anything serious, probably just a weird hormonal issue...which would probably explain a lot about Maisie ;-). We are supposed to keep an eye (and hand :-o) on it and wait and see.
"I'll let you feel my boobs if you scratch my butt [to distract me]."
The things we do...
Don't judge me. I've been on the receiving end of that aluminum block, I mean, black head ;-D.
If you don't have good knitting to share, post a picture of your cat new favorite bag :-).
I have been trying to knit, but have not been happy with anything that I've worked on. I did knit and mostly finish (just to feel like I could finish something I'd started :-o) the Baa-ble hat, but it's headed for a frog and re-knit. I messed up one of the colors (no big deal) and was sloppy with my floats behind the sheep (a medium size deal) and it doesn't fit well (a big deal).
I then started a new shawl from the same designer from the Tales from the Isle of Purbeck shawl. When I knit the Purbeck shawl, I really didn't think I'd ever wear it, but during my camp out last fall I wore it almost every night. I couldn't believe how warm it was even with all the lacy holes and I was hooked. My only complaint is that it's a hair small.
I love the look of the Stories from Snoqualmie Valley shawl and thought if I knit it with the worsted weight Lamb Camp yarn instead of the pattern's suggested DK weight, I'd get exactly what I wanted - a big, warm, smooshy shawl.
I cast on using a new (to me) cast on technique that I liked, picked the fun pattern up pretty quickly and knit a couple repeats and decided my yarn overs were too loose and my cable too tight. It may very well block out okay and I'll definitely try it before I frog it, but I sure don't want to knit on [without] confidence*, so...
...time to post another picture of my bag and the always not helpful Eli ;-).
There is a story behind the bag. My mother-in-law found a beautiful vintage "make a sheep" pattern/kit stamped onto material and gave it to me for Christmas awhile back. I didn't think to take a picture, but I did find it online. Does anyone remember these fun patterns?
I knew I'd never actually get around to making the two sheep and goodness knows I really don't need any more stuffed sheep, but you can always use another knitting bag so I sent it to Amy Klee at Stone Edge Fibers and asked her to work her magic. If this adorable bag doesn't inspire me to knit, nothing will!
Look at all the inside pockets. And notice that it's big enough to hold not only the Baa-ble Hat (in the green bag) and the Snoqualmie shawl...
...but also the Adama cowl that I decided was about as no-fail/confidence building as possible, so have now cast that on as well.
"That bag is sure getting a lot of attention!"
And that's exactly why I'm knitting on the other side of the little fence. In the sun. Without a hat or gloves. In February. Sigh...
You can see my sloppy floats in the the big white sheep. I can do better. And by doing better at that, the circumference will fit better. The height...do you think I can eliminate the first couple rows of stars? The white at the bottom was supposed to be brown, so I think changing the symmetry of the two "lines" of white above and below the sheep won't be too noticeable.
One last Graham pic. I'd forgotten I'd taken this, thinking how clever that I got a picture of him checking out his hat. If I'd known then what the future held, I'd have opened that stupid gate and let him frog the hat himself. One of my all time favorite Graham posts was another time he came in there and wreaked havoc on my knitting. I'd give anything...
Okay, a picture to (try to) make us all laugh a little. "I love the yarn and the colors are perfect, but can you believe the sloppy knitting job?!?" Not to worry, Blossom, it's only knitting. It's always fixable.
I just started Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. Seems that I've been in a "reading" slump as well. How's things with you?
‘No Sweat’ features Graham the sheep putting human gym bunnies through their paces. We know the secret to what makes Graham so ‘incrediwool’. Natural, breathable and durable, stay cool with wool. ‘Wool, is seriously durable’
I'm not even going to let him hear the word "incrediwool" ;-).
Here are a few more shots from Andy's integration day. I was so sad to not find a good shot of Kate for the calendar this year. Calendar pictures need to be the right direction (horizontal, not vertical), sharp, good color, interesting composition, high resolution... I think we've got one for next year!
Kate goes everywhere with me, especially if there are sheep involved...which there almost always are ;-). Her motto is "I can help you with that!" When I let the main flock into Graham and Andy's paddock the other day, I went in with them to make sure no one tried to modify the borrowed "space ship". Kate followed me in, but I didn't notice that because I was busy taking pictures.
I don't have much true stock dog experience. Iris and I figured out more things than I thought we did over the years, but I definitely need more training. Letting Kate follow me into a paddock full of sheep, while accidentally setting up a nice photo, might be a big no-no. Not paying attention to my dog in the first place is probably even a bigger no-no. A dog not as good as Kate would probably teach me that lesson the hard way ;-).
However, to me (again, remember I am definitely no expert), if I turn around and see that my dog has followed me somewhere, but is laying down waiting patiently while I'm goofing off not paying attention, that's not just a pretty calendar shot. I think that means she's a great dog and I am so honored for the opportunity to get to learn from her. I am looking forward to stepping up my game this year!
We all sat out there in the paddock for a good while letting everyone get acquainted. Being a cocky young punk, Andy got a fair sampling of who would send him flying if he got too friendly (Rebecca Boone) and who would make some good new friends for him (the boys). When I was ready to clear them out of there, Kate was up in an instant.
"I can help you with that!"
We had to make an emergency run to Florida this weekend. My mother is in the hospital down there and needed someone to come get their two dogs and cat who were traveling with them. I left a note for our farm sitter explaining how to use Kate to set hay out for the sheep. "Open the stall door. She knows what to do." I got a text the next morning, "Kate's awesome!" She really is :-).
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Here's a new puzzle and a new puzzle tip. If you click the puzzle piece at the bottom right of the frame it takes you to the same puzzle, but on the puzzle site. There, if you click "play as", you can change the number of pieces to make it easier or harder, depending on your mood. Have fun and stay warm!
