Merciful Hearts Farm

A Greeting

2012-02-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

I noticed this blooming daffodil at the edge of the donkey pasture as I was out doing morning chores. Our unseasonably warm winter has all of us confused. Earlier in the week I'd found a few dandelions blooming. Of course the sheep who were following me on my walk quickly gobbled up those surprises.

This has been a pleasant winter from the standpoint that we have not had to chip ice out of the water troughs each morning or drain hoses each night to keep them from freezing up. We have not had to feed masses of extra hay. Ordinarily in a cold winter we go through a lot of hay because a ruminant will eat extra hay so that its gut will act like a little furnace, heating the animal as digestion occurs.

The down side is that I have spent so much time outside on these mild days that I've not spent enough time at the spinning wheel. For the next three weeks I am not in a school as artist-in-residence so I must discipline myself to wash a few fleeces, do some dyeing and get busy producing!

We are expecting the next few nights to be colder with temperatures predicted in the 20's but at this point there is little to complain about. I just don't know how many daffodils will greet me tomorrow morning.

I love working with students!

2012-01-20T06:56:00.000-08:00

I've started a seven week artist in residence position with a local school district. These are 3rd through 5th graders who are pulled out once a week for a 5 hour stint in gifted class. The only break we get is for lunch; the rest of our time is productive fiber arts!

Each student produces a few of their own projects but we also make a project that stays in their classroom. This is last week's piece woven from yarn that we dyed in class. They do the weaving and I tie it off after the week is finished. I've mounted their weaving on an old mill quill from one of our local textile mills. I'd acquired a case of these lovely oak quills several years ago and continue to find special uses for them. I also gave them a little extra bit of local history as I warped their class loom with a lovely local cotton yarn. About ten years ago a dear friend called me from an antique store to tell me she'd found some neat wooden spools for only $2 each. She said she thought I'd like to wrap my handspun yarn on them for display but first I'd have to take the old yarn off of them. The "old yarn" turned out to be awesome and I have treasured it, using it for special school projects where I thought the students would enjoy the history behind it. I've used up all but three of the original spools of yarn.

Helping

2012-01-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

Eric, our middle child, helped Glen, his older brother, take down a tree in the back yard. I was not informed of the details other than that they had to buy even more rope than they already had and that it was near power lines. Certainly keeps a mother in prayer!

Baling Twine

2012-01-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

Baling twine comes in handy a lot around here. Obviously it holds together all of those square and round bales we feed out throughout the year. It also comes in handy for various short and long term repairs. But we have concluded that it is somehow related to kudzu as it seems to pop up just about anywhere and multiply. We had a pleasant day so as I was meandering back from the stable where I'd put on a dye pot I gathered bits and pieces. I had a fairly impressive ball of baling twine by the time I reached the front of the house. And I'm sure there is still plenty to gather tomorrow.

An End of the Year Surprise

2011-12-31T13:11:00.000-08:00

My sweet husband mentioned last night that he wanted to take me to town to get my own bow so that I could shoot with him in the evenings. We have a target out back and he and our middle son often just take a few shots in the evening to wind down for the day. So today we went to a small archery shop in town where I was fitted for my own bow. I did not want a camo print bow as I really just want to enjoy a little target shooting. I picked the oddest bow they had - a color called Gator Blue. I can hit the target but will need to build my endurance. It is a 31 pound draw which isn't that tough but after a dozen shots I was beginning to feel it, especially noticing that my aim was shifting as I fatigued. I've put my new toy away for today but will certainly tackle it again tomorrow.

Happy Geese

2011-12-15T07:02:00.000-08:00

It was an unseasonably warm day yesterday & the same is predicted for today. On the way back to start another dye pot I flipped some scraps to the Pilgrim geese. They are not particularly friendly but have become very aware of our movements. The minute they hear a door open at the house they begin to honk to let us know they are willing to clean up a few greens for us. Unfortunately I noticed the gander has a length of baling twine around his leg this morning. I'll go back out shortly to catch him and unwrap it. I am sure neither of us will enjoy that task.

More Corn

2011-12-12T16:31:00.000-08:00

We worked again on taking down some of the corn maze. Al uses his boot knife to harvest entire stalks while I go to another end of the field just to pull dried ears of dent corn. The livestock love the cornstalks. They are not nutritious enough to be a complete diet but the animals love them as treats, especially when they come across the ears of corn still hanging on the stalk.

I picked and shucked half a dozen big buckets of corn. I shuck while I'm in the field. There is a special way to twist the corn while it is still on the stalk so that it just slips right out of the shucks clean as can be. It was a sunny but very windy day. The noise among the drying cornstalks was so loud that Al and I could not call back and forth to each other while we worked so instead we enjoyed the not-quite-peace-and-quiet.

We'd finally had a few days of rain in the past week followed by some warmer sunny days. I found a few sprouting ears of corn on the ground that I felt were quite beautiful. The fresh green of the sprouts was such a contrast to the drying brown of the parent plants. It made me smile.

Sharing, sort of

2011-12-11T12:52:00.000-08:00

This is Gwen, one of the Anatolian Shepherds, in the back of the old barn where we feed her so that she doesn't have to spend her whole meal snarling at the sheep and goats who want her food. The chicken watching her has grown to be Gwen's friend. This hen is a New Hampshire Red who contracted some sort of illness as a young pullet. Her head swelled for a few days so we isolated her and watched for other chickens to fall ill. No one else did. This hen recovered after a few days of careful nursing but her face is now oddly distorted. She gets along just fine with the other chickens but has also taken to napping with Gwen.

She also learned long ago that Gwen does not finish all of her food every day. It used to be that the hen would hold back to see what kind of leftovers she could find but in this last year she's become much bolder and often just eats out of the bowl along with Gwen while Gwen quietly snarls at her. The hen has also learned to sneak in, snatch a bit and run.

I love to lean on the door frame and watch the two of them go through their mealtime routine. Although I was not quick enough with the camera to get a good picture, I did see the funniest thing yesterday. At one point Gwen just seemed to lose patience with her friend. She reached over with her right paw, put it gently down on the hen's neck and pinned her there so that she could take two bites in peace. When Gwen let the hen back up the hen went back to her circle and grab technique to help Gwen finish dinner.

Kermit

2011-12-10T04:53:00.000-08:00

Kermit's mother was the sweetest Nubian doe. His daddy was one of our Angora bucks. He has grown into a big stinky fellow who shows his heritage in the oddest seasonal fashion. He grows in a gorgeous silky white winter coat and then sheds to coarse black hair in the spring. He has been especially "bucky" lately, so much so that he was finally banished to the cattle pasture for being so aggressive with the smaller goats.

He keeps an eye on me whenever he can. Just the other day he came running as I pulled Allez, one of the Anatolian Shepherds, in for her evening meal. He was rankled that I shut the door in his face; he loves to grab mouthfuls of dog food.

Just as an indication of Kermit's size when he is standing on his hind legs I will tell you that the cross bar of the half door at the back of the old barn is a little over five feet. He towers above it. At one point it almost seemed he was trying to reach through to throw the latch. I'm glad he has hooves and not fingers.

Someone (ahem) left the gate chain off....

2011-12-09T05:42:00.000-08:00

Notice how diligently Gwen is still guarding her charges. This is how I was greeted on a very rainy Wednesday. It seems that when I pulled Gwen into the hay shed to feed her I didn't check to be sure the chain on the back gate fell all the way into the little slot where it should catch. The goats and sheep have plenty of shelter on a rainy day but the temptation of all-you-can-eat hay and a nice roof were just too much. Someone pushed the gate open. Since the hay in this shed is almost gone I did not bother trying to move everyone out. I just took a few pictures, shook my head and went on with collecting eggs. A good laugh helps me maintain my sanity.

A Quandry

2011-12-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

It has rained for a few days so mud is no surprise but I couldn't help stare at Alice today. She had a simply filthy muddy face. If the dirty face belonged to Micah, our Dexter bull, I would not be surprised as he likes to show off to the girls but tearing big holes in the pasture. He is often covered with dust. But Alice is usually a tidy old gal. After exploring a bit, I did find a sort of a clue.

It was hard to get a good picture so I'd best explain. This is an enormous hole that one of the Anatolian Shepherds dug for herself to keep cool in the summer. The hole easily holds a hundred pound dog if that is any indication of the size. Well, inside the entrance to the hole is a single cow footprint. And shoved way down in the hole is the partially deflated old playground ball that just seems to get kicked around the pasture. From the looks of the hole and the cow all I can imagine is that for some reason Alice was trying to get that ball out of that hole. But who really knows? They never fail to amaze me.

Oops

2011-12-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

This is what I discovered when I walked out to collect eggs Sunday afternoon:

One of the screws that holds up the nesting box had apparently popped free. The funny part is that one hen was comfortably setting on a pair of eggs, another was trying to settle into her roosting spot for the coming night and I found five unharmed eggs that had rolled into the corners of their nests.

A Treat

2011-12-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

We are in the habit of letting the dogs lick at an empty peanut butter jar for a few hours before we throw it away. They work at it and really seem to enjoy it. I'd tossed a jar out to Ravi, one of the Anatolians, this afternoon but he was so excited to follow Al as he did his chores that he quickly abandoned it for a trip to a back pasture. As I was returning from gathering eggs I found one of the does hard at work. Her little tongue was flying as she struggled to get every tasty bit that she could.

We Don't Always Share

2011-12-03T05:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's can of kitchen prep scraps from a local hotel had several nice hunks of fancy cheese rinds. There were enough to go around for the front yard dogs. I managed to get a few pictures of two of the dogs. Tootsie Pie, our adorable old black "found" dog, took off to hide and since I was outside in sandals and short sleeve shirt in 30-something degree weather I didn't feel like tracking her down just for a picture.

Andre uses his front paws like little squirrel feet and is quite skilled at eating only the best bits of the rind.

Madison, the beagle, prefers to hunker down in the leaves at the far end of the yard and slowly lick at her cheese until she feels she's been spotted. Then she picks it up and scurries away to a safer spot.

As Eve, the little donkey who doesn't care anything about cheese, approaches Madison prepares to take off again.

This is how I get so little done some days....

2011-11-28T08:56:00.000-08:00

I simply wanted to check e-mail before getting back to wrapping soaps to felt. Dot, our rescued yellow kitty, loves to say right at the edge of my computer where the fan vents warm air. She also decided that my roving pile would simply add to the cozy experience. The only up side I see right now is that she is sleeping. When she is awake she loves to chew on roving and it is awfully challenging to draft out nicely when soaked in cat spit.

Corn

2011-11-25T11:24:00.000-08:00

We began taking down the corn maze at our sweet daughter-in-law's family berry farm a few weeks ago. Al was cutting corn stalks with a shovel and I was following behind stacking them and hauling them to the trailer. To make a long story short, I vaguely remembered my father using a boot-mounted corn blade with some Amish buddies in Holmes County, Ohio. I googled it & the one only option I found was at Lehman's in Kidron. Lehman's used to be the really good hardware store we went to when I was a child. Now it is still a good hardware but they have really expanded the whole Amish-tourism thing. Fine with me, they still have items I need. I ordered Al a corn blade which has really sped up the process. Now Al is working hands free (!) so that he can hold the corn stalks as he kicks them down. So while Al is gathering the stalks I have been walking through the corn field with a few large buckets so that I can gather ear corn. It has been a pleasantly warm and sunny day so taking in corn for the livestock has been a great way to work off Thanksgiving dinner.

Almost Ready

2011-11-21T08:59:00.000-08:00

I determined last week to do my Thanksgiving shopping before things got crazy. I stopped at the store Thursday after I'd finished my artist-in-residence tasks for the day. I'd been in a lovely local school for the week teaching weaving to 5th graders. We had a ball! During my lunch hour I composed my Thanksgiving shopping list and then hit the store on the way home. I do keep plenty of groceries in the freezer and pantry so did not have to pick up great volumes of food. The store was already packed and I was tired when I got home. It was so nice to have help unloading:

Little Eve just cannot keep her nose out of anything. I actually unload groceries in a special order to be sure anything that is potential donkey treats go out first. I believe by the time she realized I was unloading the car all that was left was the 24 pound turkey and a few canned goods. Now that Eve is getting older she naps more in the afternoon which is probably why I was able to get all but the last few things out before she decided to get involved.

And this morning a friend dropped by with a pleasant treat:

Jeff grows amazing produce. He knows I don't really keep a garden because my "free range" eggs are produced by chickens that are truly free ranging - no garden is safe from the 300 hens out foraging for goodies. So Jeff left with several dozen eggs and we have more delicious additions to our big meal!

Almost Done

2011-11-11T05:14:00.000-08:00

This curly yarn is spun primarily from Betsy's fleece. She is one of the Sofa Sisters & a Border Leicester X Cotswold who came to us about a year ago. The yarn also has bits of mohair from our Angora Goats. I spun it for a friend who is trying to duplicate one of her mother's scarves that disappeared. As soon as I took the pictures I popped it in the sink for a final wash.

Fall Abundance

2011-11-09T06:10:00.000-08:00

This time of year is so much fun for the livestock. They get extra goodies from others' fall harvest. That includes left over pumpkins from our friends, Jeff and Kim.

I drop a pumpkin on the concrete drive so that it splits into a few tasty pieces and then distribute them to the oxen, donkeys, sheep and goats. Bart, the crippled sheep who lives in the front yard, loves to nibble at the unbroken ones.

The autumn activities are over at the Hardy Berry farm so we are slowly taking apart the corn maze. We cut stalks, load them on the trailer and bring them home to feed out to the livestock. Just for fun I piled some against the fence surrounding the donkey pasture so that Zeke and Esther could help themselves. Eve, our little Ossabaw Island donkey who lives in the front yard with Bart already has all she can eat but still felt obliged to compete with the big donkeys.

After the initial enthusiasm of having "all you can eat" wore off, we found that the donkeys were sorting through the corn leaves to tear off just the tasty ears of corn. All in all everyone is happy and there is still plenty more corn to be had. So much so that I broke down and ordered a corn knife for Al to attach to his shoe. That should make the harvest a little easier than cutting each stalk with the blade of a shovel.

A Fall Day

2011-11-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

I was making the noon egg gathering run when I came across Ravi and Sadie napping in the barnyard. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say they can enjoy their naps because they are up so much in the night guarding their livestock. Plus the hay was so soft, the sun so warm and the afternoon breeze smelled of all the lovely moldering fall leaves. I snuck quietly by so as not to disturb them.

King of the Hill

2011-10-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

Joey is such a goof. Al stacked some round bales last week. He immediately claimed them as his own. He naps up there until someone walks by. Then he gets up, stretches and stares down until we pass by. The old fellow sure is easily contented.

A Pleasant Surprise

2011-10-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

I was making the rounds to gather eggs this morning. That consists of a huge meandering loop through the stable, through the old barn, through the tractor shed and in and around the buildings that actually have laying boxes in them. Something caught my eye near the water faucet in the old barn. I picked it up, walked outside and laid it on the ground with a freshly laid egg so that I had a nice measure of its size:

Isn't that a lovely little bit of shed snake skin? I was pleased to know that there is still a black rat snake living in the old barn. We rarely see them but are confident that they stay busy containing the rodent population.

Gotta love those cull tomatoes!

2011-09-25T05:19:00.000-07:00

Betsy, one of our two Sofa Sisters, got to the cull bucket before her sister, Bitsy, did. We lovingly refer to these two gals as the Sofa Sisters because when we first got them from another farm they were grossly overweight. It seems the poor woman who had them was having difficulty getting hay so was only feeding them grain. They were so heavy that they panted when crossing the yard. After almost a year with us on a more appropriate diet they have each lost a good 60 pounds and are much more spry. They get lots of nice hay and their treats now are windfall pears and the best of the cull bucket of slightly bruised tomatoes. It had to be some awesome heirloom tomatoes to end up with them above the eyebrows.... Betsy wears them well, don't you think?

Rain, finally....

2011-09-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

We have had three days in a row with hard rains. I found this little toadstool popped out on the side of an older round bale of hay today. Although the goats were not pleased with the torrential rains we desperately need as much as we can get to offset our drought. Our next few days are supposed to be clear but we are praying for regular fall rains to make up our rain deficit.

Monday

2011-09-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

After a busy weekend it is time to get back to some fleece. This white fleece has been sitting outside on the stable porch since spring and was just calling to be dyed.

It needed a very good soaking just to remove the surface crud.

I'd already mixed some orange dye with water and gradually added the wool. I want to felt it later but handled the wet wool carefully as I don't want to felt it quite yet.

After a gentle stir I put it on the burner. We'll see what kind of orange I get on this pretty cream colored fleece.

Back at It

2011-09-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

After a little recovery time it seemed urgent to get back to the dyeing. I sold so very much at the Indie Craft Parade that I would be ashamed to show up to Saturday Market this week with such a low inventory. I did manage to dye seven new skeins of yarn. I'll pull the spinning wheel out any minute now and spend the rest of my evening between skeining out new yarns to dye tomorrow and working on a curly handspun from Betsy, one of the Border Leicester gals.

Finally....

2011-09-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

Indie Craft Parade kicks off this evening. I had an 8 a.m. load-in which I chose so that I could set up, race back to the farm, gather eggs & do a few more routine farm chores before it is time for the doors to open at 6. I had such a fabulous Saturday Market last week that I ended up selling lots & lots of the things I'd planned on taking to Indie so this week has been busy playing catch up. Just thought I'd make a quick post before I get on with the day's work. Can't wait to enjoy the crowds over the next few days & then it is back to the farm routine, whatever that is!

Hmmmm

2011-09-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

This morning Betsy, whose fleece I was trying to sort out, decided to check out her previous year's work. And I had to laugh as I looked at the picture I managed to take. The bucket I am gathering wool in is from the season's kid milk replacer (Little Ralphie sure went through a lot of the stuff) and the paper sack that I'd stored the fleece in is from chicken feed. An awful lot of our "feed" comes from wonderful culls at the tomato farm and also from the prep kitchen at the Hyatt. We sure try to make the most of everything around here. No wonder we rarely manage to fill the trash can for the weekly garbage pick up.

But back to wool. I'm washing up small batches and have been quite content with the lovely white silky curls. I'll do a final good wash after I've spun the yarn but as for now I want to just tease the locks apart for a wild yarn.

Thanks for helping

2011-08-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to start the morning by sorting out a little more of Betsy's fleece so that I could wash it up for a demonstration I am doing at the Indie Craft Parade. Betsy is one of the Sofa Sisters, the hugely overweight Border Leicester X Cotswold ewes we acquired last fall. They have lost weight now and both had beautiful curly fleeces that I've been washing up by the handfuls. I really need to get through a whole fleece soon but I get distracted playing with all those lovely curls. Daphne, our little Manx cat, was apparently also intrigued by the beautiful fiber. And, although she always has a peculiar scowl on her face, Daphne is one of the sweetest and most affectionate outside cats we have.

Making Progress

2011-08-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

This is the last of yesterday's dyeing. I rinsed it and put it out to dry this morning. I think I'll switch to sock yarn dyeing today as those little skeins are much easier to manipulate than the half pound skeins of the beautiful bulky wool yarn. I have been working like a fiend to be ready for the Indie Craft Parade. Last year I did fabulously - enough so to pay for much of the winter's hay. This year the even has been expanded by another day so I'm really stockpiling product. Between keeping up with my regular Saturday Market, all of the farm chores and some school artist obligations it has been a hopping few weeks. I think I'll be due a nice cup of tea and a rest in a few weeks.

Not quite peace & quiet

2011-08-25T07:13:00.000-07:00

I ran outside this morning to take a picture of a chicken's ear. That, however, is another story. As I entered the barnyard, this doe caught my eye. The "shelter" she is in is actually a piece of bent hog panel that we sometimes put in a corner to corral a pile of hay for the sheep to snack on. Some how the panel was flipped over. The part that tickled me was that mother was inside while her little one was on the outside. Perhaps mama just felt she was taking a little break from the kid.

Where does the time go....

2011-08-24T07:43:00.000-07:00

This is the latest little project to take time from all of the things I ought to be doing. Saturday night Al did his last round through the pastures before bedtime. He returned with a nasty wet blob in his hand. It was a baby squirrel that Allez, the Anatolian Shepherd who guards one pasture and the woods, had been carrying gently around for a while. She had not put a mark on it but had almost drowned it in slobber. I put it on a heating pad for the night to see if it would survive. It was up and hopping the next morning so I started it on Esbilac that I still had in the freezer from our years of wildlife rehab. We knew there was no way we'd be able to reunite it with mother - we hadn't a clue where Allez had even found it. Now he is a happy little man who is eating like a fiend. I am hoping to transition him to solid food and eventually release him. Of course, I won't release him anywhere near the house with the cats and dogs. I am also not planning to return him to Allez's woods.

Potential

2011-08-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

We'd had a bit of a rain storm last night and the Lincoln boys were out in it. The sheep seem to prefer to ignore the rain rather than take the time to run for shelter like the goats do. Anyways, I was taken with the way the rain had parted their fleeces right down their spines. The locks are looking so lovely, especially considering that the fellows are barely 3 months old. Both started out as black lambs with a lighter undercoat but Buddy, in the first picture, is turning almost silver. Should be interesting to see how their first shearings look next spring.

Oh, Baloo

2011-08-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

The high heat has really impacted egg production. The gals are eating less and lounging around most of the day. Some have even started their later-in-the-summer molt so that they've quit laying all together. I need every egg they can produce because we have a few restaurant commitments and also hate to disappoint regular customers at the Saturday Market. That is why I am not amused when Baloo runs ahead of me to the cow pasture where there is one set of nest boxes. He climbs the gate ahead of me and races to grab an egg he can reach. Then he carefully eats up the best part!

More Hay

2011-08-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we were driving over to Jeff & Kim's to pick up more cull squash and tomatoes. We passed a fellow baling in a field so turned around to find out what he had planned for those bales. We do have other hay sources but with the terribly dry weather we are apprehensive about how the rest of the summer will go and feel a need to start putting in hay for the winter now. To make a long story short, the fellow was willing to sell us hay. We arranged to get 400 bales over the weekend. Al and I worked alone on Friday and Saturday, gather 100 bales each day. On Sunday the farmer found us a hard-working young man who helped out so that we were able to get 200 bales in the afternoon. We now have 300 bales packed into the old barn and another 100 tarped up and remaining on the trailer. With our temperatures in the high 90's we just didn't have the gumption to unload the last load of hay.

Culls

2011-07-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends, Jeff & Kim, always send cull tomatoes home with me after we've done the Saturday Market together. This week after we'd filled the two cull buckets that I bring with me each week we dumped extra tomatoes into my empty egg cooler. I let the creatures find the goodies on their own. Carrie, one of the Dexter cows, pushed her way in first and eventually managed to flip the lid. Once she'd finished up a few of the goats and sheep stepped in for leftovers. The cooler will get a very thorough scrubbing inside and out before we use it again!

Beating the Heat

2011-07-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

It was almost 80 at 7 a.m. so I decided that if I was going to work outside I'd best get to it. I have had a few fleeces that I needed to pick for the longest time so decided to go through them. Since I was working out at the side of the house Eve, the donkey, had to help. Sadie, the Anatolian Shepherd, checked to see if I had something interesting in the bag but quickly went about her own business.

I did end up with 2 laundry baskets of wool to process. It took me an hour to go carefully through everything. I believe other than the usual outside visits to gather eggs, bottle the Lincoln lambs and check water troughs I'll spend much of the day inside at the spinning wheel.

Borrowed Children

2011-07-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

It was too stinking hot to dye things today. Instead, I borrowed three delightful children from town and we did a little visiting. We started at my daughter-in-law's family farm in Anderson, Hardy Berry. They got their berry picking baskets weighed and then visited Jack, the Anatolian Shepherd, and his sheep and alpacas.

Since our son was working the farm he gave the children the grand tour including a trip up to the big water cannon irrigating the corn field. On the way back they raced Bear, one of the farm dogs, around the edge of the pond.

They helped cull some overgrown squash, loading it all in my car to take home to the oxen.

Every time Betsy disappeared it was because she was busy snuggling Bear.

After picking blueberries we went on to our friends at Iszy's Heirlooms. I'd called ahead and asked Jeff if we could trade him some blueberries for his gorgeous tomatoes. He was in the field when we arrived. He had just seen evidence of a tomato horn worm so let the children help him track it down.

We finished back at my farm where we had to give bottles to lambs, gather some eggs, check the water troughs and feed the culled squash to the oxen. All in all, it was a pleasant morning.

No Wonder

2011-07-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

No wonder the hen I pulled this egg out from under was in a foul mood, pecking at my arm as I slid my hand under her in the nest box.

The extra large egg on the left weighs 2.4 oz. and the special egg weighs in at 4.1 oz. It will obviously not fit into an egg carton.

Carissa's Scarf

2011-07-06T08:12:00.000-07:00

On Saturday a young lady who works at the restaurant right behind my Market tent was admiring my sock yarn and also some of my scarves. Long story short - I offered to knit her a ruffled scarf from her favorite sock yarn and also to dye some more sock yarn in yellows for another scarf. So I started knitting Sunday afternoon, dyed her yellow yarn on Monday & finished my knitting this morning.

The scarf is knit sideways and I don't have a pattern, I just cast on lots of stitches and go.

After a while I knit stitches together to draw up the ruffle. I also throw in a few yarn over/knit two together business to make a few lacy holes.

I think this scarf, which ended up being over 6 feet long, should suit her just fine.

A Little More Work

2011-07-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

I love to dye sock yarn. The dyeing is fun even if it can be a bit of a challenge. I do my dyeing in a stall in the stable. Sheep, goats and an occasional cow accompany me as I walk back and forth from the house. A few who are in the know and realize there may be a handful of sweet feed in the stable try to slip through the big sliding door. They do often get a treat as I fiddle around tending to the rapidly growing baby chicks and one poor sheep who is injured. It often takes me almost half an hour to get around to the dyeing that I came out to do. I keep the stall door shut so that I don't have the animals in my space but I can hear them as I work.

Yesterday morning as I was dyeing it seems every chicken within earshot had something to say. There was a little crowing but most of the noise was the nice clucking sounds that happy chickens make as they scratch around working for treats to eat. I was dyeing early in the day so the birds were much more ambitious than later when it warmed up. By noon the birds were mostly reclined in shady spots staring at me as if they just knew that I was the cause of their distress. Seems we all gave up working by midday because of the heat.

What's Been Up

2011-06-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

It has been a pleasantly busy month. The blogging has gotten lost somewhere in the shuffle. Saturday Market has been amazing so that I am spending most every day making something new to restock the tent for the coming week. I managed to get more dyeing done.

And if you have a sharp eye you will notice the bucket I am carrying yarn around in is a milk replacer bucket. We acquired a pair of Lincoln lambs a few weeks ago and they are tearing through the milk. The Lincoln is a very large breed so even the babies eat like maniacs. I thought we were done with babies for the season but managed to add these two fellows and their 5-bottle-a-day routine.

As long as I was out taking yarn pictures, I took a few of the oxen. Just a simple note on the big boys: the hay they are standing in had been an intact and tightly wound round bale just two days prior. They love to play with their food!

More Babies

2011-06-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

We routinely add to our chicken population each summer. As hens age they lay fewer and poorer quality eggs. We let our gals retire here and just live out their natural lives. Since the birds are free range we don't have to worry about things like coop space so the freeloading birds aren't really a problem. But we do need to keep plenty of young layers who are in their prime around.

I had ordered 100 pullets a few months ago without paying any attention to the fact that they would be arriving at the end of a holiday weekend. It is a long story but rather than getting an early-morning call from our local post office that our birds were ready to retrieve, I got a Tuesday afternoon call from the Greenville distribution center. The fellow said he could send the birds to my post office the next day or I could come on to town to retrieve them. Al ran by within an hour to pick them up.

There was only one bird who did not survive the long trip from Iowa. We got everyone else set up and so far they are doing nicely. Our daytime temperatures have been in the mid to upper 90's so we haven't even needed a heat lamp during the day.

A Calf

2011-05-31T05:23:00.000-07:00

Al came in yesterday morning and informed me that Alice had had a healthy little bull calf. I tried to get a few pictures but Alice is so friendly that she prefers to lick on me than stand back and let me photograph her little man. So this is the best I could do.....

A Green Treat

2011-05-30T05:22:00.000-07:00

Our sweet friend, Jeff, of Iszy's Heirlooms, texted me Sunday afternoon to say he had some animal food. That is always a good message as it means he is finishing up one crop and beginning another. Rather than just turn it under, he offers it to us for the livestock. This time he had plenty of romaine and Chinese cabbage that was ready to be pulled as the hot weather would be turning it bitter. I walked a very long row, twisting the heads free while Al followed behind with the wheelbarrow. We ended up with about 150 heads, plenty to give everyone here a nice treat.

Exploring

2011-05-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

We decided to store some of the abundance of oat hay in the tractor shed. It has a nice new roof. Two of the walls are solid and the other two are made up of cattle panel and gates. The chickens and babies can slip in but the hay is safe from the adult livestock. The babies have had a great time exploring the new hay, snacking as they go.

We started with a small overflow of hay in the tractor shed but another week added even more so that the hay is almost to the rafters. I was surprised to find a very brave or foolish little Shetland ram lamb almost to the rafters. The pictures are not the greatest but you can see he's awfully far up. He is either a very brave or very silly little man.

There was a little exploring going on at the front of the house this week as well. Our sweet friend, Jeff, said it was time to pull up some excess cabbage as the weather was hot and it was going to turn bitter. He wanted to know if the animals would like it. He is so good to offer us his culls and extras for the creatures! Al filled the back of the pick up truck in very short order. As he was unloading here at home Bud, one of the Tunis sheep, figured out what was going on so decided to help.

A Little Fiber

2011-05-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

The best thing about being back in the Saturday Market routine is the need to keep up with production. I've got a fair bit of dyeing done this week and have been busy rewinding and tagging. I've also got other skeins prepped to dye tomorrow. Even though they won't be ready for this week's Market, I feel like I've got a head start on the coming week.

Playing With the New Camera

2011-05-15T04:27:00.000-07:00

I received a new camera for Mother's Day & it has a wonderful zoom (18X) so that I can finally take pictures of some of our overly-friendly creatures without even having to go into their pastures. I had been very frustrated with my other camera. It was a fine camera but perhaps I should say I was frustrated with my creatures. Whenever I tried to take their pictures, they would run up to me for some attention and I would end up with a very close-up shot of their noses, eyes, ears, etc. Now it seems I can sneak around the farm and take a few pictures before anyone realizes what I am up to.

So, a little of the family with a few captions:

A very handsome rooster gleaning some of the scrap grain from the newly cut oat hay. He was born here as a hybrid (which means we really haven't a clue who his parents were.....) so he is a very attractive one-of-a-kind fellow.

Little Odette, one of our funniest looking little lambs, taking an afternoon nap next to the stable wall.

One of our oldest Shetland ewes with a hen for company.

Hay

2011-05-09T05:33:00.000-07:00

Last week was a busy one. We started on Sunday by going for 200 square bales of fresh oat hay. We gathered the bales right out of the field with the help of a few of the farmer's friends. We can take 100 bales at a time on our trailer so after loading the first 100 we ran home, piled them into the old barn and returned. The second load was tarped until we had the energy to unload it Monday. Then we started again on Saturday with the intention of getting 100 bales on Saturday and another 100 on Sunday. When we arrived, the farmer asked if we'd take all 200 that day but we explained that we just couldn't pull it off. Saturday Market (www.saturdaymarketlive.com) had just started that morning with a bang and we were exhausted. Our intention was to gather 100 bales Saturday and another on Sunday. When we explained we just really couldn't unload and come back on Saturday, the farmer's response was, "What if I send a boy home with you to unload?" He sent his adult son and our oldest son also met up with us so that we were able to pull off another 200 bales on Saturday. Our Sunday "rest" was to do nursery duty at church. An infant is a lot lighter to tote around than a hay bale!

One square bale fell off of the trailer on the way to the old barn. Al had unstrapped the hay to load the 1st 20 bales into the horse trailer at the front of the house. That makes it easier to feed the donkeys. He did not restrap everything before heading to the back so these sheep got a bit of a treat. In the background are a few round bales from last fall's cutting. It is obvious that this fresh green oat hay is a bit more popular.

All the animals in the back also had a big time eating the loose bits that fell of the bales as they were being unloaded. They also got a few bales that we didn't have the gumption to haul into the barn.

Seriously?

2011-05-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

I had already gathered about three dozen eggs when I noticed one of the cows had baling twine wrapped around her horns. I safely tucked my egg bucket in a nest box and went to free the cow. When I returned I discovered a little hen who was too impatient to lay her own 30+ eggs, preferring to hijack my bucket load. I don't know how she managed to squeeze herself in but it took me a moment to remove her without overturning the bucket and ruining the eggs.

Baling twine can be a wonderful thing, especially when every last bit of it gets picked up when cutting it off a bale. That doesn't always happen. Just a few days ago I noticed one of the roosters who is fairly outgoing sitting quietly by himself. He watched me as I approached and then stood up with a look on his face that said he was resigned to the fact that he needed some help. He had had his own little encounter with a stray bit of baling twine. I have no idea how he managed to entangle himself so thoroughly but he calmly let me lift him and cut off the twine. I keep a pair of German surgical scissors on a nail in the barn for just such an occasion. I did, however, have to get a quick picture with my cell phone..... Some days!

Waiting

2011-04-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

I've been in and out several times today. We are waiting for some bad storms to be moving in later today. The air is heavy and the sky periodically darkens. The wind has been picking up and is now a steady breeze. I've made sure all the right gates are open so that the animals can get under shelter. Usually the cows and sheep just stand around when it rains but the goats race for shelter at the sign of the first raindrop.

As I walked back to gather eggs I noticed a little doe kid all by herself. She was simply watching the world from her special perch at the back of the old barn. Her mother was really only about twelve feet away but she looked like such an independent little lady.

I made my usual rounds gathering eggs. I was enjoying the quiet little chatty noises that the hens make as I work my way through the nest boxes when I heard the dogs explode. Gwen and Allez were fighting through the fence again. Those two sisters have become more and more impatient with each other the older they get. It is hard to believe they flew here all the way from Iowa cuddled together in a little dog kennel. Now they can barely share two adjoining pastures without tangling. They do a lot of growling, barking and threatening. On occasion one will get a nip in at the other. Usually the other dogs just lay around and watch these two act up. The goats and sheep just step out of the way. I would certainly hate to have to break up a disagreement that did not have a nice strong fence in between it.

Shearing for our Son

2011-04-21T04:47:00.000-07:00

Last summer our oldest, Glen, and his precious wife, Kelli, decided to start a flock of Romneys. After a few trips to a few states, they ended up with a ram and three ewes. They had their first lamb a little over a week ago.

We are almost done with our shearing here so it seemed like a good idea to shear their sheep. My sweet husband, Al, does our shearing. It took us a bit of running to round everyone up but in the end the sheep were relieved of their winter coats and it looks like I've got a bit of wool to keep me busy for a while.

We'll have to make a return trip as Al did not shear one of the ewes. When he tipped her, it was obvious that she was very close to lambing. He cleaned up her belly and her backside but did not want her to endure the entire process. Probably a wise choice as she had twins less than 12 hours later!

Shearing

2011-04-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

This is Mo, the Cotswold ewe who was in Friday's blog photo. Al sheared her yesterday &she produced a beautiful fleece that weighed well over 8 pounds. I believe she is a little embarrassed over the new haircut as I had to really work hard to take a picture of her, she kept walking away. Her lambs still look a little confused over mother's new look. Oh, and Mo came to use with a torn ear. That was not a shearing mishap but the result of her ear tag being torn before we acquired her. The little flap bothers me but apparently Mo is okay with it, it healed long ago and we are just trying to ignore it.

A Family

2011-04-15T04:01:00.000-07:00

In March I came across a listing for Cotswold sheep on craigslist. We spoke to the woman who was about an hour away from us, took a drive to visit the sheep, liked what we saw and left a deposit. We returned the next day to gather two adult sheep and three yearlings.

Curly is the Cotswold ram and Mollie is the ewe. Our 14 year old German Shorthair Pointer is named Mollie so we changed Mollie's name to Mo - the perfect companion for Curly. We also got Mo's lambs from last year, a pair of Cotswold X Shetlands, as well as a little year old Cotswold X Babydoll wether who was part of the original package.

As we were traveling to retrieve the sheep we got a call from their owner. Mo, who we knew was pregnant, had just lambed. To make a long story short, Helen and Ellen, the twin Cotswold girls, traveled home in the truck cuddled in my lap. Even at birth they were covered with gorgeous wooly ringlets that I can hardly wait to spin. After a happy reunion in the barnyard, the little family has been inseparable. They have joined the rest of our flock but still manage to hang out as a family. I came out the other day to find Curly just quietly watching over his little crew.

Updates

2011-04-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

This is the latest goose nest. Both of the geese moved it again this morning while the gander watched from a distance. For some reason they rounded up all of the previously discarded eggs and tucked them in the nest again.

I had to run a few errands in town so scurried out to gather eggs just as soon as I returned. Something caught my eye. Jezebelle had lambed. She is one of our oldest Shetland ewes and we have been watching her closely. She is prone to going down from milk fever. She has also been limping a bit, perhaps from the lamb pressing on a nerve. I was tickled to find that she'd had a simple delivery and that the little guy was up and around. He is absolutely tiny! I took off my size 8 barn shoe to show how little he really is.

In my excitement about the new lamb, I forgot and set a bottle down in the stable where Baloo, our bit Pyrennes X Kangal Livestock Guardian Dog was napping. His nap didn't last quite long enough.

We use Pritchard teats to feed the lambs and kids when their mother's can't. I buy them at least half a dozen at a time as there is no good substitute. Guess I'd better count how many I have left and order a few more.

Moving?

2011-04-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

I was finally able to take a picture of our Pilgrim Goose on her nest. I had to stand on the woodpile and hang over the fence as the other goose and the gander in with her viciously attack if I try to go through the gate into their yard. Just last week the gander grabbed the back of my hand as I was refilling the water bucket. He pinched and twisted, leaving a now-green bruise on the back of my hand. I was not about to try to sprint across their yard with a camera just for a picture.

The two geese had been laying eggs in the nest since some time in February. One of the geese got broody and began to set on St. Patrick's Day. She has barely moved since. From what I can tell, she takes a quick break for food and water once a day, carefully covering her nest before leaving. She has also tended to her nest by discarding a few eggs. She must know something about those eggs that is not obvious to us but from what we can figure she probably still has eight or ten eggs under her.

When the geese began to lay we had to put a sheet of plywood against the fence as they would reach out to grab anyone walking by their nest. They have quite long necks which fit easily through the gaps in the cattle panel. Unfortunately they built right in the corner closest to the gate that we all use to go to the back of the farm. Until we put the plywood up we had to swing the gate wide open and walk as far from the nest as we could. The dogs as well as a sheep or two following us would often get a good goosing. The dogs quickly learned to wait until they could pass on the farthest side. The sheep just kept running, often leaving a lock of wool behind with a goose.

This morning I noticed that she had moved the entire nest over by a foot. It was completely rebuilt with perhaps one more egg discarded. I have no idea what she was thinking but it was quite intentional. We'll find out a little over a week what has become of the eggs still under her.

Hiding

2011-04-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

The little brown doe and her mother went outside yesterday. Looks like her color is quite an asset as mother had hidden her in a corner of the pasture and it took me a little while to find her. The white kids sure stand out but this little one was a little harder to see. The shadows and the color of the hay make a perfect way to hide. The fact that she is just absolutely tiny - probably less than 5 pounds - also helps.

Another Surprise

2011-04-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

We had every intention of getting to church on Sunday. Right before it was time to dress to go, I carried Ralphie, the little bottle kid, out to the stable to play with the other babies while we were away. I made a quick "just in case" walk around and found a lovely white doe that had just dropped a tiny kid. The kid's face was cleaned up but the rest was a mess. It was a chilly morning and the little one was not trying hard to get up so we moved mother and kid to a warm stall with a heat lamp in the corner.

Mother was not very attentive to the doeling so I was anxious about heading to town. We stayed home and finally had to milk out the mother and give the kid her first feeding from a bottle. Once that warm colostrum hit her belly, she was up and trying to nurse within the hour. By the end of the day all was well.

I was still frustrated with how poorly the mother had cleaned up her baby. The little doeling had a clean white head but still seemed to be covered with the reddish brown dirt from the spot in the pasture where she was born. I mentioned something to Al who told me that he thought the little kid was brown. That had never crossed my mind! I spit on the kid, wiped very hard with my fingers and discovered that it really is a little brown goat. And we will try again next Sunday to get to church.....

Finally!

2011-04-04T05:52:00.000-07:00

I have often told folks that when we shear the lambs get quite confused. They can be standing right by their own mother and bawling, not recognizing her with a new haircut. I finally managed to get a picture of one of the sets of twins searching for mother among the fleeces. Al had shorn half a dozen sheep yesterday and had piled the fleeces along the porch of the stable so that I could go through them. I came out to gather eggs and noticed activity on the porch. I was thrilled to have a camera in my pocket and can finally document lambs searching. Little did they know that I'd already snatched up their mother's fleece and that a big chunk of it was in a pot of green dye.

Playing Catch Up

2011-04-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I've updated the blog. We've got a few new babies including a little black and white ram lamb born Friday while I was at an arts day at a local school. I went out to gather eggs and was surprised when this little fellow came flying around the corner of the stable and began to follow me. It took me a few minutes to find his sweet little mother.

After a rainy week, we've finally had a pleasant day. Freckles and her twins were enjoying the sunshine but the lambs were hunkered down low to avoid the heavy winds.

Betsy got separated from her sister, Bitsy. We got the two several months ago and they were grossly overweight, seemingly having been fed way too much grain at their original home. We've named them the Sofa Sisters as they are wide as couches and will knock us up against the fence posts to get through the gates. They are especially anxious when they are apart. Betsy just seemed sure she could force her way through the gate.

She and Bitsy both have such gorgeous fiber so I cannot wait until shearing time. I just feel sorry for my sweet husband who will have to tip her and roll her around for her shearing.

I'm hoping to add some of her curls to a little felting. I've been playing around with bags lately so think a few curls might be a nice touch.

Sweet Mama

2011-03-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

Sadie, our youngest of the Anatolian Shepherds, just turned 10 months old. She has taken on a little kid who was born prematurely on Saturday. The doe had abandoned a set of twins as they were born in the night. The smallest twin never could hold body temperature and died within the first day. The other little fellow is hanging on and has become Sadie's project.

Eve

2011-03-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

Eve is just a stinker. She has learned that at the end of almost each day Al brings home a nice can of kitchen prep scraps from the Hyatt. She has also learned that if the little tabs on the lid of the can are not lined up exactly with the handles, she can use her teeth just like a bottle opener and pop the lid right off. That gives her first shot at all the fresh peelings and other treats. We really have a great arrangement with the Hyatt. They even refrigerate the prep scraps so that we never get "garbage", just some nutritious goodies that would otherwise be going into a dumpster.

Babies

2011-03-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

Oliver is a proud daddy. He is one of the three rams whose lambs are currently appearing all over the farm. Oliver is a Coopworth ram and we are pleased so far with the influence his genetics has had on last year's fleeces so are looking for more great things when this year's lambs grow out. Those white lambs are a dead giveaway that he's the daddy.

A Whole Week?

2011-03-10T06:53:00.000-08:00

I am simply ashamed that a week has gone by without an update to the blog. We have had a combination of storms, heavy rains and a few more lambs. With the addition of a little black ewe lamb early this morning we are up to 14 lambs. Seems all I do is check babies. That is not a complaint, just an explanation of why I don't have much time with the camera or computer. I will try to update again later if time allows.

What Good Dogs Do

2011-03-03T05:50:00.000-08:00

I came out yesterday afternoon and the first thing I saw was Ravi studying something while Gwen observed closely from her pasture. It seems a new lamb was just getting to its feet. The sheep are so accustomed to the dogs being around that this ewe was just going on about her normal business of birthing a lamb. I turned over a bucket and spent quite some time watching. Ravi took a few licks to help clean up the lamb. He also waited patiently for the ewe to pass her placenta.

Another pregnant ewe stopped by for a quick look. The dogs observed but did not bother with her as there was no threat.

And as it all turns out we have another beautiful ewe lamb with the softest, waviest coat I think we've ever had. Another pretty addition to the fiber supply here!

A Few Pictures

2011-03-01T04:11:00.000-08:00

Gwen was meeting Fuzzy's little lamb, Odette, moments after she was born. Gwen was more concerned about Fuzzy butting her than about being able to sniff at the new baby. Fuzzy had already given a warning stomp with her front foot and was ready to protect that lamb.

Katy was home from college for the weekend. One of the very first things she did was to love on her dog, Regina. Regina is our oldest Anatolian. She was born here about 8 years ago and is a good girl with lots of personality. Although we all give her plenty of attention, I know she misses her Katy.

The babies were playing around on a compost pile. Although it is not much of a mountain they seem to get a kick out of conquering it.

And this is one of the Shetland mamas. It was not my intention to get a close up of her but she kept trying to get petted as I was taking a picture of her lamb. She is a silly girl but quite a sweetheart.

A Little Itch

2011-02-24T05:41:00.000-08:00

This is Betsy, one of the Corriedale X Border Leicester ewes we got from a woman in North Carolina who was losing her farm. Betsy and her sister, Bitsy, were tremendously overweight and we have been concerned about their health. They had seemingly been fed mostly on grain with very little hay in their diet. When they arrived here we switched them over to hay with only a small handful of grain as a daily treat. They have lost some weight and are becoming more active.

Betsy seems to have had an itchy back and found a good solution up under the edge of a picnic table. She contentedly scratched up under the table for quite some time. And before long those lovely locks she is growing will be mine to spin!

Oh, Benjamin

2011-02-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

Benjamin is a stray cat that Katy dragged home with her a few years ago. At the time he was skinny and had what looked to be an abscess on his side. After a little exploration by the vet, we discovered it was his kidney that had somehow emerged through his muscle wall and was floating under his skin. Many hundreds of dollars later, Benjamin is an 18 pound monster who loves life. He is mostly in the house but we have been letting him out when he can play nicely. Initially he wanted to pick a fight with the other cats and often ended up on the roof hissing and howling. Now he has mellowed a bit and has just recently been enjoying a daily excursion to the world of "outside".

He decided yesterday to lounge in a wheelbarrow full of hay that we'd moved over for the donkeys. That did not last long.

Babies

2011-02-18T06:52:00.000-08:00

Aggie is such a good mother. Aggie's mother, Anna, was just the best which is amazing because Anna was a little orphaned Jacob ewe who we hand raised after rescuing her from another farm. We haven't yet named Aggie's little ewe lamb. I think she needs a name that starts with "a" just like the rest of Anna's offspring.

This little one was getting a bit of a bath. This Dexter calf is no longer a baby but mother still treats him that way! She cleaned at that ear for a good 3 minutes.

And little mister Pumpkin absolutely loved the pleasant weather yesterday. He took a bit of a break from romping around to lounge. He has some lanky legs and is already showing his little horn buds on top his head. He was also practicing wrinkling his nose like rams do.

So I was thinking....

2011-02-16T13:00:00.000-08:00

As I was walking out to feed the dogs, I noticed our first little lamb dancing around in the pasture with his mother. I was thinking it was a shame he was born so early in the season as he had no one to play with. I opened the gate into the barnyard, lifted my head to see what dog was in which pasture and noticed this.

Aggie had delivered a lovely little red ewe with a very white head. The little one was up and about. She had a full little tummy so had already nursed. A newly born lamb looks so flat until they get something in their stomach! The placenta had only just been delivered. Eric and I moved mama and daughter into a stall in the stable for a little quiet time and a chance to give mama a good meal of grain and fresh hay. And in a few days the little ram lamb will have a playmate in the pasture.

Odds & Ends

2011-02-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

Monday night's lamb is thriving. He is a happy little boy with a very loving and efficient mother. We did let Baloo come visit him but Baloo was more intrigued with the nasty little clumps of meconium that the little fellow had passed his first day of life than with the lamb.

We've brought in three different 100 bale loads of hay in barely a week. Al and I have had a good workout unloading and stacking it all. Ravi insists on helping. He wanted to jump to the top of the trailer and I just happened to have my camera out. This is a picture of him bouncing off of the hay and tumbling to the ground.

We felt sorry for him so unloaded enough bales to build a little stairway. He climbed to the top and sat proudly, obviously not to concerned with his initial tumble. He was also too helpful as we were trying to find spots in the old barn to stick a few more bales.

Sadie, in the meantime, believes her job is to guard little April. She also wants to groom little April and I've found Sadie with a mouth full of fleece and April with a bald spot. We are working on breaking this bad habit.

And, finally, April disguised as a pile of old hay.....

First Arrival

2011-02-08T06:16:00.000-08:00

Just a bit of a surprise last night....

Last year's first lamb came about March 5th so I wasn't really expecting anyone any time soon. Late yesterday afternoon I did notice a Tunis ewe who had separated herself and was laying on her side for a while but she got up and went on her way. The thought crossed my mind that before long it will be lambing season so I'd better get some decent sleep in the next few weeks before things start.

Al went out about eight o'clock to finish up chores but soon returned. He announced that we had the first lamb but that he didn't know who the mother was. I told him about the light colored ewe I'd seen earlier in the day so we took a flashlight and went back out. Al said he'd found Baloo with the lamb but no mother nearby. The lamb was perfectly clean and dry. Baloo was babysitting it. After some searching, we came up with the mother. Interestingly enough, the whole time we searched the lamb stood next to Baloo watching the process. Baloo continued to lick at it and nudge it closer to himself.

We got mother and son into a stall. The lamb was not only spotless, seemingly thanks to Baloo, but had a round little belly meaning he'd already eaten. It seems Baloo did allow mother to give him a first meal before kidnapping the little guy. We checked the ewe's udder and one side was already open. I popped the wax plug out of the other side and after we'd seen the lamb nurse we left them alone. Mother was gently licking his head as we tucked them into bed.

This morning when I checked on them they were just fine. I borrowed the lamb for just a minute to show to Baloo. Mother was standing nearby. He enthusiastically began to lick it again. He also shoved it to his far side so that he was between mother and "his" lamb. I gave him just a brief visit and returned the lamb to its mother. Baloo trotted happily out of the stable.

This was Baloo's first assist at a birth. I am so glad that, even though he should not have really borrowed the lamb from the mother, he was not aggressive or hurtful. Who knows what is to come but I do have a load of old towels in the laundry right now in preparation for upcoming births. And Baloo is contentedly back with the rest of his crew.

Lounging

2011-01-31T08:17:00.000-08:00

Ravi, one of the Anatolians, was enjoying yesterday's unseasonably warm temperatures and pleasant sunshine. Sadie, who has just turned 8 months old, would have none of that. She knew it was a perfect day to play.

Everyone, of course, went back to napping after a few quick laps through the back yard and a good tussle or two.

Self-Serve

2011-01-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

It was easier to bring a square bale up from the barn than to move a round bale with the tractor because of the mud. I brought the bale to the front of the house where the donkeys live but then got distracted with something or another. Mind you, no one ever runs out of food around here - I was just bringing hay up for later in the day. Zeke and Esther didn't feel like waiting so helped themselves.

Trouble, Again....

2011-01-28T07:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, Jeff, the Angora buck, has a problem. I passed him in the barnyard and he was just nibbling at a hay bale. I was in the back for about fifteen minutes gathering eggs. This is what I found on my return. He had managed to find a triple loop of high tensile fence line and apparently had stuck his head through the loops and then also manage to step through the bottom of one loop.

I set down my egg bucket and spent a moment or two flipping the loops back over his horns and then dropping them down so that he could step out. Sadie, who had accompanied me to the back, thought this was the perfect opportunity to sneak up on the egg bucket. But I was watching.

A Little Dyeing

2011-01-26T12:24:00.000-08:00

Even though it has been raining, the temperature is milder so I've been able to do some dyeing. This is sock yarn from the point where I've finished steaming it, rinse it and then once it is dry, wind it into a nice skein. I think the little bit of rust sets off the green nicely.

A Rainy Morning

2011-01-25T09:01:00.000-08:00

The weathermen have been yee-hawing for several days about our big potential storm. They are loving using the footage from the bad weather a few weeks ago as they talk about what might happen. As it is now, looks like they will have to be content with just a slow, steady rain which suits us fine. I've been working outside much of the morning so thought I'd share some of what I've seen today.
We'll begin with Ravi, our best $20 dog ever, who can look at me without shame (see yesterday's post on little Sadie...). He is a fancy, papered Anatolian Shepherd who is quite the gentleman. We found him needing a new home and were happy to take him on. He's been with us over a year now and is mostly perfect.

Sequoia, our Navajo Churro, had ended up on the wrong side of the fence when Al moved hay in the dark last night. In fact, I could hear him hollering at me as I walked to the back of the property. He had apparently heard the door to the house open and close so knew help was on the way. He did not want to stay in the barnyard but wanted returned to his usual pasture. I returned him and then fed a little extra hay. Sequoia is that big fellow on the left corner of the photo. Years ago we had to saw the tip off of his right horn as it was curling into his eye. Otherwise, he's a strong, healthy, personable old boy who started life as a tiny orphan on a friend's farm.

The sheep don't mind the rain. They were all studying to see what might happen to that bale of hay I'd laid on the other side of the gate.

The goats, however, were standing pitifully under the eave of the tractor shed. They despise the rain or any form of precipitation falling from the sky. One time I was irritated at goats bothering me as I tried to work outside. I dispersed them with a good shot from the garden hose. Whatever works.

And as I walked back through the barnyard to get another bucket of yarn to dye, I passed one of my favorite old sweethearts, Jezebelle. She has the biggest mouth of any of our sheep, rivaled only by her daughters who have inherited her wail. She loves attention and always makes me smile.

This is not an innocent face....

2011-01-24T08:48:00.000-08:00

I carefully butchered out 5 of our own shoulder roasts so that I could use the meat in a pot of Hungarian goulash. I saved all of the scraps to cook up to add to dog food and then roasted the bones for the livestock guardian dogs. They are the nice round bones that don't splinter so it is always a welcomed treat.

I tossed the meat scraps in a skillet to cook and ran downstairs to check something. I purposefully used the back burner on the stove so as not to tempt little miss Sadie who had watched me as I worked in the kitchen.

I came back upstairs in less than five minutes and went to stir the scraps in the skillet. The skillet smelled hot as I entered the kitchen. The perfectly empty skillet was quite hot and there wasn't a scrap of anything in it. Nor was there a dog in sight. Sadie had slipped off to the living room where she was perched at the top of the steps shyly watching to see if she had been discovered. I will obviously need to be much more vigilant when I make the goulash. And Sadie can almost not bear to make eye contact with me right now. Bad baby.

A Few Observations on Color

2011-01-19T08:12:00.000-08:00

All three of these skeins started with the same dyed roving. Simply spinning up the original roving gave me the middle skein. For the skein on the left, I randomly added strips of a more persimmon-colored roving as I was spinning. The skein on the right is made with a ply of camel-colored alpaca and a ply of the wool from the combination for the skein on the left. Lots of variety out of a pound of dyed wool.

And while we are comparing colors, I had to add this picture taken in the corner of the pasture. These hens had sorted themselves by breed. If they weren't all hens, I'd think they had gotten tired of the rain and were pairing themselves off for a ride on the ark.

Snow Days

2011-01-14T06:15:00.000-08:00

I've got a project for today. I want to spin up the roving I'd dyed as our snowstorm was starting. I've already completed one skein and have about 12 more ounces to finish up.

Each day a little more snow melts but then freezes to an icy coating in the 20 degree night. The ice coating this morning was thick enough to hold the weight of a small Shetland ewe who tried to follow me down a hill. I was halfway down, crunching through the ice and then having a pretty steady footing in the snow below, when she noticed me. She ran toward me from the top of the hill and then froze. She literally skied all the way to me, crossing a good thirty feet of snow without ever moving her feet. She'd locked her legs in panic and slid down the hill with a befuddled look on her face. She looked so relieved when her feet broke through a weaker spot and she could gingerly go on her way.

And, although the lighting was not good for this picture, I want you to see the beautiful square bales stacked in the old barn. Just yesterday the sheep finished off their round bale so Al carried a few squares out and laid them in the snow this morning. The sheep are thrilled with their newest treat and we are pleased that we don't have to make a mess by schlepping round bales through the snow with the tractor.

Poor Babies

2011-01-12T04:38:00.000-08:00

We have plenty of shelter but sheep are just not as concerned with weather as goats tend to be. We've also found that if they can keep their heads buried down in a round bale as they eat they don't seem to worry about how wet the rest of their body is getting. So they have been wandering around eating as usual, seemingly unaware of how they look right now. Pretty Girl, one of the Angora goats, has also been out in the weather and was letting me know by the look on her face how distressed she was. It was, of course, her choice to go wander around in the weather in spite of all the nice shelter we provide.

Snow

2011-01-11T05:46:00.000-08:00

We've lived in South Carolina for over 12 years now. This is the grandest snow we've had so far. Since we had plenty of warning we made sure we had all the hay and feed we'd need for quite some time. Now we are just sitting tight and enjoying the weather. I've done a little spinning, some felting and some cooking. Much of the time has spent letting the house dogs in and out. They want to explore in the snow but then need to come in for a quick warm up and nap. It is nice to have a little weather now and again.

Perfect Timing

2011-01-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

We do not usually buy our hay in square bales but got 100 barn-kept bales at only $3 each so couldn't pass up on this deal. We loaded them into the barn Sunday afternoon as the weathermen were predicting a serious snow storm.

The snow started around midnight. Come morning, the boys moved the sheep,

built a ramp with a few of those new square bales and got busy playing.

Farm children are so easily amused!

DeStashing

2011-01-09T04:33:00.000-08:00

I have decided to work through some of the fibers I've already got processed here. I chained some white wool to dye but then got occupied with other farm chores so that is all the farther I got. Perhaps today?

I tackled a pile of mixed wools & managed to spin two skeins before bedtime. This was just odds & ends grabbed up & carded. It is rare that my wool coordinates so nicely with one of the cats. Luckily, Lola is not one of my fiber-eating cats.

It was windy & cold outside. We are awaiting some sort of a snow & ice storm but it looks like these two are comfortable. Once the weather begins they will probably just prefer to snuggle under shelter somewhere. Good thing we have plenty of nice spots to choose from.

Finally!

2011-01-06T16:54:00.000-08:00

I have been having problems with my spiffy little asus computer so haven't been able to work on the blog. It is one of those annoying things with the battery charging that would cost about 25% of the original price of the computer to fix. My sweet husband took the computer to a few places & then decided to fix it himself. So far, so good.

I have been busy dyeing some silk. It is just the nastiest looking stuff while it is in process but it should be very nice in a few days once it has dried & is spun up.

Between rain showers I've spent some time outside with the creatures. Before the rain really set in, Al took the tractor & delivered new round bales to all of the pastures. The goats & dogs seem to see a hay bale as a combination meal and playground. The sheep simply eat. After a drizzly few days, everyone was happy for a sunny morning.

Some Work

2010-12-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

I had painted this wool roving before Christmas & had started to spin it up but then set it aside. I pulled it out yesterday to finish but knew that, as pretty as it was on the bobbin, I really did not want it just aqua green. I ended up plying it with some pretty light caramel alpaca. The color is much more appealing to me now and the alpaca added even more softness and nice drape to the wool. I'll finish the rest today but I am content with the first batch.

Buddies

2010-12-28T16:13:00.000-08:00

Ben, our 17 & 1/2 pound cat, lays in the middle of the floor with the dogs rather than up on a couch or windowsill like the other cats. I noticed him snuggling with Sadie, the Anatolian pup. I managed to get one picture before Sadie moved. That irritated Ben who has a very short temper. He gave Sadie a few good kicks in the head. Sadie scooted over a few inches and was soon back to her nap. Ben is now trying to force his way into my lap as I work on the computer. I am gingerly keeping him at bay as he is a stinker when he doesn't get his own way.

A Bit of Snow

2010-12-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

We did get snow for Christmas. It is not going to last much longer and barely slowed anyone down around here. The goats did stand under shelter and pout while it was snowing, the cats tiptoed a bit so as not to get wet feet but the sheep, cattle and donkeys pretty much ignored it all. Their treks through the pasture have helped with the snow melt so that we now have snow in just the shadier spots. Bitsy, one of the new gals from North Carolina, barely seemed to notice the whole production but did enjoy the extra hay that Al put out when the snow began.

The Riff Raff

2010-12-20T05:33:00.000-08:00

Each sheep in this little crew thinks it is special. Only two in the picture were originally brought into the stable during our earlier bitter cold weather because we wanted to keep an eye on them. Ally, who is at the top left, is a sweet little girl who just has never seemed to thrive but she's kept at it for 3 years now. She was christened Ally a few years ago when one of the dogs played roughly with her and caused a few rough spots on her skin. We sprayed her down with shiny bright silver Alu-Shield so that she would heal more quickly. Some how we went from calling her the lamb with the Alu-Shield on her to just calling her Ally. She is also the little gal who has a dark brown patch at the base of her spine where she laid up under the heat lamp and scorched her wool. The burn got nowhere near her skin, just took the tips off in a perfect circular patch. She seems to live a less-than-charmed life but is very friendly and content.

Since we never put an animal up without a companion, we let another sheep join her when she first went into the stable. That little sheep had a little buddy who stood outside the stable door as the two of them baaaaed at each other. We let that little one join its friend. One of the older Shetland ewes (the darkest one in the crowd) realized that those sheep were getting special treatment so slipped in one of the times I opened the door to check on the first sheep. She decided the indoor life wasn't so bad so began joining the others. She attracted another hanger-on.

Yesterday was a pretty day so we threw everyone out for the afternoon. When I went out at the end of the day to feed the dogs the sheep watched me open the barnyard gate and immediately ran to the stable door. I'm sure you can see the look of anticipation on their faces as they wait to be put in for the night.

New Bales

2010-12-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

Everyone is thrilled with new round bales to tear into. Al delivered bales in the terrible fog last night. The Dexter cattle immediately tore their two bales into big piles and were having a big time wading through them this morning.

Gwen & Sadie were also enjoying a new bale but only as a piece of playground equipment. Gwen jumps up without difficulty but Sadie needs to work a little harder at the feat.

Katy's Home

2010-12-15T04:28:00.000-08:00

Katy is home for winter break & the pups were so glad to see her.

She's also been great help in breaking the ice out of the water troughs. It has been clear and cold here so we are spending a good bit of the day chipping out ice and refilling troughs. The donkeys' trough had been cleaned the night before but our 15 degree temperature froze it enough that Katy had to jump in it to break up the ice.

Oops.....

2010-12-12T07:15:00.000-08:00

This is the first thing I saw as I walked out to feed the geese this morning. Upon closer inspection, I realized this little Angora doe had merely been romping through the poke berries. Her stain was much too purple to be blood.

On a lighter note, the goats were thrilled with a delicious treat from the Hyatt. We have an arrangement with the downtown Hyatt so that they save their kitchen prep scraps for us. They keep them refrigerated in large cans in the walk-in cooler until Al picks them up. He runs by at least every other day on his way home from work for these goodies. Most often they are things like carrot peelings, romaine leaves, corn husks and cobs as well as any fresh produce that doesn't quite meet their chefs' high standards. Al keeps a running account of the weight of what he brings home and some months it is as high as a ton of goodies that go to our creatures rather than into a dumpster.

I opened the can Saturday morning to find the entire top stuffed full of fennel! Although that is something that doesn't much appeal to the chickens, the goats were simply thrilled. Vincent, who is the old goat who can jump every fence on the farm, was such a nuisance that I had to close the can tightly between carrying loads to the other goats. I carried five big arm loads to the pasture and it seems I made everyone's day with this high-class treat.

Irksome Photo Session

2010-12-10T06:59:00.000-08:00

This is why I don't do etsy - you have to photograph your work & I just have too much help here on the farm. I just wanted a few quick pictures of the vases I'd felted last night but everyone had to see what I was doing. Joey, the cat, kept casting shadows as he investigated. A band of goats came around the corner when they heard the door open, convinced that I must be coming out with treats for them. Vincent Van Goat, our LaMancha wether, felt obliged to "mark" me by rubbing his face all over my head as I squatted down to take a picture. I don't believe I ever did get a decent picture but I certainly had a little quality time with the creatures.

Another Cold Day

2010-12-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

Much of my day has been spent with extra chores because of the cold weather. The water troughs all had a thick coat of ice. I was able to remove one sheet in a single piece so I leaned it up against the edge of the trough to take a picture. Sadie was excited about a drink that didn't have to be sucked from the edge of the ice.

One of the goats found a nice warm spot where the sun was reflecting off the end of the chicken shed. As she warmed up, some little annoying bug must have gotten more active also as she was scratching with those wonderful horns.

So much of the interesting green things to eat have withered away for the winter so the chickens are even more excited about the prep scraps that the Hyatt saves for us. Chickens are not known for their smarts but they sure have figured out that when one of us comes out with the big black can there will be good eats. They follow from quite a distance and then can barely wait while we prepare to dump the can. These are not hungry birds; they walked away from the full feeders to see what I might have. This load was mostly melon rinds and some slightly wilted herbs. That looks pretty good when the pastures are dry for winter.

The last thing I did before coming in at noon was to stuff a new bed to go into a dog house. Mollie, our German Shorthaired Pointer, and Amanda, a cross-breed dog from the pound, share a large dog house that already had a nice blanket but I laid awake in bed last night wondering if the two old dogs were cold. This morning I found an old sheet, filled it with one of the extra fleeces from the stable and tied it all into a cozy cushion. I shoved it in the dog house to the delight of Mollie who was the first in. Amanda waited patiently while Mollie sniffed and then began stomping the bed into place. As I walked back to fill another trough, I noticed both snuggled down in their wooly new bed.

A cold day makes the simple outdoor chores longer but the sky is still a beautiful blue and it is hard to complain about much. Especially when I can return to the house to curl up with my cup of tea and a little knitting.

Yes, it is cold outside

2010-12-06T12:03:00.000-08:00

If you look closely at the Shetland ram's nose, you will see a fly paralyzed there. I imagine it was still alive but chilled enough that it could not move on. I noticed it on the way out to gather eggs so stopped on the way back to see if it had taken off. It was still there even with the high winds. Apparently it was enjoying the nice wool carpeting!

A Chilly Morning

2010-12-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

The sun had come up enough to begin to warm the stable wall. The goats were enjoying the dry sidewalk as well as the heat radiating back from the stable siding. I can almost guess the morning temperature based on how desperately everyone is trying to find a sunny spot.
One little goat was in the stable under a heat lamp that is usually used for raising chicks. Al had felt sorry for the little goat and plugged in the lamp. It is a good thing the goat is covered in mohair and that mohair has a very high ignition temperature because the goat apparently got too close to the lamp. I found a charred brown spot on her back that smelled like burnt hair. It was just the very tips of her fiber so no injury but I would hate for a burning goat to torch the entire stable!

Winter Preparations

2010-11-29T06:55:00.001-08:00

One of the buildings where the chickens like to hang out has a huge door at the side that we leave propped open all spring and summer. The door at the end of the building is much smaller and is used many times a day but this door has become more of a movable wall. The walls of the building are tin so it tends to heat up but leaving the big door open makes it a very comfortable place for the nesting birds. In the winter we close the door and the building stays pleasantly warm on the coldest of days, the tin walls radiating heat. Since chickens love to forage and move dirt around (as well as produce a bit of their own "dirt") the door gets stuck open. It was a nippy morning which reminded me that it is about time to shut the big door. But the big door doesn't shut without a little work on my part.... As I started to dig the chickens realized that I was literally mining all sorts of tasty bugs for them. I dug out half of the path of the door but will finish later once the snacking is over.

Thanks for all the help....

2010-11-22T07:26:00.000-08:00

Unloading feed can be a challenge. Vincent Van Goat, the light gray LaMancha, can jump every fence on the farm so he just follows the truck back to the stable. Kermit, our Nubian buck, happened to be in the barnyard this morning but didn't sneak around to the truck until we were almost done unloading. I held the goats back while Al got most of the chicken feed out but I got distracted by the dogs as he was almost finished so Vince and Kermit felt they could move on in. Boys!

Picking

2010-11-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

The weather is just pleasantly mild so it seemed like a good day to pull out a few fleeces and begin some of my "winter" washing. I have to dye these two fleeces for my needle felting students. I've already got a dye pot of yellow and another of orange simmering as those are very popular with the children. Once I wash these fleeces I'll dye parts of them also.
The picker is a slightly intimidating but wonderful tool. It opens up the greasy locks so that some of the dirt falls out before I wash. Madison, the beagle, was bored with watching me work but I was pleased to get a fair bit finished.

End of the Day

2010-11-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

I love the end of a quiet day. The eggs have been gathered, everyone is fed and just winding down. I was returning from feeding the pasture dogs and decided to check the water trough in Oliver's pasture. These two kids were just getting cozy as the temperature was dropping for the evening. They are unrelated goats but were born about the same time and, at least for the evening, are very comfortable together.