Ahhhh-ctober

We've had the most beautiful stretch of weather.  Sunny and warm during the day and cold enough at night that we close the windows up and start a fire in the boiler so it's not damp and chill in the morning.  I've relished every day that I didn't need a sweatshirt as a second layer.

The other day was cloudless from morning till night. The sheep are still working on the south pasture but now the hillside to the east is showing some color so we know change is coming.

In the very late afternoon the sunlight hits the hill at such a slant that everything is cast with an orange overtone.

Yesterday a front was coming through and the evening sky was lovely as we brought in the rams.  The gold and orange was quite dramatic.

The small volunteer maple near their water tub is also colorful.  It's a hard maple and one would expect it to show bright color in fall but I think some of it is due to stress - there are sections of bark missing where the boys have rubbed their heads on the trunk and the ground is packed pretty hard there since it's a favorite place to hang out in the heat of summer.

Green, orange, red, pink...... autumn in rural New York.

The boys are eating well and come in packed full and ready to sit and ruminate all night.

Andy had an interesting project - repairing an old cradle a neighbor wanted to use.  It came through one of Martin Donnelly's antique tool auctions.  The owner knew it was old and liked the look of it and wasn't concerned about trying to retain authenticity with exact restoration but did want the repairs to blend in.  The end panel at the foot of the cradle was missing the top four inches - it had cracked and come apart long ago.  All the joints were loose and needed stiffening up, one rocker was cracked and needed to be mended and it was very dirty.  They wanted it cleaned up but to still look old and be usable for a coming baby.

It's long and deep but I suppose there was a mattress or tick of some kind in the bottom.

This small decorative cut out on the head end is a nice detail.  In making the repair to the foot end Andy had to straighten up the old break and in planing it down discovered the wood to be tulip poplar.  It's fairly heavy and I'm puzzled by the lack of any kind of hand holds in the frame.  Sure, you probably didn't tote it around with the baby in it but it's still a bit awkward to carry empty.

The corners are all joined with hand cut dovetails and they are all a little bit different in dimension which made the repair a challenge.  In fact, on the head end there are ten dovetails on the right and nine on the left.  Surely not mass produced!

The rockers are different, either by design or perhaps the less elegant one is an old replacement done by someone less skilled than the original maker.

We're guessing the slots in the bottom were there to prevent moisture build up under a mattress.  Andy added a few small screws to stabilize the rockers to the bottom.  The few nails he found are square cut ones, so this is quite old.

There are even symmetrical holes bored through two places at the head end which was likely used to secure a bonnet or cover of some type to keep sun and bugs off the baby.

It turned out quite well.  I wonder what number baby the coming one will be to lay in it.

And since we haven't seen Holly in a while....... dog and flower pictures!

"I'm the best baby.  I was housebroken in just a few days!  And I'm still awful cute!"

 "I do roll in fun stuff sometimes..........but I'm a dog."

 "Nobody's perfect and I don't mind a nice warm baff if I get........."

"Wait!  What's that cat doing?  I'm not sure that's allowed - better go check it out!"

Holly's like me - she likes it hot and sunny so we've had a good run of days!

How To Wash Wool

Lock the sheep outside in the rain.  Bwaa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

The last good rain we had when they were on pasture was in early September and before that it was in June! Crazy - they've only been rained on a few times this year.

Even though our barn is kept clean and bedded down well it's impossible to keep their wool as clean as it is when they are rained on, shake off, rained on more, shake off.......  And it's all about the fleece!

 "Fleece....but we also have personality!" sez Ophelia, with her dark hip spot.  

Macaroon gave me the stink eye for making them get soaked.

"We are very not amused!"

Andy brought some bedding down from the upper barns and we put down a generous layer in the feedbunk. Now that they're clean(er) we'd like to keep them that way as much as possible.  It will hopefully be another month before we have to feed hay and put coats on everyone.

The coats will keep the fleeces totally free of chaff but I see George's brother, Goober, managed to find a burdock somewhere, probably poking through the fence from the outside, and stuck it to his head.  Boys.

 "What?  It keeps the wool out of my eyes.  Sort of."

The sheep thought we were an interesting sideshow, talking and shaking up bedding, so they hung around the gates hoping we'd let them in sooner rather than later.

"Pleeeeeze, won't you let us in?" sez Fuzz.

Nibbles was in with the oldest girls (she's 10 this year) but had gained well enough that we turned her back in with the main flock when they returned to the south pasture and wouldn't be walking far up and down hills.

 "C'mon, let us in.  I'm wet and having a bad hair day."

"I'm so old and wet I'm growing Spanish moss on my ears."

Happily, it stopped raining while we were working and they had time to shake off pretty much before we let them in.

The rain really helps the Cotswold curls bloom.  They're wet and stretched out but showing lots of promise!

"I'm glad somebody's happy about it.....   Me?  Not so much."

Now if we can just get a sunny day.......

Stick A Fork In It, September's Done

Seems like the first half of September was all a flurry to get ready for the fiber festival and the second half has been getting caught back up from it.  Kittin is just exhausted from all the hustle.

"The coming, the going, the to-ing, the fro-ing.......it's all just too much."

The festival went well - good weather, tons of interesting activities and exhibits.

The fleece sale had around 80 entries!

The Skein and Garment entries were outstanding!  Anyone failing to be inspired needs to check their pulse.

 More about this pattern soon.

Over $1,000 in cash and prizes were awarded and spread over a huge assortment of categories aimed at beginners, experts and the creatively inspired.  The festival accepts and returns mail-in entries so start planning now to enter next year!  

The vendor booths were awash with yarn....

Books and educational media........

Spinning fiber and sundries (this is our booth)....

And finished goods like these felted vessels, created by the genius at Fat Yellow Dog Farm.

It was great to unwind after the weekend by walking Holly without a clock ticking in my head.  We saw a few monarch caterpillars, although not like last year.  I did see several adults flying around which was nice.

The wild asters were in perfect bloom and I thought they were every bit as nice as some cultivated ones I've seen at garden centers.

The sheep enjoyed fine, sunny days and were turned into the south pasture again.

Despite the summer drought the fall weeds wildflowers put out a tremendous number of blossoms which the honey bees were taking full advantage of.  This is what September looks like to me - fall blooms in a golden haze of late summer warmth.

I'm glad for photos - this will be hard to recall during the long cold of winter.

The Precioussssss

What's more useful than a magic ring that grants invisibility?  If you have livestock it's second cutting hay.

A streak of hot and dry weather (OK, we could say the streak started in early June) gave us the chance to grab what little second cutting hay was available. The two fields that are grass and alfalfa mix were the only ones that had growth enough to even consider.  The volume was minimal because of the drought but with days getting shorter and dew getting heavier we knew it was probably a 'now or never' situation.   Andy raked the windrows into triples and they were still unimpressive.

These two fields yielded around 1800 bales of first cutting.  We expect the second cutting to be about half that as the grass component doesn't grow back as robustly as the alfalfa.  But with the drought supressing the plants we ended up with a grand total of 290 bales from the two fields and we're happy we got that.

We'll be doling that out by the teaspoonful this winter to the geriatrics and anybody that feels poorly for some reason.  Thankfully the first cutting was of good quality and should be very adequate for the bulk of the flock on winter maintenance.

Precious it is, and we loves it.

Motivation

Sheep have gotten an undeserved reputation for being stupid.  They are NOT stupid.  They do make very bad snap decisions sometimes, but given normal circumstances they learn quickly - very quickly if there's food involved.  Animals in general like routine and when something yummy is involved they learn what to do in one go and you can then set your watch by their behavior.

When the flock was in the barn eating hay last month because of the drought we started giving a small grain ration to make up for the mediocre hay quality.  Once we started turning them out we decided to keep giving a bit of grain in the evening to encourage them to queue up at the gate and come in smartly rather than wandering around the pasture they pass through to get back in.  It's really just a dusting in the feeders but sheep don't worry about how much is there - there is NONE, or there is SOME.  That's all the motivation they need.

They know when they'll be let in and come back from the lowest pasture to hang around and be handy.

Once a bottle lamb, always a bottle lamb.  "My" kids hear our voices and wonder why they can't just come in this little back door.  It would be so much faster.

 Snubby

Stewart Little

Sheep that were never bottle babies consider our appearance at the back door with more suspicion.  This colored Cotswold is particularly uncertain about our motives.

"She's staring at us.  Why is she staring at us??  This can't be good!"

But when it's time to come in for grain hesitancy goes out the window!  (I have no idea what those loud buzzing noises are on the video - they didn't occur in real life - must be the mothership trying to contact me again.)

That's Nibbles and Kandy bringing up the rear.  Somebody has to be last.  They are both old enough that they do. not. run.  But don't worry, there was plenty of space at the feeders so they surely got a mouthful or two.
I have to admit, I show the same enthusiasm when eating at a really good buffet.  ;-)

A Certain Something

Who is he?

Any beverage is improved by the addition of a few of his hairs.

Fleas won't jump on him because they know they're not worthy.

Jeans and a Tshirt become formal wear with his fur all over them.

Zen gardeners study his litterbox for design inspiration.

He is......

"Stay furry, my friends!"

.....the most interesting cat in the world.