January Doldrums

Winter makes me lose any blogging mojo I have.  Things are mostly gray and cold, days are short, chores are very routine and work in the wool shop slows due to holidays, year end book work and trying to catch up on neglected indoor tasks.  You can only say 'fed the sheep and skirted a fleece' so many ways.  ;-)

I tend to feel like Dexter - brace against something and sleep till spring.

But we do accomplish things every day even if it feels like we're just treading water. Here are a few occasions noteworthy enough that I took pictures.

I finished two scarves for Christmas presents.  As both have finally been presented as gifts I can show them. Both came to me as fiber during the guild's Christmas exchange (different years and they have been in the stash) and both have Blue Faced Leicester as a major component although they are from different producers. The fiber was nice to spin and the projects were simple and quick.  I used a simple pull-through pattern I grabbed off Ravelry - the Noro Keyhole Scarf.

We had a belated but fun Christmas dinner at Julie and Red's and Holly never wants to go home.  She has two perfectly good beds at home she rarely sleeps on and stuffed toys that she walks over and here she looks like the poor rescue dog finding warmth and safety for the first time in her life.  I guess most kids think their friends have cooler parents and better stuff.

The sheep welcomed some short but sunny days and napped in the barn doorway after filling up at the hay feeders.

And we were finally able to get every sheep into a jacket.  We ended up buying from both Rocky Sheep Company and The Wool Tinker.  Both brands are of good quality and the sizes alternate, with Rocky Sheep running odd sizes (37, 39, 41, etc. inches) and Wool Tinker being even (38, 40, 42, etc.).  Between the two everyone has a coat that fits... at least for a few weeks.  We'll have to change up many of them between now and shearing.  Buying the extra coats was a considerable investment but being able to market all the fleeces as coated will be worth it and save me time in the long run during skirting.

And what's better during the cold, dull winter but a little more cat sniffing?


Holly sez....

"I've sniffed enough cats today.  I'd rather go chase that squirrel.....except he 's way over there through the deep snow.....but if he comes over here he's dead!"

But Of Course

We're planning to put coats on some of the Cotswolds tomorrow, check eye scores and weights one last time before going into winter and probably separate the oldest ewes into a group that can get a ration of grain once a day.  To that end I gathered a few sheep coats that needing mending, set up the sewing machine and realized I didn't have the scissors handy.  A two minute search ensued and when I came back into the room.......

Dexter and Calvin, ready to help.

Cats.  You can depend on them to appear when you least need their assistance.  

Can I Sleep Till the Solstice Passes?

These short days really kick my butt.  All I want to do is eat and sleep.  My energy is at a low ebb just when I need to be doing Christmas things - decorating, cooking, making/buying/sending presents....  normally I'm a night person but as soon as it starts to get dark (that would be freakin' 4:30 in the afternoon) I start hoping it's close enough to bed time to go there.  Uh, no.  I know once the days start getting longer I'll feel more motivated.  So I will blame my recent lack of blog attention on the tilt of the earth and an attitude that makes a sloth look like a Type A personality by comparison.

Even so, we have been doing things, so let's get caught up.

We went to the woods several more times and Andy brought home enough wood to last both boilers through the winter.  He still needs to run the giant pile of pole wood over the buzz saw and the big blocks through the splitter but at least it's all right here handy.  This big ash is in the process of dying but we'll leave it alone because it's got lots of character and because it would be super dangerous to mess with!

The sheep have had a pleasant time without breeding groups and rams disrupting their routine and surroundings.  Even though we have good, quiet rams the whole flock is generally more restless when they are in the barn.  Just more motion and low-key disruption in the vibes. 

There's a lot of sitting around......

Which gives way to outright sleeping in the middle of the floor.

Most of the sheep are wearing coats now since we're feeding all hay.  I intend to try coating some of the Cotswolds this winter.  Their curls are just so pretty and awesome and while our feeders are a very good design they still get a little bit of fine trash down the back.  I'll keep an eagle eye out for any felting under the jackets.  We are utilizing the feeder out in the bunk which was built for a breeding group one year.   It's working very well to alleviate crowding at the indoor feeders.  We're calling it The Picnic Table.

I finally joined the rest of the world and got the farm on Facebook.  Oh. my. gosh.  Sooo many icons, buttons, settings, notifications.....  still fumbling my way around.  I'd love it if you'd Like our page.  I need to get a snappy link to it on the blog sidebar here.... add that to the list.....mumble, mumble.  I do like the immediacy of it and that you can just post a quick little thought or news item.  

The Christmas On The Farm craft/fiber show I attend in Phelps in early December was a good day's outing with a nice crowd.  I got a little Christmas shopping done too!

The following weekend was our spinning guild's December meeting in which we do an anonymous gift exchange (if you want to - it's not mandatory) of nice, ready-to-spin fiber.  One selects a gift from the pile based on which wrapping appeals to you.  Wouldn't you know, I was the first name picked!  And pulled this from the pile.

I was loving that needle felted chickadee on top but alas I didn't get to keep it.  'Stealing' is an option instead of picking from the pile on the table and this box had about 10 owners before we were done.  It was all good though - this pretty package came home with me and......

.....held this:  Into The Whirled blueface leicester roving in a colorway called Vegetable Medley.  Can't wait to spin it!  I already have someone's Christmas gift for next year in my mind.

Also at guild I showed off Andy's newest product - blending boards.  Here's a good video on how to use them.  These are fiber processing tools intermediate in size and capacity between hand cards and drum carders.  They are great for combining smallish lots of fiber which you can then spin or felt and are particularly useful for seeing how different fibers or colors will work together.  

Here's a sample I did in a few minutes using two different colors of Cotswold wool, some dyed silk and a little firestar fiber for extra shine.

When done, I pulled the fiber into thin roving and chained it lightly so it would hold its shape until I could spin it.  Soon as I get a couple of minutes.....

The boards were well received and both sold there that day.  He's ordered more of the blending cloth and will be making more in time for Roc Day in Ithaca on January 9 where I'll have a booth.  Once he's made more I'll take 'real' pictures and get them listed on the website.

We've started the 'big barn clean out' in the lower barn.  Andy got the east side done in a (long) day.  The sheep were a little crowded being all in the west side but it was only for a day.

I'm sorry to note that we lost Lucky last week.  He had been losing weight for some time despite all the extra measures one does for an older animal and we couldn't find a reason.  We knew we'd probably have to have him put down "at some point" before we got into deep cold winter but he sustained an injury that was going to be too hard to overcome so we had the vet out and he went gently from this world.  He was a well-behaved boy who came when called and we miss him.

In better news, Peanut continues to improve!  I finally dare speak positively about progress.  She's still penned and wears a light bandage but the wound on the outer surface of her leg has healed over and the bigger, deeper one on the inner surface is coming along very well.  There's still a raw wound but it's closing at a good pace and she has no lameness at all.  Whew!

  

Dexter and Popeye say

"You humans work too hard.  You should learn the value of a properly performed nap."

There's a skill I'd love to learn!

Cat-ness

Despite being underfoot one way or another every hour of the day the cats have gotten short shrift on the blog all summer with the exception of both Ivan's and Alexi's passing.  It's about time to rectify that with some kitty updates.

First, Kittin got clipped by a car in early August the day after Daffodil died.  A glancing blow left her laid out, unconscious, in the center of the road and relieved her of about seven of her lives.  Except for a broken tooth she miraculously had no outward injuries (or broken bones) but closed head trauma and severely bruised lungs kept her at the vet hospital for four days and  I've held her in the wool shop to recuperate ever since.   Her right side appears to have taken the force of the blow and she has loss of strength and coordination in the right front leg leaving her with a rocking, limping gait.  She can't flex the toes of that foot yet and perhaps never will.  I'm hesitant to let her out because she's so compromised and she actually doesn't try to dart out the door which surprises me but I'm sure she's realized how hampered she is.  She spends her days sleeping, eating, chasing flies if they land on the floor, washing her fur and thinking cat thoughts.  She's getting kind of fat.  She enjoys our company (me and Holly, that is) when I'm in the shop and lays under the skirting table with abandon, oblivious to the bits of cruddy fleece that drops down.

And when that gets boring she moves to the blanket I have for Holly to lay on.  

Natasha moved back to the barn after it warmed up in the spring and has been doing just fine down there although I haven't seen her do more than step out the back door to sit in the pasture on sunny days.  She does like her sun patches and now that it's getting a little colder she seeks them out as soon as morning sunbeams come in the east-facing door.

She's intimidated by Clem, but Chloe gives off different vibes and they seem congenial with each other.

When it gets seriously cold I'll take her back to the wool shop too.

"Heck, take her now, would you?  She's hogging all the sun."

Chloe's brother Clem has become the defacto king of the barn.  He's quite a regal boy although he's more silly than serious.

And boy, does he love him some sheeps!  (Includes scenes of intense cat sniffing!)



Popeye is growing like a weed. His bum eye doesn't give him any problem but he seems blind on that side for sure.  At least it doesn't look gross, just like a gray marble.

Pretty soon I'll make the appointment to get him neutered.  "Unpack his bags so he won't go travelling" as they used to say but since he's going to be an indoor cat it's a moot point. Calvin is his best play buddy, but surprisingly Dexter is the one he sleeps with!  Dexter and Calvin don't like to sleep together, but the little furball has worn him down won Dexter over in this regard.

But Calvin is a good 'buddy cat', always interested in helping even if it just means sitting on the other office chair keeping me company while I do computer stuff.

"Really?  The intertubes are full of cats?  Amazing!  Tell me more."
House, barn, shop..... cats everywhere.  ;-)

The Sun Before The Snow

The weather forecasters are wetting their pants over a big snow storm headed up the east coast tomorrow and Tuesday.  One of them said that this will very likely go in the record books as greatest snowfall for the NYC/Long Island.  Ever.  In history.  I've heard dire predictions about loss of power, inability to travel and conditions akin to those suffered by the Donner Party.   While a blizzard is nothing to laugh at and preparations are prudent the weather people have become nearly apopleptic issuing warnings.  If the storm is less than Biblical in scale they are going to look rather foolish.

You would never know from the weather today that anything ominous was headed our way.  In fact, our area is on the northern edge of the predicted route and we may get nothing at all.  It did get a lot colder though and the sheep were enjoying sitting in the sun.

Daffodil, who will be 13 in a couple of months

Alexandria and some young friends

Alexandria, at 11, is showing her age.  She has lost all her front teeth and has a hard time keeping weight on despite getting grain twice a day and a private stall to eat nice hay overnight without competition.  I like the way the young ewes are keeping her company while she chews her cud in the sun.

"I was a lamb once.  That was a long time ago.  Sit down, kids, and I'll tell you a thing or two."

Coconut popped up to see what I was doing.  I really must try to get a flattering picture of her - she's cute and not at all wild like her eyes lead you to believe.

"Oh!  Hi!  I didn't know you were there!"

Gilly, down in the bred ewe group, also popped up to see what was going on.  The bedding is building up a lot, making it easier to put front feet on the edge of the hay feeder and look over the side of the pen.  We'll have to clean the barn sometime soon.  

She makes a terrible mess of her head with the hay but the rest of her fleece is pristine.  I do pick a lot of stuff off the ewes twice daily while I'm in the pen to pull the uneaten hay stems out of the lower portion of the feeder but she rarely has more than a stray timothy head on her back.

Alexi was on hand for some lunch kibble.

"Pleeze may I has some kibble?  I has been a gud cat today."

Clem......

"I didn't know I had to be good.  Oh man, I'm in trouble........."

Dexter.......

"I'm better than good.  I'm inside.  Heh heh."

Where ever you are, hunker down and stay warm.

When the Sun Comes Out

We had a nice, mostly sunny day today so we wanted to do outside work as much as possible.  I've been dyeing some Cotswold and this is the first day I could lay it out on the concrete side porch to dry. 

 

Yes, the color du jour is GREEN.  Actually there are several shades of green in there but it doesn't show up well from farther away.  There's a good amount of your basic medium green.....

 



....some that's more of a blue spruce type of green......

....  and some locks are either kind of acid green.....

......or a dark green like seaweed.  I think the yarn you could spin from this when it's roving will be lovely with subtle color shifts that will give it depth.  We'll see.

One reason the wool can be laid out to dry here is that we sacrificed the hedge.  Yes, while it was nice for many many years the time had come - parts of it had died out leaving big gaps.  I also had a hard time keeping it in check.  That was a lot of time with pruning shears!  Also, in the semi-near future we're going to have to address the fact that the concrete porch slab is tilting toward the house and running all rainwater right onto the foudation.  The concrete has to come up.  NOT a job we're looking forward to and not going to happen right away (unless there's a crisis - please, no!) and the hedge would have to come out at that point anyway.  Andy took it down right at ground level with the chain saw so we can mow over that area.  I'll sure miss the perfume of the blossoms.  Sigh.

 

The fields are still too wet to plow (we're skipping corn but would like to put in oats) so Andy got started on cleaning up the mess left from having the two middle silos taken down.  He used the back blade on the tractor to smooth out the ruts and now can work with the tractor to ferry away the short towers of compacted silage left behind.

 



This will take a lot of loads with the dump trailer as there is probably 50 tons between the two.

Thank Heavens for hydraulics or we'd be out there with pitchforks slinging it onto the wagon one teensy smidgen at a time.

Check out the giant allium!  They are just coming into full bloom.

I love a plant that thrives with neglect.

Lots of little stars making perfect spheres. 

Dexter says,

"I can't believe they won't let me be an outside cat.  It's so depressing.....enough to make you bang your head against the wall... until you fall asleep."