Cold Comfort in Midwinter

Winter is creeping along - the calendar confirms it even when it seems to be never ending.  The days are enough longer that we can see it so that's a morale booster.

We had some miserably cold weather in January.  Taking care of livestock during times like this is a challenge to say the least.  Water is always an issue.  Keeping the pipes from freezing requires some ingenuity.  We are fortunate to have an excellent well which supplies the house, barn and outbuldings but that means pipes are buried several places.  The pipe to the barn runs under the road (!) from the house and up through the floor of the barn about eight feet from the outer wall.  Keeping it from freezing was never a problem when we had the dairy since the herd kept the barn above freezing no matter how cold it was outside and with so many cattle drinking day and night the water was almost always flowing.  Now, with sheep in the barn the temperature is just about the same inside as it is outdoors.  We run hoses to the various tubs in the warm weather but now we have to lug buckets. The 'faucet' is the vertical pipe that comes up from the floor around which Andy built an insulated column.  A short hose can be directed into buckets.  The narrow pipe chamber is usually kept warm enough with a 100 watt incandescent bulb mounted about half way up from the ground but when it's very cold we use a trouble light and dangle an extra bulb in there, down almost to ground level. Because the space is insulated and no animals can get into it we feel that it's a much safer system than heat tape.

With the door closed the space stays above freezing and water can be drawn for the sheep.  

The younger sheep laugh at the cold but it takes a toll on the old ones.  They are receiving a grain ration twice a day and now we've added some alfalfa and beet pulp pellets in an effort to get more calories and energy into them.  Dollar and Bunny are within a couple of months of their 15th birthdays and the cold is grinding them down.  Both are wearing double sheep coats with a thick beach towel sandwiched between for extra insulation.  Dollar is spry but really starting to look like The Crypt Keeper.  We bring her out into the alley to get an even more special ration of grain without competition. 

"Grain is especially good if you can steal it from a bucket other than the one they give you!"

"I'm old too!  Just how old do you have to be to get that extra grain?!" 

We've even taken to bringing the bucket of grain into the house before feeding so it can set next to the chimney and get warmed up.  Everything the sheep eat is ice cold - the hay, the grain, the water - and it all draws warmth away from their bodies when they consume it.  A hammer and sieve are used to remove ice from buckets and tubs as needed, up to four times a day.  We carry down two gallon jugs of really hot water from the house to warm up the water the geriatrics are drinking and also use a bucket heater to warm the water in some of the other buckets but we don't leave it plugged in - we only use it while we're in the barn. It takes the edge off the cold and keeps the water liquid a bit longer. Water is so important for good health and we don't want anyone to drink less because the water is nearly slush.

But last Thursday we had a real warm up and we grabbed the opportunity to change the coats to the next bigger size on those who needed it .  We have some awfully pretty wool under those coats!

Not a speck of VM on Oleander the Cotswold!

Oleander's fleece, parted.

 Violet has gone a nice medium gray.

 Macaroon

Chantilly

We also found a few ewes who had lost some condition from the last time we handled them.  They weren't old enough to need the geriatrics pen but were past middle age.  We shifted them to the pen that holds the bred ewes as there was plenty of room.  They will benefit from the grain ration and better hay.

One small ewe, Prudence, we put in with the geriatrics because the bred ewes were going to be too pushy with her.  She had meningeal worm when she was a lamb and although she recovered with treatment she doesn't have the strength and balance in her hindquarters that a sheep should.  After an initial banquet at the hay feeder she announced she was DONE with being in that group.  She baa-ed incessantly and has a sad, mournful voice by nature so it sounded like someone was dying a hard death all. the. time.  I mean, she would not shut up even during feeding time.  Figuring that we were causing her more stress than assistance we put her back in with the main flock.  Now we know what she was yelling about - she missed her sister, Patience.  Sheep have a strong sense of family and some are even more bonded than others.  These two are really tight.

Another mid-winter project I've gotten into is making spinning batts from some of our dyed Cotswold.  I want to have a good bunch of them for the vendor booth this year and two different events are coming up fast - The Knitting Circle Fiber Arts Festival  and the make up date for the Roc Day Gathering hosted by the Black Sheep Handspinners Guild.  I'm hoping they'll be appealing to all spinners but especially to those who haven't yet tried Cotswold.  The batts are a hefty five ounces (closer to six really, but we're calling them five) so they should yield enough yarn to make something large enough to get a real sense of how the fiber handles.

I'm starting with some solid colors and adding some sparkly eye candy.  Later I'll try blending some colors and doing gradients.  Right now I'm working on green and orange.

Green Cotswold with white silk and green firestar.

Green batts with white silk, blue silk and varying amounts of angelina and firestar.

Orange batt with "Tropic" firestar which doesn't show up too well in the picture but has shades of red and brown.

Neatly rolled and bagged.

I have tags that identify the various fibers that I might incorporate into any batt.  I think under 'Other' I should list cat hair/dog hair just to be safe.  ;-) 

Last Call

The flock is on the last pasture rotation for the year.  The south pasture is the first one they go to in the spring and the last one they finish in the fall.  Other years, when we were breeding the majority of the flock, they would already be penned into groups and off pasture for the year.  Not breeding does extend the grazing season through mid November and now the signal to really end it will be the first day of shotgun deer season.  The days are getting shorter, leaves are mostly off the trees, starlings are travelling in a big flock and the weather is gray and wet.

The sheep queue up at the gate around evening chore time, ready to come in, find their spots and settle down for the night.

Both Stewart and then Daisy fixed me with a look - I think they were hoping for the cookie signal:  my hand going into my front pants' pocket.

The sheep don't mind the deteriorating conditions a bit and are eating as though they know some morning soon they won't be going out.

Over the weekend we had a long rain event and so they received a good rinsing which I was happy about.  We'll be putting their coats on fairly soon and I was hoping the barn grime would be shed in a rain before that happens.

I read a good axiom last week that rings true - "Well summered is half wintered."  One certainly doesn't want to rely on stored fat to get your stock through the winter but it does help going into harsh weather to have some extra upholstery working for you.

I think Snickers has the concept nailed down.  Lordy.

Knock wood, everyone looks pretty good with just a few old girls looking like candidates for the geriatric pen and special feed this year.

 

I like this ewe's Cotswold 'presence'.

The wind was blowing hard all day and the fleece on the Cotswold ewe in the foreground is long enough now to ruffle in the gale.

The rain really freshened up their locks.

Angelica says,

"Curls?  Meh.  I haz attitude!"

And a pretty, dark fleece.  Way to go!

Norris Gets A Haircut

This is the time of year that spring born Cotswold lambs need to be shorn.  Fleece is now five to six inches long and lovely to process and spin.  Trying to overwinter them in full fleece is problematic, at least at this farm where the animals are housed in the barns.  Hay chaff will ruin them quickly and coating them has given mixed results including some unfortunate felting.  Moreover, lambs are hot in all that wool and will eat and gain better if they are more comfortable.

Normally I would call our good shearer, Brian, but for just one lamb..... surely I could do it myself.  I've shorn adults before when necessary but I did them standing and I didn't try to manage any particular pattern or take the fleece off in one piece.  I sheared Norris in my head several times and had a plan of action.  This was the week when we had 90 degree days so I knew he'd feel so much better with it off and that cemented my resolve to do it right now.

I didn't want to wrestle the big sheet of plywood into his pen so I fished a giant piece of cardboard out of the recycle pile.

"Hmmm, what's this?"

"Kinda tasteless......"

So, armed with hand shears and a clean bag to put his lovely fleece in I tipped him on his butt and gave it a try.  Have you seen that commercial where the couple is staring up at the wrecked ceiling and pipes dripping water and the husband says, " I can do this."  and the wife does this strangled laugh and shakes her head and states, "No."  The wife was the smart side of my brain about 2 minutes in.  I'm dripping sweat (remember it's 90+ degrees), I have cut off zero wool, Norris is already fussing and I'm afraid I'm going to cut him.

Plan B.  Halter and shear standing up with the help of my trusty ancient trimming stand.  Even that took longer than I like to admit but I can say that neither of us got hurt (although by the time I finished we were both done. with. this.).

I sorted and skirted as I went and ended up with a 3.6 lb bag of colored lamb wool.  Next will be washing, picking and then blending....with something....just for fun.

Norris is much happier and cooler.

As I didn't shear as close as electric clippers would you can already see the waves in his wool that will shortly become curls.

He's growing nicely and showing a significant increase in height compared against the old boys.

And he's staying as sweet and friendly as ever.  I left his forelock on and wanted to get a nice picture but he kept running toward the camera.

There.  The next shearing will be by a pro-fess-shun-all.  

Maryland, Oh Maryland!

This past weekend was the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival - an annual event (#44) eagerly anticipated by fiber people from the four corners of the world.  The degree of organization and array of events and displays can't be exaggerated.  It's an amazing event in scope and execution and it seems to be accomplished with big smiles on every volunteer.

For the second year in a row I arrived in a downpour.  And it was c-c-cold!  Wear-your-winter-coat cold, which was disconcerting as Maryland has been a reliable preview of summer, but not this year! The grounds were downright dismal on Friday.

Still, saying "hi" to friends you only see once a year does lift one's spirits and after our fleeces were checked in at the appointed place I spent some time chatting and admiring the sheep.

This pretty Cotswold girl was too comfy to get up but she did stretch her nose as high as she could to be friendly.  It's the thought that counts.

I'm not sure this youngster knew I was there....  Clearly a trim would be happening before hitting the show ring!

The weather stayed cold and wet for Saturday.  You'd think that would reduce the crowd but this was the parking lot before noon when I hiked the hill to leave fiber with Zeilinger's for processing.  Lost in the distance is the line of cars pulling in off the highway.

Of course I was eager to see how the judges liked the fleeces I brought.

<Insert happy dance of your choice at this juncture> 

Yes!  Excellent results!  And a Cotswold winning the Colored Long Wool division is no small potatoes.  I don't know how many entries there were this year, but last year there were 50 fleeces in the Cotswold breed class and 232 in the Colored Long Wool class so even allowing for a drop-off in entries those results are still reason for cheer.  :-D

The fleece sale was packed with eager buyers.  The tables are clearly marked by category and fleeces are grouped for easy shopping.  This picture doesn't show another whole row of fleece-covered tables to the left against the wall.

The fleece show committee also does a great job of educating people about different sheep breeds. This large display includes locks of fleece attached to each breed's listing so one can see and feel the differences.   Of course this is only a small number of sheep breeds that a fiber artist is likely to encounter but it's a great start.

After enjoying the excitement of the fleece show I headed off to the skein and garment building. Seeing the entries is like looking in the biggest and best jewelry store's display case.  Everything makes you go "oooohh".  You don't know where to go first when you walk in.

But then your eyes are drawn to the grand prize winners covered in purple ribbons.

The blue gradient shawl and the beautiful basket of yarn were created by the same person.  And she weaves amazing things.  Wow.  I think she hogged the talent genes a little.  ;-)

And then you just wander, looking and marveling.

Felt items.

Knit items.

Rug hooking.

Photography.

Weaving.

And this is just the smallest fraction of beautiful creations there.

Another overwhelming venue was the used fiber arts equipment auction.  This is filled with consigned items and all have to pertain to the fiber arts in some way.  No books or magazines are accepted, only equipment.  (A separate auction on Sunday deals with livestock equipment.)  I've never seen the tent packed with so many items, both antique and new/never used.  Amazing.  I didn't stay for any of it but there must have been some awesome buys here!

So much more to see - next time....Part Two - Sunday!