Mischief Managed

We managed to get one large job finished this week.  It took a few sessions but we finally got the ewe flock coated.  It's a big job that takes more time than you'd think it would.  We've gotten quite good at estimating which size coat will fit a ewe but when it's actually on them, before you lift hind legs to slip into the straps..... sometimes you see it's going to be too long or too short and you pull it off and reach for the next size.  Lots of bending over.  It's really nice to see them all jacketed and know their fleeces are safe from the dreaded VM.

They will pick up some chaff from the floor on the area we call "the butt poof" and some on the back of the neck.  Our feeders are really good but there's no way to protect that area other than put a show hood over their heads and that's unnecessarily extreme.  Only the locks on the back of their necks suffer some - what's under their throat is often clean and lovely.

Now that everyone is safe from contamination we started feeding out in the 'picnic area' again - that's the hay feeder Andy constructed in the old feed bunk.  Some of the young, athletic ewes jump up from the backside and eat out of the manger.

This eases any congestion in the barn proper and no one is crowded - unless they want to be.

Some of the geriatric girls and the rams are still without coats.  The ewes I had to order a few more of certain sizes for.  The rams are still enjoying going outside for a morning apple party followed by grazing so I don't want to coat them until they are solely "barned up" and on hay.

Another item ticked off the list is the Oxford rug punching kit I learned on when I went to the school earlier this month. I finished it and am think it's a decent first effort.

I'm pleased with how it came out. Despite how simple it looks the pattern teaches you borders, shapes, curves, filling in areas, the stitch gauge you should try to attain in various areas, how to make dots..... and how to stray off the instructions.  I didn't care for the navy and white marbled yarn they included for the sheep so I substituted some of my gray handspun which was languishing without purpose in a bin.  I also wasn't jazzed with the random squiggles all over the sheep so I reduced it to just a few along the back.  If anyone is inclined to try an Oxford kit you will get the foundation fabric with pattern drawn on (they have hundreds), yarn in very generous quantities, and a boxed punch tool with a stitch gauge and small (20+ pages) instruction book.  The bigger book on the left I purchased on Ebay and it's really super.  You can easily get by with the small pamphlet that comes with the punch needle but the bigger book is so pretty and full of pictures and information that you should get a copy if you can.

The next project that needs attention is a guild spin-and-knit along.  For this one, those members who want to participate brought in 4 ounces of ready to spin wool - roving or batts were OK as long as the fiber was clean and carded in some manner.  The fiber was sorted by the project organizers and put into piles and then randomly creatively reassembled into 4 ounce lots of mixed colors.  All included one neutral (mine's white) and the rest is colored.

Alrighty, then.  We are to spin yarn by combining these rovings in any way we choose and then knit something using That Nice Stitch.  Hmmm.  Put opposites against each other so they all pop?  Try to blend those in the same color family?  If my goal is to keep the colors unadulterated I should chain ply.... which I don't usually like the feel of.....but if I spin and ply the yarn back on itself I will totally randomize the colors which might not be too bad although I don't usually like striped yarns.  I do like all the colors.... by themselves.   This will take some thought.  The project is due in May so I can't dither too long.

Holly says,

"When the sun comes out in late November you should stop, drop and enjoy it.  You can think about stuff later."

What a smart dog!

Apple Party

Every fall our for ancient apple trees give us far more fruit than we can make use of.  The Wageners come ripe first, followed by the Wolf Rivers, then the Pound Sweet and then the Northern Spy.  I try to find time to use the best ones and I feel very guilty letting a large part of the bounty go unused but we don't let it go to waste entirely.  The rams are happy to get a small bucket of small or damaged or wormy or knotty apples every morning when they are turned out into the large, back pasture.


Our big Cotswold ram, Neville, doesn't care for them and waits by the water tub for some petting while the others are eating.  Not liking apples is a bit odd, like a dog not wanting cheese, but he's certain he does. not. want.

Castillo and Brick noticed me hanging around the gate and had to see what I was up to.

I really like how Brick is built.  He's a very pretty gray under the sunburned tips.

And then Norris and his two 'uncles' are turned out into their small close-to-the-barn pasture. We cut the apples into smaller chunks for him and the old guys.  Norris likes apples very much but can't get his jaws around them well enough to crunch them if they are whole.  The old boys have some missing teeth so it's harder for them too.  The last thing we'd want is to have somebody choke to death because they couldn't chew a whole apple. First Norris eats with Isador. Then he runs over to Ian's pile to 'help'.  (Ian has a stiff shoulder and limps.  Two piles keep the shoving to a minimum).
It's always a hard sell at the end of fall when the apples stop dropping and there are no more to distribute and I have to convince the rams I haven't just forgotten.  But it's good while it lasts!

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.  

Norris Update

Young Norris is doing just fine!  He's been here a bit over a month now and seems very happy with his lot in life.

He's gained 20 lbs and it shows in both width and height.

He has the sweetest temper and loves to be petted.

Andy was even helping him channel his inner Cheviot today.  Not!  He's the opposite of a Cheviot's temperament and took the ear lift with good graces.

What a good lamb!

A Lamb Despite Not Breeding

Meet Norris, the newest addition to the Cotswold flock.

Norris is a lamb from the last colored Cotswold ram I sold who went to a very nice farm and shepherd in MA. (Norris' mom was from here too.)  That ram was the last son of Gilly, one of my favorite colored Cotswold ewes. She's now too old to breed again and I have been regretting not having any young males from her.  Long story short, young Norris here became available and so I couldn't resist adding him to the flock.  I hope to breed a very select number of ewes in the future and I can't wait to see lambs from this line.

He has a perfect companion in old Ian who has a stiff shoulder and is penned separately from the other rams to avoid further injury.  (Not to worry, they can all see and hear each other - nobody is housed truly alone.)  Anyway, I told Ian he was going to become an "Uncle".

"Excuse me?  I don't think I was consulted."

It's working out just fine and they go out together after their morning crunchies to graze the little pasture attached to the barn.  (The other boys are let out first and they pass through it to the larger pasture.)

 "Man, this kid is wearing me out."

But when Ian gets tired and goes in to rest Norris quite often stays out a while longer to graze.  He's a Cotswold, therefore a natural born good eater!

"I'm coming......just a minute....okay.....be right there............."

He's an extremely friendly and personable lamb who clearly got loved on a lot by his first shepherd.

.

This is the view I got the most of.

He's a sweetie!

The Most Bestest Visit - Part 2

Sunday begins the same as all other days - morning chores.  The sheep and chickens come out and get ready to face the day.

It's still dim in the barn and Betsy, up in the rafters, has her headlights on.

Sunday includes church.  I love this place.  Small, friendly and sincere.  Sara plays the piano and has a knack for picking the exactly right hymns for the service.  No small feat with hundreds of choices in the hymnal and learning the week's message when you walk in the door.

After church we took a bit of a field trip to the farm that Rocky and Jared were delivered to last year. It was a great chance to see some of the lambs they produced and to see them, too.  First though, we stopped at yet a different farm to pick up two fleeces Sara needs to work with.  The LGDs (Livestock Guard Dogs) there were very fierce.

Then we were off to AnneMarie's place.  All the farms we went to have a perimeter fence that enclosed the yard and driveway so you never know what creatures might be wandering around besides the dogs.  In this case there were some very chatty young turkeys that came to greet us.

The head Border Collie was poised to herd them but no order was given so she just stood there .....waiting....watching......

"Wait!  Where's that one going??  They're supposed to stay together!"

We walked out into the pasture to see the flock.  You couldn't ask for a nicer place to lounge and just be a sheep.

Some of the youngsters were friendly to the shepherd but of course with us it was 'stranger danger' and they were wary and ready to beat feet.

Lovely sturdy lambs and everyone is clean and sleek.  What a great place.  The flock finally decided they'd had enough and took themselves down the hill farther into the pasture.

The LGDs here clearly sensed that Julie was ready to attack the flock so they cleverly hemmed her in so she couldn't do any damage.

And if you're a great big dog how do you get through the woven wire fence into the next pasture?

The rams were in a different pasture of course and less willing to let us approach.  Actually, I think the colored rams would have been fine but the white ram was having none of it and led them off.  There was no point chasing them so we just watched them move around the field.  They are clearly living the good life.

Returning home we were grateful to see that Betsy had been keeping a keen eye on everyone while we were away.

What a great vacation!  But fish and house guests start to smell after three days so we had one last morning cup of coffee on the porch.....

and headed back to New York.  Thanks, Crazy Sheep Lady - it was totally awesome!