Curly

Not quite two years ago we acquired Betsy and Bitsy, ewe sisters from up in North Carolina.  I found them on craigslist, the woman was seemingly losing her farm and the fact that they were Border Leicester/Cotswold crosses seemed intriguing as I just knew they'd have pretty fleece.  They were grossly overweight from being fed mostly grain.   We brought them home, put them on nice pasture on a hillside for lots of exercise and cut out their grain.  They have thrived  They really are dolls and I adore their lovely curly fleece.  I'd dyed a bucket load of it in the winter but had gotten busy and set it aside.  I fluffed some up yesterday.

I put the fuzzy heap in my lap, pulled up my wheel and began to spin.  I plyed the yarn, popped it in a bucket of hot water and then flipped it out on the clothesline.  I am quite happy with the final 29 yards of curly shiny yarn.  I really need to get back to picking and dyeing the rest of their fleece.  And we'll see how long this skein lasts on the market rack.

TaDa.....

The first 4 ounces of the purple blue roving is spun up - I've got over 200 yards so far.  It is always fun to start with the dyeing to see what happens.  This is what it was last week.  I'm sure you can see the resemblance!

A Little Dyeing & A Big Blessing

I got the word today that I have been accepted as a vendor at Indie Craft Parade!  This will be my 3rd year as a vendor and it is a remarkable weekend.  It is a lot of fun and also adds a nice bit of money to help with the winter feed bills.  Ironically, I had just walked in from starting a few more dye vats when I checked e-mail and got the great news.  So here are some "in process" dye pictures.  And it looks like I'd best get a bit more in process to be ready for September!

I'll follow up in a few days with the finished roving and (hopefully) the handspun yarn.  And I should have taken a few pictures of the multicolored puddles on the table when I removed the wrapped roving.

New Chicks

We were expecting our chick order on Monday which was going to make for a very rushed day.  The post office calls me early in the morning, I run to our small local post office and then spend an hour or so getting everyone settled in.  It can be time consuming as each little beak must be dipped into its first drink of water and we had ordered 112 chicks.  I have a morning appointment and sweet husband has a meeting so there would have been little time to spare.

As I was reading the Sunday paper my cell phone rang.  I did not recognize the number.  I was surprised when it was someone calling from the post office's main distribution center over in Greenville.  He told me the chicks were in and that I could pick them up today or wait for them to be sent out to our local branch tomorrow.  Of course, we agreed to go into Greenville to pick up the birds.  Within the hour we had our chicks and were busily preparing to start them on their life here.

We use empty watering troughs for brooders so we cleaned out the troughs, hung the heat lamps, lined the troughs with paper towel and added waterers and feeders.  As we carried the crates of chickens back to the stable the geese noticed us and were intrigued by the chirping boxes.  We put down the boxes to see what the geese would do.  They were interested but also a little nervous.  They looked and hissed but never got any closer than this.

We carried the chicks on and carefully unpacked them.  Each little one needs its beak dipped in water for its first drink.  We also count as we unload the boxes and discovered we had one spare pullet.

It took a while but we got all of them settled in.  They will grow rapidly and we will add another trough when they need more room. Before long they will be ready to put outside in a pen until they are old enough to join the rest of the hens who range wherever they want around the farm.

Time Flies!

I have been horrible about updating the blog!  When I ask the animals if they prefer to be fed or prefer to have their pictures posted they always let their stomachs make the decision.  Lambing and kidding are done but the Saturday Market is in full swing so that takes a good bit of time.

Our lamb count for the season is five new Shetland lambs, nine other lambs who will be producing lovely fiber and two goat kids.  Just last week we caught up on everyone's vaccinations and tagging.  Mothers are much more laid back as their maturing offspring take long jaunts off by themselves, only checking in for an occasional quick nursing.

We had a hatch of goslings this week.  Four originally hatched but one disappeared in the night.  We never found a trace of it which makes us believe that a skunk left with it.  We had smelled a skunk in the night and have lost young poultry to them in the past.  So now our trio of adult geese are minding three young.  We have Pilgrim Geese which are a sex-link breed so it is not too hard to determine gender when they are still young.  It looks like we have two females and a male.  Two days after the main hatch one more gosling emerged.  The adults originally showed interest in it but then abandoned it.  We found it hiding behind a fence so helpfully returned it to the little family.  Two of the adults immediately tried to murder it so it is now safely in the house.  We will see what its little future holds but I could not let it be torn to bits.

We have also had a new Dexter calf born.  Lynn emerged from the woods with it Saturday but we are thinking it was probably born on Friday.  It is a sleek, healthy and friendly little bullock.  Lynn is a good mother and also has a great temperament.  She is, of course, protective of her young but is trusting of us so carefully has been sharing the little guy so we can fawn over him.

And there are always the day to day unexpected mishaps. Gates, one of our 16 year old oxen, decided to unwarp the round hay bale all by himself.  He managed to make this whole mess in little less than an hour but fortunately stood patiently for Al to cut him loose.

Bud

Bud is a five year old Tunis wether who pretty well believes he is in charge of the farm.

He wants to go into every pasture and even manages to sneak his way into the front yard regularly.  He usually just barges through when we open a gate.  He knows it will be especially easy if I am trying to get through the gate with a bucket or two of newly-gathered eggs.  I can't really push him back without risking the eggs.  He loves to spend time in either the barnyard or the backyard but lately he constantly bothers us to get into the backyard and this is why.  The peaches are just beginning to ripen. He checks daily for low hanging fruit.

He then begins to shake the branches to knock down what he can't reach.

And he finishes up with a little dancing routine where he balances gracefully on his hind legs while plucking just a few more.

I believe that if we want any peaches this season I'll have to either be more diligent at the gate or find a ladder to pick my own.

Hay

We are already behind in rainfall for the year so are taking the opportunity to buy as much hay as we can from the season's early cuttings.  We have a great hay man who goes out of his way to take care of us so every time he bales we buy.  He has a few buddies who hang around and work the field at baling time so that loading right out of the field is as easy as can be.  He has even loaned us one of his fellows to help unload the hay into our barn so that we could manage yet another load on a day.  The last time that the fellows were baling I could not go along to drive the truck.  One of the buddies who hangs around is in his 80's so he drove the truck rather than walking along beside the trailer and handing bales up to my husband who stacks them.  They have such a good time, the hay gets handled and we have happy livestock.

Everyone here is very well fed but they never get over the excitement of a trailer load of new hay showing up.  The oxen who are housed at the front of the farm prance and bellow as we pull in the drive.  Then we go through the process of going through several gates, moving animals along the way and trying hard not to squish anyone as they prance along beside the trailer, often snatching mouthfuls of hay on the run.  We do try to keep most of the goats and sheep out of the barnyard but a few always manage to slip in.  The chickens, which are truly free range, gradually begin to realize that there are tasty oats dropping off of that nice hay.  They may stay out of the way while the hay is unloaded but many move in as soon as the trailer is moved.  They pick the oats clean in a very short time.

And I must confess that I love the smell of fresh hay and am always so grateful to have the barns loaded.