Sad, Sad Day on the farm

The heat the last couple of weeks have been extremely challenging.  The llamas that have not been shorn are holding up really well and seek the fans and hosing off to keep cool.  The sheep seemed to be doing fine, but the other night Talker seemed to be not quite right.  With quick research I found that he was bloated which can be induced by heat.  Unfortunately, we lost Talker this morning.  Talker was one of our original wethers and he was very sociable and met us at the gate at feeding time to "test" the hay each night.  He was a very sweet little boy and we will miss him.  The other sheep are grieving and paying their final respects to him this afternoon under the shade trees in the pasture.  Tonight, Talker will join the "Winding Creek" cemetery and be buried next to Bethany and her unborn lambs, the ewe we lost earlier in the year.  Losing animals does not get any easier as time goes by and at times like this I wonder why we have them.  But, within a few days someone out in the pasture will make my day with some funny antic or some gentle gesture and I will be reminded why we love them so much and keep them. 

Talker

We will miss your friendly, kind nature.

Farmland Vacation

Well, another July 4th holiday has come and gone.  We love to take advantage of the 4th of July as our scheduled holiday.  We spent 4 days at the lake visiting Jeff's mom and my mom tagged along to have a great time.  Jeff cooked way too much food on the grill as usual, but everyone had fun and the fireworks were great.

Now, back to "vacation" for me.  We are back home, Jeff is back to work and I have a few days off from the bank to try to accomplish way too many things.  One item on my list is to finish shearing the girls.  It has been extremely hot and more fans are not enough.  This morning, I decided to try to hand shear Purple - well as you can see. .. it started out well. . .but Purple decided she did not want to participate.  So, she's looking just a mite funny now!

Although I only got a little bit of wool off of her, hopefully it will help.  Looks like Purple would prefer a professional.

On the other hand. .. Llizzie thought it was great fun to be hand sheared.  We started with her neck, which was matted and had never been shorn.  I did leave her a little llama mohawk since the fiber was nice and silky.  But for the barrel cut, she just stood there . .no halter, no restraints. .just stood while I hacked away with the scissors, shook out the second cuts and walked over and put her wool in a bucket.  She thinks her new hair cut is just grand.  Such a good girl.

A few other things I have planned for my "vacation" are sorting and cleaning fleeces, sorting and packaging yarn, inputting items on our etsy store, http://www.windingcreekalpacas.etsy.com/ and organizing all my knitting patterns.  Some other things I hope to find time for are finishing my items for the Ohio State Llama show, cleaning the barn and a little antique browsing. 

I am headed to the Columbus area to deliver a loom to my friend Vicky - who got the loom as a birthday gift. .. so tomorrow will be spent on the road and teaching weaving . . .. should be a fun day. 

More vacation updates later, for now I am headed off to do something, who knows what :)

The Great Sheep Adventure….x2

My friend Debbie and I took another trip down to Southern Ohio to pick up a new sheep and her munchkin to add to the family. Shadow (affectionately known as Trouble) really needed a friend and we decided to add to our family with a sheep and ram lamb that was close in age to Trouble. However, we’re not sure if we should have called the new lamb Double to indicate what we were getting ourselves into.

The trip, for the most part went without a hitch. It was an overcast and rainy trip but we made it there and back with no problems. The animals at the farm were out enjoying the day, which is obvious in the pictures below. The most interesting topic of the day was getting the new sheep out of the truck. We had devised all sorts of scenarios on the way home, as momma sheep wasn’t real thrilled with getting into the truck. Once home, we backed the truck partially into the pasture, haltered the sheep, bear hugged the baby and herded them into the pasture…..okay, there was a few interesting moments in between the truck and the pasture….but the end of the story is they got into the pasture…: )

Looking up towards the house from the road. She has beautiful pastures. When we were here a few months back, everything was blanketed in snow and you could see the paths of the animals.

One of the many farm animals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chickens are adorable. Beautiful black and white colored as well as the rainbow assortment seen at farms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She has the most beautiful Great Pyrenees dogs.

 

 

The house used to be an Inn for travelers.

Getting ready to head home.

The new additions.

Farm Population Increase

The internet group - Free Cycle - really is a great place to find things and give things away.  I received an email from a friend that someone had some Angora rabbits to give away. . .. .so . .. .. being a fiber-a-holic - I responded to the email.  .. and made plans to meet the bunnies that were looking for a new home.

I went with the intention of only bringing home two bunnies. .. so the fact that I brought home "just" three is quite an accomplishment for me!  The little boy, who is the extra, is just so cute . .. I could not leave him behind.  The bunnies come from a very good home and I am sure they were perfectly happy - but that farm needed a herd reduction. . .so our herd increased. ... is that what you call a bunch of bunnies??? I don't know. .. geese are a flock, sheep are a flock, llamas and alpacas travel as a herd. . .what is a group of bunnies. .. . Happy at our house - for sure. .. not positive of what they would be called.  Rambling now, so I am just tired. .. here's the fun part  - the pictures of Elizabeth (gray), Nigel (bottom) and Llillie (right).

Fiber Dyeing Extravaganza

The sun is shining, it's a GREAT day and we are planning a Fiber Dyeing Extravaganza.  Please click on the link to the left for detailed information.  I have also included a link to a sign up form on that page and below.

June 12, 2010 FDE Flyer

We will spend the day dyeing fiber.  4 oz of yarn is provided for you to split between the three dyeing techniques.  If you would rather have 4 oz for each technique, wool yarn is avalable at a low cost or Alpaca yarn is available for a bit more.  You are also welcome to bring a couple 4 oz lots of yarn to use.

The Fiber Dyeing Extravaganza days are a fun day.  You get to spend time with your friends, meet new friends and dye yarn.  The Fiber Dyeing Extravaganza workshop is also available as a traveling workshop.  I will bring all the equipment and supplies to your farm and put on a workshop for you.  The only thing you supply is participants, water and a stove to bake some yarn.  It's quite simple, easy to promote and a great way to have a fun, memorable event at your farm.

Okay, back to the Extravaganza we are planning for June 12 here in Defiance at our farm.  As usual, three techniques will be provided for the fee.  We also have a couple of other techniques available that include materials - Sun Dyeing and One Pot dyeing - just a $5 fee for each.  We will also have a hobo stew going on a campfire.  You can participate in the hobo stew or bring your own lunch. 

Water and shade are provided.  Wear comfy clothes, bring your wheel or your latest projects as there is usually a bit of down time as we wait for the dye to set.  Our store will also be available during the day.

Join the Fun, sign up today!

Salomon Farm Fiber Show

We've just completed our third fiber show for the season!  Salomon Farm Park Fiber Show in Fort Wayne, IN was really fun, as long as you didn't mind rain and wind.  Seems like this show is always accompanied by icky weather.  It did not stop the Friday field trips for the local school kids and Saturday, although cold and windy, turned out to be a great day.

Mom accompanied me to the show on Saturday and expanded her fiber knowledge.  We had a vendor next to us spinning on her drop spindle all day - quite mesmerizing!  Hillary from Hippie Penquin Fibers did a great job.  Hey - we even bought a learn to spin kit from her :)  Cute little spindle and some fiber.

Our next show will be the Great Lakes Fiber show in Wooster, OH over Memorial Day weekend.  A great show with tons of vendors if you are looking for a fun show.

Mixed news from the Farm

Sad news from the farm is that our second pregnant sheep Bethany and her children did not make it through the pregnancy despite the much appreciated help from Dr. French, friends and neighbors all looking after her. And while we thought perhaps about waiting to add to the farm, we have decided to help keep Shadow, otherwise known as Trouble, out of trouble and add a momma sheep and her new ram, which happens to be the same age as Trouble. Hopefully this will allow his mother some much needed “me” time while the kids are playing.

The new additions should be making their way to the farm soon and I’ll be sure to post pictures from the Adventure.

Other news includes the addition of some smaller animals – Turkeys and ducks. No, not the wild kind. We decided to add to our eclectic band of animals with some two footed creatures to help “mow” our grass and eat our bugs. They have just made their grand appearance on the lawn and we expect they will be as entertaining as the other animals.

Finally, show season is upon us. I will be making the rounds to the local and not-so-local craft shows throughout Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. I’ll keep you updated on my show schedule with a quick plug for this weekend’s show (May 7-8) at Salomon Farms in Fort Wayne, Ind.

http://www.fortwayneparks.org/images/stories/Home/fiberfest2010.pdf

Spring Lambs

Well, I am traveling North driving from Florida to Ohio and my husband, Jeff, is at home with a very sick ewe.  Elizabeth dropped that beautiful black lamb, fondly referred to as "trouble" with no problem.  However, Bethany, is not quite so lucky.  She must have twins in the oven and apparently they are too much for her body.  She has developed Toxemia and is quite ill.  The vet was out on Wed the 21st and gave her an injection to induce labor.  We have been force feeding the poor girl and she has perked up a bit, but she is still too quiet and weak.  We are doing everything we can to save her and her lambs.  I am anxious to get north and be home with Bethany and do what I can to help.

Jeff is even creating a "grass cocktail" three times a day and feeding it to Bethany along with her other meds. This grass cocktail involves blending grass and water in the blender, straining out the grass and adding yogurt and other nutrients and they using a syringe to feed it to Bethany.

Bethany is a great ewe and very strong willed and Shetlands are a hardy breed, so if you are reading this please say a little prayer for Bethany and her ewes and stayed tuned to see pictures. . yes, I am optimistic that I will have happy pictures to post.

Check back for any update :)

Awesome Spring Day!

When you take time to enjoy the little things around you, it is quite suprising what you see!  I will attach some great pictures from today, but let's see why I think it's an AWESOME Spring Day. 

I started the day on the computer at about 6am, couldn't sleep so got up to catch up.  I spent about an hour downloading really cool, FREE knitting patterns from Knitting Daily.  Then I rinsed some yarn that I dyed last night - black and pink.  Natural black sheep, llama or alpaca is hard to come by so I decided to just dye some wool black.  It is not as dark as natural, but it will work for the project I have in mind.

After doing chores, I did a wee bit of cleaning . .. everyone knows how well I like to clean :)  then I started felting some items.  Most of the items are mine, for the vendor booth, but a few of the purses are Lorie's.

The Sun is out and bright, but the air temperature is not too hot, so it is perfect.  I really don't like it when it gets too hot and sticky.  So, I wandered around the back yard and took some random pictures, enjoy.

The wethers:

Elizabeth and Mr. Ram Lamb:

The Chickens enjoying the back yard and one in the barn hidden behind a tub in a favorite egg laying spot:

Since I can't leave anyone out. .. here are the girls relaxing and Buster Brown Sun Bathing

Okay,  ONE more . .. how could I leave out Hoover???? Sleeping in the sun on this wonderfully, sunny day!

I hope you are able to enjoy the spring days like we are!  Off to unload dirt. . .Jeff's just arrived home with a load of dirt for the garden :)

Lambs!

What a wonderful suprize!  I got to leave work on time - actually at 5:00 as it should be and I was really happy about that.  It really is the little things!  Anyway, when I got home, I glanced out in the back yard and one of the ewes was facing the back of the pasture kind of bobbing her head up and down like she was eating grass. . . why does this seem odd, you might ask . .. well, there is no grass in their pasture.  So, I changed and headed out to the barn and sure enough. . Elizabeth had given birth to a beautiful black ram lamb.  I don't know if he'll stay the pretty black that he is now, but he sure is cute.  He's been up and nursing and seems to be doing well.  I'll weigh him tomorrow, turns out the sling to the scale was dirty from being in the barn and I did not want to put his clean belly in the dirty sling. .. so weight will have to wait until tomorrow.  I did pick him up and he is a solid little lamb.

Elizabeth seems to be a very attentive momma!