tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18030771907647737112024-02-07T06:14:47.983-08:00A Day on the FarmA blog about our lives and beliefs. I will post useful information about our lifestyle as well as tell you about it.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-9306774400235131682015-03-21T04:25:00.001-07:002015-09-15T10:00:42.422-07:00The Benefits of Fall Shearing in a Commercial Flock<p dir="ltr">I do quite a bit of local shearing. Most people do their shearing in the spring. That is books and old farmers recommendation. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Time of shearing is actually more of a personal choice. I have long wool sheep so am continously shearing at home, but for those who have to hire a shearer, picking a time that works for you and your shearer is imperative. </p>
<p dir="ltr">While spring shearing has many benefits and is preferred, I want to point out some advantages to getting on the fall shearing schedule. </p>
<p dir="ltr">#1 The shearer is not as rushed. This makes it easier for you to get a day and time that works for you and the shearer. Not to mention they will have a bit more time to go over flock health with you and just general life happenings. </p>
<p dir="ltr">#2 More room in the barn. In the Northeast, most shepherds house their sheep solely in the barn over the winter. Having the fleeces off the sheep creates more room in the pens and at the feeders. </p>
<p dir="ltr">#3 Easy of lambing. While spring is generally the time small flocks lamb, a lot of commercial flocks try to have a fall lamb crop as well. Fall shearing makes lambing easier in the late fall and early winter. </p>
<p dir="ltr">#4 Less moisture in the barn. Let's be honest wooly sheep create a humid environment. Taking away the bulk of the wool reduces the humidity. This lessens the chances for upper respiratory problems and other health issues in the barn. </p>
<p dir="ltr">#5 Checking overall flock condition. We pasture our sheep over the summer. As we bring them in like most shepherds, we like to check over body condition on our ewes. Having them shorn makes this easier. Even if you do not summer pasture, fall is still a good time to check body condition before going into the winter months. </p>
<p dir="ltr">These are only some bullet points on fall shearing. I still recommend talking with your local shearer on their recommendations. Some have a fairly busy fall schedule or only travel in the spring. </p>
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The very first thing you need to do it find a fleece. Very obvious, but lets just say don't use just any fleece. You want a fleece that has been raised and prepared for a spinner. If you get a bad fleece, you're going to have a bad experience in which case you won't do it again.<br />
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Then you need to skirt the fleece. Even if I've bought a skirted fleece, I always go back and reskirt it. Skirting is simply put, removing the dirty wool. You want to pull the wool from the britch(crutch) area, armpits, and neck. These all contain the heaviest amount of vegetable matter and lanolin. Next you want to check the rest of the fleece for any heavily contaminated areas. These are just really dirty areas. These will need removed as well.<br />
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Next for us, we lay the fleece out in our bathtub. (Disclaimer: We don't live in the city and have a very good septic system.) If you live in the city or are worried about your septic system, then I recommend a large trash can or rubbermaid tote. These work exceptionally well. You simply need an area large enough for the fleece you're washing that can hold water. The tub needs to be filled with hot water. I'm not just saying a little hot. Turn your hot water heater up, or add boiled water to the hot water out of the spigot. I add the soap/degreaser after the tub is full. We use both laundry detergent and a degreaser depending on the fleece. If the fleece is high in lanolin we use the degreaser. A lot of people also use Dawn dish soap.<br />
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Once the fleece is in the tub with the detergent of your choice, it must sit for approximately an hour. The water should still be warm, but not scorching hot when you remove the fleece. At this point, we simply drain the bath tub. If you are using a trash can or rubbermaid tub then you will need to gently remove the fleece and lay it in a strainer of some sort.<br />
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Now we need to refill our tub. Once again with hot water. Only you can determine how dirty your fleece was. If the water that drained out of the fleece was still yucky then it'll need another wash. In which case you'll need to repeat the previous step. If it drained clearer then you can move to the rinsing stage. To rinse simply put the fleece back into the hot water. For a rinse it will need to soak for about 15-30mins.<br />
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After that drain the fleece and repeat the rinse step as needed until the fleece rinses clear. Once it's rinsing clear then you can set it out to drain and dry.<br />
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I don't run water directly onto a fleece. There is a greater chance of it felting if you do this. This is a fairly simple if not daunting process the first time you take it on. Take your time and enjoy the process. </div>
Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-44206161458672963872014-10-08T05:14:00.001-07:002014-10-08T05:14:54.451-07:00I Don't Know How You Do It This seems to be a recurring question(statement) in my life. I hear it quite often. Yes my days do seem full to most people. There are many times I get up about 4am only to not be able to get back to bed until 11pm. And while I don't know if these comments come as a sign of our times or just because I actually do push myself. The truth is some days I don't know how I do it all. Most times my answer to this comment is "I just do it". Is there another choice? It needs done so I do it.<br />
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For those who don't know I work at a "paying" job and then also farm, shear and sell wool products. Most days are pretty full between some or all of these tasks. Believe me the animals don't care if I'm having a sick day or just had a really bad day in the office. They still want food and need medicine and milking.<br />
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Most days my life is rewarding. I love what I do and I wouldn't change it for the world. I truly believe there's nothing better than the smell or sound of a newborn lamb. Watching them take their first steps and their first drink. Watching my kids grow up in this life. I believe they are better people for it and appreciate life so much more than other children their age.<br />
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Then there are the days that I hate. Having to pull a stuck kid or treating a ewe for flystrike. There are the days I start shearing when my feet hit the ground and keep going until I collapse, only to still have to go out and do my regular chores. Those are the days I don't know how I do it. They are also the days that I take the time to sit and just watch the lambs or talk to the goats. They remind me that I love my life and with the bad there is always the good.<br />
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It gives me time to love and appreciate life. This life teaches me so much more than I could ever learn anywhere else and I appreciate all of that. I wouldn't want to raise my children any other way and I hope they someday learn that when things are bad in life to simply go to the barn. It's a reset button.<br />
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So you ask how I do it. How I keep going when most people would stop or just not even start? I really don't know except is has to be done. I can only truly say it's with the grace of God and the strength and patience that he gave me. God does truly make barn calls!<br />
<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-63587687533209578492014-07-22T13:50:00.001-07:002014-10-08T05:17:05.185-07:00Looking for a ShearerI've been going along to help shear for a number of years and now I'm the shearer myself. As I've been doing this I've noticed a lot of things. Some people are a joy to shear for while others are just a real bear. Many times it has nothing at all to do with the sheep. The people and how they treat the crew can make or break a day.<br />
Here's a couple of tips to make life easier and make your shearer want to come back.<br />
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#1- We are here to help you. Remember you called us to do a job that you can't or won't do yourself. It is a dirty, hard job. Not many people do it and chances are you had to scrape around to find our name. You are not the only person who has called us and I will get to you. Just give it time. Weather and health play a lot into how many I can do and how fast I can do them.<br />
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#2- When we say lock the sheep in, lock them in. That doesn't mean wait until the minute we are pulling in the driveway. (This is only excusable if you have a very small elephant proof paddock.) I came to shear your sheep. Not chase them around a field. This cost time which in turn costs me and you money. Once you have them locked in, make sure it is full proof. Sheep will try to get out and just because they are ok with you in the barn doesn't mean they are ok with the crew in the barn.<br />
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#3- If you want to help, for me, that is fine. But you must be willing to do what I tell you or get out of the way. Remember I'm using electric knives moving at a very high rate of speed. They can cut off a finger. When I tell you not to do something it's for the safety of everyone involved including your sheep.<br />
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#4- Yes your sheep are hot. It's not likely that they'll die from being hot. Remember on the other hand if the shearer comes out both them and your sheep could die from heat exhaustion while shearing. It can wait another day. If you were that worried maybe you should've called the shearer earlier. Don't wait until the last minute. We don't like shearing in hot weather and unless it's our fault that it's late shearing we are most likely only doing it because we feel bad for the sheep not for you.<br />
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#5- Don't gripe about the price. Once again I go back to the basic theory. We are doing a job you are either unwilling or uncapable of doing. I can tell the customers who have either actually shorn, or attempted to shear a sheep. They have respect for what I do and are willing to pay for it without complaint. Believe me we are not making money. If you only knew what the cost of our equipment and upkeep is you'd be surprised.<br />
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#6- Leave water. ok while not a rule it is a suggestion. A welcome one at that. I always appreciate a drink at the end of a job. Even in cool weather I break out in a sweat.<br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-12570895744969072482014-07-07T18:03:00.001-07:002014-07-07T18:04:12.327-07:00She's Gonna Shear?That is a question I've heard a lot of the last few years as I've started doing more, but more so this year as I'm doing the majority of the shearing. I'm sure the majority of people are just used to seeing K doing it and me helping or catching the sheep, but some are genuinely surprised that I could be strong enough to handle this.<br />
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I had never planned to shear for other people. My soul purpose of learning how to shear was purely selfish. I decided many years ago that I was going to have sheep. ( believe it or not, before I wanted to learn how to spin) I also decided that I was not going to call all over in a panic trying to find someone to shear my sheep. So I asked K to start teaching me how to shear. It started slow. I would finish off the back of a rather large ram or take the first pass on one that we decided to do standing up. Always with him watching over me and giving me tips on what to do or how I should hold something.<br />
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A few years later I started watching youtube videos and watching demonstrators at events. I wanted to know how other people did it. How did they hold the machine, the animal, their bodies. I was getting the hang of it. I would shear the occasional animal at home and still help out where needed on the road. Over time I began to be the one to do the alpacas and llamas. It was much easier for him to hold them and me to shear them. I am a little more agile and can move out of the way easily when they decided to jump, and he is stronger and can hold the heads and front shoulders more easily.<br />
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Last year I started to do more sheep at the house, but was more than happy to still let him shear other people's sheep. I just didn't want to deal with most of them. Lets face it. We shear a lot of pets. That and I'm always scared of nicking the sheep. I hate doing that in front of other people. I would do the occasional one as his knee would give out or his sugar would spike.<br />
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Then this last year the inevitable happened. After years of hard labor parts of your body just give out. I waited and waited for him to say let's go out. It was getting later and he simply just said "You go do it". So I started at home. I would grab a couple and shear them. It started to become more than the little bit that I had been doing. Then the people started to call and I just decided that instead of losing the income all together I would bite my fears and go to the mat. Literally we just started going out. Now he still stands over me and directs some things, but as we've gone through this year (what could be classified as my first year) I've gotten better and less afraid of what I was going to do to other people's sheep. I'm still learning and I'm learning that it's going to be a continual process. I'm never going to be one of the people that do a hundred in one day, but I'm okay with what I can do.<br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-40409267829155700032014-03-08T05:06:00.003-08:002014-03-08T09:45:37.619-08:00I'm Just a FarmerLiving out here, I have made quite a few friends who are farmers. Some with small farms and many that farming is just their way of life. Be it sheep, cattle, or grain. I often times here them say "I'm just a farmer".<br>
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I'm just a famer=<br>
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The mechanic that can fix dang near any piece of machinery in front of him.<br>
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The welder that can make a feed bunker or just fix the axle on his sons wagon.<br>
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The veterinarian who can deliver a calf twisted sideways and then treat the cow for any infections that may come.<br>
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The carpenter who can build a bookshelf for his wife.<br>
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The nutritionist who can figure a feed ration down to the ounce.<br>
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The doctor who'll mend his own cuts, scratches, scrapes and colds and keep going about his day.<br>
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The accountant who'll figure down the last penny how much that lamb cost him to raise and how much it's going to cost him to keep.<br>
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The scientist who can put together a fertilizer mix that would make Miracle Grow envious.<br>
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These are really just a few examples. Farmers are really so much more. They are the back bone of our country and the source of our bread. For everyone of them I am thankful, because I'm proud know "I'm just a farmer." <br>
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And here is my favorite poem of all time.<br>
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<em><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the text of Paul Harvey's 1978 'So God Made a Farmer' Speech, which inspired the Ram Trucks Super Bowl ad that has resonated with so many Americans:</span></em></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br>And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board." So God made a farmer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon -- and mean it." So God made a farmer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year.' I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain'n from 'tractor back,' put in another seventy-two hours." So God made a farmer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor's place. So God made a farmer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God said, "I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark. It had to be somebody who'd plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week's work with a five-mile drive to church.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what dad does.'" So God made a farmer.</span></div>
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<br>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-86874690374661224132014-02-18T06:08:00.002-08:002014-02-18T06:08:37.333-08:00Lambs in the HouseLambs in the house: Sounds like a book doesn't it. Right now it's my life or another part of it I should say.<br />
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Any farmer knows, there comes a time when there will be an animal in the house. Right now we have two little lambs in the house. One is here because his mommy didn't like him. This happens sometimes and I'm just glad I found him in time. The other has become a tenant of the house because her mothers teats were to large and she couldn't get a good latch. Combine that with these cold temperatures we've been having lately and that's how she came to the house. They are cute and adorable right now, but I'm hoping for warmer temperatures here soon. As much as I love the little buggers I really do want my house back. <br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-74457434169721953522014-02-08T05:57:00.000-08:002014-02-08T05:57:05.216-08:00How to Wash a FleeceI have had people at shows ask how we wash our fleeces here. So I'm just going to give the basic overview of what we do.<br />
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Items needed:<br />
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-A fleece<br />
-A large container to wash in.(We use our bathtub, but other people use trash cans, rubbermaid tubs, or even wash basins.) Make sure its big enough to hold the amount of fleece you want to wash.<br />
-Soap. ( We use laundry soap)<br />
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The very first thing I do is lay the fleece out and reskirt it. Yes I skirt the fleeces as we are shearing, but I always reskirt as I go to wash. I do this with every fleece even if I buy it. You just never know if something was missed and I usually have more time to look through the fleece and pick out the little things.<br />
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Next I put the fleece into the tub. I lay it out as much as possible. This opens it up so that the water can cover more area. Now start covering it with water. The articles I've read say that the water should be over 135*F. Make sure the fleece is covered completely. Add the soap. Make sure you add enough to make the water slightly slippery. Do not agitate the water to create suds.<br />
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I let the fleece soak for about an hour if not longer. Then drain the water. Give the fleece time to drain out. Most times I will put it into strainers to remove as much of the water as possible. Now back into tub for the rinse. Once again make sure you cover the fleece completely. This time it doesn't have to soak as long. Normally about 20-30mins. Once again do a drain to get the most out of water out. I rinse again afterwards just to make sure the fleece is as clean as possible.<br />
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After the second rinse it's time to dry the fleece. Lay it out as open as possible. Be sure to turn the fleece as often as you can. A whole fleece will normally take a couple days to dry.<br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-13533405408026594322013-02-13T16:20:00.000-08:002013-02-13T16:20:13.713-08:00A Day to Dye<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: start;">We use many different techniques for dyeing. It mostly depends on what we are doing the dyeing for. I took some pictures one day while I was dyeing some locks. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFjK04IgeBBcosT8wdOFN8amgR6rVtvRv0XhKy4PFW0wfWeij2Xyqlh9bUJcxxlEEN80Fc96IKUavzzSo1H6rTFWnhDqYmU0uTEL-W31jsAqQrlPHI2dbIBYgAKqW6c8ztaY8v_CW4Xg/s1600/IMAG0406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFjK04IgeBBcosT8wdOFN8amgR6rVtvRv0XhKy4PFW0wfWeij2Xyqlh9bUJcxxlEEN80Fc96IKUavzzSo1H6rTFWnhDqYmU0uTEL-W31jsAqQrlPHI2dbIBYgAKqW6c8ztaY8v_CW4Xg/s320/IMAG0406.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First I picked the colors. For this day I was using primary colors. Red, Yellow, Blue.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soaking the locks in hot vinegar water. I let them soak for about 20mins. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMcRMyTkCBp3-tf6Dz9f9Vxp807FB_moOTdBx2CcBDMQAwDq9JgR09ez67ddfbCTNIaEp6AT2GRDlq_yhY96J9E7kopQLInrqjWQ_VdbwUGDcQEW3nge6xiJu2uz-iMmCwi_QXSoX0zw/s1600/IMAG0407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMcRMyTkCBp3-tf6Dz9f9Vxp807FB_moOTdBx2CcBDMQAwDq9JgR09ez67ddfbCTNIaEp6AT2GRDlq_yhY96J9E7kopQLInrqjWQ_VdbwUGDcQEW3nge6xiJu2uz-iMmCwi_QXSoX0zw/s320/IMAG0407.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I sprinkled the dye onto the locks and then added more locks. I don't normally add more locks, but I had put to much water in and needed the locks to sop it up. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Locks in the process of dyeing. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before the blue and red took over the yellow. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rinsing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyr7G9dm4mx1hlG27qMLYUE1Io53ldKJ2QWC8V1hTOYY7oENvqoXNgXEo_5XuCuEFXpR9nlVcAS_eIoIrz12rrVxjfY0SlyLLYmZfOSdzlVjJXzKUh99742GhZPKuGdAKHZpQiFIs3LvE/s1600/IMAG0411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyr7G9dm4mx1hlG27qMLYUE1Io53ldKJ2QWC8V1hTOYY7oENvqoXNgXEo_5XuCuEFXpR9nlVcAS_eIoIrz12rrVxjfY0SlyLLYmZfOSdzlVjJXzKUh99742GhZPKuGdAKHZpQiFIs3LvE/s320/IMAG0411.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a wider shot of the rinsing. </td></tr>
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For dyeing we use acid dyes. Acid dyes need an acid to strike ( take up). We use vinegar as our acid. Depending on the technique that we are using I will either soak in vinegar water or wait until we've added the dye to add the vinegar. All of our wool sits in the dye bath until the water has cooled and then goes through rinse cycles until the dye doesn't bleed.<br />
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I hope to be posting about some of the other ways that we dye. Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-79301633651030684502013-02-02T16:08:00.002-08:002013-02-02T16:08:38.645-08:00Wool Mill Road TripThis past week we decided to take a trip to Zeilinger's Wool Mill. We have been sending our wool to them for nearly 10yrs to be processed into rovings. This is the first time that we have actually taken wool up there ourselves. We generally send it with another family or drop it off at wool shows.<br />
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We left on Wednesday night and got there late. Went into Zeilinger's first thing in the morning. They did our wool intake. That wasn't much different than any other time dropping off at a show. After we were done with the wool intake.<br />
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After our intake we took a quick tour of the facilities. We got to see the combing machine, roving machine, and the picker. That was just in one building. When we went to the next building we saw where they wash the wool. Then we got to see the machine that makes batts. They were working on an alpaca batt when we came in. In the upstairs of that building is where they make the socks.<br />
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All in all we had a good time. I can't wait to see the rovings and batts that we get back. It is a never ending circle though and we have started washing and picking for the next batch to go out.<br />
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The batting machine</div>
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A side picture of it</div>
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A top view</div>
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fleeces drying</div>
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-38478651233760598492013-01-22T18:35:00.000-08:002013-01-22T18:38:46.976-08:00That's to Graphic** Disclaimer: I am a parent and I do not tell you how to raise your children, please don't use this as a place to bash my parenting. **<br />
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The other day I was working at my job. For those of you who don't know me. I pretty much can do anything on the front end of Walmart. This particular day I was working in customer service. Not that extravagant of a day. Nothing much going on.<br />
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I had a customer bring back up a dvd series of "House", with a small boy in her cart. Probably about 4 or 5 years old. I went through the normal questions; "Return or exchange", "Is there anything wrong with it?". The customer was very nice and in no way snotty. I found she wanted to do an exchange and there was nothing wrong with the movie. She wanted to exchange it for the "Bones" series. Turns out she already had this season of house.<br />
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I said something at that point that "Bones" was my daughter and I's favorite show. The lady proceeded to tell me that the show is to graphic for her young son.<br />
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This got me thinking. What exactly is to graphic? I'm talking in general senses. I don't let my children watch "Edward Scissorhands" or "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but my daughter really does love to watch "Bones" and we watch "House" on occasion. My children have also watched and assisted in kidding and lambing season. They have helped to butcher chickens and turkeys.<br />
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I don't find these tv shows to be to graphic and I'm very open with them about the tv being about actors and the storys and blood are fake. I think my children are well rounded for it and they learn, so yeah "Bones" isn't to graphic for my kids. Not after they've torn apart a chicken.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-90687995782175784932012-12-27T17:16:00.000-08:002013-01-22T18:38:04.331-08:00TraditionsChristmas for my family is filled with many traditions. I love some of these traditions and have carried them over to my family. Some I do still love, but they directly conflict with my husbands family traditions.<br />
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Some of my favorite traditions include dinner. My parents always did dinner on Christmas eve. My dad would read the story of Jesus' birth and we would light the Jesus Candle then have dinner. The next morning it was like a challenge to see who could get up the earliest. We weren't allowed to open any presents until everyone was awake, but we could always get in our stockings. Another of my favorite traditions is the movie "White Christmas". I love that movie and still watch it every year. My children aren't quite old enough to enjoy it yet, but I'm hoping some day they will.<br />
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I'm hoping this year was the beginning of a new tradition. My family never really went to Christmas Eve service. (at least not that I remember) This year I packed up the kids and took them to Christmas Eve service. It was something I remembered doing as a teenager and loved. I'm hoping to keep this as a tradition and repeat it year after year.<br />
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What are some of your favorite traditions? Whether new or old family traditions.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-84414211968854992072012-12-12T10:13:00.001-08:002012-12-12T10:13:15.557-08:00Making MemoriesI have a lot of memories of things my family did as a child. Some of my favorites are the dinners on Christmas eve. We have been making lots of memories with my kids. Well at least I hope we have. We bake a cake every year for Jesus' birthday and go to Grandma and Aunt Alicia's house every Christmas eve.<br />
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Another of my favorite memories is putting up the Christmas tree with my family and being able to look at all of the ornaments and knowing the story that was attached to each one. My favorite always has been my dad's ornament. It was always the last to go on the tree and my dad was always the one to put it on. I'm hoping to instill something like that in my children.<br />
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Now for the fun part. Every year the teachers at school would send home little ornaments with us kids to go on the tree. Mom looked forward to it every year. We homeschool so I am now the teacher in charge of all those cool gifts. I decided to work on salt dough ornaments this year with the kids.The recipe was really easy:<br />
2cups all purpose flour<br />
1cup salt<br />
<span style="text-align: center;">3/4 cup water ( I ended up using almost a cup)</span><br />
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Mix flour and salt together. Add water slowly. Mix until if makes a dough mixture. Make your ornaments. Bake in oven for 20mins at 200degrees. Really simply and really fun. The kids had a fun time. we did some for our tree and for all of the grandparents trees.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-23245634946268863942012-11-29T18:23:00.000-08:002012-12-27T17:17:07.515-08:00A Day OffMany times when I say I have a day off, it simply means I'm not working at walmart that day. I know this is true for most moms. There is always the laundry, dishes, bathroom that needs cleaned. Not to mention the errands that need run. So much to do in our busy lives how many of us actually do take a day off.<br />
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Mostly my days off are relaxing to me though. I get to work on stuff that I enjoy and that brings me joy. How many people can say that. I would do this all of the time if it would pay the bills, but alas I shall keep working at walmart to pay the bills and doing this in my spare time.<br />
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So what exactly did I do today. Well to start I ran over to a friend's house to grab her picker and some gates that she no longer needed. Then off to the bank and a quick trip to the post office to check on a package. Back to the farm and get started on barn stuff after a quick lunch.<br />
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In the barn we started with regular chores. That involved trying to find a lamb's mom. Poor little guy had been running around all day yesterday and we couldn't tell who his momma was. This part actually just involves a lot of sitting and watching. Still can't find momma. Well we'll give it a couple more hours. Keep going with chores.<br />
Now it's time for shearing. We decided to try to get 8 to 10 sheep shorn every week. Not that outrageous of a goal, but it takes time. Started setting up for shearing and getting all the stuff together. We got 12 done today so not that bad of a day. Even marked a couple fleeces to take a look at later for Maryland Sheep and Wool show. While shearing I was still watching the lamb to find momma and she did finally come up and claim her lamb. I got them moved into one of the lambing pens and made sure she had hay, water, and a feeder for corn tomorrow.<br />
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After shearing we came inside and I got to play around with the picker. That nifty thing makes quick work of a fleece. I much prefer it to picking by hand. Then after picking up the kids from grandma's house it was back out to the barn. A fire was started to burn trash(had to be watched), and I started pitching manure in the only empty lamb pen. My goal is to get them all cleaned within the next 3 weeks. We'll see how it goes.<br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-75970699626176032122012-11-29T18:14:00.001-08:002012-11-29T18:14:00.960-08:00IMAG0578<div style="margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eweniquefibers/8231567538/" title="IMAG0578"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8203/8231567538_b0f9e2508e.jpg" alt="IMAG0578 by eweniquefibers" /></a><br/><span style="margin: 0;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eweniquefibers/8231567538/">IMAG0578</a>, a photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eweniquefibers/">eweniquefibers</a> on Flickr.</span></div><p>picker</p>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-46337297510329043432012-07-10T18:34:00.000-07:002012-07-10T18:34:36.604-07:00Fleece, Fleece EverywhereAs a side effect of being a spinner and a shepherd, I have a lot of fleeces. By a lot, I mean A LOT. I can not begin to describe the number and quality of fleeces I go through each year. Lets face it some of the fleeces I see are nothing but junk. I simply open the bag wrinkle my nose and ship them out. Maybe I am a little to particular, but after 11 years of spinning and fiber handling and putting my hands into literally thousands of fleeces, I think I have every right to be. It takes a special fleece to make me jump up and down.<br />
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This was once again brought to my attention today as we were cleaning the barn for the straw to come in. There is a method to the madness in my sorting system. The fleeces that are first up to wash or that are particularly nice go to the house. The next best fleeces ( the ones that I don't want washed RIGHT now or that I haven't skirted yet) go out to the camper. Yes you read that right I use a camping trailer to house fleeces. The last batch are the" these are in my way and I don't know what I want to do with them yet" group. Yes this is a group and it's the largest group by far. I once again encountered this group today while cleaning the barn. This group unfortunately seems to get moved around quite a bit and eventually finds their true home. This is usually when I'm in a hurry and don't have much time to think about it. Once again my procrastinators nature at work.<br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-75076165321307156462012-06-06T12:30:00.000-07:002012-06-06T12:31:40.276-07:00Wool ShowsWell May was a very busy month. Out of 4 weekends we had wool shows three of them. Well I guess technically two, but we always go to Maryland Sheep and Wool.<br />
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I have learned somethings by attending that many shows that quickly. First off some work and some don't. One show that I vended at was my first year and most likely my last year there. It was a very nice show, run by very nice people. The problem comes that I also have to realistically look at the bottom line. I didn't make money at it. Not even a little bit.<br />
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Secondly I tend to over clutter some of my space. I like to offer people a variety that is accessible. Basically I don't braid or bag all of our rovings because I want to be able to offer the occasional felter that 1 or 2 oz batch that they need. I think this tactic helps my business and perhaps at times hurts it. I have found the use of signs to be a necessity. People seem to be able to understand a properly worded sign and they like not having to ask.<br />
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Third, I do need to bag up smaller quantities for customers. At Great Lakes wool show I had some individual baggies of dyed locks done up and people seemed to love them. I had thought that leaving them loose and giving the customer the option to pick their colors would work, but a lot of them seem to be okay with the random baggies I throw together.<br />
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Overall we had fun and can't wait until the next one.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-35582982508373246972012-05-14T15:23:00.000-07:002012-05-14T15:23:16.146-07:00Sacrificial LoveI saw this term on a church board on the way to drop the kiddos off at Grandma's house this morning. The exact message was " Thank You Mothers everywhere for your sacrificial love". This seems like such an odd statement to me. I don't consider being a mother a sacrifice. Yes there are times I miss certain aspects of my life BC(before children). I think of those times and then of my kids. I think my kids bring so much more joy to my life and fill it more than any of those things I might temporarily miss.<br />
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After having children I do have a deep respect for other mothers and all that we go through. Seems odd to me that this joy would be considered a sacrifice.<br />
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As a late post a big Thank You to all the moms out there, and I hope each of you had a wonderful day yesterday.<br />
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Question: Do you consider being a mom a sacrifice?<br />
<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-52806591400196093842012-05-12T18:13:00.000-07:002012-07-10T18:35:31.213-07:00I admittedly am not the most social person. In fact I'm probably one of the least social people you'll ever meet. I am the perpetual wall flower, the loner, the shy one. I have been this way my entire life. I remember as a child shying away from anything where I had to be in a group of people.<br />
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This social shyness in itself is not an odd thing. I have met many people who are shy and slightly introverted. I usually become friends with them easily. What makes this odd is that I am from a large family. I mean a LARGE family. I also scored high on leadership test in high school.<br />
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I think my problem is I always feel like the 3rd wheel. I never truly know how to behave in any "normal" social situation. If I'm around animal people or fiber artist, I generally tend to be okay. If you put my in a wedding, church gathering or some other appropriate societal function I become all clammed up and have no idea what to do. I would rather retreat into a corner and watch the happenings.<br />
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<br />Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-42020222224813136952012-04-19T16:48:00.000-07:002012-04-19T16:48:27.662-07:00Breeding sheep for Fleece QualityMany years ago my husband and I were talking and he asked me. "If you could raise just one breed of sheep, what would it be?"<br />
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What only be able to have one breed of sheep. What a drastically awful idea. I don't think I could bare it. Right now I am working with at least 3 different breeds and crosses of them. You see the problem here is that I am a spinner and I'm not really a spinner who goes looking for a certain type of sheep. I want a certain type of fleece. I love a good long staple with a good bit of crimp and lots of luster. I also want it to be soft.<br />
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We started with Lincolns and Border Leicesters. They were both very nice breeds with the beginning fleece qualities that I like. We had tried some Romney, but I didn't really like the fleece quality that came out. The fleeces just weren't talking to me. Those of you who are spinners and dealt with raw wool know what I am talking about. LOL.<br />
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The Lincolns and Border Leicesters were doing a good job. Then I read about the Bluefaced Leicester and their fleece qualities. This brought about intrigue. I liked this idea. A longwool that had the possibility to be worn next to the skin. We did get a Bluefaced Leicester ram and have used him the last 3 yrs. I am very impressed with the quality of wool that we are getting and hope to only improve from here. This year we are going to be using the Border Leicester ram again over most of the ewes. I am hoping to use the new Lincoln ram over the Lincoln ewes.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-74951961385456024932012-04-08T16:32:00.000-07:002012-04-08T16:32:57.722-07:00What dreams may comeI have almost always been an artsy type. It' started with my mom years ago. She started early to teach me to embroider and also to crochet. My dream job when I was younger revolved around horses and raising them. As a teenager I wanted to be a vet. I guess I just always knew I would be around animals.<br />
Now as an adult I have let the artsy side of me come out. Not only do I crochet, but I've also learned to spin and knit. I do some needle felting and have on occasion used a triangle loom. I will leave color combinations to my husband though as he is much better at putting colors together.<br />
I have found a world I am happy in and would like to enjoy more. We have been running the wool business out of a house for a few years now. In the last few months I have been having the dream of starting a shop as in an actual brick and mortar store front. I would love to do this full time.<br />
My dream involves a co-op of sorts with locally produced goods. Items made and/or produced locally by artisans. This would include everything from raw wool, honey, handspun yarn, hand knit and/or crocheted items. I'm sure the list could be so much larger, but as you could probably guess my mind tends to concentrate on items that I am most interested in.<br />
At this point it is just that a dream, but my hope is one day for this dream to come true.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-9087167492166766452012-03-19T15:27:00.000-07:002012-03-19T15:27:21.500-07:00Alliance Women's Fiber FestWell this was our first show of the season and it proved to be so in every way. I realized that the truck is more necessary in this venture than I realized. We did get everything there and back, but it two loads there and luckily we got it all to fit in one load back.<br />
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My husband has a very artistic eye. This should really come as no surprise to. I have used his eye many times in my crochet and to put rovings together. I had him working on labels and price tags the night before the show.( I will admit I am the perpetual procrastinator. ) He did such an awesome job and even added some extras.<br />
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I need more little baskets( and big ones too). This seems to be a never ending problem. I am constantly putting things in baskets and never seem to have enough of them. I find the baskets useful. I put the roving into them loose so that people have a chance to touch and feel them.<br />
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The rack is wonderful and very useful. I was in love with the rack the minute I saw it and have fallen in love with it even more over this past weekend. I finally figured out how to get the legs off of it. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It was one of those things were you had to be smarter than the machine. I set it up and only found one fault with it which wasn't exactly a fault. A friend had some baskets attached to her racks and now I would like some to put on.<br />
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It was a rather slow show and we ended up selling more stuff to other vendors than to visitors. Our big sellers came from leftovers of an auction buy. We had some books that had water damage and some cable needles that I just don't need right now. We were selling them at discount prices and if it wasn't for them I would've been really worried about the booth fee. I had 3 bigger sales of the day and luckily these made our day. When I did the final tally for the day I was extremely happy to see that we had actually made more than last year.<br />
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a picture of our booth.<br />
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At home: My grandpa passed away this week so that involved a quick trip out to Iowa. Which involved a rental car and 3 days in it with my sister and 2 little girls. It was good to see family that I haven't seen in forever again. I just wish that I wasn't seeing them at a funeral and we could all get together more often. My mother's family is thrown to the end of the earth almost literally. They live all over the country. I used the occasion to get pictures of all of them together and the separate family groups. My mom also used this time to get a group picture of her 6 kids. This is the first time we have all been together in a little over 5 years. I have to get the pictures off my camera yet and see if editing is needed and then create a file and send it out to everyone. May start on that this afternoon.<br />
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On the farm: Lambing is coming along at a slower rate than I would like. We had a nice spurt there for a little while and now we are only having 2 or 3 ewes lamb a week. The older lambs are looking good and I'm happy with the fiber coming in on the fiber lambs. We started out with a string of ewe lambs and are now running into a string of ram lambs. Mostly 3/4 BFL.<br />
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In the shop: I had ordered some top from an etsy shop. Loved spinning it. It just seemed to glide onto the wheel. I wanted to navajo ply it, because it had a wonderful colorway that I didn't want to muddy up with a 2 ply. I needed to work on my navajo ply techniques. I finally felt comfortable the other night and pulled it out and went to work on it. The ply came out better than I had ever anticipated. Watching the youtube videos really did seem to help.<br />
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We have our first show of the season coming up this week. I can't wait for it. Of course right now I'm in a little of a panic mood. Trying to think if I've got everything. Hoping for a good show with a good turnout.Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-56345440125831167282012-02-18T16:30:00.000-08:002012-02-18T16:30:09.180-08:00Baby lambs on the groundWe are coming into my favorite time of year. I love lambing/kidding season. It's kind of like all of the work in the fall of putting the rams with the ewes or picking just the right buck for the right doe, all come down to this. The fruits of the labor. We have started having the wool lambs.<br />
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For those of you who don't know the sheep flock is in essence split into two different categories. We have the wool ewes who produce the fiber and hopefully new fiber lambs. :-) And then we have the meat ewes who's lambs are simply used for sale for meat purposes. While I like watching the new meat lambs being born. I love when the wool ewes start having lambs. It's like Christmas morning.<br />
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We are having a heavy ewe lamb year which makes it a little difficult because we can't keep them all. There are some very promising lambs out there already, but now comes another waiting period to see who turns out and who doesn't.<br />
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And now I leave you with lambie pictures:-)<br />
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a 3/4 bluefaced ewe lamb<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzgmP1iDEeyXNm2KGGpHvyQyff2NkBy6KZDnmdoKZAHHFlLAg5zeCK-EBpXq6PlGFRDNCi8wP4VXq4gkhEXfozW2zLS9xf8jEYGLk4DHtszolX37-EBFuMh0qJa7aDEJyQ0KT7uWmufV8/s1600/395674_250807071665325_118738861538814_559853_1724412571_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzgmP1iDEeyXNm2KGGpHvyQyff2NkBy6KZDnmdoKZAHHFlLAg5zeCK-EBpXq6PlGFRDNCi8wP4VXq4gkhEXfozW2zLS9xf8jEYGLk4DHtszolX37-EBFuMh0qJa7aDEJyQ0KT7uWmufV8/s320/395674_250807071665325_118738861538814_559853_1724412571_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> some 1/2 bluefaced leicester/ 1/2 lincoln ewe lambs<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiux7HY6JumRojm-wY2vwQptBLsprbv8THH-Ok9eIiGnuBgVclVnRV4C9ibYTKUpUWMlYSD-A1YyBYQH9JcA6Xztf09YU_jIKIICETReHBmiRzqgw_-oe4NwGbVakbAcmTHQt5_4o62cY8/s1600/402079_251448814934484_118738861538814_561040_1703183363_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiux7HY6JumRojm-wY2vwQptBLsprbv8THH-Ok9eIiGnuBgVclVnRV4C9ibYTKUpUWMlYSD-A1YyBYQH9JcA6Xztf09YU_jIKIICETReHBmiRzqgw_-oe4NwGbVakbAcmTHQt5_4o62cY8/s320/402079_251448814934484_118738861538814_561040_1703183363_n.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRmuxJZbLHAhuuhp-jZDOyEXVD-bqFOTpwBaCR9zsaTxFYpf6_U2LC1eOo9BEGKz3xE-fpIJOPxHq5bI9MfR3LBvm-l3qYNG3Yxigx5TRjnWMi9ajbak9BIm92bpQ8rOCJXFk1J5fHs-8/s1600/422463_251448164934549_118738861538814_561039_709104118_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRmuxJZbLHAhuuhp-jZDOyEXVD-bqFOTpwBaCR9zsaTxFYpf6_U2LC1eOo9BEGKz3xE-fpIJOPxHq5bI9MfR3LBvm-l3qYNG3Yxigx5TRjnWMi9ajbak9BIm92bpQ8rOCJXFk1J5fHs-8/s320/422463_251448164934549_118738861538814_561039_709104118_n.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1803077190764773711.post-49955669401303163292012-01-06T08:18:00.000-08:002012-01-06T08:18:36.949-08:00The Shawl and other notesI got 2 skeins spun up for the triangle shawl I am knitting so decided to go ahead and start it. My hands were getting really itchy. So far the shawl is coming along great. I don't think there are to many if any mistakes in it. It is a really easy shawl pattern though. Here is the <a href="http://www.cosmicpluto.com/blog/simple-yet-effective-shawl/">pattern</a>. It seems to be angling quicker than what I had expected. I'm not sure if this is correct as this is my first project. I'm hoping it evens out as I keep knitting or after I block.<br />
I still have the icelandic/alpaca blend on the wheel right now, but will be switching back to the BFL after the next skien. I am hoping to get a hat out of this icelandic/alpaca yarn as well. Then I'm going to turn my artistic husband loose with the dyes on some white yarn to get a painted look. If it comes out okay I may just break out my triangle loom and work up a shawl on it. It's only a 3ft loom so will take a couple of passes to get a shawl.<br />
I have a couple of days off of my daytime job coming up and don't you know they are already filled with things to do. Just my luck right now real vacation. Two of those days involve wool stuff though so not to much to complain about. We need to get the ewes and lambs shorn and then we're going to start going through fleeces up in the wool room. This could be a good thing or bad thing. I will hopefully be able to get some raw fleeces up for sale after that. We were talking the other day and realized that we had only sold a handful of raw fleeces and I had not advertised them at all. We still had a really good year all told last year and hope to get to a couple more shows this year.<br />
Here are some picture of the shawl in progress. Please excuse the quality, these were taken with my cell phone.<br />
the shawl in progress<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxyCo3axlImfbp1T6-5bSXlg4n_mnQGlcLvFPJsIMFoBsiwmYG0GbMM4SRxyUBMD_jXTf5Pg2TMcb9aUynNH3rq_TxjL3XQ8BkV9Gm_sKOgObLfdBxCN2fgzCccPx3ZybI0xc9OnZ24w/s1600/20120106080441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxyCo3axlImfbp1T6-5bSXlg4n_mnQGlcLvFPJsIMFoBsiwmYG0GbMM4SRxyUBMD_jXTf5Pg2TMcb9aUynNH3rq_TxjL3XQ8BkV9Gm_sKOgObLfdBxCN2fgzCccPx3ZybI0xc9OnZ24w/s320/20120106080441.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the yarn in a single ply on the wheel</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLk9zs2jBxmOROV3Jyx5v7iGolsP8NNw_1wuBcw32NeJaTdCjXV7o5pE70849kCjwr3YlXMYwCLMEWQE6_IVe5wpXBxSJmRiZoIQ7JV-XEeDTCopQpt5jknGd-ck2hn9yzRfcn0D93ub0/s1600/20111227182345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLk9zs2jBxmOROV3Jyx5v7iGolsP8NNw_1wuBcw32NeJaTdCjXV7o5pE70849kCjwr3YlXMYwCLMEWQE6_IVe5wpXBxSJmRiZoIQ7JV-XEeDTCopQpt5jknGd-ck2hn9yzRfcn0D93ub0/s320/20111227182345.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the yarn in 2ply on the wheel.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXdj3zP5wCd2Ktl8SdMK_sO-J2Yx6HrKuiJYNo7tXvRkNbvciUMbjKxrge_3th3AAkddgurhPtNyXaiwHFFkRvdgN3ScwbyONBhmTR0jO5IuUyvl2R7f9F_RqCZQlhVGV0VW7uD_i2sU/s1600/20120102111638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXdj3zP5wCd2Ktl8SdMK_sO-J2Yx6HrKuiJYNo7tXvRkNbvciUMbjKxrge_3th3AAkddgurhPtNyXaiwHFFkRvdgN3ScwbyONBhmTR0jO5IuUyvl2R7f9F_RqCZQlhVGV0VW7uD_i2sU/s320/20120102111638.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">the yarn 2 plied and skeined on the niddy noddy.waiting for a wash. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnPFqK3wvIHdT8vL-XPun9gNir8IT30KjBAKIY7OerIvgVpeLnAytT7uRsI4Z03JPoGnNHOupQbofMz4YQLjbMV3UosYSf8M6MFxDPagNkDNnjsXbbgfwoGdV82o_BqxgVhhP0JRZQ474/s1600/20120102111701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnPFqK3wvIHdT8vL-XPun9gNir8IT30KjBAKIY7OerIvgVpeLnAytT7uRsI4Z03JPoGnNHOupQbofMz4YQLjbMV3UosYSf8M6MFxDPagNkDNnjsXbbgfwoGdV82o_BqxgVhhP0JRZQ474/s320/20120102111701.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Lizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769643535300768437noreply@blogger.com2