A Day Off

Many 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.

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.

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.

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.
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.

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.

IMAG0578

IMAG0578, a photo by eweniquefibers on Flickr.

picker

Fleece, Fleece Everywhere

As 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.

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.

Wool Shows

Well 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.

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.

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.

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.

Overall we had fun and can't wait until the next one.

Sacrificial Love

I 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.

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.

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.

Question: Do you consider being a mom a sacrifice?

I 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.

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.

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.

Breeding sheep for Fleece Quality

Many 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?"

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.

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.

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.