DreamCatcher Sheep & Fiber Farm

2011 Ram Lambs & Adult Rams For Sale

2011-07-09T06:44:00.000-07:00

This year I am pleased to say we have really nice 3 purebred BFL ram lambs to offer!

First up, the boy I'm infatuated with, DCSFF Logan. He is out of Bitterroot Aliza and DCSFF Theodore. Logan is a twin, his sister is natural colored. Logan already has a beautiful fleece on him as well as a clean head and belly and nice conformation and good blue coloring. He also has a really nice temperament taking after his very social mum :). You're really going to have to pry this boy out of my hands...

Logan

Next up are twins Tristan and Simon. They're also out of DCSFF Theodore and their dam is Foreside Daylight . They too already have nice fleeces that look like they're going to have some good length to them. Their dam's fleece is one of my top sellers, its soft with great definition.

Tristan (sold)

Simon (sold)

Now I have 2 crossbred rams to offer. First would be the infamous "Tank". He was nearly as big as his mother when he was born (19.8 lbs) and hasn't stopped growing since he hit the ground. I do believe his initial large size was due to too much pre-lambing grain (my bad) but he has only seen grain briefly as I put them on pasture shortly after he started eating creep so all the growing since then is all him! He's a beautiful boy, nice head, beautiful fleece and a sweet temperament. If you're looking to add natural colored BFL with just a touch of Border Leicester to your flock, he's your man...err..ram! Tank is out of DCSFF Olivia (3/4 BFL & 1/4 BL) and my beloved Roark from Herbal Maid Fiber Farm (also 3/4 BFL & 1/4 BL). Roark has been with me since the beginning and he has always had one of the nicest fleeces on this farm. His offspring carry that trait and Tank is no exception. You can't see it in this pic but he has a nice BFL head and at a mere 10 wks old, this boy is already "very well equipped" :).

Tank (sold)

Last but not least we have DCSFF Dylan. He is out of HMFF Roark (3/4 BFL & 1/4 BL) and DCSFF Rose (1/2 Shetland & 1/2 BFL). I've had really good luck with my Shetland/BFL crosses. The lambs grow very nicely are very hardy and have nice fleeces. This is the first time I've offered a Shetland/BFL cross ram lamb but Rose has proven to be a great ewe, producing twins each time with nice fleeces and good worm resistance so I thought we'd offer one incase anyone was interested in this cross.

Dylan (sold)

I will also be offering Theodore (Teddy) this year, as well as Sammie (same sire as Teddy, dam is a Potosi ewe), a purebred natural colored BLF. Roark (3/4 BFL & 1/4 BL) will be available as well as I've had him for 4 yrs now so its time for some new blood (snif snif). Roark has outstanding fleece and has always been a reliable ram with excellent worm resistance. His fleece is the first one out the door (sometimes before I can object lol).

For more info and pics of any of the above, just let me know!

Jennifer

Growing like weeds!

2011-05-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

The lambs are getting big so I wanted to share some pics of them with you!

Logan

I am totally infatuated with Logan, I think he is a complete dreamboat and sweet as can be.

Anthony & Dillion with Liz and Mom Rosie in the back

Nell is Nigel's sister and she's turning into quite the beauty too. She's gaining well since Amy only has to feed her (I'm still a little bitter about that).

Nell (Nigel's sister)

Beatrice

Liz (Logan's sister)

Tristan & Simon

Tristan and Simon are the 2nd set of lambs born and you'd think they were joined at the hip.
Its very rare that you seem them apart!

Of course none can top my baby boy Nigel, he's still the cutest of them all :)

Back pasture burn

2011-05-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it, we burned the back pasture! OK, so we hired someone to burn the back pasture ;). If you read my post about prescribed burns then you know we'd been planning to burn the back 25 acre pasture...for a while. We finally got the courage up to get it done and wisely called a professional to do it.

I'd found a name on the MDC's website of a person locally that you could contract for controlled burns. So I called him, he (John) came out and evaluated the area to be burned and gave us a quote. Since we'd never done anything like this before, we had to hope that it was a fair bid and that he would do a good job. John certainly sounded like he knew what he was talking about and all the things he said he would do are things we'd learned in the workshop so we were feeling pretty confident that he would do a good job and the price seemed reasonable.

First thing John did was hire someone (a local farmer) to mow a firebreak all the way around the perimeter as well as one down the middle in case the fire needed to be slowed down. Then he emails me at work saying that he wanted to get it done that day because the weather looked good. I was a bit alarmed because 1) I was at work and 2) when I looked at the forecast, there were actually high wind warnings for that afternoon. Does this guy know what he's doing?? I said I wasn't comfortable with burning tht day for the reasons stated and he later agreed that the high wind advisory wasn't listed on the website he went to. NOAA I said, THAT is were you you should get your weather info (we learned that at the workshop :). He did say that the following day, which thankfully was a Saturday, looked ideal. After looking at the forecast again, I had to agree. Winds were supposed to be light and out of the east, clear and fairly low humidity. So this was it, we would be burning on Saturday!

Probably our biggest concern was the horses, we had no idea how they would react to the heavy smoke. I was pretty sure the sheep would pay little or no attention and the dogs would be more concerned with the strangers in their back pasture rather than the fire and smoke. As it turned out, the horses did just fine, we put them in the east sheep pasture and put those sheep in the barn in case the horses got stirred up. When the horses get rowdy, the sheep usually suffer in some form or another so we thought it best to just separate them. Sheep did fine and the dogs barked at the strangers as expected. But I'm jumping ahead of myself.

So John arrived around 10am, said he planned on starting to burn around noon. First he wanted to check the firebreaks for any fallen limbs (after the high winds) and he had recruited a couple of teens to rake any debris that had fallen or been blown into the firebreaks. He had also called the fire chief with the Lathrop volunteer fire department and asked him to come as backup so we were waiting for his arrival before starting.

Noon came and went and there was no sign of the fire chief. 1 o'clock came and went, still no fire chief. We could see smoke rising from surrounding properties, it was apparently the day to burn...and yet we were not. I was getting anxious (I hate waiting) and was afraid we weren't going to get it done. Our friends Donna and Bob Putnam had come out to see lambs and watch the burn so we were all still hoping to still see fire before the day was done.

Finally around 2 o'clock, the fire chief rolled in. I was surprised because he was in an SUV, no water, how was this going to help? Then a water truck rolled in a few minutes later. OK, we're good then, we can start the burn! Then a few minutes later ANOTHER water truck rolled in soon followed by 2 or 3 more trucks all with volunteer fire fighters aboard! I think total there had to be around 10 people not including John and his 2 teenagers. Good training opportunity apparently. My anxiety level completely disappeared and now I was looking forward to sitting back and enjoying this burn!

The volunteers were happily bantering back and forth between each other, most of them quite young. They were all geared up and ready to roll. It was pretty obvious that John wasn't going to have much to do as the fire chief pretty much took over the burn.

They started the fire on the ENE side of the pasture and worked their way south. We saw the smoke and heard the fire before we saw flames.

Then we started seeing the flames!

The firetrucks were driving around all over the pasture, checking for out of control spots (and having fun I think). At one point they started beeping their sirens and talking to each other over the loud speaker. It was no wonder that 2 neighbors stopped in to make sure this was a "controlled" burn. I'm sure the whispers will continue about those 2 crazy sheep women up the road. Oh well, gotta keep things interesting around here!

Then we were left with a blackened pasture and smokin' cedar trees.

All in all it was a fun afternoon but I have to say, it was not as scary or impressive as that demo at the workshop lol. The winds were more intense that day and it was all dry grass, no new growth yet. We had patches that didn't burn well because of the new growth that had started so that slowed it just a bit. It was interesting to see the cedars go up though. They produced a very black poof of smoke and the smell was wonderful, just like cedar incense! Here are some after pics:

Its been about a month since the burn and we're seeing some nice regrowth. I hope to get out there this weekend and get some electronet up so I can start putting the sheep back there. I'm really excited about that! Still a lot of work to be done before its 100% useable but we're moving in the right direction. We do have a lot of little dead cedars to cut down...anyone for little cedar posts?! I plan to use some of them for the garden fence but there is plenty more to go around! Come on out and bring your chainsaw!

(Some pictures courtesy of Robert Putnam)

Our Flying Nun

2011-05-07T06:06:00.000-07:00

You all may remember Thomas, one of our goat additions from last summer. Thomas is a Pygora which is a cross of Angora and Pygmy that produce a cashmere like fiber (depending on the goat) but stay smaller than the average goat. Sounds like fun right? So cute! Yeah. Fun. Cute.

Let me just say that they came very close to finding a new home this spring. I had them in with the momma ewes because I wasn't totally comfortable putting them out in the big pasture yet. They're so small and they were used to being in the lambing pen all safe and snug (and getting grain almost everyday).

On my nightly visits to the lambing shed before lambing began, Thomas and his pal Megan, decided it was their job to drive me insane. They nibbled, they rubbed, they butted...and they knocked over my coffee. That folks, is a federal offense. NObody messes with my coffee.

So they eventually made their way to the yearling ewe pasture. They were not initially happy with this arrangement....and proceeded to make my life miserable by baaing incessantly.

Then Thomas started getting his head stuck in the fence between the back yard and pasture. Because he has his horns (Megan was debudded when she was born, Thomas was not), his horns would prevent him from pulling his head back through the woven wire fence. Then a neighbor filled me in on a little trick.

TA DA! Problem solved! Just get a stick and duck tape it across his horns and he is no longer able to put his head in the fence!! Bridget suggested I put duct tape over the ends because they were rough and might hurt someone. As soon as I did, I declared that he looked like the Flying Nun. That's aging me huh?

Funny thing is he has adapted to the stick quite well actually using it to scratch his own back. Now thats a resourceful goat!

He doesn't seem to mind it at all. I do have to chuckle though when he walks along the garage which is made of corrugated metal and the stick makes the thunk thunk thunk like a kid running a stick down a picket fence.

So all is well again, they're back to being cute and fun!

Lambing 2011

2011-04-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

OK, I think its safe to do the blog post for the lambing of 2011. We still have 1 ewe to go, Goldie is apparently holding out for the longest gestation record since her daughter currently holds the record for having the largest lamb at DCSFF. Goldie may blow both records away…

Aliza with her lambs

I guess lambing officially started on March 22nd. I was taking March 23rd -27th off work as my first shift at lamb watch. I got home from work on Tuesday the 22nd and there were 2 lambs! I thought my timing was amazingly perfect! Aliza had 2 beautiful lambs, a black ewe lamb we named Liz and a white ram lamb we named Logan.

I stocked the barn with straw and hay, washed buckets for water, got the molasses out of the cupboard and sat it next to the sink. I was READY, bring it on!

I spent the next 5 days and evenings sitting in the lambing shed or running out to check on them. Nothing. There were several times I thought they were gearing up. Goldie and Maggie, then Rosie. They’d roll on their side, kick out that back leg and curl that lip. Nothing. Grass gas is my guess. In the meantime, Liz and Logan were the bells of the ball, racing around, growing like weeds. They needed playmates.

Liz & Logan

Bridget came out on Sunday to begin her week long “vacation”. Really, who wouldn’t rather be on the farm lambing than go to work? Nobody I know! I hoped that she would be the lucky charm that got lambing started. And it appeared to work. Monday before I went to work, I went out to do a barn check and sure enough, Daylight had lambed, 2 white ram lambs! They needed a little help getting going so I hollered in to Bridget that Daylight had lambed and lambs were needing some help. This was it, I knew it. Bridget was going to have a busy week! Bridget was a champ, she got up, administered some vitamin B injections to the lambs, milked the colostrum out of Daylight and then fed the lambs. I got home to find them all nice and warm in cute red lamb coats. Wasn’t long before they were up hopping around and nursing on their own.

Daylight & lambs, Anya trying to figure out what these red coats are all about

Sleepy boys!

Then the days turned into a week…and no more lambs. What is this?? This has never happened before, they always start and then they all lamb. That’s the plan dangit, why aren’t they following the bloody plan??

Bridget and I decided to take advantage of the down time and get the raised beds started in the garden. We had stockpiled some sheep compost from last year when we cleaned out the lambing shed and it had been composting since last summer. So I built the raised beds and we got a couple of loads of dirt from the local lumberyard and began filling them with the dirt and sheep compost and top dressed them with some peat moss and bagged topsoil. We’d better have some wicked veggies this year! Still a bit early for most stuff but I did get some cabbages, spinach, lettuce and some herbs seeds planted just before a nice rain. We’re hoping to create an attractive garden this year interspersing perennial flowers in the raised beds and along the fences. Sort of like a “potager” or French kitchen garden. We’ve certainly got plenty of cedar trees in the back to build some obelisks for the vining things to grow up and use to support others. I’ve also started a garden fence out of cedar posts from the back pasture.

So a busy weekend ended with no more lambs. Bridget went back to work and I had the following 3 days off, days in which I had intended to be tidying up and for sure be done with lambing. Never dreamt we’d barely have begun.

Tuesday morning I go out to find Claire wandering around the lambing shed while everyone else was already out grazing in the pasture. I saw that she was ready for lambing. FINALLY I thought. Claire had no issues and gave birth to a beautiful black ewe lamb I named Beatrice.

Claire and Beatrice

Time rolled around again and I had to go back to work. Figures I come home to find Amy had lambed. I see her in the pasture with 1 lamb. I looked at her and said “there is NO way you only had 1 lamb…where is the other one???” No answer. I rushed around looking for a second lamb and when I got into the lambing shed, there it was. The second lamb flat on its side. Crap, its dead, I thought. But as I got closer, I could see it was moving and trying to get up. She had just dropped it and walked away. So I cleaned him up and got him on his feet. He was very ready to get on his feet and wobbled towards Amy when she called. She wasn’t, however, calling HIM. Amy apparently decided that he was not hers and kept knocking him away. So I put her in a jug with both lambs and watched. I found some of the afterbirth (hold your cookies here) and stretched it over the lambs back. This helped. She stopped knocking him away but still didn’t appear to want him. I tied her up and forced her to let him nurse. I put both lambs on her and let them get their fill while I held her still. She was not happy. I tried hog tying her back legs together so she couldn’t kick him away but after several hours of trying different things, it was obviously not working. I grudgingly (and I do mean grudgingly) gathered him up in my arms and went to the house.

Nigel

Sophie was over the moon, she absolutely loves lambs. Fynn is equally excited because a “poop machine” has entered the building! Does it get any better than that?? Nora on the other hand, not so pleased. Sheep do NOT belong in the house! What is wrong with this woman??? She disappeared behind the sofa not to show her face as long as that…that thing was here. I pulled out the dog crate, shoved several towels into it and popped little boy in. Got busy mixing up bottles for the night and next morning and then went to bed.

Fynn helping with clean up...yuck

Nigel

Since newborn lambs need to be fed fairly frequently for the first 3-4 days, little boy was going to have to go to work with me. I’d done this before with Evie 2 yrs ago so I knew it would be ok. It was still cool enough outside so he could stay in the crate in the back of my CRV and I could go out on breaks to feed him. He was quite the hit with my co-workers! Thankfully it was now Friday so I only had to do that once. Eventually we decided to name this ram lamb Nigel and his sister will be Nell.

Saturday arrived and it was a beautiful morning. I went to let everyone out into the pasture and shortly afterwards, saw Anya, our little Shetland/BFL cross, begin the labor ritual of getting up and down and straining. I went to call Bridget but figured she wouldn’t make it out in time so I took as many pictures of the event as possible because Anya is one of her favorites. She had a little trouble getting the lamb all the way out because this is her first and he was on the large side for her. He’s a pretty white ram lamb with one black leg and some black speckles scattered on his ears and other legs. Bridget decided to name him Abel.

Anya & Abel

Next comes Melanie. Monday morning after I’d finished chores, I went to scatter some more straw in the lambing shed. I walked in on Melanie who was beginning labor. I was able to sit and watch while giving Bridget a blow by blow (or push by push) of the events over the phone. Melanie gave birth to a black ewe lamb and a white ram lamb that Bridget named May and Martin.

Melanie, Marty & May

OK, six down, four to go! We initially thought we had 13 bred ewes but it became obvious that neither Lucy nor Eve were bred (heartbreaking). Lemara I wasn’t sure about but I’m pretty sure she’s not bred either but that’s ok as she’s getting older and needs to retire.

The next birth will remain in my memory for some time. I went out to give Nigel his morning milk and walked in to find Olivia with a lamb hanging out of her. There was just the head and one leg and it was cold so she’d obviously been at it a while. I put her in a jug and gloved up to go in to see if I could get it the rest of the way out. Once in, I felt the shoulder that was hung up on the pelvic bone and the other leg was tucked underneath its belly. It was not easy and poor Liv was moaning in pain the whole time. I didn’t think I was going to be able to find the leg to get a hold on it but finally I did and pulled it forward. Once the leg was forward, I was able to get the shoulder around the pelvis and pull him the rest of the way out. I thought he was dead because his tongue was swollen 2-3 times normal size but when he hit the ground, he jerked and sputtered. This boy was still alive! I got him cleaned off, put him up by Olivia’s head (who was completely uninterested at this point) and put out hay and water for her. I had to get to work!

I expected to find the lamb dead when I got back because I knew he wouldn’t be able to nurse with that swollen tongue. Also, I’d not actually seen Olivia accept him so for all I knew, she had not. But when I walked into the lambing shed and peaked over to the jug where I’d left them, I was astonished to find both mom and baby up! The lamb was actually trying to hop and obviously had a full belly of milk. Olivia was munching on hay and had finished the bucket of molasses water I’d left for her. I gave her a shot of some anti-inflammatory/pain killer and penicillin. I also had to weigh this boy as he was the biggest lamb I’d ever seen. Yup, 19.4 lbs! Our average, if you include the Shetland crosses, is usually around 6-12 lbs and to think this was out of a first time lamber! “Tanker” has done very well and Olivia is probably one of the most worried momma’s out there lol. Hey man, you put that much blood sweat and tears into something, you wanna make sure it doesn’t get eaten by coyotes!!

Olivia & Tanker

Unfortunately the next morning on my trip to feed Nigel, I found Maggie, our Cheviot/BFL cross, wandering around calling for a lamb. I went in search of a lamb and found one, a dead black ram lamb. No idea why, it was a decent size, no apparent trauma (Willie, the LGD, was laying nearby). Nothing to do but remove it and get to work.

When I got home, I knew I’d need to milk out Maggie’s colostrum. So I tied her up and started milking. Nigel was crying in his pen behind me, wanting his afternoon milk. Then it dawned on me, why am I milking this into a cup when Nigel could put it straight into his belly? I had milked enough colostrum to put in the freezer for any future needs so I grabbed Nigel and showed him the udder. I was amazed that Maggie didn’t make a fuss, didn’t try to kick him away, just stood there probably enjoying the much needed relief. It took Nigel a minute or 2 to get the hang of actually nursing from a real nipple vs. a rubber one but he soon figured it out. This has worked out well as I just catch Maggie when they’re eating grain and then call Nigel and he comes running over and latches on. I wish she would let him nurse without my intervention but as of yet, has not. Its been good for Nigel to have some real milk however, he’s starting to turn is nose up at the fake stuff! Funny thing is that now every time I even pet a ewe he thinks that’s his cue to latch on. Let me tell ya, Sammie (a yearling ram needing grain thats in with the moms) does not appreciate this one bit lol.

So we’re down to 2 ewes, Rosie a 3 yr old Shetland/BFL and Goldie a 7 yr old BFL/BL. Friday afternoon (April 15th) I was out doing chores and noticed that Rosie was spending sometime in the barn. Not a common sight as the Shetland crosses much prefer to be outside. Next thing I know, she has put herself in an open jug. No question about it then, she was going into labor. I’m way past the grab a stool and watch stage by now, just want them to get on with it without my help! And Rosie did just that. I went in for quick check and poof, there was a lamb, went back in for a second check and poof, there was a second lamb. That girl is fast! Granted they were pretty small lambs, probably no more than 6 lbs each so it was a fairly easy birth for her. Both boys, one white one black and they were up asking for milk practically as soon as they hit the straw. I do love that about Shetlands!

Rosie and playful lambs!

So its now April 19th and Goldie has still not lambed. I’m growing more and more concerned because this ewe is HUGE. She has been huge since February and bagged up since March. I’m starting to wonder if they are even still alive in there and if not, will she deliver them?? I don’t know. I guess for the time being, I just have to sit back and wait. She’s not in distress and has a voracious appetite so I guess all is well for now. I’ll certainly update ya’ll if & when she has anything! Thanks for checking in!

Update! Got home from work today and Goldie has finally lambed! A white girl and a black boy, both healthy and already up nursing. We are DONE!!

Goldie with "Bonnie and Clyde"

Cruel joke....

2011-03-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

I woke up to...to....to THIS. Last night Gary Lezak said rain, just rain, MAYbe snow Saturday evening. This is Friday morning and I have at least an inch of snow....THIS IS NOT RIGHT. Yes Deb, I know you have a foot + on the ground up there where you live by the north pole but you expect that (ok maybe not a foot but you get my point). This is Missouri. The grass is nearly tall enough to mow, the crocus and daffy's are blooming and I know the peach tree is thinking about blooming soon too. So help me if we get the 3-5" that is predicted tomorrow....I don't know what I'll do but it'll be bad. Real bad.

Prescribed Burns

2011-03-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, we have a 25 acre pasture that is just itchin to be burned. Has been since we bought the place but it’s a bit overwhelming so we kept putting it on the back burner…so to speak. The time has come to address it since the “seedlings” are no longer seedlings, they are on their way to becoming trees…some have already reached their goal. The native warm season grasses (and weeds) are getting so tall and thick, you can lose a horse back there, let alone sheep! So when I saw the posting about the prescribed burn workshop not far from us, I knew it was a sign. Bridget and I signed up for the workshop put on by the Missouri Dept of Conservation at the Pony Express Lake near Maysville. Figured it was time to learn how its done.

Back 25 acre pasture, late summer 2010

We happily headed off early Saturday morning for a day of lecture and slideshows (me happily, Bridget in a sleep deprived fog-she is not a morning person). Bridget expected a demo but I thought that would be hard to plan for so I didn’t expect one.

We arrived, got our print outs, calendar, were offered refreshments and found a couple of chairs in the very tight little room that was pretty much full to capacity, maybe 10-12 people I think. It was geared towards people with land in CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) but others, like us, were welcomed.

They announced that they would have a short video presentation and then we would proceed to an area near the lake and would have a quick prescribed burn demo. Well, Bridget was thrilled to pieces that she was right. She claims that it doesn’t happen that often so she likes to revel in it when it does.

So we sat thru the video and then they had a short question answer period and then we headed out to gear up for the demo. The conservation agents are gearing up in fire resistant clothing, helmets and gloves. I showed up in my handspun & knitted “Evie” sweater and blue jeans, Bridget in a probably completely nylon (and highly flammable) coat. They proceeded to tell us about a gentleman that showed up in a nylon dress shirt once and while participating in the demo, the shirt evaporated leaving him with cuffs and a collar. Oh jeez. I don’t think I was expecting to be so hands on here!

I did want to learn though so I followed the brave crowd thru the 5+’ high native grasses (gathering seeds in my sweater as we went) to the bottom of the hill where the grassy area met the lake. We were to be the ones that set the “back fire” or the fire line that burns back towards the head fire. We were going to burn the area in a ring fashion so that the back and head fires circles the area and eventually meets back up and burns out somewhere near the middle.

drawing courtesy of www.fao.org/

I was with one conservation agent and a very brave woman that decided to work the drip torch that would light the back fire. I was handed a rake but wasn’t completely sure what the heck I was to do with. So the woman with the drip torch begins to light the grass on fire. Let me just interject here that I have a pretty healthy fear of fire. No major traumatic experiences, it just scares the crap out of me. I actually thought I was in a safe position though, pretty much away from the serious burning.

So, we start walking slowly around the parameter, lighting the grass as we go. The conservation agent (CA) we were with was telling us to turn our backs to the fire because the smoke might get a bit intense. Oh really? Interesting. Then he tells us to stop and wait a bit so the other fire starter people can make it around to the other corner to get the head fire started. So we stand there, calmly chatting…and coughing. I’m starting to get a little anxious because the smoke is getting thicker and thicker. At this point the wind had shifted from due east to a more SSE direction plus it was blowing a bit more than one would have liked for a prescribed burn (don’t I sound like an expert?? :). Bridget told me later that the CA she was with said he was nervous about this because of the high wind gusts. Greeeat.

Then the CA’s walkie talkie beeps and I hear “You guys better start moving to the corner. NOW!”. The CA immediately tells us to get moving to the corner. Don’t have to tell me twice, I was already turned and heading for the corner! Then I hear something that literally sounds like a tornado and I look up the hill and O.M.G.!!!! The flames are leaping like 20 feet into the air and approaching us at a high rate of speed. I’m speed walking/trotting at this point and decided I’d better look back to make sure that the CA and drip torch lady are following me. The poor woman is STILL lighting the back fire (bless her heart) and the CA is coming up quick on my heels. I let him pass me (he doesn’t hesitate to pass me btw) and ask the woman if she is OK? Yes she said but she looked a bit like a deer in headlights.

Thats me bravely protecting the others from the flames...
(just kidding, my beard isn't nearly that thick. :)

After what seemed like an hr (more like 10 minutes), we finally reached the corner, short mown grass and safety. I turned and looked back at the fire and I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. The sound was what most impressed me, you had to almost yell to be heard. I understand now what fire fighters must feel like, ok maybe not exactly but this fire made a huge impression on me.

I finally caught back up with Bridget who had decided to stay near the head fire. Smart move. She said she could see people near the lake (my group) that were calmly walking along and then all of a sudden started moving much faster (that would’ve been me). She said afterwards that it was obvious I had PTSD because I simply couldn’t stop saying "OMG that fire was big!!" Well, it was!!!

We both learned a lot from this workshop. We learned how to plan for a prescribed burn, the importance of checking the weather forecasts for wind velocity, direction, relative humidity, cloud cover, let the local fire dept know and alert your neighbors. Oh and did you know that smoke can conduct electricity?? So never burn near power lines or at least know what you’re doing if you are. Certain materials can create blacker smoke (like cedar trees) and the blacker the smoke, the more carbon material is in it which basically means its thicker and conducts electricity more readily. They told us that people have been electrocuted when standing in the smoke that has come in contact with power lines. Plus the treated wooden poles are highly flammable (like our fence posts) so you don’t want to have to deal with putting electric poles out for sure (and then paying to have them replaced). We all found that to be very helpful information, to say the least. However, I think the most important piece of information we got from this workshop was….hire a professional!!!!

For more information about planning your own prescribed burn, visit the Missouri Department of Conservation or your own states Department of Conservation website. Most will offer a burn workshop in your area so check with them for dates and times. It is totally worth the time to go to one if you are serious about prescribed burns for pasture and woodland management.

Blizzard of 2011

2011-02-02T06:24:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it through the Blizzard of 2011! Not quite as bad as the Blizzard of 2009 (Christmas Eve/Day) but bad enough. The drive home from work yesterday was pretty scary and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I made it into the driveway and shut off the car.

I didn't take the camera with me when I did chores so sorry but no sheep pics, I was doing good to keep myself upright. I did grab the camera afterwards though and took a few shots from the back porch and a few more this morning. Drifts are pretty impressive!

And this is how it looks this morning, pretty!

Hope everyone is staying safe and warm!

Birds and preparing for the event of the year!

2011-01-17T13:15:00.000-08:00

Today as I was washing dishes, I looked out the window to see a bluebird perched on the handle of the hand pump. So I grabbed my camera and started trying to get pics. Of course they see my movement inside the house so I got a comfortable spot and tried not to move and got a few decent shots. Not bad since they were taken through a window smudged with dog snot and slobber :).

There were quite a few of them actually, quite surprising to see so many at one time. We'd put out some new seed so that must have brought them in. I think the second & third picture is a female as its coloring wasn't quite as vivid as some of the others. They're actually most striking when they take off as that blue of their wings is really revealed. Such a pretty bird!

Then I started watching the birds on the feeders and oh my there are always a wonderful variety around here. The usual ones, blue jays (man they're big!), cardinals and some little birds we don't know what they are but they're pretty. We've even got several woodpeckers around so I got my coat on, went out and tried to get a few pictures of them too.

Female cardinal and one of those little birds we don't know.

female cardinal

The woodpeckers love this bird feeder!

What'chu lookin at??

Do you know what this last bird is? There are lots of them around, they're little compared to the cardinals and woodpeckers. Probably just some common bird I'm sure but curious to know what they are. I have a terrible time looking them up in the bird book!

Shearing will be coming up soon and lambing not far behind! I'm getting excited about lambing (surprise surprise). We have several first timers this year, girls that were born and raised here. Eve will be the one I will be wringing my hands over but terribly excited to see what she gives us. Since she was a (spoiled) bottle lamb, I have always wondered what kind of mom she'd be. Guess we'll find out!

Eve in the kitchen with Sophie when she was just a few days old

We're trying to schedule our first shearing (12 bred ewes) one of the last 2 weekends in Feb or first weekend in March. Second shearing (the remaining 32) will be a month or so later.

Lambing should begin around March 22nd and we're taking bets on who's first. Bridget and I sorta have the advantage since we were in our lawn chairs watching when we let Teddy in with the girls :). Hey we're not perverted, just curious!! Anyway, our bet goes with Aliza and second bet is if she'll have triplets again. Lets just say she's sure lookin' like trips right now!

If you're interested in helping out on shearing day or want to come out during lambing, just give me a hollar. It can be kinda icky out here that time of year, snow melting and spring rains = mud. Sometimes its not so bad but last year lambing was pretty messy. So if you do come, wear boots and old clothes because you will get dirty! Its always fun though so hope you can make it out!

Border Collies Take Over

2011-01-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

The story of DreamCatcher farm continues....

When my first Border collie, McGuffin, died I decided that I wanted the next one to be a rescue. So I contacted Jennifer who was one of the co-founders of Mo Kan Border Collie Rescue. To find a dog that was compatible with Jenny, we agreed to foster (the infamous “foster to adopt program”). One foster dog Charley (short for Charlene) had let’s say a “difficult temperament.” We discovered that Charley had been sent to a "board and train" trainer that used shock collars for training…on a 5 mo old puppy. So despite being less than a year old she was now dog and human aggressive. It became obvious that she needed someone that understood her issues and was ready to deal with them. We set about finding out what kind of job she could do as well as taming the wolf within.

There were some difficult moments like when she tried to attack a Seeing Eye dog in training at PetCo. Then she jumped out the window at a sheep farm and performed unauthorized herding for awhile before she was recaptured. We discovered she had a gift for flyball and was pretty good at herding too. Although, surprisingly with her temperament, she could be bullied by the sheep and never has “gripped” a sheep.

Her temperament training yielded some results too. She learned to not go after a dog unless it put its nose in her face and to stay away from people she didn’t know or trust. She eventually learned to withdraw rather than nip when someone tried to pet her.

Jen and I started taking other rescues to test their herding tendencies and continued to train our dogs in herding. That moment when a dog “turns on” and those old instincts kick is breathtaking and tears came to my eyes more than once.

Nora & Mick

After my former partner left he took Jenny with him (we won’t go there). What luck that her breeder had a litter of pups and I got my fourth Border collie Mick. Jennifer, after some practical reservations, got his sister Nora and training began in earnest when they were old enough. We went to many clinics-Jen much more than I as my bones have grown old.

Mick and Nora progressed beautifully and Nora’s walk up and Mick’s power were outstanding. Our friend Caryn took a third pup from the litter and bought some sheep to work on the ten acres she and her husband owned. This was also the site of the Border collie rescue reunion for several years.

We were able to work and train our own dogs on Caryn’s flock and the dream of owning our own sheep someday began and thus the connection between the Border collies and DreamCatcher Farm. At some point each of us began to see sheep as more than something for our dogs to herd and the wish to have some property began to grow in both of us. So on an impulse we went to look at what is now DreamCatcher farm. What followed was life changing for both of us...

To be continued!

A Black and White Beginning...by Bridget

2011-01-01T12:51:00.000-08:00

Bridget has decided that we needed to explain how DreamCatcher Farm came to be, how we met and how this wonderful breed of dog brought us to the place we are today. This will be an ongoing story about the dogs in our lives and how they have shaped our lives. We hope you enjoy!

Border collies. They're really what started Dreamcatcher Farm. We were just their tools in this plot you see. It all started on my side 25 years ago when I got my first Border collie. At that point in time the movie Babe hadn’t come out yet and after much research I picked this breed because they weren’t AKC dogs, were breed for intelligence and their ability as herding dogs. I had been charmed by a story on NPR about a therapist who used her Border collie to escort people from the waiting room to her office and when the allotted 50 minutes had passed rose and escorted them out again. Both my former significant other and I were mental health people and he was hooked as I was. Unlike today it took awhile to find a Border collie. Finally we found a farmer who had a litter of seven who was perplexed that we wanted a Border collie as a “pet” but after we had made our selection of an energetic and friendly male, eagerly took our $75.

We discovered very quickly that this new puppy we named McGuffin, was not typical in any way of any of the other dogs we had known. First of all his energy was amazing and secondly his learning ability was so rapid that the bar was raised. Digging further into information about this wonderful breed we were horrified to find that having them as pets was considered an insult to the breed and a sign of gross naiveté on the part of the owners. For these dogs were breed to work and to partner with their owners not to be pets.

Charley and Mick working goats

So we set out to make this right. We knew no herding people nor did we know anyone else who owned a Border collie. The first thing I learned is you don’t train Border collies in the same way we usually think of training dogs. Instead you encourage them to use their natural abilities. So out of that herding background we soon found ourselves with a dog who loved to gather anything-laundry, newspapers, fallen branches, my shoes the mail and of course the beloved balls and Frisbees.

Jack

Secondly, since the Border collie’s herding developed out of the wolves’ habit of hunting by circling their prey and driving it back to the alpha wolf, the Border collie is keenly tuned to the direction of his human both verbal and in body language. This makes them “very biddable” but also extremely attuned to their human. Many will lie across the room rather than at you feet so they can watch for any sign that you want them to do something.

McGuffin one day stood at the bottom of the bed as I was making it and shifted his eyes from me to sheet then back at me. I asked him if he wanted to help then said “pull.” He grabbed the sheet and pulled it up then came to the other side of the bed and repeated this. He did the same with the blanket. He eventually learned to take my shoes and socks off and take them to the closet and retrieve four different pairs of shoes knowing each by name.

Nora, Jenny's niece

After having this amazing dog for 7 years we found a breeder who had sheep and brought our second Border collie home. This was Jenny. Jenny became my therapy dog and went to work with me at a psychiatric day treatment program where she plied her healing presence and sprit to help the healing of many people whose pain she somehow understood. But still nothing about sheep you say. Well that is farther into the story…..to be continued!

Happy New Year :)!

2011 Calendars are here!

2010-12-27T15:35:00.000-08:00

Howdy folks! Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and were able to visit with family! Me, I'm just glad its all over and am bracing myself for the weight loss commercials. Maybe they'll movtivate me this year....or not.

Anyway, wanted to let ya'll know about our 2011 calendars! First time we've tried this and they turned out really well. I know, probably should have gotten them done sooner. They were a bit harder to get done than I expected and there is always less time to do things than needed. But they're done now and ready to go! Quantities are limited but we can order more if demand is there, just let me know if you want a hundred or so.... :).

Just click on the pictures to be taken to our Etsy Store!

Happy New Year from everyone at DreamCatcher Sheep & Fiber Farm!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

Today I'm home relishing a day off to get some much needed chores and spinning done. Family is scattered this year so I'm enjoying the day with my sheep and dogs.

Since it was supposed to be a cold windy day, I'd decided to stay in and spin for the most part. So I started spinning some roving that Caryn just got back from the mill, its a blend of pygora and BFL lambs wool.

Then I decided to wash up some dishes, tidy up the kitchen take out the trash. When I'm outside putting the trash in the bin, I realize it would be a good time to move the breeders into the area that I'd electronetted off a month or so ago so they could eat on that. The grass in the main pasture is getting pretty sparse. It would also give me the opportunity to let the ram lambs and goats out into another electronetted area that I can't put them in when the breeders are in the main pasture because the rams are too close and tend to try to get at each other. Complicated I know, breeding time is always a challenge keeping everyone separated and happy.

I get everyone in their proper place and then think, might as well bring hay over to the garden for the ram lambs and goats so I don't have to do it later in the day. So I fire up the tractor, load up some hay and take it over to the lambing shed in the garden.

New/old hay feeder and new "Tack Shack" in the background freshly painted.

Then I think, its a good time to set up the new (well, old but new to me) hay feeder in the pond pasture while the breeders are out so I don't have to worry about them getting in my way. So I load up the tractor with more hay and drag the new feeder into the pasture and put it together. This requires WD-40, a wrench and some muscle power as the bolts are a bit on the rusty side. I get that done, drag the other hay feeder over and split a bale of our beautiful green alfalfa hay (thank you Tim & Terry!!) into both feeders and stand back and admire my work. The sheep will be thrilled when I let them back in this evening.

I put the tractor back in the barn, tools back in the shed and go back to the house. I walk in and look over at the trash can that sits empty in the middle of the kitchen floor and realize that this all began with me taking out the trash lol. Does that ever happen to you? You think you're going to take a quick detour to do a minor task and end up spending hours doing "minor tasks"? This is exactly how the horses got out because I left a gate open to go do a minor task.

I'll leave you with some sunset pics I took a couple of evenings ago. And yes, I am obsessed with sunrises and sunsets and yes you will see lots of pictures of them, I can't' help myself.

Happy Thanksgiving from DreamCatcher Farm!

Beautiful afternoon

2010-11-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

I took the camera around with me as I did chores this afternoon. I'm not a "camera toter" but I'm trying to take it more often. Never fails there is always a photo op when I don't have it.

When I get home from work, first thing I hear are Thomas and Megan. The past 2 days I have found Sir Thomas with his head stuck in the fence. Yesterday, Roark, our ram, was on the other side of the fence staring at little Thomas with a look of disgust on his face. Thankfully this afternoon, Thomas was not stuck in the fence.

Dinner??

Seems the canines were all in playful moods this afternoon...

Then I discovered this. Ollie says it wasn't him. I think I believe him.

A couple of weeks ago, I came home to find the other gate in this pasture, the one that leads to the back 30 acres, also off its hinges. I think whats happening is multiple sheep are sticking their heads thru to scratch their necks and in the process, are lifting it off the hinges. I put wire fence over the other gate so they couldn't stick their necks thru anymore. This gate is so heavy, I couldn't imagine them lifting it. Its one of those old iron gates, not the thinner pipe gates of today. Sheep are strong, I forget that sometimes. I managed to get it back on and hopefully they'll leave it alone until I can get it wrapped in fencing too.

Got to end the day with another beautiful sunset. Now its time to start spinning. I just got in some dark brown natural colored roving, some of our BFL/Shetland cross yearlings fleece. I've tried to take pictures of it but I have such a hard time with the darker fleeces. Its nice roving so if you're looking for some, let me know. Soon as I get some pics of it I'll put it out on Etsy.

Have a good evening!

Finally, a rainy day!

2010-11-12T15:33:00.000-08:00

After what seemed like forever, its finally raining. Granted its probably only been 2-3 weeks but for the past several years, we've been blessed with fairly consistent moisture. There were times "blessed" wouldn't have been my choice of words however. But with winter coming on, the grass has completely stopped growing and I think we could have gotten a bit more growth if it had rained some. It might be too late now, we'll see.

This was actually the first rain since our bargin 3 sided shelter arrived so I was anxious to see if anyone was using it. When I got home, it was just lightly drizzling and everyone was still out grazing in the pasture. So I rush in as usually and change out of my work clothes...into my, well, WORK clothes and throw on my trusty water proof wool hat (it really is water proof!) and rain coat and out I go (oooh! there was a bit of rolling thunder just now!!).

First stop was to feed Willie, he's guarding the main breeding group in the "pond pasture". I had just finished creating an alleyway into the unused garage that we decided to turn into a sheep shelter so I wanted to see if anyone was using it. However, when I walked thru the gate, everyone was outside still grazing. Then it started to rain more heavily and Amy (who I sheared in late summer because her fleece was showing the wear of raising twins) was the first to race into the garage, everyone else on her heels. Yeah! I thought. It really is rewarding when you do something for their comfort and they actually USE it. So here they are all huddled in their new digs.

Willie was reluctant to go in to the alley, he seemed to think there was a catch. "Oh no", he said (really, he did), "I'm not falling for that one!" Then he watched as the girls and Teddy went racing in and he had that silly look on his face like, "yeah, I knew it was ok, I was just foolin with ya". He can be one of the funniest dogs sometimes.

Whatchu lookin at??

Next stop was feeding Bella and Ollie who are currently guarding the non breeders in the east pasture where the new 3 sided shelter is. I could see Bella looking longingly into the red barn, looking for a hole big enough to crawl thru (there should be plenty of those) so I knew she hadn't been to the shelter, she was drenched. I fed Kit in the barn and then went out to feed the dogs. Bella was there but I didn't see Ollie. I called and called but he didn't show. Dangit I thought, he must've gotten out somewhere. So I start walking down to the shelter because I had intended to start feeding the dogs there in hopes they'd start using it and then maybe the sheep would follow suit. So I'm just about over the crest of the hill, Bella is following reluctantly but I do have the food and bowls so she sticks with me. I'm still calling for Ollie and then I see him. He was in the shelter!! Yeah! I tell him what a good boy he was because there are also some sheep in it as well. I put their food down and Bella just isn't sure about this thing. She still refuses to go in so I put her food just inside and she continues to eat in the rain. You can lead an LGD to shelter but you can't make them go in :).

Wow, it is really throwing it down right now! With the new metal roof on the house, you can hear the rain much better. I like that, its soothing. Hail might be a different story...

Fiber CSA shares for sale on Etsy!

2010-11-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

I have just listed our shares for the 2011 spring clip on Etsy!

Join our NEW Fiber CSA!!

2010-11-10T17:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome everyone! We are very excited to announce that we are going to be starting our very own FIBER CSA!! How cool is that?! We're still working through all the details but I wanted to let you know and I wanted to get feedback from those that might be interested in purchasing shares. If you're not familiar with how a CSA works, let me give you an explanation.

Samuel

More commonly CSAs (community supported agriculture) are produce or meat oriented. You purchase a share or sometimes a 1/2 share, and periodically (time frame depends on the CSA) you receive a "share" of the harvest. As a shareholder, you also take the risk with the farmer or rancher. For example with produce, if there was an early (or late) frost and a crop is lost, you loose out on that harvest or the harvest might be smaller that year. It goes the other direction too though, if there is a bountiful crop, your share is larger.

Handspun yarn from DreamCatcher sheep

Same with wool clips (the wool harvest is called a "clip"), some years will be better than others. That's why its called "community supported" because your are helping the farmer/rancher/shepherd with your investment in the farm. You're also celebrating the rebirth of small farms where animals are still treated with respect and dignity and you know exactly where your fiber is coming from and how it is raised.

Rose

A few years ago a very creative woman named Susan Gibbs decided to start the first fiber CSA. Since then the idea has been growing and is becoming very popular for those of us running "sheep spas" (IOW we're not making ends meet). We're not in this to get rich (we do however covet new barns and farm machinery :)and we simply love our sheep, fiber and life in the country. We want to be able to share this with you, our future shareholders!

Some CSAs request a small investment of labor each season. We will not require it but we certainly encourage you to give it a try. Everyone that comes out to the farm to help out, has a good time even if they are covered in sheep doo :). There is nothing like good honest hard work in the fresh air, it is very regenerative!

Bridget feeling refreshed after some of that hard work!

We are still working out what exactly will be offered for each share so if you're interested, please let me know and pass along any thoughts you might have.

I can tell you with each share, extra goodies will be offered as well as:
1) yearly Shearing Day
2) Lamb Open House
3) Fall Fiber Days
4) An open invitation (by appt) to come tour the farm and see your fiber and the sheep it grows on!

Skirting freshly shorn fleeces

We're a short 50 minute drive north of Kansas City and 2.5 hours south of Des Moines. A B&B is available close by as well as beautiful campsites at Wallace State Park if you are interested in a weekend in the country and helping out on the farm.

I hope you are as excited about this as we are! More details will be coming shortly so check back often!

Jennifer

I am woman hear me roar!

2010-11-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

Bridget walking with the sheep

Yes the women at Dreamcatcher farm are doing more than knitting shawls and taking care of cute lambs. When we need to we can pull out the raw muscle and do it!

A few weeks ago we found a great bargain on a used run in for the sheep. I had been fussing about all the animals needing a place to get out of the rain and wind no matter which pasture they were in. So we were thrilled when the seller drove out with the run in loaded behind his truck. He unloaded it and responded to our questions about tying it down. "Oh no it is too heavy it won't need that." ( Please refer to August blog referencing advise from men in overalls.)

OK, so we forgot to take pics of before and after.

First of all the sheep were pretty unimpressed with the run in. Even nice hay and minerals did nothing to entice them in but it hasn't been raining much and the sun isn't hot this time of the year so patience seemed to be the answer.

Well, as you probably guessed some mighty winds swept through and the shed ended up with the roof on the ground. (We figured the sheep knew of this risk and this was why they had avoided the run-in.)

For a couple of weeks we wrung our hands and considered the possibility of calling the seller back and trying to guilt him into turning it right sided up. Neither of us wanted to do this so with trepidation we set out in Big Red with a rusty cable and not much optimism. "Gotta at least try" was muttered several times. (Big Red is our 1989 Silverado.)

So we found a likely place to attach the cable and attached it to Big Red. While Jennifer directed, I started to urge Big Red into action. Oh wait darn it I don't have it in four wheel drive. Then Big Red tried to roll backwards into the building but miraculously the clutch engaged and the building moved! Now it was one roll closer to being right side up and again with shouts of "Go Big Red!" and "its WORKING!" the building was right side up again. We did the DreamCatcher happy dance and then the fine tuning started. Jen jumped in the drivers seat and slowly moved the the bumper of the truck against the corner of the run-in and it eased into the southern angle we wanted. A small push on the back corner of the shed and it was perfectly positioned.

Meanwhile several cars and trucks slowed down and watched "the girls" at work. Mind you there were no offers of assistance just bold curiosity. So much for rural neighborliness. Probably didn't want to insult us with any offers of help.

Then the work of putting the stakes and tie downs in. Hammering stakes 18 inches into the ground is not for sissies. This is especially true when the rain has been sparse and the ground is majorly hard.

But finally a couple cases of tendinitis latter we had installed all five. Yes five. I know there are six in the package but we were tired!

Let the wind blow. "We are women " and that shed is not going anywhere (we hope). Now if the sheep would just use it.

They're in!! OK, so there is a Border collie out of shot :).

Pygora Cuties

2010-11-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it, we now have 2 of the cutest little pygora goats in the whole world. OK, so we might be a bit biased but they are pretty darned cute. We actually ended up getting a little doe kid instead of 2 wethers. The little brown boy we had initally purchased, developed coccidia after he was weaned and unfortunately didn't make it. We were very sad to hear about this but were told there were several others that we could choose from to get as a companion to the cream colored wether named Thomas. When we arrived, Joan had a couple of billies for us to look at but I really didn't want a billy. So Bridget decided to go with the darling little doe named Megan. She has beautiful fiber so I'm pleased as punch. As Bridget said on the way home "this way if we decide to breed her, we can, if not we don't have to." I looked at her and said "you KNOW we're going to breed her!", we're suckers for baby goats. She's too young this year so she'll get to lounge around with Thomas for a year and after she's around 18-24 mos, we'll more than likely take her back to Joan for breeding. Right now we have them in the "garden" next to the lambing shed with Julian and Sammie who are 2010 ram lambs seperated from the breeding ewes while breeding takes place (Teddy pulled the long straw for that this year :). I went out to get some pics of them this beautiful fall afternoon...so brace yourself for a dose of cuteness!

Seriously, do they get much cuter?? Megan was bottle fed as a baby so she is very human oriented. Thomas wasn't but he's learning pretty fast that we're good to be around. They weren't raised around dogs, pet, guardians or herding so they came to a place with all 3 and at first were pretty terrified. Didn't take them long to figure out that Willie was safe, Fynn is not and Sophie they're not totally sure about yet. Sophie loves all things little and was Evie's playmate when she was a bottle baby. She's been doing playbows at the gate and they just stare at her like she's an alien. I've not introduced Nora yet and I kinda doubt they'll ever be "herded". Thomas is eager to butt anything that comes close so I have a feeling Nora will be a prime target if she ever tries to move them. So far they follow me everwhere so I don't think moving them will be an issue.

Also wanted to share a pic of a shawl that I just finished for Bridget. I told her that I'd make her something for her upcoming b-day and she chose a shawl. I was very pleased with how this one turned out. I got the pattern from Ravelry , its called "Meandering Vines" and was a real treat to knit up using Roark's fiber. Not hard at all but not boring either, just enough to keep me interested but not frustrated. If you decide to knit one of these up, be sure to block it when you get done, makes a huge difference.

Hope you're all enjoying this beautiful fall weather! Winter is just around the corner so I'm trying to soak up these wonderful warm sunny afternoons!

Miss Kitty

2010-10-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

Queen Kitty...

Our Kit (aka Miss Kitty, Kitten, Little Shit, Hey YOU etc etc) is becoming quite the personality around here. She will no doubt be a great mouser and might just keep the barn swallow population down a bit. I watched her catch a few barn swallows during the summer and know when she crosses the barnyard because of the loud protests of friends and family of said caught barn swallows.

Now what?

I've also very much enjoyed watching her fly thru the air after grasshoppers (very entertaining) and wiggle her butt in pre-leap preparations towards the swishing horses tail...while we're grooming and/or saddling up. We nipped that in the bud. Sometimes her playfulness is entertaining and other times, injurious and/or deadly...for everyone involved.

Above is Kit discovering how funny it is to tease a kid...a goat kid that is. Our farrier brought Skippy (or something like that) over while he worked on our horses. He tethered him to his truck. It wasn't long before Kit figured out if she stay juuuust far enough away, he couldn't reach her. How clever of her.

Then she started getting closer and little inoccent Skippy started getting fresh. This is when our farrier told us that Skippy had been humping anything and everything. Cats were not off limits. I think Skippy got a swipe across this nose for his advances... :)

Yesterday she assisted me in installing a gate on the new fence and reinstalling a door on the garage. So many things that I did along the way were terribly entertaining to her like the tape measure, screws that spilled when she knocked the box off the ladder and flopping her skinny butt down right below the dangling 100+ lb garage door that had I had precariously propped up while I tried to reattach it to the hinges. So I used the screw driver like a gun, aimed and pulled the trigger. Zing Zing! That sent her scurring into the wadded up tarp in the garage. That kept her entertained for a little while. I have to admit I had the urge to go over and scratch the side of the tarp to see if she'd go for it like my old cat used to in a paper bag. But I had work to do.

She loves to mess with the sheep, I've even seen her sleeping on their backs as they line up along the shade of the barn. Here she is messing with Cybil and Cyb found her very intriguing.

We're worried about her with winter coming up. We had outside cats when I was a kid and they always did just fine. I'm sure Kit will too but she'll have much better digs than those cats did. She'll have a heated water dish and we plan on making her a straw cave lined with a fleece cat bed put up in the barn for her. Being a cat...she probably won't use it. I'm just looking forward to her catching MICE (evil grin).

Fall at DreamCatcher Farm

2010-10-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to a cool gentle breeze blowing through the bedroom. The curtains were lightly billowing and I could hear the birds chirping in the old cedar. Its been very dry for the past several weeks but we got a bit of rain yesterday and the air is much more humid today. Normally I hate humidity but this feels good and it felt very fallish.

Above is the view from the kitchen sink. I love this view. I should start taking more pics of it so I can see all the seasons from it. It has so many of the elements I love about this place. The beautiful old barn, the pasture with sheep and the rolling hills of this area. It even has my beloved Honda CRV in it :). Sitting in the window are some of my favorite things too. A small stained glass window that my sister made, the "serta" sheep family that my friend Caryn gave me and the 2 bookened lambs that belonged to my mother.

Its also obvious that the time for mating is near. The boys are getting rambucious and heads are clashing. Above and center (brown face) is Roark, the sire to most of the boys behind him (mostly wethers). Teddy, the one just over his left shouler (right side of the pic) will be the one to take over and will get his start this year since we lost Michael to the heat. He strutts just like his daddy did and has a beautiful fleece already. Teddy (DreamCatcher Theodore) is out of Firesong Lemara, an older ewe I got from Kathy Davidson of Potosi Sheep Farm in PA. Kathy got Lemara from Firesong Farm (Diane Kelly) out of MD. Lemara is a nice combo of Ward, Lelli and Somerhill stock and her grandaughter was Supreme Champion at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year. Micheal was from Bitterroot Ranch in MT and had lines from Tumble Creek Farm (Robina Koenig), Beeston (from UK) and Ward Farms. With this combo, I've no doubt I'll have some nice lambs next spring! Do the ewe dance with me :)!

We're pretty excited to be breeding 7 two yr olds for the first time this fall. Last year our only "newbie" was Rose, a shetland/BFL cross and we are extremely happy with what she produced for us. Our fleeces are looking amazing right now. Fingers crossed, hoping the winter goes a bit easier on us this year so we can keep them clean of hay.

Below are some pics that I've been taking this fall. This is by far my favorite time of the year. Spring is a pretty close second but there is just something special about fall...

Nora gathering the flock

Bella wiggling up to me for a little cuddle

Hope you're all enjoying the fall like we are!

Ruthie & Cybil

2010-10-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Today Ruthie died. She had been trying to die for a few weeks and yesterday she had to be propped up several times. She ate some grain and didn’t seem to be in any pain. She was of undetermined age and breed and was a singularly unattractive Ewe with one horn and she knew how to use it! But she gave birth to the most beautiful babies (Stormy Wether, Babe Ruth and Gemma) and was the best mom. Her latest baby, Gemma, was a black curly girl with a white tornado on her head.

Ruthie did not like to be sheared (that’s when that horn came in handy) but loved treats and in her last year was saved the indignity of being herded by the Border collies. When the ewes were being moved she was personally escorted to the next pasture and only after she was settled in were the other sheep moved. There was a dignity in the old girl. She walked slowly in the last months of her life but always carried herself with pride despite her felted wool and her ancient horn.

Ruthie had been a “farm warming" gift three years ago when DreamCatcher Farm first began and gave us a lamb each year. Ruthie’s life and death went the way a sheep’s life should go. She grazed in plentiful pastures had lots of friends and received the most humane treatment we knew how to offer her. When she had her last baby she thoughtfully gave birth right outside of the pen we had prepared for the pregnant ewes and in her death she laid down in the sun near the other ewes.

Additionally we lost our beloved Cybil. What a personality that girl had. We called her the Southern Belle because whenever the Border collies came out, Miss Cybil had a case of the vapors and simply couldn't be bothered by the dogs. She did have some spunk though. I"ll never forget seeing her running with the lambs last spring, kicking up her heels and acting like a spring chicken.

Cybil also left us some beautiful lambs. Her first was Aristotle, the very first lamb born at DreamCatcher Farm. He lives up to his name and has one of the most beautiful fleeces out there. Her second year, she gave us Eve and Lucy. As some will remember, Eve was a bottle baby. She had climbed out of the jug the night she was born and Cyb refused to take her back. So we raised Miss Eve and this year will be her and Lucy's first year to breed. How excited we are to see their lambs! This last lambing, Cybil gave us Flo and Alice, again bottles needed. Cybil didn't drop her milk for 2 weeks and developed mastitis. I had intended to retire her this year and let her live her life as a pampered Southern Belle but she was taken from us too soon. We'll definitely miss that old girl.

It is a cliché that death is part of life. But all I know is that when I die I hope I will have come close to fulfilling my purposes in life and can let go with the grace and dignity of Ruthie and Cybil.

Ram lambs for sale

2010-08-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

We've been busy around the farm the past couple of weeks. Finally had time (made time) to get some more recent pictures of the remaining 2 ram lambs we have for sale this year so I wanted to get them posted for those that are interested.

DreamCatcher Liam - Registered BFL ram lamb - $250 (born April 2010) Sold

DreamCatcher Liam - 5 mo fleece

Liam (above) is already registered, he is out of Foreside Daylight and Bitterroot Cordell. I can scan and email you his papers if you'd like a look at those. $250

DreamCatcher Jullian (5 mo fleece)

DreamCatcher Jullian - 7/8's BFL & 1/8 BL - $200 (born April 2010)

Jullian is 7/8's BFL and 1/8 BL (Border Leicester). He is out of HMFF Golden Ticket and Bitterroot Cordell. He will give you that touch of that BL which I really like. If you are looking to inject some leicester blood into your flock for either meat/mother qualities or superior fleece quality, this is a good opportunity to do that. $200

I'm open to ram lamb trading also, just give me a hollar!

Notes from the City Woman...

2010-08-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

Jen has written wonderful rural inspired updates on Dreamcatcher. I thought it was time to give an update from the rural impaired member.

I can now use the lawn mower without supervision. Didn’t know how to do that until Jen taught me. I of course can’t fix it but let’s be realistic.

I also am in training for using the tractor-with supervision. There are many things to remember when driving the tractor and we have a check session like they do in the cockpit of a plane before takeoff. I just can’t seem to remember which way the scoop goes when I raise it. That is kind of important. Otherwise one could do a dramatic tumble when the scoop hits the ground. So after I am given instructions I repeat them to myself out loud. It's great fun.

Also, we use the tractor to traverse the 30 acres of undeveloped land in the back which is a worry. Should we burn it? (Well not us of course! Sedation was almost needed when we finally burned the trash pile). Should we hire someone with a giant brush hog? Should we work on pieces at a time with or mini tractor and brush hog? We toss these options around and ask for input from anyone wearing coveralls.
Speaking of anyone wearing coveralls. I have noticed that seldom is the phrase “I don’t know “uttered by these fine rural folks. Often it is because they have refined the fine art of working with what you have. Occasionally, it seems to me that it is culturally unacceptable to use that phrase. It’s a bit like people who won’t ask for directions. I am always relieved when I can verify something they suggest we do with another source but alas that is not always an option. But I do appreciate their willingness to advise us.

I can now catch the horses and groom them do a little ground work training. About 50%of the time I can even put the halters on the right way. (I don’t know why but I am halter and harness impaired.)

Mowing: I do love mowing. I love the smell of the cut grass and wildflowers as they are cut. I love to see the strips of mowed pasture grow as I travel around the pasture or even watch Jen making the rounds. Most of all I love seeing the finished product of a mowed pasture. However, there are dangers lurking in that long grass and vigilance is important if you don’t want to mow say a huge rock.

Gates: I have learned that no matter what you are doing gates must be securely fastened. You must take into account the guardian dogs desire to wander and take his sheep with him or the horses’ belief that that grass on the other side is much more luscious. We recently came back from town to discover that Willie had led 15 sheep to the road in one of these adventures. On their way out they devoured the flower garden we had put in the length of the barn. Nora saved the day but seemed a little confused as she is not supposed to go on the road and here were these sheep out there.

Sheep: Oh these lovely creatures. I do love them. I can almost identify what is good fleece. I know how to shove worming stuff down them, trim their feet and very tentatively gave my first injection of antibiotic. I have learned that if a lamb gets on the other side of the fence it has no clue how to get back and that getting your head stuck in the fence once does not teach you not to do it again-beautiful little Willow. I know the joy of seeing a sheep who hasn’t been well, recovering. And I know the grief of losing lambs before they have had much of a chance at life. And recently I learned the sadness of losing our BFL ram Michael to this horrible heat.

I have also learned that sheep can in fact bite. This seems to apply to the ones who really like you like our bottle lamb Evie and to one of our outstanding fleece wethers Bob. Why I do not know. They do not bite one another.

I have also learned some practical things like never walk out into a pasture with a bucket unless you have a dog with you. Those gentle creatures will bowl you over in a heartbeat to get at food.

I have also learned that any ministrations done to a sheep will involve their peeing and pooping. I understand in stock yards they have a test to measure stress having to do with how much of this occurs. But here at Dreamcatcher they get little scratches on their necks and that special place on their back where you can almost hear them moan. Nevertheless they still pee and poop...usually right where you've cleaned it up and put down fresh bedding.

Some miscellaneous bits of information include the fact that mice can get in a bucket then can’t get out. They will die there and you will scream when using the bucket. Birds will fly into your face and hair when you are in the lambing pen at night. Some people will laugh at you for this. I have also learned that Coyotes not only like the night but like early morning and how important the LGDs (livestock guardian dogs) are. I have learned it is very difficult to get a LGD to go where he doesn’t want to go. It is like trying to move a Shetland pony against its will.

Birds: As a city person I am used to seeing the usual songbirds, sparrows and Robins. Out here I am grabbing the bird book to identify the birds here. We have bluebirds, Orioles, Finches, hawks and vultures. One day out the kitchen window I saw a hawk that had captured a sparrow in flight and they went to the ground ten feet from the window. The sparrow escaped but it was breath taking. We have Purple Martins who battle the sparrows for the rooms in the Martin house who really do keep down the mosquitoes. And then there are the intrepid swallows who dive bomb the cat, Kit, and sometimes us when we venture into a barn at the wrong time. The woodpeckers also make an appearance and that rat a tat tat echoes out here.

Insect’s mice and snakes: Flies are annoying, irritating enraging and sometimes they bite. They especially are attracted to horses. There is no spray, chemical or those little bugs that can really stop them. You can hang up those bottles to trap them you can move all manure, spray the animals etc. But they persist. They especially like to annoy you when you hands are occupied. They do seem to get inactive at night. And when the first hard frost comes it is a blessing. Hornets look a lot like bees but have a very nasty attitude. They like to gang up on you when you get close to their well hidden nests usually either in the ground or on wood right by where the latch to the gate is. I have learned it is ok to throw any concerns regarding environmental impact and kill them with anything you have available. They must die. I do not care if they are some vital link in the ecology - they must die.

Mice are very bright. They will eventually outwit all but possibly a cat. We had a wonderful little device that when they went in to get the peanut butter they were electrocuted. But eventually through some sort of universal memory they figured this out. We had previously used some poison which they merrily carried all over the house sparking terror that one of dogs would find it. The last effort is a different kind of poison that they can’t carry around so for now no mice. Snakes are a wonderful asset. They eat bad things in the garden and around the house...and they scare me to death. After trying to convince myself how harmless and what little helpers they are I have adopted denial as my best strategy. If I don’t see them they don’t exist. So someday I am going to step on a six foot black snake and I will die of fright.

Hay: Hay is very complicated. It must be dry when it’s cut. Then it must be raked and finally bailed when it is dry. You have any idea how hard it is to hit to hit that narrow target when it rained every other day for months? A field that has the big bales of hay resting on it is so beautiful especially when you have a spectacular sunset to frame it and there is an overwhelming sense of satisfaction to look at those big bales and know the part they will play in feeding the animals in the winter.

Sunsets: Speaking of sunsets-they provide a show almost every evening right before dusk. No two are alike and each is beautiful in its own way. Some are streaks of pink, purple and yellow in the sky, others only lighting up the horizon. It is a time to stop and feel the timelessness of the land and the peace that makes it all so worthwhile.

A Saturday to dye for...

2010-07-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday a good friend of mine arranged a wonderful get together with a newcomer to our area. Joan Bennett and her family moved to beautiful NW Missouri from Pennsylvania last fall (and love it so far...even with this horrid humidity!). Joan and her daughter Mary are an experienced shepherdess' (sp?) and fiber artists and generously opened their home to us and shared their experience with dyeing wool. How excited I was to go have fun with friends and wool and meet some new neighbors! It isn't often I have time for such luxuries so I wasn't about to pass this up.

It was hot and humid as usual but the Bennett's have a beautiful old farmstead with big old trees for us to gather under. Dyeing is best done outside, especially with multiple dyers in attendence. I've only tried dying a few times and just haven't taken the time to play around with colors and processes so I was ready!

The method that we were going to try today was what Joan calls "crazy balls". Basically you lay 1 lb of roving or yarn into an enamel roaster pan (other vessels can be used but this is what Mary and Joan prefer). Then you pour in some water that has some vinegar mixed in (this is the mordant) and allow it to sit for about 5-10 minutes, until the roving/yarn is saturated. While your fiber is soaking, you pick out the colors you'd like to use.

This was a lot of fun because Joan has a great selection of dyes (I think it was Procion dye) so we were able to really play around with color. Once the fiber is ready, you take the dyes you've chosen, usually 3-4 different colors or shades, and you lightly sprinkle rows of the powdered dye across the roving. After sprinkling a row, you lightly tamp it into the fiber with a wooden spoon, spreading it thru the layers.

After we finished, we put them in the oven for 1 hr and viola! Dyed wool!

The girls rinsed each batch in the sink for us and layed them on blankets and racks in the yard to dry. I'm currently spinning up what I dyed and I can't wait to ply it to see the finished effect. I'll post a pic of it when I'm done.

I had such a great time on Saturday that I can't wait to do it again! It was so nice to sit around with friends, have a nice lunch and chat while our fiber "baked".

The Bennett's also have Pygora and Nubian (dairy) goats as well as multiple breeds of chickens and 3 beautiful Halflinger horses. As we toured the barn and visited with the animals, Joan mentioned that one of her Pygora does had kidded late and she had 2 kids that she'd be selling as soon as they were weaned. Oh yeah, you know where this is headed.

Bridget and I are now proud owners of 2 Pygora billies (soon to be wethers). Seriously, how could you say no to this?? (I think Bridget was getting nudged by mother doe in this pic!)

So it was a very productive day. I learned how to make crazy balls, met some new friends, visited with old ones and bought some goats. Does it get any better than that?

Just have to add a picture of our beautiful hay just before it was baled. I love hay. When its not on my sheep that is. I love to see it freshly mown, drying in the field and neatly baled still sitting in the pasture. I especially love not having to put it up in the barn.

Everything else is going nicely here at the farm. Lambs are still with the ewes and will remain with them until late August. We moved them to the pasture that was freshly hayed last weekend because it hadn't seen sheep for about 2 months so nicely clean of worms. We wormed those that needed it the day before moving them so hopefully those that had worms, will be rid of them now. Its a constant battle in the spring/summer especially with the heat and humidity.

If you're looking for a registered BFL ram for your flock, look no further! I've got 3 white, 1 natural colored and 1 7/8's BFL and 1/8 BL (Border Leicester). If you're interested, just shoot me an email. I'll get some pics this weekend and add them to the blog and website. I've also got some yearling ewes and 1 ewe lamb, all BFL crosses North Country Cheviot. Also if you'd like to add to or start your own flock of fiber wethers, we always have a few of those for sale.

A New Addition

2010-07-08T14:51:00.001-07:00

I swore I wouldn't do it. Get a cat that is. With 6 dogs around, at least 3 of which are not fond of cats, it would be suicide for a cat to live here. Nobody told that to this stray kitten that showed up about a month ago.

I first saw her on a Saturday evening just after the sun had set. I actually heard her first and followed the desperate meows. The closer I got, the more vicious the meows got so I decided to play it safe and see if the cat was still there in the morning.

It was. I'd almost forgotten about it and then I heard it again as I was going out to start the mower up. Poor thing was just a few months old and had an awful bloody nose. Wouldn't let me get close so I opened up a package of tuna and put it in a tupperware bowl (you know you keep those ones with the missing lids for just this occassion). Well, once it realized tuna was on the menu, HELLO! I was now its long lost mother.

Honestly, if it had been a grown cat, I would have shooed it away but I just couldn't let this poor tiny thing fend for itself. So I decided to keep putting food out and see how it went.

I come home on the 3rd day to hear the kitten frantically meowing but I couldn't figure out where it was. Well, it had gotten into the corral with the sheep...and Willie (the LGD). It had climbed up (probably been chased up) the short electric pole next to the well house and was perched on top of the pole. It could easily jump over to the roof of the well house but was obviously frozen in fear...as cats do. I tried to put a broom up to entice it off but I couldn't quite reach. I didn't want to leave it there in case it lost its balance and landed right in Willie's lap so I had to get it down. I had the hose running to fill tanks so as much as I hated to do it, I aimed and sprayed. I positioned the spray to encourage the kitten to jump onto the roof but oh no, it couldn't do that. Half of it hit the roof and then "cat"apulted (sorry) to the ground. Thankfully cats, especially kittens, seem to have no bones when they fall and it instantly sprang up and ran outside the fence.

Bridget came out and met the kitten and we investigated and discovered "it" is a she. Her nose had already healed up leaving no scar whatsoever. We ran thru names and because I'd been calling her "kitty" for so long, we decided Kit would do. Terribly creative I know. Kit was no dummy and has plenty of hiding places so she has learned not to come in the yard and to stay out of the LGDs way. I think she teases Willie since he's closest to the barn but she'd better watch it, he would eat her for a snack if she slips up.

I have to admit its nice to have a barn cat. I like cats but not as much as dogs so one is plenty. Therefore she has already had a trip to Doc Mitts and nearly $300 later, she is spayed, vaccinated and free of fleas, tick and worms. For now.

I came home today, just 3 days after her spay. Doc Mitts must've given her a shot of courage because today after I fed her, she followed me back to the house. I let her follow but made sure she didn't come too close. I went into the house and was washing some dishes and when I looked out the window. Our peach tree is just on the other side of the yard fence, part of it actually drapes over. Right in the middle of the tree lay Kit, sprawled out on a limb just gazing down at 6 Border collies. I had to laugh, typical cat. I think she's going to do just fine.

Below is the new perennial garden that we put in this spring along the barn. Lots of hollyhocks, daylillies, hostas, coneflower, asters, oh and we even went and dug up some sweet william from the roadside. That should make it pretty in early spring. I decided to experiment with some old musty wool that I'd kept back for mulching. I had enough to cover the whole bed and then I had some leftover straw that had been sitting out in the weather. So we got the whole bed covered first with wool, then with straw and so far I've only had to pull a few weeds and only watered once right after we put things in. Wool really does keep the moisture in well, sometimes a little too well if you're not careful. Fingers crossed the sheep don't find it...

Laziness always comes back to bite ya...

2010-06-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today I had mowing to finish up, had left the trimming until the morning knowing it would be a bit cooler. Got that done and decided to finally jump start the truck and take the branches that had been in the bed (for a while) back to the branch dump in the back pasture. Got that done and decided it was time to try out the brush hog in the back pasture after seeing how overgrown it was getting.

I mowed for an hour or so and decided to take a break as it was getting really hot and I'd not brought anything to drink. So I leave all the gates open so I can just drive back thru without having to get off the tractor. Laziness always bites ya in the rear.

Bridget came out to deliver her 3 dogs for me to dog sit before leaving on her trip to Alaska. While I was mowing, she went out to put fly and tick preventative on the horses that I'd penned up in the paddock.

During my break from mowing, we decided it was time to finally brush Ollie as he had been molting and the mats were getting pretty bad. Its usually impossible for one person to brush Ollie because as soon as you get to a sensitive area, he tries to bolt. Ever try stopping a 125 lb dog? Yeah. So out we go with leash, brush, matt remover and scissors in hand. He was fairly cooperative this time, maybe he realized he was out numbered. We worked on him for at least an hour fending off Bella (who nicely shed all by herself) as well as Eve and Nike, our spoiled wrotten yearlings. Don't let anyone try to tell you that sheep don't bite. Trust me they do.

We finished that chore, Ollie now looking a little strange after a shear job on his back. I think the amount of rain we've had cause the matting to be worse there so we had to cut a patch off his back.

Bridget then unloaded the dogs food, crates etc and headed out. I am SO looking forward to 2 weeks with 6 house dogs... :).

So about 4pm, I'm in the house making myself a drink, just got out of the shower and I'm in my nightshirt. Yeah so its early but I'd had a long day and really didn't want to go back out into that nasty humid, hot day. I was looking forward to an evening in front of the spinning wheel and a/c.

I hear the dogs erupt into barking outside and I think great, I'm in my nightshirt and someone's here. Figures. So I look out the window and what do I see? Three horses. OUR horses....in the barnyard headed for the road. CRAP. Remember those gates I left open thinking I was going to go back out to do some more mowing? When will I learn? I never go back to things when I think I will because I get distracted doing something else and then am too tired to finish the other thing I "took a break from". While doing chores, I'd opened the paddock gate to let the horses back into the back pasture, totally forgetting that I'd left the alley gates open. Imagine their glee when they discovered the open gates...

So I race outside, jump into my shoes and frantically think, I need something to lure them FAST. I see the bucket of water left for the dogs to drink from, sitting on the porch. I think bucket, they'll think its grain so I grab it and run for the barnyard.

Gypsy was headed for the road, Gracie and Breeze were right behind her. Our little fearless Gypsy leading the way. It was obvious they had no interest in whatever could be in the bucket so I give up on that tactic. It was like trying to herd cats. Very large, very fast cats that seriously didn't want to be caught.

I focused on Gracie knowing that they usually follow her. Plus I can scare her easier :). So I threw the water from the bucket in the direction she was trotting which was around the white barn/lean-to. I knew they could easily get to the road that way too. I slowed her down but didn't stop her so I then thru the bucket in her path. That did it. I started throwing my hands in the air and hollaring at her like my dad did with the cows. That too worked. She turned and headed back to the alley. I knew if I spooked her she'd head back to a place she felt safe. Breezy predictably followed her mother and as I turned back to address Gyp, she too was turning to follow them back to the alley. She looked disappointed but once back together, they tossed their heads in the air and gleefully galloped back to the back pasture.

Witches (I'd rather use another word). Here I was, just out of a nice cool shower, a clean nightshirt, ready to sit down and relax. Now I was drenched in sweat (doesn't take long in this humidity) and standing in the barnyard for all my passing neighbors to see. Lovely. No one to blame but myself though. I'll think twice about leaving ANY gates open for MY convenience EVER AGAIN.

Lamb Pictures!

2010-05-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

OK, I finally had time to sit down and post some lamb pics!

This would be the thistle patch on the south side of the "pond" (it rarely holds water). We've battled these thistles for 3 years and I'm determined to destroy them this year. Apparently the lambs have decided to help out :). They had just finished with a round of lamb races around the pond bank so they needed some snacks. We're going to try and get a video of the the lamb races and post it here soon!

Not sure who this is but love that face!

This is DreamCatcher Flo, one of Cybil's part time bottle babies. I'm probably running backwards to get this picture because she's got that "do you have my bottle??" look! I don't know the percentages but Flo is BFL/BL/Romney/Cotswold. I'm spinning her sister, Eve's, fleece right now and besides some dry tips (she had some worm issues last summer) her fleece is very soft and a lot of fun to spin.

Ahh, another beautiful BFL lamb, I think this may be DreamCatcher Emma out of Bitterroot Aliza.

This is DreamCatcher Sadie out of DreamCatcher Rose. This lamb is 1/4 Shetland and 3/4 BFL. I'm very pleased with Rosie's 2 and can't wait to see their fleece next spring!

This is pretty little DreamCatcher Leah out of Forside Daylight, one of our registered BFL's.

A favorite spot in the pasture is the tree stump patch! They love to jump around on them!

This would be my favorite ram lamb this year, DreamCatcher Samuel out of Potosi Amy. Not only is he beautiful but he has a great personality and is very friendly.

And this is our pride and joy, DreamCatcher Willow! She is out of Pewter, our only remaining purebred Shetland ewe. We'd been hoping for a grey lamb out of Pewter and not only did we get that but she made it a ewe lamb to boot! The little boy behind her is her brother, Wyatt. He has a touch of grey and brown on him so it'll be interesting to see what his fleece looks like as he gets older.

So thats our lamb crop for 2010! Our thanks to HMFF Roark and Bitterroot Cordell, our 2 beautiful rams, for producing such a wonderful lamb crop this year

The creep is....creepy!

2010-04-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

One of the frustrating things each lambing season is the creep feeder. A creep feeder is made for the lambs to have access to grain in an area where the ewes can't enter. The ewes would eat until bursting whereas the lambs will just nibble so they can have 24/7 access to grain without any concerns.

I don't have a commercially made creep feeder, I just create one each year. And it evolves each year, a change here a change there. Not too many changes this year, same entrance panel, same part of the lambing pen. I did use the hay feeder as part of the perimeter which is new. Thats something I call lazy creativity :).

See the frustrating part is I put all this time and thought into creating the creep pen but getting them INto it is a challenge. Its all nice and neat and tidy and ewe proof (hopefully). Has a cute little lamb sized trough nailed to a raised board to keep them from climbing around in it (and pooping in it). They have their very own lamb sized water trough, shallow enough they won't drown...because you know they'll get IN it, they get in or on everything.

However, they have yet to ENTER the creep. Apparently the creep is creepy. Last night I went out and sat in the lambing shed, trying to figure out how to entice them into it. They're curious beasts so I needed to somehow make it interesting and mysterious. So I tossed in some fluffy hay, they seem to like fluffy hay. Nope, that didn't do it. Tossed in a mineral tub. Nope, not mysterious enough.

Then I realized I was using cattle panels as their entrance to the creep pen. Basically I just cut out a couple of cross pieces so the lambs can fit through but the ewes can't. But they can't see the openings and thats always been an issue. Last year I think I taped up some feed sacks on either side of the opening to make the openings more obvious and that did work. I only needed to leave the sacks up a day or so but I still had to toss lambs in, they didn't go in on their own.

I didn't have any feed sacks handy but I did have hay and lots of it. So I stacked hay on either side of the openings on the inside of the creep pen. Sorta made alleys with the hay. I tried it out with Flo and Alice and they eagerly came in. They're not terribly interested in grain yet so I couldn't get them to eat any and once they realized no milk was on the menu, they quickly exited.

I was too tired to do anymore so I'll be interested to see if anyone wanders in today. Hopefully they'll find the feed, the older lambs are eating next to their mothers at feeding time so they have a taste for it. Fingers crossed and hope for success!

Devil lambs

2010-04-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

Well, my glee over Cybil’s milk was short lived. It looks like I'm going to have to supplement her girls, Alice and Flo. I hadn't fed them bottles since, oh it was Sunday sometime, midday maybe and yesterday afternoon they were about to take my leg off if I didn't give them a bottle. They didn't look emaciated but not full either. They're like baby birds, touch their heads and immediately turn upwards searching for nourishment.

They both sucked down 10 ozs pretty quick (and then waddled away) so more than likely Cyb isn't producing quite enough for them. I have to say, she looks quite smug while they're nursing on her. Its almost as if she's saying, "so there you bi#ch, I can feed them too!". She always looked very resentful when we were bottle feeding them and would actually come over and nudge their butts while they were sucking on the bottle.

Oh well, I don't mind feeding them a bottle in the afternoon but that 4am one before work just isn't a lot of fun. I went out to open the gate for them all to go into the pasture before I left this morning. I tried to do it very quietly so Alice and Flo wouldn't hear me. But of course they did and suddenly I hear their all too familiar baaaa's and they come running toward me in the dark. I quickly shut off my flashlight and began to sprint for the gate praying I didn't trip over something and go sprawling in sheep poo in my work clothes. At one point I felt as though I was running from the devil himself as I heard their cries getting closer and closer. I had that panicked feeling as though I would be devoured at any moment if they caught up with me. Then I reached the gate and quickly jumped thru and latched it behind me. Felt kinda silly when 2 little lambs screeched to a halt at the gate. I dunno though, their eyes do glow red in the flashlight beam.

PS, I do promise to start putting some lamb pics in soon, just haven't had the time or energy to sit down and start photoshopping ones we've taken. Soon though, soon! Wait til you see Pewter's darlings!

Lambing is over!! April 17, 2010 (Jen)

2010-04-19T10:44:00.001-07:00

Today Pewter gave us 2 absolutely beautiful lambs!! We’ve really been hoping for a grey lamb from her but she’s always given us black. We’d always bred her to Roark before so we bred her to Michael this year. Looks like that did the trick! The first was a very striking little grey and black ewe lamb, we couldn’t believe our luck!

She appeared to be done but about 5 minutes after the first, contractions started again and out came a little black ram lamb. At first we thought he was all black but as she cleaned him off and he dried, we realized he also has grey on him, just not as much. I know they will change as they get older, I just hope they don’t change too much because they are such pretty little lambs!!

There really couldn’t have been a better end to our lambing season….oh but wait. There actually WAS a better ending to our lambing season. Exactly 10 days after lambing, Cybil’s milk dropped!! I could have done the jig I was so happy. I was not looking forward to feeding lambs at 4am before I go to work so this just made my day!

Our total number of live lambs is 18, 10 ewe lambs and 8 ram lambs out of 12 ewes. Not too shabby! Now I get to take a deep breath and relax a little!

Lambing Update – April 14, 2010 (Jen)

2010-04-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Our lambing season is just about over. It started tragically and has had a few bumps in the road but overall, its been a pretty good lamb crop and I’m pleased with what we’ve gotten from our girls!

On Wednesday (03/24/2010), Aliza lambed while I was at work. She had triplets and it was a cold rainy day and I had yet to remove Bella (the new guardian pup) from the lambing shed. I got home to find one already dead, another struggling and one doing ok. I got Aliza in a jug with her healthy ewe lamb, removed the dead ewe lamb and took the struggling ram lamb into the house to warm him and tube him. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it. Not a good start to the lambing season. Thankfully her remaining lamb, Emma, is a ewe and has very nice blue markings. Only thing I can gather that happenend is Aliza was so worried about Bella, who was obviously very stimulated by the lambing fluids and newborn lambs, that she didn't get 2 of the lambs properly cleaned off. The one I tried to save was very chilled and I couldn't seem to warm him no matter what I did. I'll never know exactly what happened but all the lambs appeared healthy and there were no marks on them.

Second to lamb was Amy. She lambed Saturday morning (03/27/2010) and gave us twins; one white ewe Sarah and one natural colored ram Samuel. Both very healthy and rambunctious and still are to this day. They are always the first to start lamb races around the pond! I am totally in love with Samuel, his temperament is just too cool. He is much more friendly and curious than the other lambs and of course he is very pretty and will have georgeous natural colored fleece.

Third up to bat was Lemara…I think. This is where my memory might fail me on sequence but I’ll do my best. Lemara graced us with another big beautiful boy, a white one this time. We named this one Theodore, Teddy for short. He too has nice blue markings and will be a very handsome ram.

Next I believe was Goldie, again she gave us twins, both white, one ram Julian, one ewe Jillian. Both healthy, beautiful lambs with no issues. These 2 should also have amazing fleeces, Goldie was my best fleece last year and Olivia and Tobias (09 lambs) also had very nice fleeces.

Lets see…I think Daisy might have been next, she had a single this year, a little black ram lamb, no name for him because he will be a meat lamb. Pam was close behind with a tiny little black ewe lamb, Stella! (when I say that name I have to yell it and hold out my arm, can’t help myself). Both lambs are on the small side but healthy and doing well and both appear to have a healthy set of vocal cords....ouy vey! Remember April from 09? Yeah, Stella! is her sister :).

Oh and Cybil, how could I forget Cybil. She lambed at 2:30 on Wednesday (04/07/2010) and I got to watch the whole thing. Man is she a drama queen. You’dve thought she was giving birth to 15 lb lambs the way she was carrying on. Neither weighed more than 6 or 7 lbs! Again she gave us twin girls, one white one black, exactly the same as last year. I was very careful to make sure she saw and accepted both lambs (she rejected one lamb last year because it got out of the jug during the night). She seemed ok with both lambs and eagerly cleaned them off. Problem was, she had no milk. Not a big deal, I went and mixed up some of the powdered colostrum and gave them both a bottle which they happily took. Cybil was late to drop her milk last year too so I was anticipating this. However, the hours went by and still no milk. I gave her penicillin, shot after shot of oxytocin and a week later, still no milk. So I’m going to start drying Cyb up and she won’t be lambing again next year. That’s ok, we have 5 beautiful lambs out of Cyb, 4 of those being ewe lambs. I want to be sure they don’t have the same issues as Cybil does though so they will stay at DreamCatcher Farm at least thru their first lambing. So regardless of making sure she accepted both lambs, we still ended up with not one but TWO bottle lambs out of Miss Cybil. ARGH! In keeping with our “diner waitress names” theme for the Cybil line (girls anyway), we went with Flo and Alice.

"Need a refill on that coffee?"

I think next up would be the Dot/Daylight fiasco. I’ve been watching Daylight very closely with much anticipation. This is her first lambing and my first experience with a first timer, Rosie was our other first timer but I had a good feeling about her and wasn’t too worried (she’s half Shetland, nuff said).

So ok, Saturday the 10th I had planned to run some fleeces to a new fiber mill in Lone Jack which is about 2 hrs away. Then I had intended to spend the rest of the day with my mother doing some spring garden shopping. Bridget was on farm watch while I was away and would be in charge of feeding the 2 little bottle babies.

Well, she calls just after I’d dropped my mother off about 3pm and was headed back home. Bridget is frantic (not a good sign) and I gathered from the “conversation” that Daylight and Dot had both lambed yet only Dot had lambs and Daylight was going a little nutso looking for lambs. ‘WHAT DO I DO???” Bridget asked. She had taken one of the lambs that was laying by Dot and gave it to Daylight to calm her and it seemed to work. On top of that, the hawks must’ve smelled blood because they were circling the pasture which was freaking Bridget out. She’d be talking to me telling me what was going on and then I’d hear “GET AWAY YOU BAD HAWKS!!! SHOOO SHOOO!!!!! GET AWAY!!!”. You can imagine the picture I had formed in my head. Sheep running around hollering for babies, hawks diving down trying to steal them and here I am, an hour drive and stuck in construction traffic.

I told her that she did right by giving Daylight a lamb. Until I could get there to look at them, I couldn’t know who they belonged to. See Dot is a Cheviot and Daylight is a BFL. They have similar appearance especially to a non sheep person. Cheviot afterall, has some Leicester in them. To a shepherd however, their shepherd, they look totally different and the lambs are quite easy to tell apart. In the meantime, I told Bridget to go shoo away the hawks and look for lost lambs in the pasture just incase one of them dropped a lamb there.

I race home and run out to the lambing shed. One look and it was obvious that both lambs were Daylight’s, classic blue coloring and very bunny like ears. A look at Dot tells me that she hasn’t actually lambed yet but it does look like her water has burst. So I grabbed the lamb that was left with Dot, give it to the very confused Daylight and get Dot in a jug. Now Dot is very confused and distressed and doesn’t appear to be pushing at all, she's too busy freaking out because I took "her" (stolen) lambs away. Not knowing how long its been since her water burst but knowing it was at least an hour, I decided to go in and see what I can feel. Sure enough, the lamb is right there but the head seems to be too big to make it thru the cervix. So I had to help Dot by dilating her cervix as much as I could. Bridget also had to help widen the opening while I pulled the lamb during contractions while our friend Caryn (Dot's original owner) stood at her head holding her.

We finally got him out but it didn’t look good. He had some birth defects, herniated umbilical cord, his ribs were funky, he couldn't stand and his breathing was labored. We ended up having him euthanized on Monday. Had I been thinking clearly, I probably would have given Dot one of Daylights lambs to raise. I was a bit concerned about them fighting over the lambs and/or the lambs getting so confused and not knowing which ewe to go to. Hindsight tells me that it would have worked out ok though. In the end, I put Dot out with the 09 ewe lambs to dry up and she is now happily lounging around with them. We did have to keep Daylight and her 2, Leah and Liam, in the jug for an extra day or so to get them to bond properly. First few days out of the jug was a bit iffy, lambs weren’t staying together and Daylight would forget she had 2. Now they’re doing well though.

After Dot lambed, Nan decided it was her turn. I was bringing the ewes in to feed and I see hooves sticking out of Nan’s backside. I hollered at Bridget who was bottle feeding Flo and Alice and we got Nan into a jug. I went back to finish getting the sheep in to feed and when I went back into the shed, Bridget was gloved up and already assisting. Nan needed a little help, she also didn’t appear to have much desire to push but we got her monster ram lamb out and he looked to be almost as big as Sarah and Sam who were nearly 2 weeks old at this point. I’d guess he weighed around 14-15 lbs.

Finally on Sunday, Rosie, our first DCSFF Shetland Mule, decided it was her turn. Bridget and I were terribly excited about this lambing because she is our first “baby” even though she doesn’t appear to care for us all that much lol. She wasn’t one we ever got around to halter training or taming and boy does it show. She is a WILD child! We were able to get her into a jug, I don’t remember if she went in on her own and we slammed the gate shut or if we maneuvered her in there, its all a blurr. She did need a little assistance as her first lamb was a bit large and she was really laboring to get his head out. He wasn’t huge but it was her first. She had twins and the second lamb plopped out unassisted. As expected she is a good mom if not just a tad over protective (she’s nailed both Nora and Bella already). Seems as though the biggest challenge for our 2 new moms is keeping their lambs together. I often see them running back and forth between lambs, begging them to come closer together!

Well, Bridget just called to tell me that our old girl, Ruthie, just had the elusive ewe lamb and she’s black to boot! Ruthie has always had ram lambs and never a black one. So now I can retire Ruthie and give her old bones a rest. This darling tiny little lamb is named Gemma and has the cutest tornado shaped white spot on her head!

That leaves us with the one remaining ewe, Pewter, our beloved grey Shetland. She doesn’t appear to be in any hurry so we’ll just have to be patient!

Preparing for lambing March 2010

2010-03-10T14:46:00.000-08:00

Finally, there are signs of spring around us, some good some not so good. Since we had RECORD setting snow falls this winter, you can imagine our mud situation. I called my brother yesterday to chat and he was in the middle of pulling a cow out of the mud…for the 3rd time. Thankfully, no stuck sheep. Yet. Poor Ollie is miserable though, he is one prissy Pyranees! He literally tiptoes thru wet ground and its hilarious to watch him prepare to jump over the mini ponds all over the place. You can forget mud, I don’t think he’d walk thru it even for a steak. Bella and Willie obviously don’t like it but they will at least walk thru it if necessary. The house dogs (Fynn, Sophie and Nora) of course don’t mind mud in the least. No, of course they don’t mind it. That would be why I’m hauling dogs to the bathtub every evening after they’ve wallowed in it all afternoon. After Nora helped me feed hay and move sheep on Sunday, I think it took 30 minutes of continuous spraying before the water ran (mostly) clear off of her. Amazing how much mud a BC rough coat can hold. Smooth coated BCs from here on out!!

I was actually reading last years blog about this time, just before lambing started and realized it was a great way to look back on what the weather was like and how things were going. That’s what prompted this blog. Its pretty obvious nobody but Bridget and I read it so I can put whatever I feel like in it!

So, 2011 Jennifer, this is what you had to endure in March 2010. IT IS AWFUL. Trust me on this one. There has been snow on the ground since Christmas. Remember Christmas eve when the electricity went out in the middle of the blizzard? The wind was hollowing thru the house and immediately the inside temp dropped to 45 degrees. Thankfully it came back on a few hrs later. Merry Christmas.

I think there might have been a few days where it melted but not long at all. If I remember right, at least 14-16” fell on Christmas, blizzard conditions, horrible drifting and extreme temps. It was pretty and it was nice that I had no where to go (like work). I had to have Tim B deliver round bales for everyone because no way was CC going to make it thru those drifts. He also graciously plowed the drive after I got CC stuck in it.

January brought more snow and continued cold temps. Watering was going ok until the fuel line froze up on CC and the dealer came and hauled him away back to the dealership to thaw (for several hundred dollars of course). He came back in perfect condition ready to rumble and I renewed my daily watering with 2 rubbermaid tubs on the back of the carryall. Since the outside hydrant froze solid, I had to snake the hose thru the bathroom window, hook the hose up to the bathroom sink and get water that way. It was a hassle but better than carrying buckets of water for sure!

Finally the snow melted enough for me to retrieve the buried hoses and thaw them. I was then able to hook them directly to the bathroom sink and run them out to the tanks. Way easier than hauling it on the back of the tractor.

February gave us another 10” of snow and continued below normal temps. We are all pretty cranky by this time as the hay bills are mounting rapidly. The fleeces are showing the effects of all the hay being fed. Not good.

March arrived and temps have started to rise. Snowfall has now turned to thunderstorms. Like we needed more moisture. This is definitely the worst mud season so far. I had to close off the garden area because I was getting stuck in the mud and in danger of being trampled by hungry sheep. I refuse to take Nora thru that mud so I'm having to try to outsmart the sheep to get the feed to the troughs. We stand around looking at each other, me acting like I'm not about to feed them and them not buying it. So I say LOOK! Coyotes!! and then race to where I've stashed the bucket of feed and make a mad dash (sheep in hot pursuit) and throw the feed into the first trough. While they're shoving their faces full, I race over to the other trough and throw it into it. Half the sheep peel off and race to the second trough. It would probably be amusing video.

Lambing is due to start March 28th. I had originally scheduled the shearer for last weekend (March 6th) but because of the extra hay we’ve had to buy, the budget for shearing was nearly depleted. I decided to have a go at hand shearing, at least the bred ewes so that would be done before lambing started. I doubt I’ll get everyone hand sheared but I’d rather wait until it dries up a bit to have someone out to do it anyway.

So that’s about it. We have 13 (I think) ewes bred this year…oh dear, that’s not a good number! Daisy’s not very big so I question her. Pam on the other hand is huge and is NOT supposed to be bred. Maybe she just ate too much hay…yeah, I’m sure that’s it.

Anyway, fingers crossed its an easy lambing season with lots of EWE lambs!!

Peeew!! (Jen)

2010-02-20T16:19:00.000-08:00

Ollie got skunked. I knew it would happen eventually, guess I should be thankful its one of the LGDs (livestock guardian dogs) instead of a Border collie (which lives in the house...unless it gets skunked).

I heard Bella wildly barking last night but there was no way I was going outside at 1am (when its 32 degrees and raining? I think not.) to find out WHAT she was barking wildly at. Was kinda obvious when I went to feed them and wham, there was Ollie grinning from ear to ear....and stinkin' to high heaven. I threw his food in his bowl and left very quickly. Believe me when I say that 1 hr later in new clothes, in the house, I can STILL smell it. Time to get the neti pot out me thinks.

It was a strange night and for some reason I got up several times....if you're a woman over 45, I think you know what the "some reason" was am I right? Yeah, well. Anyway. I look out the window whenever I get up, habit. Last night all I see are these silly sheep standing in the pasture in the snowy drizzle that was falling. They have 2 shelters both of which had fresh bedding. Go figure.

Today I get home to find Cybil laying down in the snow, head down as though this is it, I give up. Don't often see them dozing during the day so I was a bit concerned. I called her name, no response.

Gathered the dog food, called her again, no response. I go out and she lifts her head but doesn't get up. Just looks at me with that wool covered face of hers. I think she'd had a long night and was just tuckered because when I reached down to touch her head and that was enough, she got up, peed (they do that, almost always) and walked away. She'd been laying there for some time as the snow was melted away and there was quite a pile of, um, well, ya know. They do that too, "go" where they lay. Must be nice.

I have to laugh at the picture of Cybil above. Everytime I look at it, I can hear her saying "I can't believe I ate the whooooole thing".

After the Storm... (Jen)

2009-07-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a really bad storm, solid lightening, straightline winds (65-70 mph) and rain for 2 hrs. Started around 3am. Electricity went off around 3:30. Me and the dogs (Fynn, Sophie and Nora) sat huddled in the living room waiting for the roof to fly off. The lightening was so intense and so constent that you couldn't look the window for more than a few seconds without being blinded. At one point I looked out the kitchen window (to see if the wicked witch of the west was flying by) and the young sweet gum was practically horizontal. I knew it was bad.

I was worried about the new pup, Izzie Bella, the sheep, the pyrs and the horses. It was hailing on and off but not steady and didn't sound like really large hail. Then I heard the loud thump to the west of the house. All the dogs jumped as did I. I'm always afraid that old half dead cedar is going to fall on the house, was today the day?? I looked out the window but I really couldn't see anything but a large object in the yard, couldn't make out what it was. The winds grew worse and we moved into the kitchen which is on the southeast side of the house, the storm was blowing in from the northwest. Seemed logical. And its the farthest away from the cedar tree.

I didn't think it was ever going to stop. I knew it was a large storm as I'd gotten on the internet just before the electricity went out and I could see it was still over St Joe and the second wave was due to hit an hour after the first. There really was no break, just a small easing and then it started back up again. I could hear lightening striking and branches cracking...just like my heart. I worry so much about the animals, there is no way to make them completely safe and not knowing this storm was coming, the barns were closed up tight so they had no way to get in (the boys actually did get into a barn, I think the gate blew open). I simply couldn't go out in that lightening so I had to pray they would be ok. My biggest concern was puppy Bella. She's only 10 weeks old and this was her first big storm.

As soon as there was a small break in the lightening, I grabbed my raincoat and ran out with my flashlight. I'm a real chicken when it comes to lightening and halfway across the yard I realize I'm holding a metal object and BOOM, there's a crash of lightening and thunder, darn near peed my pants. So I run faster, grab the metal gate, with the iron chain (good grief) and throw it open. I shine my light around the garden where the lambs and Bella should be and I can't find them. Don't panic I tell myself, they're here. I shined the light to the corner under the eves of the lambing shed and there they are. Three out of 4 lambs anyway, Gabe is over munching on an elm branch that fell (sheesh). Little Izzie Bella is standing underneath Nike and Zeus looking like a drowned rat. Poor baby!!! Don't worry, I kept that to myself (must be strong) and opened the door to the lambing shed assuming they'd run in after me. Bella did, she's no dumbie but the boys just stood out in the rain baaing at me. Well come ON I said and poked them in the butts to get them moving. Finally they followed, Gabe reluctanly left his elm branch, he didn't want to stay out there by himself! Ears flapped as they shook themself off and I returned my attention to Bella. I picked her up wanting to make sure she was ok and she was shaking like a leaf. Oh dear. Storm phobia now officially installed. Can't I have an LGD without storm phobia? Well, how can I blame them, I would too if I had to be out in that. Tucked her away in her pen (she was not pleased) and went out to investigate the object in the yard.

I'd caught a glimpse on my first race thru the yard and knew a tree was down, just wasn't sure which one yet. By the time I came out of the lambing pen, the sky was starting to lighten and I could see it was not the half dead cedar (oh no, couldn't be THAT one!), no it was the bigger nice one. Snapped clean in half and now laying in the yard. Branches from it were strewn all across the yard in a straight line to the south. I walked around the front of the house to see some damage to the roof. I started lightening again so I raced back in and it had one last burst before finally ending.

Later I drove into town and there were areas of bad damage. There is one field on the way to town that we've always admired. Very well manicured, pretty old oak trees, just the kind you see beautiful horses grazing in. I'd say half of those oaks were toppled and across the road near a baseball field, several more big old trees were snapped in half or split down the middle. Fields of corn lay nearly flat and I saw the big door peeled back off a machine shed. They say it was just straight line winds but some of that damage looked like a tornado, not just winds. I'm starting to think these kinds of storms are typical for this area, not a pleasant thought.

On a happier note, Bridget and I finally installed a proper gate on the north end of the red barn. No more sagging cattle panel! Granted its too big for the opening but it was either too big or too small, not too hard to make that decision. Eventually I'll probably build doors but this will suffice for now. We were pretty proud of it, there's just something very pleasing about hanging a gate. Love to swing it back and forth once its hung, just like a kid with a new toy!

Don't forget to visit our store (http://www.etsy.com/shop/WoolGrower), we have lots of roving available and I'm spinning up yarn as fast as my fingers can handle it! I don't have all the yarn listed yet but if you're looking for some for a project, just shoot me an email and I can spin some up for you!

One perfect day at Dreamcatcher Farm (Bridget)

2009-06-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

It was the perfect day to walk around the back 30 acres where the three horses pasture. We wanted to see how the grass was coming along as it had pretty much been eaten down last year when we pastured several horses for some friends.The day was glorious-perhaps the last real spring day of the year. We followed the horse paths as the grass had indeed recovered. And unfortunately the poison ivy had also made a good comeback! The wild rose bushes were in full bloom punctuating the pasture with their draping pink and white flowers. The cherry trees were past bloom but the wild asters were arriving as the purple clover. The catalpa trees are leafing out nicely as were the redbuds which have shed their purple flowers. As we looked over at the pasture where the lambs were grazing the slight breeze made the grass heads roll in waves as the lambs grazed leisurely.

Then we walked to the place I hope to build my house. It is on the west side of the property. On the west is a small stream surrounded by large trees many of the oaks and maples. It sits on a gentle slope in a bowl of evergreens.

To the North you can see the pond, the lamb pasture and the farm house. But the biggest surprise is looking to the south. Our land slopes down. Then the terrain rises into tree covered hills. It looks much like the Ozarks.

For a moment I am taken back in time to when I spent two summers on a farm. That is when my longing to live in the country began. I imagine the wrap around porch I hope to have and the white fence that will separate the house from the horse pasture. I had given up that dream as a childhood fantasy many years ago. But here I am at 60 in the middle of that dream.

Already that day we had spent time tending to the horses. Our combined group of six Border collies had played in the yard at the farm house and delighted at the lambs coming to the fence looking eagerly for grain. The three youngest lambs were just beginning the sprints away from mom and their games of kind of the mountain. We had mowed and clucked and shook our heads at the thistle that was resisting efforts to kill it and Jen had called the “hay guy” as the lambs were getting lost in the tall grass. We bemoaned that rain was coming which would delay his cutting it and the timing required to let it dry before it can be bailed.(If it gets rained on while laying in the field that is a very bad thing.)

We had also worked on the farm yard. So much of the time in the last year has been taken up by fencing and removing debris as well as preparing the lambing shed and barn there hadn’t been much time (or bucks) for beautifying things. Now Jen’s family has helped her move plants from her mom’s yard and baby trees have been planted from the Arbor society. We planted a small river birch which will grow quickly and noted that one of the maples we dug up from the woods had survived the winter. The front of the house now has a planting of Hostas and other perennials.

On the east side of the house Jen has put in a colorful group of perennials and on the porch pots of annuals are merrily blooming with a hummingbird darting in and out. An old stand of peonies obviously planted many years ago has just finished blooming and the scent remains. But the most exciting thing is that the peach tree has peaches on it!

The previous year a late frost had ended any hope of peach pie. But this year the tree is weighted down with peaches now the size of walnuts!

Some of the less beautiful parts of country life have also emerged. Jen did battle with a huge black snake while mowing and the ticks...oh my. We ruminate on whether or not it would be safe to put frontline on ourselves!

We have treated the horses dogs and sheep for flies, mosquito’s and ticks which will be a routine for the next six months. Jen has had her first round of poison ivy and an invasion of tiny ticks. So far I haven’t been afflicted.

As the sun sets (and it almost always gives us a picture perfect sunset) the stars come out and the frogs start their nightly serenade. The dogs settle down on the porch exhausted from their day and I remember why we named this place Dreamcatcher Farm.

April Showers....bah humbug! (Jen)

2009-04-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

It just goes along with Spring. Every year I now curse the skies about this time and I despise the merry saying "April showers bring May flowers".

Bah humbug. I believe we've gotten around 7 inches of rain in the past 5 days and its still raining as I type this. I actually used to like rain, I like the dreary days, the gloomy skies and the rolling thunder. What I don't like is MUD. I really hate mud. As a kid growing up on a dairy farm, mud was our enemy. Cows create mud pits that when you walk thru them, you loose your boots...and then your balance. No fun. Thankfully sheep don't create as deep a mud pit as cows do but with this much rain, it just doesn't matter. Mud is mud, it all sucks.

Today I drove home from work in driving rain. Thankfully I had my JD Robb book on tape to keep me sane. By the time I got here, the rain had let up some and I trudged in to get my work clothes on to do chores. Normally I don't mind chores, especially when lambs are involved. However, when mud is involved, I don't. I mixed up Eve's meager milk ration (we're beginning weaning, thats a whole nuther blog), grabbed the Pyrs food and headed out. I could see Daisy's head peeking out the door, waiting for dinner. I scooped up grain for the ewes, emptied out the water from the troughs and soon as the grain hit the troughs, they all come flying out the door. They're no fools, they don't want to stand in the rain any longer than necessary. I slosh back for more grain to fill the creep feeder for the lambs. I enter the lambing shed and ICK, it is really nasty in there. That happens when the sheep spend all day in it and the rain is soaking the bedding around the openings. I continue on to fill Eve's bucket with milk before she tackles me and then go to the creep feeder to fill the lambs trough with grain.

I should explain how the creep pen is set up. Basically its surrounded on 3 sides by cattle panels, the other side is the wall. We cut a hole in one cattle panel just big enough for the lambs to go thru so the ewes can't get in. This allows the lambs to eat as much grain as they want, when they want. They don't over do it because they're still getting a milk from mom.

Well, today while I was pouring the grain in the creep feeder, Rose, one of the yearling shetland/BFLs, decided to sneak in (stupid me left the gate slightly open). She's kinda skittish so when I attempted to shoo her out, she decided the hole cut for the lambs was her only escape. Didn't seem to occur to her that the gate was was still standing open and was how she got in (duh). Needless to say, she didn't entirely fit thru the hole. The force of her attempt, removed the cattle panel gate from its homemade hinge and off she went across the shed with the gate around her middle. She didn't get far. She headed for the door to the garden and got stuck. So I grabbed her back legs which were tangled in the panel, untangled them and pulled her back thru. She was quite relieved.

However, by this time the rest of the ewes had easily gained entry to the creep feeder. Not so hard when the gate is missing. Ever try getting ewes away from a trough full of grain?? Not so easy. I banged the bucket on their heads, grabbed ears and necks but every thing I grabbed was slick with rain, mud and lanolin...and soon so was I. Tell me again why I do this??

2009 Lambing (part 2 - Bridget)

2009-04-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

We are now on the tail end of lambing. Pun intended. We have one and possibly two Ewes to lamb. We have 20 lambs so far.

It is interesting to watch the different personalities develop. We have Evie -a bottle lamb who loves to play with the Border collies and follows Jen on all her chores. She was rejected by Cybil who only loves Lucy her other twin. Then there is Nike a black ram lamb who was one of the triplets born to Nan. He too loves human company and stands out with his black fleece doted by streaks of white. The crybaby of the group is a white Cheviot born to Daisy. She has a ba on her that could shatter glass! And she has a whole lot to say.

The last two Shetland lambs Anya and Gabe are incredibly small. Little Anya only weighed 4 lbs when she was born. She looks more like a puppy than a lamb. In contrast is Zeus. He is a signle lamb born to Lemara (a BFL). He is 13.5 lbs and has the most interesting fleece-almost a gray saddle over black fleece. Lemara showed us that it is possible for a BFL to have a single rather than multiples!

And the lamb races have begun! Right before dusk seems to be the favorite time... And they are off bouncing, leaping and jumping in clear abandon!

Yesterday after everyone got wormed and their vaccinations the went out into the pasture. Mothers temporarily abandoned their babies for the fresh grass and the day was punctuated by the panicky calls to mothers from confused lambs. Everyone eventually finds their family and when the all gather back in the lambing shed in evening it is a true easter scene

The mothers install their babies between themselves and the wall and the little heads peak over their mothers back as we do the last check of the sheep for the night. It is a peaceful scene that belied the drama from earlier in the day.

One of the non-pregnant ewes went postal and decided she was going to try and steal a baby of her own. She attacked several Ewes who had lambs. Nora was hero of the day as she herded the crazed Ewe back into the lambing shed. Jane has been confined and is awaiting trial for her felonious behavior...it doesn't look good.

Lambing 2009

2009-03-31T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well the city woman got her education on real farm life this lambing season. Last year we bemoaned the fact that we missed the birth of all the lambs. Not so this year. Oh no definitely not so this year.

It started so nicely. One of the Cheviots had twins and Jen was there to describe it to me over the phone. Daisy knew what to do and nicely went into her pen to drink her molasses water and the lambs began to nurse and all was well.

Another Cheviot, Pam, went into labor while I was there. We were a bit nervous about Pam as she was a rotten mother last year. But those little muzzles and front feet nicely came out as they were supposed to and it was a wonder to watch. Another set of twins a boy and girl. And this year an excellent mother (lucky for her).

Goldie, one of the BFLxBL's, was next and produced the longest lamb I have ever seen (so far...). He just kept coming. Jen gave her a little help and then his twin ewe followed, both solid black. Had to have some help getting those two to breath and they were much slower to stand and begin nursing. But again it was good and I love rubbing them with straw to help Mom dry them off.

Then the slide started. Julia who will be known as "Mutton" from this point on. Mind you I am the great animal lover. The butt of all the jokes. But Julia is the ewe from hell. First she prolapsed which required some very disgusting maneuvering with a contraption called a "spoon" (trust me, doesn't look anything like a spoon!) and harnesses. I think there were 3 harnesses all told. And the dreaded vet visit was required with the dreaded vet bill and she was finally sewn up (last resort). I kept vigil during the day while Jen was at work remembering if she went into labor I was supposed to cut the stitches (yuck). I do have to say she nicely waited to go into labor until Jen was there.

Of course all of Julia's triplets (yes triplets and of course all 3 rams) had to be delivered by Jen (with cell phone instructions from the BFL mentor Kathy, bless her!). The last, who we named Peter Pan was much smaller. Yeah I know you're not supposed to name them, especially the boys. Well it seems Julia didn't count on triplets so after ignoring him she attempted to stomp him to death since we hadn't got her less than subtle attempts to tell us that twins were going to be all she would care for. This is when my sense of time, reality and all those things we anchor ourselves with, began to disappear. For you see you have to feed those little guys every four hours. So every four hours one of us would drag out to the lambing shed with a bottle. Little Peter was very appreciative and showed it with pathetic meows rather than baaas.

Then Mutton...I mean Julia, decided to prolapse again (4th time) which I discovered while feeding Peter at 3:30 in the morning. I had to wake Jen as I only function in "assistant" status for these heavy duty things. I'd never heard Jen use some of the words she used that morning. With the strength only a sleep deprived and adrenalin hyped woman who had to go to work in a couple of hours, she heaved that huge ewe up and replaced all the hardware. Once again, she looked like a trussed up Thanksgiving turkey ready for the oven.

Relative peace was established until ewe number 3, BFL Amy, decided it was time to have her babies. You know those stories woman tell of their 100 hours labors? Well Amy could one-up everyone. ON and on it went. She got up, she went down, she got up she went down. We watched her by the light of a kerosene lantern huddled in jackets marveling less and less in the miracle of birth. Then finally the bubble came. Halleluiah! But nothing else happened. She got up she laid down, she got up she laid down. Jen muttered to herself "don't make me come in there!". Then reluctantly she rose from her chair and put on the long gloves. You know...the long gloves. They mean you are going up through a mass of very icky slime in a very icky place and going to have to help dilate the exit path. Finally around 3 am, a black ram and ewe emerged after much pulling and grunting and manuvering.

And Peter needed to be feed.

The next to come was I thought was Lemara, another BFL. Jen was at work so I called her as I saw a new lamb in the lambing pen. I thought it was amazing that this little lamb was already on it's feet and it looked as though another twin would come. Jen raced home and on seeing the Lemara in the pasture said that's not Lemara, it's Dot! Well Dot is a Cheviot who did not lamb last year and had no bag this year so we thought she was not breed. Silly us. Tried to graft Peter but Dot was not to be fooled. Even with yucky slime all over him she knew this was not her baby and one baby was enough thank you very much.

The next to lamb was one of my Shetland's. As most people who read this might know Shetlands are a primitive breed and thank god they know what to do. Lily plopped her first lamb out in the pasture and then her second (a ewe and a ram). She nicely followed us carrying the lambs into her pen with no fuss. Things were looking up! I left to go home humbled and appreciative of the experience with Peter in tow since someone had to feed him.

We still had four ewes to go. We looked forward to Cybil's giving birth as she had been an ideal mother the previous year and again we had hopes of grafting Peter. Jen called me when Cybil was in labor yeah. Well Cybil had twins, 2 ewes. Cybil is a very tame ewe, we call her the "souther belle" of sheep. She would "faint" if the Border collies tried to herd her so she was excused from that indignity. She loved to have her head scratched and would even turn to have her butt scratched and wag it like a dog. Only problem with Cybil is she has ENORMOUS teats. I am talking cow size teats.

Second problem we discovered is she prefers single lambs. Cybil, the consummate mother rejected her second lamb. Actually we believe that little Eve crawled thru the cattle panel during the night and by the time Jen found her and tossed her back in, Cybil had made up her mind that 1 lamb was plenty. So our hopes of grafting Peter were dashed and a second bottle lamb Evie was created.

This is where I will hassle my good friend Jennifer for oh the next 50 years or so. I, the "city girl", respected all the rules, feed the lamb by his mother. Don't bring the lamb inside. Don't let the lamb be around the Border collies etc. Jennifer the "farm girl" has put a diaper on Evie, has her in a dog kennel inside and her dog Sophie is playing with Evie and she has become a house sheep!!

Oh yes I will hassle her for at least 50 years! (She is damn cute though clopping around the kitchen in her little diaper.) She looks like an easter card! (Umm...Jen here. In my defense, little Eve is a EWE lamb, not a ram lamb. As I have explained, we don't attach to the boys, only the girls. So there! See, there is a benefit to maintaining the website, I get to edit what goes in it ;)

Well, I will end my entry here. There are still three Ewes (that we know of) that haven't lambed. I am hopeful they will repeat the story of last year. And yes I have learned a lot. Mostly, I have learned that lambing is one great big deal. Wonderful, awful, exhausting and exhilarating. And thank God it is only once a year!

Horse Sense (Bridget)

2009-03-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

Just after we had made the deal for the farm, we were there while the previous owner was moving out. In the pasture were two quarter horses. He inquired if we would like to buy them. Well, romantic notions about horses from when I was a kid ran through my head. Have always loved them but really know nothing about them. Asked if they could be ridden "oh yes and the mare is bred". So, on an impulse I bought Gracie a beautiful grey roan quarter horse. My education was about to begin.

First thing we discovered about Gracie was that she did not like to be caught. Oh no, the clever equine was not to be fooled by buckets of grain, bribes of apples or carrots, not Gracie! Then the limp started. So we drove her into the corral and had a local vet come out who thought she had a soft tissue injury. Being concerned about being kicked, he only examined her from a distance (obviously not a horse vet). He prescribed some anti-inflammatory medicine and went away...quickly. Her leg got better and we set about trying to tame her a bit. Jen eventually developed a strategy to walk her down and she allowed us to halter her. Then the limp returned with a vengeance. We had another vet come out who had the wisdom to sedate her and x ray the leg. He discovered she had an old injury that had been aggravated and the vet advised against ever riding her.

So Gracie began her life of leisure. Lesson one was learned. Do not buy a horse that hasn’t been examined by someone who knows something about horses. Then lesson two started. Seems that mares need to be fed something other than fescue to insure a healthy foal. Guess what mostly grows in those pastures out there? Fescue! So Gracie and a companion horse Gypsy were put in the paddock and given a lovely diet of hastily ordered brome hay and mare and foal food. She was also given all the shots she needed. At this point she got a new last name: Gracie Money pit.

The previous owners had told us the foal would be born in April or May of 2008. We began researching foaling. Lesson two now emerged. Foaling could be a very tricky thing and dedicated horse people actually stable their horses and sleep out there to assist in case of trouble. Oh boy we thought we were really in trouble now. Gracie was in no way going to let us assist at anything.

So foal watch began with trepidation. April passed...May passed...then June passed. We now had been feeding her gourmet food for about 6 months. The morning I was to begin a Colorado vacation Gracie had her foal! She did it by herself with no fanfare and turned out to be a terrific mother. A filly we named Breeze was born July 6th. And she was such a pretty little thing. We were able to do some touching and holding but Gracie was none too pleased –blocking our efforts much of the time.

Well, time passed and Breeze turned six months old and it was past time for her shots and we hadn’t gotten a halter on her yet. Gracie defeats every effort we try and make to do so. We decided it was time to separate them. We put Breeze in the corral adjoining the barn and with the help of our friends Bobby and Wendy, encouraged Breeze into a stall. She didn’t like our touching her face so we weren’t optimistic. Bobby arrived with all kinds of ropes and my heart rate went up. Why hadn’t we done this before she weighed 300 lbs? So Jennifer, Wendy and Bobby sent me on an errand (they think I don’t know it was to get me out of there but I was not born yesterday you know!) I hear some kicking from the stall and shouts to me not to worry. When I arrived back in the stall she was standing quietly with a halter on. Hmmm.

Thankfully she learned very quickly to avoid stepping on the lead rope attached to teach her not to pull against it. The next week with a copy of a book on horse training, a bucket of feed we began teaching her to lead. And she did wonderfully! She has now learned to back, whoa and go forward, quite quickly actually. Initially she balked a bit but responded to the taps behind her or on her back. She has even learned to ignore her mom’s whinnies in the next pasture when we are working with her. Well placed rewards from the bucket of grain are working miracles. She now loves to have her ears scratched and her face rubbed and her father’s calmer disposition is showing itself. Her mother is very skittish and we were concerned she was picking up on this behavior but the separation has helped. She now lets us pick up all her hooves and use the hoof pick on her and leads very nicely. .

The vet came out and she stood quietly while he gave her inoculations. It truly looked like a scene from “All Creatures Great and Small.” Breeze was standing quietly, the two Pyrenees wandered around waiting for their turns. Meanwhile the wethers and rams were eagerly checking out the vets equipment hoping for some grain. Gypsy the three year old mare also stood quietly by. We had put her in with Breeze while she was being weaned and was a much more positive influence than her mother being a very calm mare. Next came the worming. Again I was nervous. We had given it before in her grain but this time we needed to use the paste. But with some good advice from Bobby I stuck my finger in her mouth with some molasses which she loved and we followed that with the wormer. Again, all went well. With praise from the vet we patted ourselves on our backs.

At nine months Breeze remains very friendly and responsive. She loves to be brushed and have her hooves cleaned. She is best buddies with one of rams that she is pastured with and has learned to ignore all when the Border collies are herding the wethers and rams. When cleaning the corral I can always count on some supervision from Breeze. Our lessons will continue I am sure but the most current one is that with advice, perseverance and dumb luck even the most naïve city woman can learn!

Winter update & getting ready for lambing! (Jen)

2009-02-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since my last entry, not a lot going on in January, just waiting for those lambs to grow and preparing for shearing. I've been building lambing pens, cleaning out barns and arranging things so they'll be as conveninent as possible. Since this is just our second year, I still don't have a pattern or set routine but I'm sure that will come with years of practice.

Shelves were one thing I wanted and didn't have last year. Shelves and hooks to hang things on so those were some new additions to the lambing shed. Creative uses for cattle panels emerge almost weekly, what did we do before those things?? I swear I'm going to find a use for them in the house one of these days...something to hang pots off of :)!

The temperature swings this winter have been a roller coaster ride. Very little snow, just an inch or 2 here and there. Certainly nothing like last winter. Yesterday it was in the 50's and today back in the low 30's and thats been typical this season. Can't complain! At least it allows the hoses to thaw so I can water regularly. There were a few weeks that stayed in the sub-freezing temps and those days were real challenges for watering. My intention had been to haul water from the hydrant on the house in a barrel in the wagon with the lawn mower. Silly me. The lawnmower wouldn't start and now has 2 flat tires and the spigot on the house froze up solid. The only thing that ended up working was filling buckets in the kitchen sink and carrying them to the sheep and horses. Sheep don't drink that much but the horses definitely do. With all the snow last winter, there wasn't as much need for watering the sheep but horses always need fresh water.

We sheared the ewes last Monday (Presidents Day) as well as vaccinated and wormed them. With all their wool off, its much easier to see their condition and I have to say, they look good. I thought Amy & Lemara were fat but they're really not. Poor old Ruthie is skinny but I don't think she's bred so she'll get to stay in with the preggies and eat as much as she wants. So we are ready for the games to begin! My guess is Julia and Cybil will be first, they just look ready, really ready. Our starting date is February 26th and we look to be right on schedule. I've taken the 2nd week in March off so hopefully a few hold out until then so I can really enjoy it. I've put my order in for nice weather that week...think I'll get it?

Oh, I finished the "Roark Shawl"! I'm very pleased with how it turned out, the color is just beautiful. I ended up enjoying the pattern very much, it was a lot of fun to knit!

Knitting with 5 bored Border Collies (Jen)

2008-12-30T10:24:00.000-08:00

Well, I made the tough decision to deconstruct the sweater I’d been knitting out of Roark’s fleece. Roark is my chocolate BFL/BL ram that sired all those beautiful lambs last spring. He has stunning fleece and lots of it. I’ve been painstakingly washing it, careful to maintain lock formation and then flick carding the tips and spinning it into a fine (fine for me anyway) 2 ply yarn.

I’d started knitting a nice waffle knit sweater out of it but things went horribly wrong. For starters, I’m a self taught knitter, I guess a lot of us are. When it comes to shaping though, I have difficulties. But I like to challenge myself so I tend to take on patterns that do just that. Because this is handspun, it wasn’t the yarn weight recommended for the pattern, at least I don’t think so. So I tried to knit a gauge swatch (this still baffles me) and changed to what I thought were appropriate size needles to adjust for the difference in yarn weight. It was supposed to be a medium sized sweater. Lets just say the way it was going I could have fit the Hulk in this thing…well, a very short hulk. Such a shame. The pattern was looking nice but it was obvious it wasn’t going to work and why waste such beautiful fiber? So unravel it I did. Wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. Actually, it was liberating. That sweater had been eating away at my subconscious for far too long, nagging at me to finish it. I knew I could finish it but who, what would it fit when I was done?? So, its gone, I don’t have to worry about it ANYMORE!

So I balled up the yarn and decided I was going to knit up a wrap. I’d seen a pattern on knitty.com that I really liked and Caryn (Miller) had put the idea in my head to knit a shawl, this was a nice compromise. The one thing I should have taken into consideration is that knitty.com is the same place I got the sweater pattern from...hmm. Don’t get me wrong, nothing wrong with the patterns there. They have some amazing stuff, I LOVE knitty.com. Might not be for the beginning knitter though, at least not the “tangy” ones I keep choosing anyway.

I took the bull by the horns, how hard could it be?? It’s a rectangle for heavens sake! No shaping, just good ole fashioned knitting. Oy VEY! Whats that they say, exercise the mind and it will keep it young? Well, my mind will be around 12 when I get done with this project. I had to back out 3 rows while watching Storm Chasers on TLC and Downunder Horsemanship on RFDTV. I’m trying to learn how to train a horse and at the same time I’m high on adrenaline from watching people chasing tornadoes (or being chased rather) and knit a difficult pattern with 6 bored Border collies in the house (I’m dog sitting Bridget’s 3). Now how stupid am I?? Finally on one row, I ended up chanting the pattern as I knitted it (knit one, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, slip stitch…knit 2 togeetheerrrr…pass slipped stitch ooovvveerrr and start all over again “to end”. That worked great kept me focused. I’ve no idea, however, how to end the lunging session with the unmannered 2 yr old thoroughbred or if they got the coveted shot inside the tornado for the IMax film.

At one point I glanced up to make sure Jack, the 1 yr old (Border collie) wasn't chewing thru an electrical cord or dismantling the computer (again) to find them all quietly staring at me. I’d just hypnotized 6 dogs with my pattern chant. Way to go Fitz! Alas, the spell was broken when a doorbell rang on some stupid commercial. Good grief, you’d think burglars were trying to break down the door. Dogs go flying off the sofa, someone’s freshly clipped claw caught on the ball of yarn ripping the newly started knitting out of my hands and into the air it goes looking like a bird in flight. Thankfully the house is small so they couldn’t go far. Heavy sigh. Oh well, I’m sure that last row needed to be ripped out anyway.

I actually got about 20 rows done before my sleepy eyes came on (more like dead to the world eyes) and I finally forced myself to stop knitting. I’m like one of those kids in a high chair trying to shovel spaghetti in my mouth and falling asleep in my plate, which in my case is when the knitting needle goes up my nose and I awake abruptly to several Border collies staring at me…again. Of course when they see the eyes open, they start jumping up and down, screeching with joy “she’s ALIVE! SHE’S ALIVE!!”. Yes. I am alive (rolling eyes).

So as you can imagine, I simply can’t wait to get back to knitting this evening (lol). Actually I’m in that “conquer it” mode. By George I will not let this pattern win!! I keep unconsciously going over the pattern in my head, like having an annoying tune that you can’t quit humming. Knit 2 together thru the back loop, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, knit one, knit 2 together…

Happy New Year everyone! Happy spinning, knitting, weaving and felting! And guess what?? 2009 is the International Year of Natural Fiber!! How cool is that?!

Stormy December Day (Jen)

2008-12-14T10:23:00.000-08:00

Just got back from taking the dogs for a walk in the back pasture. I can do that now that my friends horses are gone (all 15 of them). I missed taking the dogs back there but the horses were a bit too curious and the dogs were seriously outnumbered.

Its like a Christmas smorgasbord out there now. Horse poop, deer scat and obviously coyote scat as well. There are also a couple of very swampy areas, niiiccce and muddy. Doesn't get much better than that for a dog. The aroma of wildlife poop still lingers in the air, even after the 3 doggie baths. Hence the Northern Pine Glade candle burning...it does help :).

The wind has been howling for at least 48 hrs now, gusts up to 50 mph. As Bridget said once, I understand how people went insane during the Dust Bowl. It can be very windy here but this is ridiculous. The temperatures have been in the 50's and 60's along with the wind, crazy for December. Knowing that was soon going to change, I decided it was a good time to take the dogs out. Bridget had planned to come out, but I assumed with the weather forecast, she'd stay home.

So off we go, thru the sheep pasture, Fynn and Sophie safely on leash...Nora hoping for that "come bye" command that didn't come. I get them into the back 30 (acres) and turn them loose. Of course Fynn and Soph immediately go for the poop. Nora knows there is a tennis ball in my pocket so she's poking me to throw it. Ah, it feels good to just enjoy the warm winds and watch the dogs run (and roll).

We get about 3/4's of the way down the pasture and I find one of the many holes, twist my ankle and go sprawling. So I rolled over on my back and lay there watching the storm clouds fly by. Its comfortable there so I decide to just hang out for a minute. Who cares that there is a large pile of horse poop next to my ear, my ankle hurts. Then I hear heavy breathing, very heavy breathing...not Fynn, Sophie or Nora breathing. My head is kinda going downhill so I can't get up fast. As I'm struggling to get up, two very large white and black furry faces push me back down again and lick me in the face.

The Pyrs, Will and Oliver. They must've seen us and come to investigate. Oh how happy they were to have playmates! Yippeeee! Then Fynn bites Ollie. Oh Fynn, you apparently have no idea that Oliver could kick your scrawny butt from here to China. Then again, Fynn is now running in the other direction so maybe he does lol. All was forgotten, the Pyrs are like that. They know the Border collies are fools so they just ingore their stupidity...most of the time. So Will helps me up and we continue our walk.

The clouds are really threatening by now, I do love weather! I was working up a sweat, had worn a coat despite the temps and now wish I hadn't. I unsnap it and let it blow open and WOOOSH! There's the cold front! One second (literally) its 60 degrees, next I can see my breath!!! We were no more than a few hundred yards from the back gate but by the time we got to the house, my face hurt from the cold. I have never experienced a temperature drop like that before, simply amazing.

So we're back in the house, dogs washed and sulking. The wind is still howling, now from the north instead of the south. The horses and sheep have shifted their positions and continue to munch happily. Time for me to grab some wool and hunker down for the afternoon. Just another Sunday on the farm :).

What Bridget Doesn’t Know About Farming (by Bridget)

2008-11-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

One fall day we were gazing at the bucolic picture of the sheep grazing in the pasture from the front porch. If you listened you could actually hear them munching eagerly on the grass as the moved slowly across the pasture. That is…all but Kelly. Kelly is a black Shetland Mule lamb (Shetland/BFL) born in March of 08. Kelly is, we think, “acting” as though he is a strapping young virile ram. It is comical to watch this little guy mounting a much larger Cheviot. It kind of reminds one of a Dachshund having affection for a Great Dane. Like all the other ram lambs, he had been banded a few days after birth.

However, we began having an unsettled feeling that perhaps we should check for hopefully the absence of anything on his belly. So the next day we captured the indignant Kelly and discovered that alas his jewels were intact. Apparently the band broke.

Since he is a beautiful fleece sheep and I have vowed none of my lambs will end up on the dinner table we make an appointment with the country vet.
Jen somehow manages to get him in Big Red and we meet in Holt. (Big Red is a very old truck that now has to be jump started every time we take it anywhere - both directions.)

We arrive on a very cold and windy afternoon. The vet examines him and decides it is too cold to do the simple operation on the bed of the truck so we carry him inside to where the dogs and cats are altered. He then announces that Jen and I will assist and puts us in position to hold Kelly’s back and front legs. I need to add here that Jen is a farm girl and steps up to the plate with no hesitation. I however have only the idealic images of farm life in my head and never expected to be looking at a pair of sheep testicles eight inches from my face. I quickly reevaluate my values as to whether or not I could maybe let one lamb go to the dinner table. But it is too late. Aware of the limited time that anesthesia would keep Kelly out the vet worked fast. I now understand where the term “ball buster “came from.

So, we put Kelly who is very annoyed with us back in the dog crate in the back of the pickup. We jump start Big Red and Jen takes off like she does leaving me in the dust. I soon lose track of her and miss the turn to the farm. Soon the cell phone rings and Jen is on the other end very patiently inquiring into my whereabouts. “Where are you?” I have to confess that as usual I am lost. So with remote guidance I find the farm. Jen has placed Kelly with two of the other wethers in the barn. I anxiously look at Kelly as the vet had made a passing comment about intestines falling out that had alarmed me but could see nothing dangling from below just one pissed off ex ram who was completely disgusted with us.

So another chapter was completed for me in that very large book of What Bridget Doesn’t Know About Farming.
Sigh.

Beautiful summer day! (Jen)

2008-07-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

Today I got up early, the fog was thick which is unusual for a July morning. It was cool but quite muggy which meant it would be brutal later in the day with temps approaching 95. So I decided to grab the chain saw and finish cleaning out the cedars in the fence row. As much as I love cedars, they are death to the fleeces as the tips of the cedar breaks off into the wool when the sheep lay under them. I’ve already seen some sprigs on the back of some of the sheep which I hurriedly plucked out (ouch!). Bridget is on thistle detail this summer and it is her goal to kill each and every thistle on the property, bless her!

There was a nice cool breeze, just a beautiful morning. I was being daring by not putting jeans on. I already have a good case of poison ivy on my arms from last weekends go at the fence line. What’s a little more on the legs? I thought I only had a little bit left but realized once I got down there that I really only got about ½ of it done last weekend. It is hard work but very rewarding to feel the breeze flowing thru once the tree is felled. I’ve left some elms and brush oak along the outside to keep shade for the sheep to lie in. So now it’s done, thank heaven! There’s still a ton of cedars in the back pasture but until it’s ready for sheep, they’ll stay there.

I also harvested the first ears of corn and cherry tomatoes from the garden today. Also cut some swiss chard and plucked some zucchinis (before they turn into baseball bats) and my first acorn squash. I love having fresh produce at my disposal plus its so pretty to look at! I made up a nice quiche with some local farm fresh eggs, swiss chard, cherry tomatoes and herbs from the herb pot off the back porch. Yummy!

Now that the day has become hot and humid, I’m sitting in the nice cool house with all the dogs and will get started on that waffle knit sweater that I’m knitting with Roark’s fleece. It’s a dream to work with and the colors are nice and tweedy. Once finished, it will be available for sale in the Dream Fibers store!