Fashion photos with sheep

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Jenne Giles of Harlequin Feltworks in San Francisco who asked if she could do a photo-shoot at the farm. It sounded like fun so we set it up and yesterday was the day. The photographer of the day was Allison Harrell She and her crew arrived mid-morning along with suitcases of props and lots of lighting equipment. Here  are some highlights.

I showed everyone the farm and Allison took some time to figure out locations for the various scenes.

First location was a stack of alfalfa. The model here is Kara, wearing one of Jenne's striking felt creations.

Kara is joined by Emily and one of my lambs.

Next location with new outfits. Emily and Kara were joined by a ewe and a goat in some of the photos.

Make-up artist & hair stylist, Elizabeth, found a new role as she negotiated with Amaryllis to be part of the day's activities.

A little grain works wonders.

Amaryllis cooperated quite well for most of this portion of the shooting.

Location 4 was the pasture.

Paulette invited her self to be part of this scene.

Doris and her triplets posed quite well also, although I didn't tell them that this wasn't all  about them.

The last location at our place was the chicken house.

Rusty worked all day to make sure that everything was in control.

It was very interesting to see what goes on "behind the scene" of something like this. My shop was tuned into the dressing room. Jenne's dresses and scarves were stunning. She uses Merino wool for her felt and the pieces are lightweight and soft. Accessories included everything from dozens of pairs of colored tights to frilly rubber swimcaps. Allison had her laptop with her so that she could show Elizabeth the look that she wanted with the make-up and hair. (Anyone who knows me will understand when I was surprised to hear that it would take about an hour or more to accomplish the make-up and hair part. I'm lucky if I remember to comb my hair when I get to my car--which is where I keep my comb.)  While the models were getting ready and changing in between locations Allison was busy getting the lighting just right and setting the scene.

I thoroughly  enjoyed this day and meeting all of these delightful women.  To see more of my photos you can find Meridian Jacobs on Facebook (become a fan while you're at it) and also be sure to look at Jenne's blog. The "real" photos (Allison's) will be coming later.

Thanks for a fun day, ladies!

Tay Sachs and Sheep?

Friday was an interesting day. Veterinarians I know had agreed to help with the project of testing my flock for the gene for lysosomal storage disease. I'll back track and explain briefly.  A gene for lysosomal storage disease has been identified in Jacob sheep. Carriers are unaffected but if two carriers produce an affected lamb it will develop symptoms of the disease and eventually die. There is interest among some breeders in identifying carriers so that they can either avoid the problem (don't breed carrier to carrier) or remove the problem (cull carrier sheep). But there is more to it than protecting our flocks. Researchers at Texas A&M and New York University Medical Center found that this disease identified in Jacob sheep is the same as the lysosomal storage disease in children, known as Tay Sachs. So there is interest in maintaining a carrier flock of sheep for use in studying human medicine. One of the members of the Tay Sachs Gene Therapy Consortium stated: “The goal of identi­fying and eliminating Tay-Sachs in Jacob sheep in order to conserve the breed is a noble goal. But we who are working on a human gene therapy cure are very happy that you did not succeed and kept the car­riers for the last decade. These sheep are genetically significant.”

This article it will give more background.

First up was to do ultrasounds on the sheep and one goat that will be part of the UC Davis VMTH Livestock Nursery at the CA State Fair.  I have provided sheep for the nursery for the last couple of years and because we're breeding out of season we like to check and make sure they are really pregnant.  I'm pleased to announce that Stephanie, the Toggenburg goat, and 3 ewes are pregnant and will be at the fair in July.

A protocol was developed to enable sheep producers to gather blood samples from their flocks themselves. The DNA test can be done with a few drops of blood on a filter paper. It was recommended to use a special lancet and take the blood from the ear. The Farm Club members and I worked on that a few weeks ago but it turns out that we didn't have the right supplies and it was a struggle. While I was waiting forthe correct supplies I talked to my veterinarian friend who suggested obtaining the blood from the jugular vein as you would for any other blood test. It's easier on the sheep (minimal pain) and easier on the person (if you know what you're doing).   In this photo I'm getting a lesson on how to do this.

I'm pleased to say that after a few missed attempts I was able to get four in a row. Then I figured that I at least knew how to do it and I went back to helping move sheep. We had a "clean" person who labeled and handled the samples, 2 people drawing blood and the rest of us caught and held sheep so we could work through the whole flock quickly. Oh, one of the Farm Club members was the photographer and took all these photos. Thanks,  Shelby.

It was a little more difficult getting blood from the rams. This is Tioga.

My son, Chris,  helped move sheep.

As much as I love my donkey sometimes she makes things more difficult. She is standing right in the gate where the sheep are supposed to go.

These are some of the samples that will be sent to NY for testing.

This is Sid, a wether who will go home with Jackie when he's old enough.

Thanks to the veterinarians who helped with this project and to the Jackie, Shelby, and Kathy of the Farm Club.

Sheep photos

Here are some recent photos I like.

This is a yearling ewe, Prancer.

Lambs are getting big.

The photos below are disappointing. I took hundreds (literally) the last few nights when the lambs were running and playing. I think I figured out that my lens isn't fast enough for the low light. The lambs are most active just as the sun is going down and I can't seem to catch the action.

Any advice is appreciated.

Exploring Death Valley

These photos don't do the mountains justice. The colors and patterns are incredible and I have more to learn about my camera and software to show the real color.

This is Dan trying out an old car at Scotty's Castle in the north end of the valley.

I was on the lookout for flowers. They were blooming at low elevation.

Desert five-spot.

Golden evening-primrose.

Desert gold.

We walked up Golden Canyon at the end of the day.

This is at the base of the cliffs looking back out into the valley as it was getting dark.

We drove home the same way we came, up the east side of the Sierra. This time the sky way clear and we could see Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower-48.

We drove up the road to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest which is still closed for the winter. However, we got a spectacular view of the whole southern Sierras.

Good trip!

What a Week!

The week began with a road trip to Death Valley and ended with being a vendor at the Conference of N. CA Handweavers (CNCH) with no down time in between.  I'm sure glad to be home. I think my dog is glad I'm home too, but I don't know if he'll trust that I'll stay put now. I'll share some of my Death Valley photos here, but I'll spare you the other 300+ photos. I may put them somewhere on the web so I can share them with my kids and anyone else who is interested, but I have to figure that out first.

We live in the Central Valley, so to get to Death Valley, we drove over the Sierras and then down 395 on the east side. One reason I chose to take this vacation to Death Valley was to go somewhere warm, but as we drove we stayed just ahead of a big storm that was coming in. I'm sure that some of you reading this live in real cold and warm weather is far off, but it was turning to spring  on our side of the mountains. It was cold on the east side. This is a vista point looking towards Mono Lake. When we drove back this same route 3 days later the weather was warmer, but the "decorative" guard rail was covered with snow.

This is a view of the east side of the Sierras taken the next morning. We are very near Mt. Whitney but can't see the mountain peaks.

Isn't this a beautiful view? We stopped at a newly developed historic site--Manzanar was a Japanese "relocation center" during WWII. At the base of these gorgeous mountains was a square mile fenced with barbed wire that became home/prison to 10,000 Japanese people for over 3 years, non of whom were ever charged with espionage, treason, etc. They were normal people wrenched from their ordinary lives. If you have a change to go to Manzanar you should. Take your kids. The visitor center is excellent and the  story is powerful.

I saw the word "weaving" on this sign. There were building where camouflage netting was woven. I imagined actually weaving the netting, but it turns out that cloth strips were woven into the netting after being dyed camouflage colors--6000 nets/month were woven. The quote at the bottom is interesting. Momo Nagano says "Our pay was $16 per month and we certainly earned it as we took pride in our work. Interestingly, after I finished college many years later I became a weaver. it might have been because I enjoyed weaving the camouflaged nets.

I have plenty more photos but it is late. More tomorrow.

A Great Day to Meet the Sheep

Meet the Sheep is our annual spring Open House. After a rainy week we were very lucky that it didn't rain. We were even luckier that the sun eventually came out.

It feels so nice to get the shop cleaned up. I wish it could stay that way.

Colleen of Fiber Confections brought her fiber and some sheep.

Colleen has a couple of bottle babies that were a great hit.

Another friend, Julie, brought her goats and also demonstrated dyeing mohair.

I have some great photos of kids (people) holding kids (goats) and Julie's bottle lamb, but I didn't ask if I could use them here.

I'm sure Tina won't mind a photo on my blog.

It's hard to take a photo when a sheep sneaks up on you...

...especially when she gets in front of the camera.

I'm off on a short vacation tomorrow. Watch for photos of snow and desert!

Friends

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and three of us Jacob sheep friends got together to play with sheep.

This is Jackie with her newest acquisition, Sid, a Jacob wether. Sid will live here until he is weaned.

This is Julie with her puppy, Evan. The black and white border collie is Moby, Jackie's dog. That's Rusty on the deck.

Three are dozens of quail at our place. I usually just see them in flight because when I walk out to the barn I always have a dog with me. We snuck up on them today.

We were not quiet enough.

Off to the blackberry bushes.

Here is the wisteria that I planted last summer. This is it's first blooming season!

A spring evening

I knew there was a reason for the manure pile.

Three weeks -- 81 lambs

This calendar is what I use to keep track of lambs. I have a whiteboard in the barn as well so that I can record BOSE injections, banding tails, etc.  Here are today's lambs, # 77 through 81.

This is Sparkle and her twins waiting while I clear out another jug. She lambed early in the morning.

This is Haylee and her newborn twins.

This looks almost gruesome but everyone is just fine. Mom is a yearling, Annette, and delivered a big ram lamb. All 4 horns are prominent already. Most of my yearlings lambed this week.

Where are the spots on this one? A friend of mine came by yesterday and asked if i could babysit some of her animals while she dealt with some medical problems. This is a Merino lamb--kind reminds me of one of those wrinkly dogs.

And the little guy is the puppy that I'm babysitting.

Here are today's jumping lamb photos:

Lamb races

The first 12 ewes to lamb and their babies are in this group. Lamb races have begun.

See more lamb photos here

Almost spring

It sure looks and feels like spring today.

Twenty ewes have lambed so far with 38 lambs. Only about one third of those are rams.

A few days ago I took photos of lambs for the website before putting the ewes and lambs into group pens. Do you think Rusty showed restraint?

Nine lambs today

Lambing moved into high gear today. The first lambs were born last Thursday and through yesterday (Wednesday) I had 16 lambs. Today four ewes lambed with 9 lambs and I think one more ewe will lamb tonight. Of those 25 lambs only 6 are rams!

This is Linda cleaning her second lamb. That's steam coming off the lamb.

The lamb is trying to get up within 10 minutes of birth.

It's always amazing to me to see lambs instinctively search for food. They know where to look for dinner. Did you know that the mom's licking of the lamb stimulates the sucking response?

These lambs were born yesterday.  See more lamb photos on my website .

Chenille Colors

My February 16 blog includes a photo of a chenille scarf in which 6 colors blend from one to the next. I want to weave more of those scarves, some for Cotton Clouds kits, and some for the show I'll have in November at the Artery. Here are the chenille colors I have to use.

I used Georgia O'Keefe paintings as inspiration for some of these.

It's hard to get the color to reproduce well on the computer, but these paintings and the yarns are brilliant. How about the next one?

Who needs to actually weave when you can have fun playing with colors like this?

I had the color samples out at WWW (Weekly Weaving Workshop) today. Here are two color schemes that will be turned into chenille scarves:

Chris' scarf

Phyllis' scarf

Clouds and green hills

I drove back to Rio Vista today to pick up the black wool from yesterday's shearing. It had been left in the barn for me.

No one was around. The shearing crew has moved on.

Here are the bales of white wool.

This is a beautiful time of year in the hills of Solano County and I am always fascinated by these huge windmills.

It's hard to realize how large these are until you see the truck at the base of this one.

Shearing day times 20

Friend and fellow Jacob sheep breeder, Lynette Frick, (IDEAL Jacobs) called me a couple of days ago and said that her shearing crew would be working nearby and she invited me to come watch. Lynette started shearing a year or so ago by going to one of the shearing schools and then being hired by a crew. I am so impressed. I don't know if it makes her mom and dad nervous, but since I'm not her mom I don't have to worry--I just think its cool.  I had never watched a commercial crew operate. They sheared 1000 sheep yesterday and hoped to finish today.  The shearers are working inside a long trailer.

The sheep come in along one side and when the shearer is ready he (she) pulls down a gate and pulls the sheep out and over into the proper position.

These are Rambouillet ewes. They're definitely bigger than Jacobs!

After shearing the sheep the shearer pushes her through a gate on the opposite side of the trailer.

This is the outside of the shearing trailer.

The shearer pushes the fleece under the chute where the sheep are held...

...and someone on the outside of the trailer grabs the wool and takes it to the skirting table. It is graded and put into one of four piles--fine, medium, coarse, or poor quality (weak, short). Fortunately most of this clip was going into the fine and medium piles.

The wool is compressed into bales.

Isn't this pretty wool?

The bulk of the flock is white, but these are some of the markers. There is approximately one black sheep for every one hundred sheep in the flock. That way the shepherd can get a rough count of the flock. Coincidentally, this is the ranch where I picked up the black Rambouillet that I used for the socks that I had made last year.   I will go back tomorrow to pick up the black fleeces.

Maybe I like knitting after all!

Today I had a great time in a KNITTING class! Nancy Jane Campbell from Cool, CA came here to teach her Caps, Caps, Caps class. It was a fabulous class. Nancy is a great teacher and we were all so inspired with the variety of caps that she brought. She taught us a method of knitting caps that gives complete freedom to use whatever yarn you want, whatever needles are available, and end up with a unique cap that fits.

Look at the pile of hats on the table--all different!

These are mine--the start of two different caps. The purple one will have a light and dark purple design after I get past the increasing. That yarn is a superwash wool that I sell. I need a sample for upcoming shows so this was a good opportunity to knit something with it.  The cap on the right is my handspun Jacob wool.

This was such a fun class and we all left with a sense of real accomplishment. Besides learning how to create these caps, Nancy also gave us all kinds of other knitting hints. She and I will plan another class to offer here later in the year.

Lambs!

Lambing has started. My husband said that he'll see me in April. Four ewes were bred on October 1 and three of them lambed today. Suzanne was first with twins.

This is her 4-horn ram lamb.

This is Spot with her twin ewes.

Rusty is hoping that he can get involved.

I'm heading back to the barn to make the last check and see that the lambs born this evening have nursed.

Color inside and outside

It sure feels like spring! And here are my annual acacia photos. When you have a huge acacia tree in the front yard how can you help but take photos?

The fragrance of this tree is wonderful and you can hear the bees hard at work.

Take a look at the almond tree.

Here is the color inside--more scarves.

This scarf is chenille warp and bamboo weft with 6 colors in the warp.

These are two scarves on the same warp. I gave my daughter, sister-in-law, niece, etc scarves for Christmas and let them choose colors, style, etc. I'm still working on them. My niece wanted a gray and purple scarf so she will choose one of these. Only 4 more to go for the Christmas presents.

Where are the photos?

They're on my website. This is so exciting. I have a new way to add extra photos to the site. It was designed for one photo for each product, but I found that I needed more photos. Prospective buyers are going to want to evaluate a close-up of the wool staple and the amount of color on the sheep. I was adding these photos to the website using html but it looked kind of tacky and messed up the formatting of my newsletters. So now look at what I can do. Here is a link to one of my weaving classes and here is one to a fleece. Hopefully I'll get time soon to add  photos to more areas.