Random Photos on the Farm

I’m always behind. This post is just random photos of what has been going on, but not in the order I like to keep.

Do you remember the first lambs born way back on February 27? These are two of those triplets now. They are 75% BFL.

This is #83, the last one born so far. She was born on March 21 after a gap of about five days with no lambs. The odd thing is that I have about ten more ewes to lamb, but they aren’t very close. I figured out that one of my rams was infertile after the first two weeks of Octoberr. So there is a two week window when I thought he was breeding. Those ewes are mostly bred to the clean-up ram I put in November 4. That will extend lambing season.

I have a lot of subjects piled up for blog posts. There will be a more complete one for some of these later…maybe. This is a queen size blanket that was inspired by my need to clear out boxes of handwoven pieces and by Gynna’s class in November, Wovens Reimagined. These are ends of warps, class samples, trial and error samples and, pieces that my mom wove. She died in 2008 and hadn’t woven for years before that. Can we call them vintage? I am working on a backing and binding now and need it for houseguests coming today.

After weaving many Year to Remember blankets I end up with odds and ends of this Ashford yarn. It is a great yarn for all kinds of projects. I wish that I had planned to make a queen size blanket but I wove two pieces on a warp meant for the throws. That’s why the stripes go the way they do, but I like it. That’s one think I like about weaving blankets. They can always fit.

Here is another class that was taught here, but not by me. Siobhan taught how to make a Vegetarian Sheepskin seat pad just last weekend. We are using Jacob wool (of course).

This is was a cold but sunny day. All the projects turned out great. That’s Siobhan seated with the wool collar she felted. We will consider doing another class. Email me if you’re interested.

While Siobhan was here we took photos of her with Hazel and Hazel’s lamb. Siobhan is wearing a shawl that she spun and wove from Hazel’s fleece shorn at the end of January. That was speedy work!

From these photos you might get the idea that we live in Sunny California and all is glorious. We have had a few days when the sun was out, but they have been rare. Yes, California needs water, but right here in the flat land we are a bit tired of continual rain. This pasture is wetter than I’d like and I’m keeping them out of the parts with standing water. It’s only at this end where there is a lot of growth.

This is how that same area looks two days later. I am whining, but I do realize that we have it so much better than many others. It’s just that the weather along with my ram infertility issues have made this season a bit more difficult.

This is what it looks like behind the barn. That’s after a couple of days with no rain.

A friend’s family came with her to the farm and the kids had a chance to pet some tame sheep. That’s Hazel again and her lambs.

I am finally doing a bit of weaving. This is sample scarf still on the loom for the class I call Mix it Up. We’ll weave a mixed warp scarf in a day. There are classes scheduled in April and May.

This is Jasmine’s crossbred triplets. She had a rough start—not eating at the end of pregnancy. I started to supplement the lambs because she didn’t seem to have enough milk. They are nursing but are still getting bottles and I’d like to sell them as pets if someone wants a sheep for fiber.

A friend let me know that her mare had foaled and she was just up the road. I went to see the filly before she was 24 hours old. I’m so used to lambs it was amazing to see her with legs so long.