Follow up on Coated Fleece Post OR Am I Smarter than a Goat?

In yesterday’s post I talked about trying to keep fleeces clean and mentioned the problem of the goats dropping hay on neighboring sheep. This morning I noticed this:

This is just what I mean about how goats eat.

Here is the other goat.

She turned her head to the side and dropped a big chunk of alfalfa on the sheep next to her.

Not a good sight when I plan to shear soon.

I outsmarted the goats. They are now in another pen by themselves. I feel bad about that because they are not happy. But they have each other, there is plenty of room for two goats, and they won’t get into trouble. Maybe I’ll put the back with the sheep after shearing.

2021 Road Trip to Texas - Visiting Family

Its taken me awhile to get back to the Road Trip blog posts, but I know you’re waiting for the next chapter (at least I know of one person who is). As I said in the last blog post we got to Katie’s house just before midnight. We knew that it would be best to leave the goats in the trailer and get them out in their new surroundings the next day.

They were glad to get out of the trailer. The new goat pen and shelter wasn’t finished yet so they went into the fenced area where the dog stays when everyone is gone. They particularly liked the big rocks that line the fence. The grandkids were told that they could each name a goat. Four-year-old, dinosaur loving Kasen named one of them Indominus (we thought of Indie for a nickname). Six-year-old Kirby chose Snowflake for the white yearling. Katie and Kurtis will name the kid.

Who needs rocks when there is a picnic table?

…or a dog house?

I’m glad the goats finally made it to Texas.

They will have good lives with our family there.

Random Farm Photos

Just sharing what I see here. I have things on my mind now that will result in a future blog post. But these photos have been lined up for awhile.

This photo is from this morning after moving to fresh pasture. These paddocks on the east side are are looking so much better after being able to irrigate and then getting warm weather. We didn’t have nearly the normal winter time growth because there was so little rain. It also helps that Dan has been mowing after grazing to take down the stalky parts that are left.

It’s mostly about sheep here but the goats are photogenic. This is how I usually find the goats in the morning. Ellie and her daughter (mostly white) are together and Amelia’s daughter (brown) has now joined the pair because Amelia is distracted by this year’s kids.

Two of Amelia’s triplets that have decided the feeder is really a goat play structure.

This is what my dahlia garden has looked like for a month. The plants finally started sprouting and then they were attacked. I don’t know what is getting them. I put out rolled up newspaper to see if earwigs were there. I put out a game camera (only for one night though) to see if I could catch ground squirrels in action at night. I have sprinkled diatomacous earth around. I don’t know if that is helping but some of the plants look better. The funny thing is that we have this one bed and there are big tractor tires at each end with more plants growing in them. The ones in the tires aren’t eaten as much—does that mean there is some creature that won’t cross the rubber tire?

Speaking of bugs I was sitting outside talking to my daughter on the phone and I noticed movement on the ground. There were dozens (hundreds?) of these bugs.

I checked iNaturalist and Google and I think they are boxelder bugs. They are under the maple trees and locust trees. Maples are listed under the description for these bugs. I have never noticed them before so maybe its something about this year or its just that I don’t usually just sit under a tree and do nothing else. These are redder than the ones I see in the photos but I think it’s because they are the juveniles. When I looked later I found ones with more brown on the back.

This is a selection from my recent ecoprinting. They are for sale in Davis at the Artery and on-line on my website and the Artery website.

This is the AVL loom before I threaded. That’s 50 yards of wool for a custom weaving project.

Its hard to make out the pattern while I’m weaving because the value of the warp and weft are similar and it’s a very open weave structure. After wet finishing the yarn will bloom, the holes will disappear, and the piece will look more like a blanket.

That is about 15 blankets woven so far. After they come off then I need to cut them apart, trim all those threads, and look for errors to fix. Then I need to do it all over again for another 20 blankets.

Around the Farm

These are random photos taken around the barn as I’m doing chores.

My sons have a tool to use a chainsaw to make slabs of downed trees. Chris got chunks of oak from a friend whose property burned this summer. These are just some of the slabs that he now has stacked in the barn to dry. He made a gorgeous table out of a tree from a couple of years ago.

The goats are always anxious to help with barn cleaning. These are the two doe kids left from April. I didn’t have the heart to sell them as food animals so they are still here. I’m hoping to still find a way to get them to Texas for my daughter’s family. The pandemic prevented that last summer and fall—maybe this year?

That’s the two adult does in the middle and the two doe kids on the outside. You’d think from the photos that we had a goat farm. No, the goats are just always around when there is activity.

Trista and Hazel looking for attention when I came out to do chores. Hazel isn’t even looking for grain—she truly likes to have her face scratched.

I saw pink debris on the wall of the barn. Do you see the teeth marks on the crayon marker? My guess is rats and not mice because those look like good sized teeth. But maybe both.

This is Meridian Rambler, a 10-month old ram lamb. See a look at his fleece is below.

Ten month old Jangle, another ram lamb. See his fleece below. They will be shorn in about two weeks along with the rest of the flock. I”ll be posting fleeces on-line and give people the opportunity to come look at fleeces in the couple of weeks following shearing.

Have you seen the new roving in the shop and on-line? I don’t think I’ve put it in a newsletter yet. Here is your first view of it.

I am working on creating some slide shows from guild presentations that I used to do in person and now need to do in Zoom. I will be presenting one next week called What’s in My Toolbox?—about weaving tips and techniques.

Here is one tip—using a mirror to check for slack threads when weaving a problem warp.

On yesterday’s walk Across the Road I did not take a ball. But we found one…I’m sure it’s one of ours that was left behind on another walk.

This is typical of all four dogs. Ginny and Finn are looking at the ball. Rusty is looking at Ginny. Sawyer isn’t watching but if anyone makes a move for the ball she will be right there.

Kidding Season is Over

When you have only two goats maybe it’s not really a season. The first doe kidded a couple of weeks ago and the second kidded last week. That’s it for baby goats here.

This is Ellie and her kid shortly after birth. This was a twin but unfortunately the first died with membranes over it’s face. I had been going out to the barn and checking since about 8 p.m. and watching the barn camera feed on my iPad in the house. But still I missed the birth. A friend texted about 4:30 that she thought there was activity and sure enough Ellie had pushed out the first kid but I was too late. I stayed out in the barn and waited for the second kid to be born.

Here she is on her feet and trying to nurse.

It was a few days later that I let Ellie and her kid out with the flock and the other goats. The newest kid is that smaller white one.

Her ears are folded back at the ends.

I think she was happy to get out and be able to run around.

She certainly has the flying Nubian ears!

Playing Kids and Flying Ears

These Nubian x Bohr kids are almost two weeks old now. I get a real kick out of their ears when they run and play.

The brown one is a doe and the two white ones are bucks.

Play time yesterday evening.

Snack time.