copyright 2010. Barbara Parry. All rights reserved. Feel free to share a link to this website. Please do not take content or images from this website without my explicit written permission. Thank you.
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Archives for Craft
Foggy Farm
Nothing yanks me out of bed as fast as the sound of lamb in distress. That's what I thought I heard at 5:30 a.m. today. Patten Hill is socked in by mist this morning, making it hard to do a head count. But when I arrived in the pasture (above) all was well. But the farm looks like a different place in the fog. Late yesterday afternoon Holly and I had moved the entire lamb flock with mothers and Crackerjack to the open barn pasture on the west side of the road – the lambs' first experience crossing the street.
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Lovely Llama
Just remembered – you haven't seen Caitlyn's new haircut! I found her in a quiet, meditative moment in the upper pasture the other morning, enjoying the warmth of the sun. I love her regal posture, like a monarch surveying her domain. Did you know she was a show llama before she came to us? She came from Heritage Llama Farm in East Longmeadow, MA. Her former owner, Jan, gave me a photo of her sporting a blue ribbon at a show many years ago. Caitlyn's glory days. If you compare her midriff to her brisket, neck and hind quarters,
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Back Online
It's been a challenging two weeks at the end of one of the most hectic of springs here. After a short hiatus from the farm to help with a family situation. I arrived home to nearly four days without power after last week's severe electrical storm. It's a great excuse for not doing the laundry, but it certainly creates an email back log. It also wreaks havoc on show preparation. I've never missed a Mass. Sheep & Wool Festival and was especially sad to miss this year. Thanks everyone for your concern and for checking in. We're fine – and the
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Llama Minus Pajamas
Shearing llamas is different from shearing sheep. The llamas are haltered and tied in a pen where there's not much room to dance around (but they dance anyway). They stand the entire time. Sheep are seated on their fannies for the whole thing. Andy can shear anything that grows fiber. For the llamas he usually does a "barrel cut" – which means just shearing the midriff from behind the shoulders to the waistband. It kind of looks like a poodle cut. Caitlyn got a barrel cut. I forgot to take my camera to pasture today but will try to remember
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Bottle Lamb Update
Mistral Mistral, Georgia and Garamond moved back to the big barn this week and are now free to romp and roam with the others. Lots of crazy leaping about when we moved them back into the main pen, then they raced the length of the barn with the rest of the rowdy bunch. Mistral has become quite agile romping on three legs, though still favoring her left front. She's finishing a course of antibiotics and then we'll see how she does. It's hard to take a good picture of her – her features get lost in all that black
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Shearing Day and Some Good News
Friday was a monster work day. And since I was preoccupied with Mishka's progress at the animal hospital and getting the last of Sheep Shares finally out the door, Holly and Andy tackled everything on their own: shearing (border leicesters, llamas, goats), deworming everyone, hoof trimming. All the spring flock maintenance tasks that could possibly get rolled into one day. I'm so grateful for their help, since I'm both physically and emotionally drained after the events of the last four weeks. Ben Barnhart was on hand to snap some photos for future projects. The border leicester fleeces are spectacular. I
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Spring Appearances
It feels very strange to not be packing a van to head to the NH S&W Festival today. Family circumstances, a book to finish on the heels of lambing season and a general energy lag are all contributing factors in this really tough decision. Sometimes you reach a moment when you say to yourself, "whoa – something's got to give." I send my love to everyone there and look forward to being back in my usual spot at the festival in 2011. Here's where you can find Foxfire Fiber this spring: – WEBS Fleece Market and Tent Sale, Saturday May
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Video – Morning in the Garden with Lambs – And Word about Sheep Shares
For you: Another morning with lambs in the garden. In yesterday's post I was mistaken about the timing of the school bus – you'll see it in this post. You can hear the bus rumbling down the road from 1/4 mile away. When it swooshes by, the lambs go flying. Same for motorcycles and tractors. Fortunately, we don't see much road traffic here. The slow-moving chunky little lamb tagging along after the others have taken off is Zap. Poor little guy is always getting left in the dust. His mom, Thalia, is great about staying near his side. You'll also
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Sunday’s Lambs
Time for Sunday visitors. The lambs enjoyed their first outing into the yard surrounding my studio this morning. The bottle lambs followed me in the front door and stormed right into the kitchen demanding lunch. Fun! Hope you're enjoying this lovely weekend. copyright 2010. Barbara Parry. All rights reserved. Feel free to share a link to this website. Please do not take content or images from this website without my explicit written permission. Thank you.
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