Archives for fiber farm

A Grateful Flock!

October 16, 2010 | 9 Comments

First, let me say I am deeply touched by and grateful for your response to my invitation to Flock for Healthy Hearts, in support of Go Red for Women and the American Heart Association. With your help we quickly surpassed my initial goal of raising $2500 and the giving continues. It says a lot about the strength and love within the larger fiber community, how we rally and tend to each other. I can't thank you enough. I encourage you to share this post and this link for Go Red For Women. There's information about the movement and more importantly a
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Flock For Healthy Hearts

October 7, 2010 | 4 Comments

As you know if you're a regular visitor here, last summer I survived a major cardiac episode. It was frightening. It brought my work in running a sheep farm and a fiber arts studio to a grinding halt. And it profoundly changed my approach to living each day. I am grateful for the support of my family, physicians and friends. I am lucky to be here. I have just "graduated" from twelve weeks of cardiac rehab. My goals are to get strong and back on my feet so I can fully engage in the things that bring the most meaning
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Fiber, Friends and Foliage

October 3, 2010 | 11 Comments

We love visitors! A few scenes from Saturday's Fiber, Friends and Foliage open house. Thanks to everyone for sharing a special afternoon with us (and to those of you who were with us in spirit!). Mistral & Georgia share an apple. Crackerjack greeted his fans. Lambs love making friends. Especially Mistral. Lambs also love pumpkin decorating. Georgia and Holly – naptime! A sneak peek at the Fall Yarn Shares. Local Hero Llama Tired lambsters. photos courtesy of Madeline Kennedy, Lori Parker, Holly Sonntag, and Mike Parry. thank you!!
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Plan “Be”

October 1, 2010 | 24 Comments

As you may have wondered, not everything has gone exactly according to plan here for several weeks. It's true: hay has been mown, baled and stacked in the barn. Though not overly fond of the fall monsoons that arrived this week, the sheep are relishing cooler days. And absolutely loving the hay field we decided not to mow, but to save for autumn pasture. So they're waist-deep in sheep nirvana. But as you've probably gathered from all quiet on the blog front, I have needed to step back a bit and take it easy. Today I finished week twelve
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Sheep Shadows

August 28, 2010 | 14 Comments

In the lengthening shadows of shortening of daylight hours, Mike and I inspected the ram pasture on Wednesday. Thanks to three solid rainy days, the grass is in good shape. But we noted the length of time they've spent on this field and deemed it time to change pastures. The wet weather means no second mowing just yet. But we're entering a sunny dry spell. Hay is imminent. It's the stretch before Labor Day. Heath Fair, Cummington Fair, Franklin County Fair. Hay time. Storms have wreaked a bit of havoc here. Thanks to a close encounter of the electrical kind,
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Summer Shares

August 18, 2010 | 12 Comments

Returning from a blog hiatus and a trip to spend some time with my family and friends on the seacoast. We celebrated a very special birthday. My niece, Lilly, turned 1. And okay, I'm a little biased, but I'm telling you she is the cutest, happiest little girl in the world. It is such good fun being an Auntie. Going on vacation is an amazing amount of work. List making, shopping, packing, instructions for the house sitter, instructions for the farm – it almost doesn't feel worth all the effort until you actually get away for a few days. I
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Lamb Camp

July 29, 2010 | 15 Comments

I'm always amazed at how quickly the lamb flock adjusts to free ranging during the summer months. With Crackerjack their trusty guardian, they're camped in the back pasture. We "stockpiled" it for them, meaning we kept other sheep out of it so the lambs would have fresh forage. In some places the grass is taller than they are. So when I go counting heads at day's end, it's a lamb safari! It's so different from the barnyard life they lived just weeks ago. The whole flock is free ranging for the summer. Although many lambs in this group are now
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Lambs – Out to Pasture

July 22, 2010 | 8 Comments

It takes a llama to get the lambs going in the right direction. Just a quick post – I thought you'd like to see how we get them out to pasture in the morning. WE LOVE CRACKERJACK!! 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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Weaning the Lambs

July 19, 2010 | 15 Comments

The lambs huddle around me in the barn. With the shift of independence from the ewes, they've become more interested in our comings and goings. When I arrive they press in like this. They butt me in the legs and nibble on my camera strap. It's a nice way to start the morning. This group has made the transition of weaning quite smoothly. Just one very noisy night and then quiet. Except for when we arrive. They shadow Crackerjack, their new leader and we count on his help in getting them where we need them to go. The mother's are
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Of Rams and Men

July 15, 2010 | 20 Comments

In summer the rams live in our backyard. We like to visit with them after dinner, before dusk gets thick with mosquitoes and forces us to retreat indoors. It's one of my favorite times of day. In general it's ill advised to treat rams like giant teddy bears. You certainly shouldn't get down at their level in the middle of the field without nearby cover, as Mike is the photo above. Mike has a special connection with the "big boys". It's a guy thing, I suppose. He's not intimidated by them the way I am. They sense it and don't
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