Sheep Gal Blog | Foxfire Fiber & Designs

Lamb Watch

March 25, 2010 | 9 Comments

Got back to the farm just before 1 a.m. this morning after my presentation last night for an enthusiastic group of fiberists - the Boston Area Spinners & Dyers guild. Many thanks to them for asking me to share my slideshow and dyeing techniques – and also thanks to everyone here who wished me well.

Although I the guild co-chair Carol (also a shepherd expecting lambs anytime now) offered to put me up for the night, I was anxious to get home to my own barn should anything happen. Holly reported that two ewes were behaving suspiciously at dinnertime. I went directly to the barn when I got home, but as of yet I'm still watching. No lambs yet!

I did manage to spy me some lambs about an hour ago, over in my neighbor Barbara Gig's pasture on my way to the village for a much needed latte. Remember the little guy I helped her with a few weeks back (scroll back to my post on February 22, "Early Arrival" )? Well here he is out on the sward with his mum, looking quite the little tup. I thought you would enjoy seeing how he's doing while we're waiting for the lamb-o-rama to begin here.

Heads Up: be sure to check back here tomorrow for details on this year's "Lamb-o-rama" giveaway.

Categories: animals/wildlife, fiber farm, Handspinning, knitting, and sheep.
Tags: fiber farm, giveaway, lambs, sheep farm, and spring.

Boston Bound – Dyed In The Wool

March 23, 2010 | 5 Comments

Tomorrow's going to be a busy day. I'm giving a presentation "Dyed in the Wool: The Colors of a New England Sheep Farm" to the Boston Area Spinners and Dyers (BASD). This group meets in Sudbury, but their membership draws from the greater Boston area – my old stomping grounds.

When I booked this presentation many months ago, I wasn't thinking clearly about the timing of our first lambs. This afternoon Andy reminded me that tomorrow is D-day if any ewes were bred the moment Teaberry set foot in the pen last October. Holly and Mike will be on call and I'll be back to the farm as soon as my talk is done. My iphone will be charged and waiting, just in case.

Watching sheep on t.v. as I type. Listening on the monitor as twenty cudchewers settle down for the evening. If you didn't know what you were listening to, you'd think there were twenty drum majorettes marching in the barn.

As soon as there's action, I'll let you know – will do a quick post here and on Twitter (Sheepgal). Better get some rest, will need it tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Categories: Craft, fiber farm, Handspinning, knitting, and sheep.
Tags: Boston Area Spinners and Dyers, fiber farm, lambing, sheep, and sheep farm.

Barn Check

March 22, 2010 | 11 Comments

Just back from a quick barn check. Lambs are imminent; we're stepping up our visits to the flock. Watchful for unusual behavior. The girls are curious and surprised by my visits after lights out.

Holly and I are watchful now for anything out of the ordinary. We leave each other notes in the barn log on the table in the milk room. Like this one yesterday, from me to her:

"P.M. Stella acting weird. Not so interested in hay. Moved her to group 1 (where she seemed to want to be) but still not interested in eating. 'Moooing'. Sniffing butts of other mums. Watch her."

Okay, so it doesn't make for the most exciting reading. But noting details and writing careful objective descriptions of anything that doesn't seem quite right is really important. Small changes might be the start of something big. We never know.

I was tied up in a photo shoot all day today but Stella (above) was fine, Holly reported. And she looked great ten minutes ago in the barn.

I hung out long enough to decide that all is well in the barn for the night, but I've got my ears on in the house, just in case. (Lamb cams, too!)

Categories: animals/wildlife, Craft, fiber farm, Handspinning, knitting, and sheep.
Tags: fiber farm, lambs, sheep, and sheep farm.

Spring at Springdelle Farm

March 21, 2010 | 15 Comments

Hard to believe that just three weeks ago we were buried with two feet of snow. Winter made a mellow exit this weekend here in New England. Spring's arrival today capped a stretch of blissful warmth and sunshine. All creatures appear to be celebrating the change in season, though we're due for grey skies and cooler days for the start of this week.

The sheep enjoying a quiet morning in the pasture.

Neighbor's ducks, grateful for the spring melt.

Red-winged blackbirds, epaulets in full display, atop each tree. The farm is ringing their calls along with the cries of the killdeer who returned late last week.

It will really begin to feel like spring here within a week or so when our first lambs arrive – hopefully by next weekend. Stay tuned as we prepare shift gears from calm to chaos. I promise to post shots of our newest arrivals.

What are the signs of spring in your neck of the woods?

Categories: animals/wildlife, fiber farm, Handspinning, and knitting.
Tags: fiber farm, New England, sheep farm, and spring.

A Day in the Sugar Bush

March 17, 2010 | 10 Comments

I've been quiet because I've been way under the weather this week. It felt good to be outdoors today working in the sugar bush with Mike and neighbors Norm, Lisa and Fred Davenport. We finally got around to tapping a maple stand that's not seen bucket nor tube line in more than a decade. The "bush" surrounds one of my hay fields. This field gives us two cuttings of hay each summer, feeds the flock during our fall grazing months and now will fill a large collection tank (we hope) with sap to take to my neighbor's sugar house each day. If the weather cooperates.

We started the day by setting a few buckets the old-fashioned way. But for the 500 foot run of trees we used the modern method of setting a 3/4" main line tube and running a series of smaller tap lines into the main line. I lost track of the number of trees and total number of taps. Mike and I are newcomers to all of this and we learned tons from Norm who's family owns and operates Davenport's Maple Farm (no website, though they do have a Facebook page). There's a great restaurant in the sugar house, open on weekends during sugar season. You have to get there early to beat the lines, but it's worth it for the pancakes, syrup and a spectacular view of the valley.

By day's end, the main line ran a total of 800' from the far corner (upper left of the pic below), down the run of sugar trees and then eastward following the pasture fence line to run into the collection tank. The beauty of the system is that gravity does all the work now that the lines are set. We won't have to drive on the hay field to collect buckets from tree to tree – really important now that the ground is softening up, No ruts in the hay field!

I was a little late for evening chores by the time we gathered the equipment from the field. A horde of hungry hoggets greeted me at the gate.

Categories: Craft, fiber farm, and sheep.
Tags: fiber farm, maple sugar farm, sheep farm, and tapping sugar maples.

As the wool spins. . .

March 13, 2010 | 8 Comments

Moving right along, an update on the fiber front:

I'm about half way through sorting the fleeces from shearing. The wool for the spring and summer Sheep Shares is in process at the mills – which means U.P.S. will begin delivering boxes of deliciously fresh yarn and fiber right around mid-lambing season. I'm immensely relieved to have yarn perking along as we await lambs.

The show fleeces are carefully wrapped like burritos in paper and tied with twine – stowed away for the first round of competitions in May. Except for Teaberry and Cilantro's fleeces which are huge and wouldn't fit on the pallet with the rest. Those two double-wide fleeces are still sitting in the back my car – well perfumed with ram-aroma.

Meanwhile, in the birthing barn:

Yesterday Holly and I divided the expectant ewes into two groups based on condition. Shearing before lambing tells so much about how the girls are faring nutritionally. Using condition scoring (examining by hand the amount of muscle and fat over the backbone in the loin region) we divided the thick from thin. I've been watching them all at the feeders this past week and clearly the big girls are using weight to their advantage.

Wide-bodied and fat rumped, a handful of ewes have stepped over the line into the category of "over conditioned" – which can lead to a host of complications I can live without (thank you very much): vaginal prolapses, ketosis, difficult deliveries due to gigantic lambs. Ouch. On the other side of the coin, smaller ewes (above) could potentially have trouble with adequate colostrum and lambs with low birth weights. I want those little mommas to handle their lambs without my assistance, as much as possible.

By dividing the group in two pens, we'll maintain the big girls while making sure the smaller ones are getting their share. Honestly, sometimes I think all I do is come up with new concerns, more ways to worry – and the lambs haven't begun to arrive. I'm a very good worrier. An expert, friends say. Maybe that's why this line of work suits me so well.

Categories: animals/wildlife, fiber farm, Handspinning, knitting, and sheep.
Tags: fiber farm, fleece, lambing, shearing, sheep, sheep diet, and sheep nutrition.

Announcing this year’s theme (drumroll please. . .)

March 12, 2010 | 13 Comments

Memphis, Cormo cross ewe lamb from 2007 (theme: U.S. towns & cities)

Tough choice. First of all, thank you to everyone who took the time to offer a suggestion. While I always enjoy hearing from the world beyond the farm, your feedback is especially welcome at this season where the work here gets more intense and my occasions for interacting with the real world more limited as my focus is on the farm.Your thoughts, questions and input are welcome and I enjoy hearing from you.

I've waffled a bit in choosing this year's theme. Some of you have chimed in on our conversation on Ravelry. But the decision came down to one of the reasons why I use names rather than relying on numbers to know my flock (even though they all required to have ear tags). Naming shows respect for each animal and establishes its identity. It reminds us that although they are part of a flock, they are individuals. No two sheep look exactly alike or act alike.

Nomenclature connects flock members to the year of birth. I know without consulting the flock book that Parsley was born in 2006, the year of herbs and spices; Calypso and Cassandra 2005, Greek mythology; Donatella, Chanel, Burberry are 2008's designer lambs; Crimson, Violet, Indigo (along with Blaze, Cinder & Dune) were born in the year of colors, coinciding with the release of my book on hand-dyeing, 2009.

Tansy, Cormo ewe 2006

Our naming themes are more meaningful when tied to a world event (like the suggested winter Olympic theme) or something that is happening in my own life. And since the written word is very much my current focus, I've chosen Valerie's suggestion of "Fonts" for this year's theme. I'm confident it will easily generate 30 – 40 original, quirky, memorable names. (BTW, Shakespeare was the other top contender – very popular. Let's keep that one in the back of our minds for another year.)

So thank you, Valerie. (And since I happen to know you've recently reached a milestone in your own writing, congratulations!)

Categories: animals/wildlife, fiber farm, Handspinning, knitting, and sheep.
Tags: contest, fiber farm, names for lambs, and sheep farm.

The Naming of Lambs

March 10, 2010 | 3 Comments

I spent an hour reading through the suggestions that came in last week for naming our lambs and have narrowed the field after much deliberation. Although I loved so many of the ideas I've boiled it down to a handful and will let you all know on Friday which theme we've chosen. If you'd like to see the contenders, hop over to Ravelry and follow the thread "Help Name the Lambs" in the Foxfire Fiber Friends group. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time help me out by sharing an idea. With lambing just two weeks away and all that needs to get done before then, it's nice to have a head start on something.

If you can't wait two more weeks for a lamb fix, pick up the spring issue of Living Crafts magazine. On page 64 you'll find the story I wrote about lambing ("Behind Every Sweater is a Lamb"), with lots of adorable photos.

I'm posting this larger-than-life shot of Caitlyn today because I wanted to tell you about her obnoxious behavior earlier this week when we brought the rest of ewes inside for shearing. We haltered her and brought her along for a visit. She made a bee line for Crackerjack, who was eager to say hi, and threw her ears back and spit right at him. We felt sorry for Crackerjack, who appeared to be genuinely interested in seeing another llama. Just goes to show, Caitlyn thinks she is larger-than-life. Such a diva . . .

Two more signs of spring this week. My very first bluebird, down on Patten Road and a pair of redwing blackbirds in the pasture this morning! We've had blessedly warm and sunny afternoons, perfect for boxing wool in the barn. I've never been so happy to see mud!

Categories: Uncategorized.

Ewe Tube

March 6, 2010 | 5 Comments

The t.v. in the bedroom is tuned to barn cam 1 most of the time now, which gives me this view of the flock. I looked up from my reading last night to spy on the girls, occasionally toggling over to camera 2. Would you believe, Crackerjack now sleeps across the barn threshold as if to say, "no one gets by me!" At one point I saw his head go straight up with his ears alert, pointing down toward the dell. Then I heard the coyotes yipping in the distance. He caught it first. Good llama.

There were no picky eaters in the birthing barn this morning. As you can see, Helena has already slipped the leg strap on her new coat, fitted on Wednesday. Sizing jackets on the expectant ewes after shearing is always problematic. Sans fleece, they're all angles and odd bulges. When I have more free time than I know what to do with, I'm going to design maternity wear for sheep.

Post shearing, I have a clearer picture of who may lamb sooner rather than later. Morning is a great time for a little posterior inspection while the mothers are completely absorbed with mowing down their hay. I couldn't see udders clearly a week ago, but unquestionably, these girls are getting closer.

My lambing supplies should arrive any day now: iodine, Superlube, a new bulb syringe, tubes (for stomach tubing weak lambs), Nutri-drench, syringes of all sizes, a new prolapse retainer (because you just can't find one of those at Walgreens and if you need it, you need it!).

Holly and I sent everyone outdoors yesterday afternoon so we could do a little spring cleaning. Using the bucket loader on the John Deere, we scraped all the dirty bedding out of the barn, right down to concrete. Holly spread a layer of powdered lime to freshen things up and topped it all off with clean golden straw. The lambing pens are all set. We're good to go!

Thanks for all the great suggestions for lamb names! There are many that never would have occurred to me and choosing one will be difficult (I may call on my Sheep Shares members for help with that!). You can keep them coming through Tuesday (but please look over the list to be sure someone hasn't already suggested your idea, we're starting to get some duplicates). I'll let you know what we've decided next Friday.

Today's view from the barn doorway: a southward bound flock of geese. All signs point to spring.

Categories: animals/wildlife, Craft, fiber farm, Handspinning, knitting, and sheep.
Tags: fiber farm, lambing, sheep coats, sheep farming, and spring.

Shearing Day 3 – Contest: Name the Lambs

March 3, 2010 | 119 Comments

The pregnant ewes are now all shorn. Whew! It's the group I fret over the most so I am hugely relieved that they're all now freshly coiffed and dressed in clean frocks. Without their ten pound fleeces, it's much easier to see if any ewes are over conditioned or under conditioned. The group looks just right. Carrera is the only one who looks as though she might possibly be eating pickles and ice cream on the sly.

This afternoon as Andy finished shearing Galveston and while she was still seated on the board, Holly and I patted her tummy to feel her unborn lambs. It makes lambing feel close and real. Not far off now, we'll see lambs here before the month's end.

Contest Time – Name the Lambs!

With lambing just around the corner, it's time to choose this year's theme for naming the lambs. Would you like to help? Post a comment suggesting a naming theme before Tuesday, March 9th (7 pm EST). On Friday, March 12th I'll announce our chosen theme. If we choose yours, you'll receive a special thank you prize: a colorwork sampler of four hand-dyed skeins of my Foxfire Fiber Upland Wool & Mohair yarn – perfect for mittens and hats.

Here are themes we've used in past years:

2005 Greek Mythology

2006 Herbs & Spices

2007 U.S. Towns & Cities

2008 Fashion Designer Lambs

2009 Colors

Have fun, be creative and consider themes that will spark interesting names for both ewes and rams. I will notify the winner via email.

Categories: animals/wildlife, Books, Craft, fiber farm, Handspinning, knitting, and sheep.
Tags: contest, fiber farm, naming lambs, shearing, and sheep.

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