Just returning from a rather long blog hiatus to share a slice of autumn morning with my flock. In the seeming blur of summer and early fall, the lambs have grown and the flock has burgeoned to 100 – filling our pastures. When not changing sheep coats and checking fence lines, and filling water troughs, my summer days were hugely occupied by teaching fiber art classes and writing a book on hand dyeing. I am now in the thick of fall sheep & wool festivals, which means many hours in the dye studio. Time outside with my sheep helps me stay grounded.
I was joined one morning recently by photographer friend, Ben Barnhart who captured some great images of my leicester girls heading out to pasture at first light.
Each evening we bring the sheep into the secure paddocks close to the barns, for safety, which means each morning we let them out to graze. Since dawn is their favorite grazing hour, I try to see them out the gate as the morning light hits the fields.
Here the lambs tentatively step out into the west mowing.
Mother and daughter, Amy (right) and Amethyst (left) – descendants of Cocoa, my very first ewe – against a brilliant autumn backdrop.
Fern and Allegrita share a patch of tall grass at the pasture's edge, with the Holyoke Range visible in the distance . . .
as the rest of the gang fan out at the far side of the south pasture.
On the opposite side of the road: the Cormo grazing line up.
More to follow soon . . . .
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Copyright 2008 Barbara ParryFoxfire Fiber & Designs
photography by Ben Barnhart
