Sheep Gal

Name the Lambs Contest Winner!

 

I am pleased to announce a winner to our Name the Lambs contest. Mike and I narrowed down the list of potential name themes to our five favorites: types of tea, candy, National Parks, Disney characters and Shakespearean names. We then let our Sheep Shares CSA 2014 members cast their votes to decide this year's theme.

The choice by a clear margin was to use the Shakespearean theme for naming this year's lambs and credit goes to Anne who was the first to suggest this theme on March 20 at 1:06 pm. Thank you, Anne, and to everyone who added to the great list of suggestions.

The above photo is Cobweb, having breakfast at 5 a.m. today. He and his sister Peaseblossom were born to Cormo ewe Tupelo last Tuesday.

The lamb count is at 10 as of 4:30 this morning. It's been a tiring week full of drama - I will fill you in on the details in a separate post. But everyone in the barn is doing well and I'm trying to hold it all together on little sleep.

Congrats to Anne. and again, thank you, everyone.

First Lamb!

Meet our first lamb of the season, a singleton ram born early this afternoon to Cormo ewe Papaya. I came home from the grocery story to find him in the barn, on his feet, all cleaned up and sturdily nursing. Lamb is tuckered out and Papaya is worrying over him, licking him up and down. She's still having contractions, trying to pass the placenta so she's constantlyt blatting. I expect to find it when I head back to the barn in a minute for afternoon chores. Just wanted to share the news.

Thanks for the great name suggestions. This little guy will remain unnamed until we'ved settled on this year's theme.

And a big thank you to Cheryl of In the Loop for hosting my book signing and yarn trunk show yesterday. I enjoyed the visit!

Stay tuned for more updates from the lambing barn.

Contest - Name the Lambs

COMMENTS FOR THIS POST ARE NOW CLOSED. THANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT SUGGESTIONS.

CHECK BACK ON SUNDAY TO SEE OUR SELECTION.

Spring has sprung. Sort of. Here in the hillls a sheet of sleet and slush marked its arrival. Which made my morning drive to the barn rather interesting.

We are on the brink of lambing season. I'm keeping close watch on the flock now, as our lambs should be arriving very soon. The sweet face above is a lamb from a former year. I'm tingling with anticipation of this year's arrivals. You might remember we took year off from lambing in 2013 and I while it was nice to have a break, I really missed having them. We're expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 little ones over the next five weeks.

Which reminds me that I'm a little behind schedule in selecting a theme for naming this year's lambs.

So today I'm kicking off a contest. Would you like to help us name this year's lambs?

To enter please suggest a name theme in a comment  on this post. And you must share this post via social media (FB, Ravelry, Twitter, your own blog - just pass it along, please). Let's see how many ideas we can generate in a week.

Mike and I will select our five favorites and then it will come down to a vote from our Sheep Shares CSA 2014 members. The suggester of the winning theme will receive a special prize: a signed copy of my book, Adventures in Yarn Farming and 2 skeins of Cormo Camel Silk - enough yardage to complete one of these two projects from my book: the Sundance Scarf by Marnie MacLean or the Full Snow Moon Cowl and Mitts by Barbara Giguere (a total value of $79.95).

To avoid repitition, here are themes used in passed years:

2005 - Greek mythology

2006 - herbs & spices

2007 U.S. cities & towns

2008 Fashion Designers

2009 - Colors

2010 - Fonts & Type Faces

2011 - Apples

2012 - Flowers

The deadline for submitting a theme is 5 pm EST, Thursday, March 27. Please, one suggestion per person. If the same theme is suggested by more than one person, credit will be given to the person who suggested it first - so be sure to scroll through the comments before posting. Our Sheep Shares members will weigh in & vote. Then I will announce a lucky winner on Monday, March 31, here on my blog.

Be inspired and have fun - and please spread the word.

Happy Spring to you.

As the Wool Flies - Shearing Day part one

Yesterday was our Sheep Shares CSA member shearing day. I couldn't have asked for a nicer group of helpers, better weather or prettier fleeces. Mike and I thank everyone who came to pitch in. We accomplished so much in one morning - fourteen sheep shorn and about 90 lbs of wool boxed and ready to ship! You guys are awesome. Here are some scenes from the day:

Thank you to Lisa McGuire for taking these photos. For more pics of Shearing Day action, visit our Facebook group: Foxfire Fiber Friends.

Gypsy gets a vet check and new friends

The vet was running late. It was a shivery 45 minute wait in the barn Monday afternoon. Thirteen degrees, wind chasing snow ghosts across the field. While I crouched and rubbed my hands together between my knees, Gypsy enjoyed my new down coat.

We had to put her in a holding pen prior to Doc's arrival. Catching her - not so easy. We used panels to corral her in a corner. But when I approached  to hold her, the poor kid trembled so hard, I thought she was going to fall over. Made her comfortable, gave her a treat in a small pen (above) but she was still shaking so badly, I wrapped her in my coat, tying the sleeves in a double knot round her chest. I couldn't figure out if she was stressed or cold.

Doc gave her a thorough examination. No obvious signs of trouble, other than the involuntary trembling which he said was a sign of stress - not a sign of being cold. Beneath my down jacket, she has a beautiful mohair coat of her own. Her internal temperature was fine. The act of being caught again brought on the trembles. She was traumatized by being taken from her barn last week. It will take a while for her to recover. I suppose it's like PTSD. Doc said the best thing for her was to keep her with her buddies and stick to business as usual. Although I think she rather enjoyed my down coat, we untied the sleeves and released from the catch pen. She was eager to rejoin her flock.

Thank you all for expressing your concern for her. I really appreciated your comments. She's acting more herself each day, beginning to "help" Mike with morning chores, as usual. As for the three men who stole her - that matter is in the hands of the local police.

Ironically enough, several weeks before this incident, I had begun the process of searching for caprine companions for Gypsy. Goats prefer goats to sheep. And I could use more mohair.

And so, as soon as the weather softens, Gypsy will have  new friends.

Meet Greta and Galloway.

Adorable. Gorgeous, colored mohair.

Kid friendly.

 

I can't wait to bring them to the farm.

In the meantime, thanks for reading - and again for your support throughout the stress of last week.

This is about Sheep Shares

There's still time to join us for 2014!

Sheep Shares is my farm's yarn and fiber CSA. It's a way for you, wherever you are, whatever you do, to participate in the life of a working sheep farm - and to receive in the course of a year two shares of either yarn or spinning fiber produced from the wool of my flock, delivered neatly to your doorstep. You need never set foot in the hayloft, skirt a fleece, nor lift a shovel.

If you sign up, I promise the sheep and I will take care of the rest.

I'm writing because there are only a handful of openings left for Sheep Shares 2014. If you have been on the fence, now is the time to act.

You can find all the details here on my website.

Thanks for reading!

above photos: Cormo Silk Alpaca yarn (fall yarn share for 2014)

Cormo Silk Alpaca roving (fall fiber share for 2014)

Passages

This is Cocoa, the oldest, dearest member of my flock. Cocoa is one of the pair of my very first sheep. My flock started with her. Cocoa will be 17 in March which is very old for a sheep. She's doing incredibly well, given her advanced age.

I took this pic this morning after we fed her and bedded her pen. She and three other senior ewes live in our "Assisted Living" Barn. They get individual pans of grain and mushy alfalfa cubes soaked in warm water every morning. Winter is especially hard on old sheep. We do what we can to help them get by.

I received some sad news just after Christmas. "Chocoloate Chip" who was Cocoa's very first lamb, born 16 years ago, died the day after Christmas. Chip had been living at my sister's house, along with her menagerie of other sheep and goats. Kathy found him in the snow that morning. Like Cocoa, he had been receiving preferential treatment, although declining. And like Cocoa, he lived a long and contented life.

It's difficult seeing out the senior members of our flock. Chip's passing makes me grateful for every day Cocoa is still on her feet at the gate to greet us when we enter the barn. Although she is stiff-gaited and her eyes are clouding over, she's wily, strong and independent.

We had lost another old timer back in June. I was so sad at the time, I'm sorry, I just didn't feel like blogging about it. It was Pansy, a 13 year old Cormo ewe who was the last of our original Cormo matriarchs. She lived long enough to be present for a Sheep Shares gathering in June (if you attended that event, you may remember the frail ewe in the Assisted Living Barn). Pansy passed away the very next day.

Our flock has a higher than average number of old timers - ewes, mostly, who have more than earned their keep over the years. Not all of them are as personable as Cocoa, Chip or Pansy, but their presence is part of the spirit of this place and they are dear friends. Let's hope winter will lighten up for the sake of the old timers.

* note - post edited to fix grammatical error, yikes. 

Wild and Windy

The farm's survived the wild and snowy night. By mid morning today we had patches of blue sky and everyone came outside to stand in the sun. But warmth - not so much. That didn't stop me from taking a break mid chores to show the sheep how to make snow angels They were absolutely mystified, especially Sol, the llama - who doesn't approve of any changes in routine.

For a brutally windy night, the snow accumulation here wasn't nearly as much as we had expected - maybe a foot. It's hard to say, since we have so much drifting. We had stocked all the barns last night with extra hay and water, anticipating that it might be hard to get to the farm today. But it wasn't bad. Once the driveway was cleared, it was smooth sailing down to the barns. They hade been plowed out by the time we got there.

I'm heading back down now for evening chores. Will  button up the buildings for the night and toss some corn to the sheep for calories.

Hope you're weathering this bout of winter in safety and warmth.

 

Thanksgiving

Sending my truest wishes for happiness, health and warmth on Thanksgiving day. 

With my deepest gratitude for your fellowship,

Barb

 

photo courtesy Ben Barnhart

 

GIVEAWAY - Adventures In Yarn Farming Celebration

Entries for this GIVEAWAY are now closed. Congratulations to our Givewaway winner, Sara, who posted on November 12 at 8:25 a.m. - she is the lucky winner of a Sheep Shares CSA 2014 Yarn Sampler (natural) membership. Thank you to everyone who posted - and for all your kind words on the launch of my new book.

I can't believe it's almost that time. The official publication date for my new book, Adventures in Yarn Farming is next week - is November 12th! On that date, my book will be available everywhere.

I'm celebrating the official publication this month by offering a chance for one lucky person to win a membership to Sheep Shares CSA 2014.

Would you like that? Do you know someone who would?

Please leave a comment here on this post - tell me what you enjoy most about working with wool. I'll randomly draw a winner on November 30th - and that lucky someone will be enrolled as a Yarn Sampler Natural member for Sheep Shares CSA 2014. The winner will be announced here and via the email address you provide with your comment (please do not type your email addy in the body of your comment, just provide in the space where it asks for email so I can contact you.)

Please do share this post and celebrate PUB DATE with me. Thanks!

And in the meantime, here's a video trailer the good people at Roost Books made to give you a preview of my book: