Sheep Gal

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.

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)

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:

 

Evening Chores

Just back to the farm after a weekend vending and book signing at the Fiber Festival of New England at the Eastern States Exposition. Thanks everyone who stopped by my booth to scoop up skeins of Cormo yarn and to be among the first to acquire a copy of Adventures in Yarn Farming. I'm really flattered to hear the positive, warm responses from those of you who had purchased copies at Rhinebeck two weeks ago - and have already finished reading it. Wow, and wow. You made my day.

Writing a book is like working in a bubble. It's wonderful, really,not only to be finally sharing my work but also to be receiving feedback. Thank you.

With the hour's time change, we're back to doing evening chores after dark. It's hat and mitten weather out there tonight. We'll be banging ice out of the water buckets come morning.

Stay tuned this week for an announcement about a blog give-away celebrating my book launch and a heads up about Sheep Shares Yarn Farm CSA 2014.

 

Note: This lovely photo was taken by Ben Barnhart, the photographer who provided most of the photos for my book.

Fiber, Foliage & Friends - Scenes from the Day

Last Saturday a group of intrepid Sheep Shares CSA members braved the threat of showers and the back roads of western Franklin county to join us for a special afternoon. Fiber, Foliage & Friends is an annual tradition here for our Sheep Shares CSA members. The event is a celebration - with knitterly camaraderie, home-baked apple crisps and pumpkin snickerdoodles, sheep antics, donkey pats, yarn painting and some jaw-droppingly gorgeous finished projects knit from our spring share yarn - all against a glorious autumnal backdrop.

Thank you to everyone who joined us. For those of you who couldn't, here's a few snaps from the day (sorry I didn't take more, I had my hands full with prepping for the yarn painting). Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

We Had Visitors!

Last weekend our Sheep Shares CSA members and their guests flocked Springdelle Farm for our annual summer social event - the Strolling of the Sheep. I love this event. There's no better time of year to showcase our lush, verdant fields and to put our flock on center stage. Here are a few scenes from the day.

Of course Crackerjack, our guardian llama, received his share of the limelight. As did our mini donkeys, Cupcake, Prissy and Dulce who quickly made themselves the center of attention.

The donks seemed to think any gathering is all about them. They quickly mobbed the guests for attention. So part of the afternoon became a donkey groom-a-thon. They couldn't get enough.

Our youngest visitor, PIppin, a Soay-Icelandic bottle lamb brought by my assistant Kathryn, found a shady bower beneath the red maple and took a nap during show and tell. I could easily fill a separate post to show and tell you about our show and tell. An amazing array of sweaters, shawls, vests, mitts and mittens. Near the end of the afternoon we cast on for our Cormo Classic Knit-A-Long. Cormo Classic is our newest farm yarn, a 3-ply worsted weight destined to be a favorite.

Thank you to my Sheep Shares CSA members for making this one of the warmest, most convivial gatherings ever at Springdelle Farm. It was wonderful to see so many of you, especially first-time visitors.

Also thank you to Lisa McGuire for sharing her lovely photos to round out this post.

Wool Away!

"Wool Away!" is the command given by the shearer to the "fleece-o" to pick up the freshly shorn fleece after a shorn ewe exits the shearing board. In the lingo of a "down under" shearing shed, the "sheep-o" pulls sheep from the holding pen and walks her onto the shearing board; the shearer shears; the "broomie" sweeps away the fribs, dags and bellywool; and after the sheep is shorn, the fleece-o tosses the fleece pizza-dough style minus the spin - onto the skirting table. The skirters then get to work.

Since we are a small operation, our "sheep-o" often doubles as "broomie"; shearer also serves as fleece-o. So Andy is the one who scoops up the fleece souffle from the board and throws it onto the skirting table.

I had a battalion of skirters Saturday! It was our Sheep Shares Yarn & Fiber CSA members shearing celebration. Sheep Shares members from near and far arrived (some brought family and friends). Skirting wool was a team effort.

 We oohed and ahhed and fondled and pat and boxed wool all day. By lunchtime, our fingers glistened with lanolin. When our hands got cold (it was darn brisk in the wind outside the barn) we buried our fingers in the warmth of the wool. The shorn sheep were funneled into a pen in the carriage barn. We kept the south doors wide open to let in the sun's warmth.

We took breaks for trail mix, muffins, coffee - and to play with Meg, Andy's energetic border collie pup.

By mid morning we were giddy with the heady fragrance of sheep and fresh clipped wool.

We sheared our granny ewes too. Here's Pansy (below), a thirteen-year old granny, getting a special snack. And a pretty lock of Pansy's wool, above. 

While we helped Andy pack up his gear, the flock in the Carriage Barn basked in the afternoon sun.

 After the the last fleece was boxed, we trundled up the road for a pancake lunch at Davenports Maple Farm Restaurant. The sap is still running up here on Patten Hill, but this will be the last weekend before the Sugar House restaurant closes for the season.

We filled three tables. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, maple syrup and more coffee filled our bellies. Knitting filled our hands. It was a satisfying ending to a morning of hard work. A big thanks to the Davenports for hosting our lunch - and a huge thanks to our Sheep Shares members and their guests for helping Andy, Mike and I finish up the flock.

Tomorrow morning I load boxes and boxes of fleece into my truck. As soon as I finish morning chores, I'm headed to FedEx and the fleeces are headed for the fiber mill.

For 2013, it's "wool away."

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Note: Wool Away is the title of renowned shearer Godfrey Bowen's book about the art and technique of shearing - hard to come by since it's out of print, but a fascinating read if you can find a copy.

Solstice Sheep & Donkeys

It was a peacable pasture yesterday morning at breakfast. We turned out the sheep and donks together and fed them in the field. As you can see, the two groups kept some distance from each other at first. But by later in the day, they were comfortably ambling about with no worries. A lovely day in the field for all.

It's a very good thing they are feeling more companionable toward each other. Wind, snow and rain rolled in last night. From the looks of things, the critters peacefully shared a cozy barn. Everyone was dry this morning and the barn was full of sheep and donk poop piles - not our favorite way to start the day but a good sign that all critters felt "at home" in the barn during the stormy night.

Today kicks off our Solstice KAL featuring our winter 2012 Sheep Shares yarn and fiber - Cormo Silk Alpaca. You can join us if you like - by clicking our "Joining Thread" on Ravelry- details can be found here. One lucky winner will receive a Sheep Shares Farm Yarn & Fiber CSA 2013 membership.

Wishing a peaceful solstice to all.

Sunny Sunday Sheep & Donkeys

After two days of raw, dreary drizzle and fog, the sheep and donkeys were elated when I turned them out into the pasture this morning. The donkeys frolicked, bucked, tossed their heads and kicked up their heels in delight. I don't think they're use to having quite so much space for frisking and cavorting.

The sixteen ewes who are their barn mates at the moment, were equally enthusiastic to have free run of the pasture. From the fence line they intently watched the donkey antics in the adjacent field.

We are making strides with the  donkey-sheep dynamic. Since the two groups have been barn mates, they've been together much of the time, learning each others habits, smells and sounds.

We had visitors, Dick and Gale this morning, Kathryn and Hunter yesterday. So interesting to see both groups competing for attention. When I stand in the donkey pen at the rail that divides it from the sheep pen, my right hand is commanded to scratch sheep noses while donkey necks beg for scritches from my left hand.

It's a good sign. They're beginning to relax and let their guard down in closer proximity to each other. I spoke with Ann Firestone from Save Your Ass Long Ear Rescue on Friday and she concurred that the best approach to integration is a patient approach. With the donkeys being so mellow and easy going - and not much larger than the sheep, I'm optimistic that they will both accept and find acceptance within our flock.

And even if they don't, I must say, Mike and I are so smitten with this trio, they are here to stay. With all our acreage, fence and barn space, a good solution will unfold in time.

On another note, I learned a distressing bit of news this morning. The trucker who has supplied bedding straw to my farm for many years apparently retired last summer. I suppose it may have been in the local paper, but we had no direct notice. Early winter is typically the time of year when we are in contact. I had thought it strange when I phoned to arrange delivery last week and found the number not in service. 

Each year we ususally purchase half a semi-trailer load of golden oat straw (that's about 250 bales, 15,000 pounds of straw) in December. The straw is gloriously clean and doesn't lodge in the sheep's wool. This is rather late in the season to discover I'm without a source. I'm reeling a bit from this news.

Andy and Dick are putting out inquiries for me. I'd be willing to purchase an entire semi load, if I can find a trucker with a good source. It would be two years' worth - but I could probably sell some of it locally, since clean straw can be hard to find.

Anyone suggestions? Please send them my way. Thanks!