Kentucky Wool Week

Normally this week would be spent frantically getting everything finished and set up for the Kentucky Wool Festival.  We lost both the spring and fall festivals this year :-(.   We are all not only missing the income those festivals would generate, but also the social aspects of it as well.  Most of us don't get out much.  Those festivals are a fun way to catch up with each other.

The Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office, Kentucky Natural Fiber Center, Kentucky Fiber Trail and Kentucky Wool Festival got together to create Kentucky Wool Week as a fun way for us all to socialize a little on social media and at the same time help promote Kentucky wool and our small businesses.

This year everything is based around a photography challenge. I'm hoping things will be settled down next year and we can expand Kentucky Wool Week to include some educational classes, competitions and fiber gatherings throughout the state.

Today's challenge prompt is Color.  You know, my favorite topic ;-).  Just to throw everyone, I'm going to actually post a picture of a color besides white or gray today!  There is, of course, more to the story. 

Back in August 2018 (yes, you read that correctly) Miss B and I dyed some wool with marigolds.  We had a big bag of yellow and orange blooms and a big bag of yellow and burgundy blooms.  We dyed some white Border Cheviot (PPPP) and some light gray Jacob (Billy Belly and Allie).

I think we used Alum as our mordant.  I'm sure I took a bunch of fun and pretty pictures that would probably remind me, but without a deep dive into the archives, all I have is the above picture...which has been sitting on my desktop as a reminder that I needed to write up a full blog post about this...since 2018. 

We dyed both white and light gray wool in both marigold pots.  I remember that the yellow and burgundy marigolds provided a slightly darker, almost greener, yellow.  You can sort of see that in the picture above.  

I know that I combed all of my share and I believe I spun the brighter of the two yellows.  It's kind of hard to say at this point though because I kept everything in a cute basket on my workbench so I could enjoy looking at it...which I thoroughly did...until I realized the dark rich yellows were fading and I then packed them away :-(.

The marigolds are in full bloom in the dye garden right now and that combined with the color prompt inspired me to pull the still mostly slightly colorful yarn out and finally share some pictures.  I'm now sort of toying with picking some of the flowers and tossing everything back into the dye pot and restoring the yarns to full color. 

It makes me sad to pick flowers though.  I've got plenty of poke weed berries right now though and it wouldn't make me too sad to boil those before they end up all over my car ;-).  Maybe I'll see if Miss B is up for a new natural dyeing adventure.  If we do, I promise I'll post the pictures much quicker.

Regardless, I can now take the yellow pictures off my desktop because I finally did a 'sort of' post about a fun thing we did...a couple of years ago.  I also cleaned out my refrigerator the other day, so look out!

If you are interested in joining in with the Kentucky Wool Week photo challenge, jump in!

Tough Old Ladies

We hit -1 around 6:00 a.m.  We've had colder nights over the years, but not with so many elderly sheep, cats, dogs and chickens.  The wind during the day yesterday was brutal, but thankfully it died down in the evening and the 10:00 barn check wasn't bad at all.  There is a fun video over on Instagram, but it will only stay up for 24 hours :-(.

I'd put up heavy plastic on the west side of Easy Breezy and closed their door.  That helped a bunch with the wind and I did several hay feedings throughout the day.  Allie is going to be 15 this spring and is horribly thin.  Even though she assured me she was Just Fine Thank You, I felt better putting a coat on her.  

Does it look familiar?  

 

Remember dear old Miss Ewenice taking such good care of new arrival Renny?  Remember Renny's story?  Well, only newer readers won't remember her story.  

Hard to believe Renny is in the Easy Breezy pen now.  Not that she's exceptionally old and definitely not because she's thin, but because the other side of the barn all slopes downhill and her injured legs are starting to give her some trouble.  EB walks out onto a flat paddock.

When I put her old blanket on Allie I wondered what she would think.  Would she remember it?  She didn't.  She was scared of it.  Or of Allie wearing it.  None of the other sheep cared.  I wonder if they remembered seeing that blanket years ago?  Renny wouldn't have actually seen it, wearing it...

Speaking of blasts from the past, Allie is one of Elizabeth's daughters, from well before the blog.  Her sister Amy is still living as well, over at the original Crazy Sheep Lady's farm, and she, too, is wearing a coat this winter.  

All those tough old ladies :-).

Oldies But Goodies

I think I've talked about "Easy Breezy" on the blog, but in case I haven't, it's the bigger version of Del Boca Vista, utilizing the end of the outside stall and the level paddock next to the barn.  DBV is perfect for a couple sheep, but when the population as a whole starts getting older, more and more sheep needed to move into "assisted living" this fall.

Silly Lila, one of my very favorite bottle lambs from quite a few years ago.  She's not exceptionally old, but she has some arthritis issues that make it hard for her to keep up with the younger sheep.

Popcorn PeePee Pants.  Her birthday is in January, but I don't remember the exact day.  I'd look it up on the blog...but she's older than the blog!  She will be 14 next month.  

PPPP is the lamb on the bookmarks we hand out in the festival booths :-).  She makes a nice puzzle, too ;-).

Renny the invincible.  She's not old and definitely not skinny, but she's starting to have trouble with her horribly damaged back legs and can't negotiate the hills on the other side of the barn any longer.  She's loving the Easy Breezy life ;-D.

Billy Belly and Heidi.  Heidi is another of the old girls.  She'll be 13 this spring.  Billy Belly is only 11 this year, but he was a bit thin heading into fall so I moved him into Easy Breezy so he could get some extra food.  He's also loving the EB life ;-D.

Ewen McTeagle (11), Woolliam (10) and Allie (12) do still come out and graze at least a little bit.  Ewen can usually be talked into grazing in the yard for a few minutes after breakfast if I stand out there with him.  Allie likes to go out in the afternoons and Woolliam does a bit, but he's also quite happy to hang out indoors and eat hay and wait for the next Bingo game ;-).

Old Friends

I wanted to add Ewen McTeagle and Woolliam to the "easy breezy" paddock.  Allie was doing really well in there, even getting out to graze some, so I knew if I could talk the boys into moving they'd be happy.  

Well, they weren't.  The two grumpy old men who have always slept in the back of the inside stall were absolutely Not Happy that they were now being forced to sleep in the front of the outside stall.  I had to lock them in there the first night.

The next morning (yesterday), when they only had to walk a few steps to the breakfast bar and could just step out the door to graze, they started to come around ;-).  This is what I found when I headed back out after dinner this evening.

Woolliam and Ewen would normally already be tucked deep into the barn, missing out on a nice evening outdoors.  Allie, too, but she'd be more to the front...and yelling at everyone to come in with her.  They all have to be happier outside on a nice evening.  I know I was happy to see them out there :-).

Spring Shearing

Our favorite shearer, Bill Haudenschield, was in town for a few days last week (with his nephew Dustin :-) so we decided to go ahead and shear a week or so early this year.  It was a beautiful day, the company was excellent, the sheep all behaved (mostly ;-) and the fleeces look good.  Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Lila

Rebecca Boone

Woody

Muffin

Biscuit...all those pretty curls :'-(.

The video.

Renny

Daniel Note Liddy in the background.  Just after I took this picture, she stuck her head through the gate and grabbed a packet of french fries!

Murphy

Clover Belly

Levi 

Levi 

Chocula

The Little Darlin'...

...who actually behaved quite well this year!

This is the extended version of the video I posted the other day.  Instagram has a 60 second limit.  This is 30 seconds longer...and cuter.  I just love these!

You'll notice a few sheep didn't get shorn.  They are the oldies who don't have enough fat on them (Allie, Annabelly, Billy Belly and Mrs. Pepperpot) for me to feel comfortable taking away their woolly jumpers before we are certain the cold is over for the year. 

After a couple weeks of 70s and 80s, we have now, of course, turned a bit colder, but with the barn shut up when it's windy and plenty of hay in front of them, everyone is doing okay.  The warm sunshine has been appreciated though for sure.  And look at that green grass and bright blue sky!  It matches my hat :-D.

And here's a new puzzle!  Enjoy :-).

Sheep With Character

Perhaps a little too much character!

While we haven't had the cold that, say, Minnesota has had, we've been extremely cold for Kentucky, especially as we were just enjoying temps in the upper 50s and 60s last week.  If you are following on Instagram or Facebook, you saw the picture of Mrs. Pepperpot sporting her new winter coat yesterday.  She's had the most trouble with the cold.

We'd moved her, Lila, Annabelly and PPPP into the "lamb pen" so they could get extra food with less competition.  We put up some sheet plastic to block the wind coming through the end gate and bedded them down in deep straw and hay.  It wasn't enough.  Mrs. Pepperpot was shivering hard yesterday morning.

I scrambled, adding extra wind blocking on the three coldest sides, deeper bedding and a heat lamp.  When that didn't seem enough, I took one of the old horse blankets and cut it down to sew a Mrs. Pepperpot size.  That did the trick.  She finally looked warm and happy.  And no one else was.

The other three could not abide with a sheep wearing a coat.  PPPP was so unhappy that I let her move back into the main flock.  Lila and Annabelly settled down with some Cheerios and I thought I was in the clear.  Annabelly didn't seem bothered by the jacket anymore but started looking extra cold and miserable herself.  She's old and skinny.  Cold can kill...and I honestly thought that was where we were headed.

Okay, we still have Renny's old jacket.  That should fit her.  I struggled to get her to her feet and checked the size.  Two straps needed to be moved over so I marked them and headed for the sewing machine.  When I came back she was huddled next to the gate to get back in with the main flock.  She looked so bad that I decided to let her go back in with them.  She'd still be cold and couldn't wear a jacket in with them, but least she'd be happy and what would happen, would happen.

That's her on the other side of Baaxter just a few minutes later.  Miraculously cured.  She spent the next hour or so either chumming around with him...or trying to beat him up.  I guess their "relationship status" would be listed as "it's complicated".  At least she's happy...and not dying.   

Sheep...

The reason everyone was allowed in Del Boca Vista was because I was switching out their plastic water tank with a new galvanized tank.  I have no idea why they are no longer happy drinking from the old tank, but water is important all the time and especially so when it's cold. 

I'd checked the tank, checked the heater, nothing seemed amiss.   Saint Tim had replaced the automatic waterer in the side field, but they no longer had access to that now with Lila and Pepperpot moved into that area.  Replacing the tank with a different style, material, color, whatever was worth a try.  Replacing it and building a new top (different size) with sheep "help"...was not going to be helpful.  I knew a free trip to DBV would be the perfect distraction.

The number one reason to "break into" DBV is to steal all of Allie's food and sleep in her bed.  You'd think it would be all the grass, but no.  Chocula is a repeat offender.  Look who his new sidekick is.  Yep, that's "sweet" little Muffin.  Even the chicken can't believe this bad behavior.

Look at the big wad of stolen hay.  Keep in mind that it's the exact same hay they all get.  She then proceeded to go around to the back side and rip half the plastic down.  

Kids...

Speaking of "kids", this is the funniest story of the day.  I noticed Buddy was involved in a bit of a scuffle mid afternoon.  I don't let anyone pick on old wobbly Buddy.  I headed into the barn lot to break it up and saw that actually no one was picking on Buddy.  Buddy was mixing it up with Murphy, the biggest sheep on the farm...over a girl!  Poor Renny.  

This went on all afternoon and into the evening with only short breaks here and there to grab a few bites.  I love the look on her face as she watches both morons during one of their short breaks.  I'm hoping things have settled down by the time I head out for the last barn check in a few minutes.  

Boys...

And We're Off

Well, 20 loaded me down for this year's Tour de Fleece.  I knew he would.  We're alike that way ;-). Since this seems to be the year of color, we settled on the Elizabeth blues, Murphy's gray, Chocula's light brown,  Petunia's darker brown, some white over gray core roving from Allie and gray over white core roving from Billy Belly.  Those last three are from deep in the SABLE*. 

The colorful batt in the bag came from a friend and is for one of the challenge days.  Not that I think the batt is going to be challenging, but the whole spinning red, green and white into one yarn...  I may have to add in a small ball of Plain White as an antidote.  This Tour will cure me or kill me!  

*Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy

I think the team ravatar turned out cute.  Muffin and Biscuit grazing nose to nose in the blooming clover :-).

Side by side. #Biscuit #Muffin #friends #sheepfriends

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Jun 30, 2017 at 3:00pm PDT

Just like in real life.

Thank you for all the kind words for Jester.  The very first wool I spun was Punkin's.  I sat down at a friend's wheel one afternoon and she got me started.  And while I was very excited to actually be making yarn, I found myself choking back tears.  It goes fast, that wool through your fingers. Those twelve years. Jester's seventeen.  I don't think I'll be spinning any Jester this year.

Soaking Up Some Sun

It's been a little colder than I'd like (down to 4 the night before last), but I've loved the snow! Walking out to the barn late at night to check on everyone and toss out a little more hay - everything is so bright and crunchy and sparkly and quiet and...  

We've been lucky and no wind.  Everyone can handle single digits when there is no wind. Beautiful sunshine yesterday.  Clouds moving in today and we are headed back to the mid 60s and rain in a couple days.  I (and the sheep, but maybe not the chickens ;-) will take sunny cold and frozen any day!   

Annabelly, Billy Belly and Heidi

Keebler and Allie

Keebs again

Buddy.  He may never have a cool 'do but he has awesome ear fuzz :-D.

Hershey, Hank and Liddy

Ewen

Oh, and from the department of if something weird is going to happen, it's going to happen to Maisie...here's a sort of funny Maisie story.

I did remember to unhook the hose from the hydrant last week, but forgot to drain said hose...so it's been full of ice for the last four or five days.  Not really a problem as I can carry buckets of water to refill the water tanks.  Just an inconvenience...much like the pioneers faced ;-).

The other night I was carrying out a big bucket of water.  Somehow Maisie bumped into it and got thoroughly splashed.  It was heading down to five that night (!).  Five and wet would be horrible, except it was Maisie, who has at least five or six inches of wool on her, so it probably hadn't reached her skin.

Still, I didn't want her to lie down and have it soak in, so I quickly (and sort of without thinking) started madly brushing as much water off her side as I could.  For those who've met the little darling, let's just stop and think about what happened next...

 At least I lived to tell the story ;-D.

Charge!!!

As soon as a gate is opened, any gate, but preferably one out to a field the flock hasn't been in for awhile, everyone comes running.  Even sheep who really can't run anymore.  This is Big Excitement in sheepland!  

Yesterday was Integration Day for the two "boys".  We need to use their paddock to park cars Saturday and they were ready anyway.  Both had started sleeping outside the barn next to the two gates into the main barn at night.

Charge!!!

Chocula has the jump and run down pat, but somehow Clover Belly got out ahead of him this time. That's Levi making a quick getaway in the foreground. 

Baby Belly, Daniel and Buddy.  The group charge is always cheered on by Buddy yelling at the top of his lungs.  This is also how I know if an Unscheduled Charge is taking place.  Buddy is always the very most excited...much to escapees chagrin ;-).

Lila and Renny

Now Boudreaux and Woolliam

Allie and PPPP, under the shade cloth.  Buddy, out front, didn't get very far before he started chowing down.

Maisie and Hershey, bringing up the rear.  Usually Maisie is out front.  She must have gotten stuck in a traffic jam ;-).

No  one got very far.  And they were far too interested in all that green grass to even think about the two boys.  I always like to integrate the main flock into the new sheep's area.  Not only does the main group have more interest in the fresh grass, but the new sheep know the 'lay of the land' and are more confident in familiar surroundings.

And interestingly, Bullwinkle had lived with the main flock for at least a month or two before Levi got here, right?  I know I have pictures of him with B. Willard and Petunia.  See, this is why I shouldn't have slacked off on the blog over the summer.  Bad records.  Anyway, Levi marched right over to the big group, but Bullwinkle stayed back out of the fray for quite a while.  When did Mr. Bossy get so bashful?

And to answer the earlier question about Kate...I was sitting on the Wool House porch knitting. Knitting!  Cooking I can understand.  Anything involving sharp knives or possibly burning the house down, sure!  Spinning I sort of get, too.   Your tail could get squished under a treadle or your pointy nose bumped in the turning wheels.  Knitting?  You're going to go sit under a tree, not able to bear watching me knit???

Sadly, she's probably pretty smart.  I was sitting there happily knitting away on the re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-start of the Renny sweater, thinking all was well.  I was knitting both sleeves at the same time and they were the same tension and same size.  I had over-dyed some of the pink yarn to a more fall color that I really liked.  I was plotting my next Yarn Along post sharing my great successes......

I still think the gauge is not good.  On the size 6 needles I think it's just too tight dense inelastic wrong.  I didn't really like the gauge on the size 7 needles any better though.  What am I going to do? I haven't wet blocked a size 7 sample.  I guess that should probably be my first step.  Although at this point I think I might join Kate under the tree :-/.

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The winner of the second giveaway is Renee :-D.  Send me your mailing information and which calendar you'd like!  I'll post the final winner tomorrow.  I'm thoroughly enjoying reading about everyone's favorite blog posts!  Blogging is a ton of work and it's so nice to know it's appreciated :-).