The Bottom Of The Pile

I had planned to share a Tour de Fleece post today with some more TdF spinning, but I started skirting my spring fleeces the other day...finally...and ended up pushing through to the end this afternoon and what a huge relief it is to have that job finished.

As I worked through big fleeces, small fleeces, beautiful fleeces, messy fleeces, surprising fleeces, favorite fleeces and finally reached the bottom of the stack...and there was Blossom.  

Oh!

Inhale...exhale...

Dear sweet Baba.  One of my very favorite sheep ever.  I still can't believe she's gone.

I've made and sold over 400 drop spindles over the years.  I would guess that Baba's roving was in at least 350 of them.  Her wool was so easy to spin that she was a perfect choice to help set up new spinners for success.  I'd love to know how many of them are still spinning.

I guess I'll use this last fleece for one last batch of spindles. Or maybe I'll keep it for myself.  I've always wanted to spin and knit a pair of boots socks.  She'd be perfect.

This doesn't look as impressive in the photo as it does in real life :-/.  There are 24 fleeces in there. Maisie's was already skirted and washed.  I took a few pictures as I worked and I'll get organized and post a fleece list in time for the start of the Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl that kicks off this coming weekend.  More on that to come.  

March

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Weekend Wrap Up

I'm going to try something new.  I've actually been thinking about doing this for a couple of years, but apparently needed the FB debacle to push me to actually do it.  

The Plan - even if I do some blog posts throughout the week (the ideal situation), I'm going to try to do a Weekend Wrap Up post that picks some important IG posts and shares them over here and on FB.

I hate that there are so many good (frequently really good) memories stored over on IG that never make this searchable blog.  While I don't care much at all about FB, I do care about the people who follow me over there and who are now missing all the daily posts.

At some point maybe I'll figure out a way to fix the FB issue, but at this point, a few posts are hopefully better than no posts.

And while there is much of this past week that I'd like to forget, that's not how life and farming works, so without further ado...the first Weekend Wrap Up.

* * * * * 

I'd like to start off by saying thank you for all the kind comments, messages and notes about Blossom.  I knew that was going to hit a lot of us really hard.  I still can't believe she's gone, but I hope she's out grazing along the creek with Hank and dancing in the moonlight. 

If you'd have asked me last Saturday, I'd have said shearing went great.  It did, as far as shearing goes.  Once again, after weeks of really nice weather, we got hit with a horrible cold snap and honestly I think it was worse than last year because it was still blasting us with a miserable cold wind today, eight days later.

I am definitely not going to forget any of that because it's going to dictate how I schedule things next year.  In the meantime, let's remember everyone out grazing that afternoon, the last warm day, and enjoy seeing Biscuit and Muffin still grazing side by side just as they have done since they were lambs :-).

Here's a short flock walk from Monday evening:

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While I don't like the story behind this picture, I do like the picture.

Jared was miserably cold.  On Wednesday, he finally felt well enough to leave the barn and sneak out to get his special second breakfast.  I nearly cried.  He started improving every day after that and was almost back to normal this afternoon.

On a happier note, I heard the first Purple Martins chirruping Friday afternoon.  They'd have been happier a week or two ago when it was warm and there were bugs everywhere, but they'll be happy tomorrow when it warms back up.  

This was a screen capture using the Merlin Bird app.  If you aren't already familiar with that, check it out.  Big fun!

While it might appear that I've just been wandering around lost in the Alaskan wilderness, I am still working on my Iknitarod project.  We'll get there eventually.

* * * * *

Okay, this wasn't too hard and on a better week, might actually be pretty fun to put together and hopefully I'll do more than just hit the high spots.  There were more pictures on IG and some pictures that never even got shared over there, so maybe I'll do a couple of catch (further) up posts.

On to the new week!

Pretty Baba

Blossom

April 2012 - March 18, 2024

I loved this picture Saturday night.  Now it just makes me sad.  We don't know what happened.  Everything was okay...until it wasn't.  Blossom was fine Saturday night and by Sunday morning was not.  Nothing we did helped and we lost her Monday morning.

Blossom was one of my very favorite lambs and continued to be a favorite her whole life.  She was a true character known best for her outstanding napping ability, sleeping through much of the day and then going out to graze by herself in the dark.  Once I got used to that odd behavior, I enjoyed seeing her out as I walked up to the barn for the last night check.

I made a small batch of drop spindles for the Shepherd's Market earlier this year.  As far as I can remember, those 12 kits are the only kits that didn't include Baba's roving (I was out).  Her fleece was beautiful and easy to spin and she was part of over 400 drop spindle kits over the years.  I'd love to know how many spinners got their start using her wool.

I wish I go back through the archives and pull out some of my favorite pictures, but I just can't yet.  I did go find one that long time readers will remember.  If you don't know about Baba and her cot, that would be a fun trip down memory lane.

She slept on that cot until it completely fell apart :'-).

Wait! I'm Here! I'm Here!

I'm off to a late start, but we are finally ready to hit the trail.  I'm still not 100% certain of what I'm making, but I'm going to be using the Lamb Camp Bottle Lamb yarn so I put everyone on the Ravatar with me.  I'll start knitting tomorrow.

When you aren't competitive and are mostly in the race for the experience, it's called a "camping trip".  That's going to be my plan for this year.  I'm going to enjoy spending time with some of my very best friends and hopefully have a vest to show for it at the end.

Can you identify all the sheep above?  A couple are a little vague, but the "characters" should be easily recognized :-).

One Last Christmas Post

These pictures from the same night as the Archie picture are too fun to not share and save over here, especially Short Round sitting out in the field wearing her lights.  Unfortunately these were all taken with my phone, so they are not as clear and sharp.  Still keepers though.

I'd love to be able to talk to Short Round and hear what she thinks about her life over here.  I think she gets a kick out of all the silly things we do :-).

My New Screen Saver

I set up the trail camera in the barn last night because I was curious as to what Baba was getting up to.  Remember, she's the oddball who likes to go out and graze by herself in the middle of the night. I knew she was doing something because the wooden gates I set up to keep Rocky tucked in are always pushed open by morning. 

She left the barn the first time at 10:30, just minutes after I turned off the lights.  Jared tried to go with her, but couldn't get up the nerve.  I actually think he might have just been looking for me.  She came back about ten minutes later, slept for a few hours and then got back up around 2:30 and headed out again.

Maisie doesn't miss a trick!

This time Maisie got up with her, but didn't make it past the ladder.  Most of the pictures are of her watching out the front door, chewing cud, but she must have noticed the quick flash of red light and looked over.  I would love to know what goes through her mind.  Maybe ;-).

Being the sheep/barn guardian, I wonder if she got up more to just watch out for Baba than thinking about going out to graze.  I think if she wanted something to eat, she'd have gone on out.  I'll put the camera back up tonight and see if this is their normal routine. 

In the meantime, I think this is going to be my new screen saver.  Both of us looking at each other saying "Go back to bed!" :-D

Spring Shine

Everything budded out early this year and right as the redbuds were getting ready to open...we got a hard freeze.  The redbud show is a highlight of spring and I was sick about probably missing it this year.  Not to worry.  The trees were smarter than me and had saved up buds to replace the damaged ones.

The bees have been enjoying them as well.  Bees of all shapes and sizes.  It seems like they all take turns finding their own "peak" time throughout the day.

Here are two favorite pictures from the last couple of days.  

And they are new puzzles :-).  

Enjoy!

Thank You, Eleanor

I am not the original "crazy sheep lady".  I laughingly introduced my friend Eleanor that way to some friends years ago and she fired back "Oh, you ain't far from me, sister!" When I decided to start using social media and found punkinsmom already taken, I became thecrazysheeplady.  Eleanor's husband is Saint Thom and Tim became Saint Tim.  They have both earned those names.

I would love to tell you a bunch of great Eleanor stories about bottle lambs we've enjoyed sharing and old sheep and good horses and great dogs and how she gave me Ewen McTeagle all those years ago...but I just can't.  It still stings too much.  Eleanor passed away fairly unexpectedly at the beginning of the year.

We traditionally shear sheep in the middle of March.  It usually works out okay.  This year, after so many weeks of way too hot winter weather, many days well up in the 70s and even one 80 degree day, the forecast for this weekend tanked. 

If it would have been possible to reschedule to a less frozen weekend, I sure would have, but shearing dates are hard to get and there was no way the sheep could have made it until much later in the spring.  I knew it was going to be rough, but I also knew we have a good set up and the experience to manage everyone as best we could.

Still...after a day of wind and rain on Friday (the pre-shearing fasting day) and the temps falling down into the 20s, I felt awful.  I hated sending my sheep to a cold bed on pretty much empty stomachs and I was so unhappy about them having to deal with a low of 19 just after being shorn the next day and 20 the following night that I sat in the kitchen and cried.

I want to stress again that if there had been any way to reschedule, I would have.  It would be almost impossible for me to shear 27 sheep myself and just 24 hours before they had been so hot that they were trying to shear themselves.  I knew that a couple of cold nights would be much easier and healthier than weeks of too hot, no matter how sad it made me.  

Just before the last night check I turned on my computer and saw a message from Eleanor's daughter.  

"Are there any coats or anything you need for any of your old sleep? I didn’t realize how much extras of things mom had and I’m not sure she did either lol"

She did not know we were shearing in the morning.  She did not know how upset I was.

What would possess Little E to send me a message about sheep coats for my old sheep at 10:13 at night on the night before a shearing I was dreading like no other.

Out of the blue.

.

.

.

Out of the blue.

I know where these coats came from.  

Thank you, Eleanor.

The younger sheep were all tucked into the middle stall together.  I'd added some extra wind breaks and we'd bedded them deep with fluffy straw over the warm straw pack.  I fed extra hay at midnight and while they weren't warm, they weren't miserable.  Everyone in Easy Breezy was happy with their jackets.

This morning the young sheep were all unsettled, up moving around looking pretty cold.  The coated sheep were still tucked in comfortably and sound asleep or happily chewing cud.  

We did not shear Rocky yesterday because I felt that at his age and after the rough winter he'd managed to make it through, that it would be safer to shear him myself once it warmed back up.  I can handle shearing a couple of sheep ;-).

Once the sun came out, everyone was much happier and the afternoon has been in the upper 30s and "warm".  I pulled the coats off of Maisie, Blossom and Short Round for a few minutes because I figured out a way to put two coats together to make them longer.  Maisie will still probably "show her butt"...but not because her jacket is too short ;-).

"Phbbbbbt!"

Both Maisie and Blossom walked over to me to get their coats back on when I finished.  Short Round was already settled into a hay bed on top of the compost pile, but I bet she'll be happy to get her coat back on his afternoon, too.  She didn't even question it last night.  

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I'm so grateful that you can enjoy some sweet dreams, Maisie.

And One More Thing

"I'm just going to head out for awhile.  Don't wait up."

In my late night effort to not get a week behind on the SOTW I forgot to tell Baba's most unique behavior.  I'm not sure if I just raised her to be extra independent or if she would have turned out this way on her own, but on the rare occasion I leave the farm, I always have to leave a note for our farm sitter.

"If you find a sheep left all by itself in the barn when everyone else goes out to graze, this is normally a sign of trouble.  However, if the sheep is a fat, fluffy white one who also has a big black dot on one ear, that's just Baba...and she's most likely just fine."

Baba could not care less if everyone else has left her to go out to pasture.  If she's not hungry or is enjoying a particularly good nap, she's not going.  She also does not care if everyone is bedded down for the night in the cozy barn.  If she's hungry, she's going to go out and graze.  In the dark.  By herself.

She has always been this way.  Her favorite place to graze used to be down by the creek.  This could be due to fond memories of hanging out there in the evenings with me, Hank and Betsy when she was a lamb.  

I used to not worry about her doing that when Hank was alive.  Now I don't let her (or any other sheep) go down there at night.  When she moved herself into Easy Breezy this winter, she was happy to find she could now go out into the securely fenced yard all night if she wanted...until Rocky started having so much vision trouble.

Rocky stays out in Del Boca Vista during the day, but I bring him into Easy Breezy at night so he has some company and a warm, soft bed and can only get a little lost.  Jared really doesn't like being in DBV and prefers to be indoors.  He takes care of Rocky during the day so he gets to choose where they sleep at night ;-).

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Because I don't want Rocky to wander out the front barn doors at night and either get lost or tangled up in something he can't see, I've started putting gates up to keep everyone safe inside.  This is not making Baba happy.  

This is bothering her so much so that she and I had a big knock down drag out about it last night.  A literal knock down, drag out.  She kept trying to knock down the wooden gates or at least drag them out of the way so she could go where she wanted.  I felt a bit like I was trying to put a toddler to bed.

The incident reminded me that I'd missed sharing this trait in her SOTW post.  Putting the February end of the month photo compilation reminded me that I had a good picture of her at night.  And now typing it up here has reminded me that I forgot to post the month end on here as well. 

Two posts in one day, twice in a week. I wish I was just really ambitious and not just disorganized ;-).

My Favorite Sheep...Of The Week

"It's me, Baba!  Actually my name is Blossom, but everyone calls me Baba or Babababa. I'm going to be 11 next month.  I've lived here since I was just a couple days old."

"This is one of my mom's favorite pictures of me."

"This is one of mine.  I jumped up on mom's camping cot when she moved me out to the barn and decided I wanted to sleep on a cot all the time.  I eventually got too big, but it was sure fun while it lasted."

Baba was a funny lamb.  She and Betsy were best friends and she loved Hank a lot too.  Blizzard ended up being her best sheep babysitter.  I'd forgotten about that.  She was always (and still is) a good napper.  The cot was the funniest thing though.  I think that cot lasted a couple of months out there!  

There are a bunch of good stories and pictures if you scroll back through.  You can either use the "Blossom" or "Baba" labels on the right hand side of the blog or jump back to the 2012 archives.  She got here in April.

Blossom is mostly Texel with some other breeds mixed in.  I've always loved her classic sheepy beauty.  She has produced an amazing amount of wool in her 11 years here.  Her wool is easy to process and spin and is a really good for beginning spinners.  I include it in every drop spindle kit.

She loves to watch what's going on around her...when she's awake.  There is an hysterical video of her on IG watching Archie playing in the straw when he was a kitten.  I'd love to include it here, but I'm tired and need to call it a night.  Maybe tomorrow.

How about a Jacob sheep for next week?  Any requests?

The Party And After Party

"When is this party starting!?!"

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Round Two :-)

The Yarn Might Not Be The Best Part

It might be the stories :-).

Mother's Day ended up being very busy, but in a good way.  The spring barn clean out, originally planned for Friday/Saturday, was rained out.  We were afraid the ground would still be too wet Sunday, but it dried up enough and Tim was able to knock it out.  Well, you don't just knock it out.  Cleaning the barn is an all day job.  I can't think of a better Mother's Day gift :-).

By late afternoon I was finally able to gather everything and set up a photo shoot under one of the redbud trees by the Wool House.  I mixed and matched and rearranged and fought the too bright light and then Betsy's head popped up in a perfect photobomb.  I love that she is in the picture.

Do you remember her babysitting the bottle lambs?  She loved to sleep in the crate with the lambs, especially if there was a heat lamp involved.  Curling up with a warm lamb was a close second.  I'm not sure Maisie ever took a nap without Betsy.

I don't think Betsy knows her lambs are in this yarn blend, but it's sweet to think that she does and wanted to be part of the pictures.  To make it even better, I told a little story about Betsy and her lambs in the booklet.  Do you remember which lamb ruined it for her?

The bright sun did work out in my favor to help show off the little stitch markers -  sky blue, grass green, tree green, dandelion yellow and redbud pink.  These are my favorite type of stitch markers for knitting.  I haven't learned how to make crochet markers yet, but I enjoyed learning a little about beads and wire and I doubt this is the end of it :-).

The stitch markers are hanging around their necks like a sheep bell and can be easily removed to use or can just stay part of the decoration.  Do you remember which lamb wore the first bell and why?

The yarn wrapped ornaments are for the small gift boxes and the unwrapped ornaments are for the yarn kits.  There will also be a little bit of Blossom roving tucked in the yarn kits so you can wrap your own with any leftover yarn.  It's not a surprise why I picked Blossom to help with them and that is part of her story in the booklet.

This shady tree is actually the redbud tree most loved by lambs...and cats and dogs and chickens and lamb moms.  Remember Early sleeping next to the yard sheep?  He knew they were real sheep, too, and you still can't tell us any different.  

So...that's Early and Abby on the bag logo, yarn tags and leather tag.  They are an important part of our story here and I didn't want them to be left out just because they couldn't contribute any wool.  I loved sitting out under this tree with them tucked against my legs.  Using them in the logo helps a little.

The drawstring bags are a handy 10"x12" size, just perfect for a skein or two of yarn or a small project. The booklet tucks nicely in there as well.  

The booklet was a true labor of love.  I thought it would be easy to write up some stories, describe each sheep's wool, find some good pictures and send it off to the printer.  Phew!  The stories weren't too hard other than trying to pick out what stories I wanted to tell.  I could probably write whole chapters on each sheep...and maybe I will someday.

The problem was the pictures.  Those early lambs lived here long before I had a decent camera or even any real practice at taking pictures.  I love the pictures I have, but they do not compare to the pictures of the more recent lambs.  I wanted Punkin to look as good as Biscuit.  

I played around with several styles and finally settled on a sort of pen and ink/wood block sort of look.  I used the original photographs to make sketches and then a fun iPad app to turn them into black and white line drawings and then fine tuned them with another drawing app.  I enjoyed learning how to do this and it was fun to spend a little extra time with each lamb.

The booklet not only has pictures and stories about the lambs, but also a bit about their breed(s) and fleece.  There's also a little story about how the yarn came about and how I became thecrazysheeplady.  Karen Battersby designed a beautiful lamb sweater using the yarn and the pattern for that is included as well.  Even if you don't have a baby lamb to dress, it could easily be adapted for a small dog or agreeable cat :-).

About the yarn.  Each skein is 250 yards of worsted weight yarn and weighs around 4.4 ounces.  I find it knits comfortably to the gauge of around five stitches per inch and is a very nice versatile yarn with good Punkin's Patch character.  It's soft and cuddly, but hard working enough to do most any job.  

As this blend can never be replicated, it's a very limited offering and will only be for sale here on the blog.  Feel free to share this post with your friends, but I'd rather it didn't get posted to the wider public.  There's not much of it and I want to make sure everyone who's been along for the ride, new or old, gets first dibs.

This is my favorite picture from the shoot.  Isn't it a bit funny that Betsy came over here as well?  Maybe she can smell her lambs in there.  

* * * * *

The yarn box includes 1, 2 or 3+ skeins of Lamb Camp bottle lamb yarn, the lamb stories booklet, drawstring bag, plain ornament, spring stitch markers, a leather Lamb Camp tag and a fun surprise gift.  

         One skein $52    Two skeins $77    Three skeins $102 

If you are wanting a sweater quantity of yarn or unwashed yarn for weaving, drop me an email.   

The ornament box includes a Lamb Camp bottle lamb yarn wrapped ornament with the spring stitch markers and leather tag attached, the drawstring bag, lamb stories booklet and the fun surprise gift.

$36

As always, if you are interested in purchasing something from the farm shop, just send me an email and let me know what you'd like.  I'd also love to hear who your favorite lamb is or your favorite lamb story.  Even if you aren't interested in purchasing a Lamb Camp box, I'd love to hear about your favorites :-).

Shipping is always a struggle these days.  If you would like a shipping quote, I am happy to get that for you.

You are also always welcome to come to the farm and visit the sheep and save your shipping costs entirely.  Punkin's Patch won't be setting up at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival later this month, but I'll be around that weekend and we would all love a visit :-).  Please send me an email to let me know you are coming.

We hope you love our yarn :-)

Thecrazysheeplady, Punkin, PPPP, Ewen McTeagle, Keebler, Graham Lamb, Baaxter Black, Lila, Liddy, Blossom, Maisie, Bullwinkle and Biscuit