Oh, sigh. Summer slips by. I've accomplished some spinning, some selling of the new rovings I finished, and have been busy running into Dearborn and Detroit to visit with the folks.
If I can manage to acquire a digital camera, I'll be posting all kinds of photos.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Friday, June 8, 2007
I refuse to admit that a month has passed since I last blogged. More lambs birthed, doctors' appointments hither and yon, and just this month an emergency canine c-section to deliver Border collie pups.
The c-section (in the wee hours of a Sunday morning, thus an emergency) preceded a shaky 36 hours when Hope (mother dog) developed free fluid in her abdomen, the smallest pup developed seizures and was put down, and because of Hope's problems I took on the task of tube feeding pups every two hours, 'round the clock. This taught me that it has been eons since my days of pulling all-nighters in college. Yawn....I'm SO old!
After a second, exploratory, surgery, Hope spent the remainder of the week "in hospital" with yours truly chauffering pups to her in the morning and then home here to the farm at night so I could feed them. She was frantic without the pups, but wasn't in any shape to keep them with her unless someone was watching, thus the back-and-forth.
The pups (1 girl, 2 guys) will be 2 weeks old this weekend. Although they were premature, their eyes are starting to open. Within another week, I imagine they'll try to walk even though their eyes won't really be able to see much for awhile. It always seems like a day arrives when they determine that they are no longer allowed to crawl and must walk...whether or not they fall over constantly or have trouble getting to where they want to go.
It's been four years since BC pups graced the farm (well actually, a plastic swimming pool in my bedroom right now, as Hope wanted to hide them initially and between the two surgeries was absolutely psychotic; a situation that stopped with the second surgery and euthanasia of what she apparently knew was an abnormal pup). I'd forgotten how absolutely adorable puppies are and what good mothers they have here!
The doggie doings kept me from the shop, where tons of work awaits. At least I've been knitting here, making progress on several (numerous) pairs of socks of all sizes and types.
And, right after I ordered more #1 dpns, I found a bunch in a "lost" needle roll. Well, one can never be too prepared for sock knitting!
Off to catch up on all the sleep I've lost as this month began....
The c-section (in the wee hours of a Sunday morning, thus an emergency) preceded a shaky 36 hours when Hope (mother dog) developed free fluid in her abdomen, the smallest pup developed seizures and was put down, and because of Hope's problems I took on the task of tube feeding pups every two hours, 'round the clock. This taught me that it has been eons since my days of pulling all-nighters in college. Yawn....I'm SO old!
After a second, exploratory, surgery, Hope spent the remainder of the week "in hospital" with yours truly chauffering pups to her in the morning and then home here to the farm at night so I could feed them. She was frantic without the pups, but wasn't in any shape to keep them with her unless someone was watching, thus the back-and-forth.
The pups (1 girl, 2 guys) will be 2 weeks old this weekend. Although they were premature, their eyes are starting to open. Within another week, I imagine they'll try to walk even though their eyes won't really be able to see much for awhile. It always seems like a day arrives when they determine that they are no longer allowed to crawl and must walk...whether or not they fall over constantly or have trouble getting to where they want to go.
It's been four years since BC pups graced the farm (well actually, a plastic swimming pool in my bedroom right now, as Hope wanted to hide them initially and between the two surgeries was absolutely psychotic; a situation that stopped with the second surgery and euthanasia of what she apparently knew was an abnormal pup). I'd forgotten how absolutely adorable puppies are and what good mothers they have here!
The doggie doings kept me from the shop, where tons of work awaits. At least I've been knitting here, making progress on several (numerous) pairs of socks of all sizes and types.
And, right after I ordered more #1 dpns, I found a bunch in a "lost" needle roll. Well, one can never be too prepared for sock knitting!
Off to catch up on all the sleep I've lost as this month began....
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
A red letter day: I started the knit-addicted stash-stowing task. I finally decided I'd better look at everything I own and categorize it by yarn type. I am soooo embarrassed. I have stuff I forgot about, totally. I found a pair of 3/4s done mittens on the needle still. And one finished mitten out of some of my handspun, with the ribbing cuff of the second on a needle. And....If I knit a pair of socks a week, I'll use up the sock yarn I already have in, oh, a matter of years or so! (That won't stop me from lusting after new sock yarns.)
After much cogitation, I settled on the following categories for yarn: superwash wools, feltable wools, sock yarn, alpaca, silks or silk blends, and novelty (ribbons, mostly). I have an excess of fuschia in all fibers, which I vaguely recall collecting for a specific project whose characteristics escape me now. I know it was for someone else, not myself. Hmmm.
Naturally, the impetus for doing all this....looking for two specific yarns I NEED to finish two pairs of socks....led to disappointment. I found every type of yarn BUT the ones I was looking for. I can visualize them in bags with other yarns, but those specific two bags are nowhere to be found. I might be making "fraternal" twins for the second socks, and hope nobody looks too closely.
Ron sent me home with an orphan, sick little lamb two days ago. I've been bottle feeding him regularly and giving him antibiotics and supportive nutrients. He seems less "hot" (temperature going down) but remains very stiff and doesn't move around much. This morning I gave him tetanus antitoxin in addition to antibiotic shots, and a few hours later he tried to follow the other sheep out to the field. He couldn't keep up and made it out of the barn but then started bleating pitifully. I carried him out to the pasture and put him down in the clean grass. I'm a proponent of fresh air and sunshine! At least he's brighter eyed and trying to move around.
I'm also feeding one of a set of triplets, who is now a real pet, running up to me, following me around, talking to me. In a pen in the barn, I have a ewe with mastitis and her twins, who also drink a bottle twice a day. I gave the ewe a big dose of penicillin this morning. She eats well and is hale and hearty even though she's 10 years old. I hope the antibiotic helps. I'd hate to think it's her last year here.
All these "bottle babies" must be payback for my bragging that I don't get pet lambs from my good ewes! I normally don't keep anything that can't raise its lambs, and that way have reached the point where I usually don't have "bummer" lambs that need bottle feeding. This year is payback, I guess!
I want to start the sweater for my nephew, out of hand spun yarn from "his" sheep (born the same day he was). With all the books and patterns I've searched, I still haven't settled on a design. I'd like something with simple cables or something to make it less generic. I know he'd like a hood! He loves hats of all kinds.
It's been beautifully warm and sunny during the days, but at 6 a.m. I need a jacket. Yesterday morning, I even wore the great hat made from Rowen super chunky wool that my SP sent to me...Thanks, Pal!!
After much cogitation, I settled on the following categories for yarn: superwash wools, feltable wools, sock yarn, alpaca, silks or silk blends, and novelty (ribbons, mostly). I have an excess of fuschia in all fibers, which I vaguely recall collecting for a specific project whose characteristics escape me now. I know it was for someone else, not myself. Hmmm.
Naturally, the impetus for doing all this....looking for two specific yarns I NEED to finish two pairs of socks....led to disappointment. I found every type of yarn BUT the ones I was looking for. I can visualize them in bags with other yarns, but those specific two bags are nowhere to be found. I might be making "fraternal" twins for the second socks, and hope nobody looks too closely.
Ron sent me home with an orphan, sick little lamb two days ago. I've been bottle feeding him regularly and giving him antibiotics and supportive nutrients. He seems less "hot" (temperature going down) but remains very stiff and doesn't move around much. This morning I gave him tetanus antitoxin in addition to antibiotic shots, and a few hours later he tried to follow the other sheep out to the field. He couldn't keep up and made it out of the barn but then started bleating pitifully. I carried him out to the pasture and put him down in the clean grass. I'm a proponent of fresh air and sunshine! At least he's brighter eyed and trying to move around.
I'm also feeding one of a set of triplets, who is now a real pet, running up to me, following me around, talking to me. In a pen in the barn, I have a ewe with mastitis and her twins, who also drink a bottle twice a day. I gave the ewe a big dose of penicillin this morning. She eats well and is hale and hearty even though she's 10 years old. I hope the antibiotic helps. I'd hate to think it's her last year here.
All these "bottle babies" must be payback for my bragging that I don't get pet lambs from my good ewes! I normally don't keep anything that can't raise its lambs, and that way have reached the point where I usually don't have "bummer" lambs that need bottle feeding. This year is payback, I guess!
I want to start the sweater for my nephew, out of hand spun yarn from "his" sheep (born the same day he was). With all the books and patterns I've searched, I still haven't settled on a design. I'd like something with simple cables or something to make it less generic. I know he'd like a hood! He loves hats of all kinds.
It's been beautifully warm and sunny during the days, but at 6 a.m. I need a jacket. Yesterday morning, I even wore the great hat made from Rowen super chunky wool that my SP sent to me...Thanks, Pal!!
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Yaawwwn....zzzz.....baaa!
This morning the "old gray mare" (an elderly sheep) finally went into labor and produced a huge and extremely oddly colored ewe lamb. The old lady's belly still looks huge, but there aren't any more lambs in there....I think she's just showing the aftermath of age, pregnancy, and sagging muscles. (I can sympathize with the latter, at least! After adolescence, gravity is NOT our friend!)
The lamb seems determined to nurse on the side of the udder that is "dead"....has no milk due to a case of mastitis last year. The good side hangs much lower, which lambs usually catch on to once they've found it, but this one seems a bit dense where that's concerned. I fed her 4 oz. of replacement Colostrix from a bottle this evening. I didn't want to feed her much, because I want her to keep trying on the ewe until she learns where the milk comes from.
This mom was the last of the ewes to lamb here at FenCroft. There are more of the Leicester flock yet to lamb over on Pleasant Lake Rd., at one of friend Ron's farms, and there might be a yearling or three bred to lamb in about a month or more here at home. One is showing a tiny, tiny bit of "bag" (udder), but I can't tell if any others are pregnant.
A knitting disaster (well, sort of): In my hurry to run to the barn for a quick check, I failed to hide my project bag and came back into the house to find the ends chewed off of all the needles in a sock-in-progress, and a set of (gag! horrors!) EBONY double points slipped out of their paper package and chewed in halves. Believe it or not, none of the stitches fell off the sock in progress (it's just a simple plain Jane sock); however, slipping the stitches over munched bamboo led to a bit of frustration because just about every stitch caught, snagged, split, or something. The culprit? One of the greyhounds. I honestly am not sure whether it's Jello or Dottie. I'm not willing to sacrifice any more dpns just to see who has turned criminally inclined. (I could leave them one at a time with a tempting knitting bag in sight and within reach.)
The lamb born this morning is very odd: Snow white head with big black circles around her eyes, very black legs and belly with two very white "bracelets" around her back legs, big very black spots on her body, but these are on a background of mottled gray....kind of like a blue merle dog. Her father is white and her mother's black (well, gray with age now); her grandparents were moorit badger and gray, moorit and gray badger. She is definitely a California Variegated Mutant of a different variety.
A swarm of honey bees went at my apple trees today. As I approached a gate to shut the sheep out of the pasture south of my house, I could hear the bees buzzing when I was still about 15 feet away from the tree. They looked like they were in heaven. The apple trees have more blossoms than I've ever seen before. I'm not sure how that will translate to fruit, but if bees polinating them is a good thing, then I might as well think positively! I don't use pesticides (because of the birds, etc.), so I never get a very good crop....sheep feed is about it. It will be interesting to see what happens this year. The pear trees didn't have as many blossoms, and my two peach trees look dismal. Rhubarb survived the sheep attack of last year, and is coming back. I think I'll leave it this year and not pick any, since the plants are definitely smaller than before last spring's sheep feast.
I actually bought new batteries for my camera so I can show knitting works and critters here, but now I can't find them. I'll blame it on the fact that I've had few full nights of sleep in the past month. The day before that old ewe lambed, I spend two hours walking the farm, trying to find her. I swear she was constantly moving to where I had just looked, sneaking around behind me, because it shouldn't take two hours to find a full grown sheep, off on its own, in a space that's only a total of about seven acres. She had been hiding the day before that, and I was worried that she'd have trouble lambing or the lambs would need help eating, so when I finally found her last night, I "herded" her a couple hundred yards back into the barn, where I gave her a big pen, hay, and fresh water. Since she lambed so early this morning, I'm glad she was in the barn and I didn't have to search again!
They're predicting dry weather for another four days or so....that will probably be the first solid week to ten days that it has not rained here this year. I'm afraid we're looking at very little rain this summer....not good for pastures or those of us who have to buy hay for next winter.
Enough! I can actually go to bed without first going out to the barn. Sigh. Bliss.
The lamb seems determined to nurse on the side of the udder that is "dead"....has no milk due to a case of mastitis last year. The good side hangs much lower, which lambs usually catch on to once they've found it, but this one seems a bit dense where that's concerned. I fed her 4 oz. of replacement Colostrix from a bottle this evening. I didn't want to feed her much, because I want her to keep trying on the ewe until she learns where the milk comes from.
This mom was the last of the ewes to lamb here at FenCroft. There are more of the Leicester flock yet to lamb over on Pleasant Lake Rd., at one of friend Ron's farms, and there might be a yearling or three bred to lamb in about a month or more here at home. One is showing a tiny, tiny bit of "bag" (udder), but I can't tell if any others are pregnant.
A knitting disaster (well, sort of): In my hurry to run to the barn for a quick check, I failed to hide my project bag and came back into the house to find the ends chewed off of all the needles in a sock-in-progress, and a set of (gag! horrors!) EBONY double points slipped out of their paper package and chewed in halves. Believe it or not, none of the stitches fell off the sock in progress (it's just a simple plain Jane sock); however, slipping the stitches over munched bamboo led to a bit of frustration because just about every stitch caught, snagged, split, or something. The culprit? One of the greyhounds. I honestly am not sure whether it's Jello or Dottie. I'm not willing to sacrifice any more dpns just to see who has turned criminally inclined. (I could leave them one at a time with a tempting knitting bag in sight and within reach.)
The lamb born this morning is very odd: Snow white head with big black circles around her eyes, very black legs and belly with two very white "bracelets" around her back legs, big very black spots on her body, but these are on a background of mottled gray....kind of like a blue merle dog. Her father is white and her mother's black (well, gray with age now); her grandparents were moorit badger and gray, moorit and gray badger. She is definitely a California Variegated Mutant of a different variety.
A swarm of honey bees went at my apple trees today. As I approached a gate to shut the sheep out of the pasture south of my house, I could hear the bees buzzing when I was still about 15 feet away from the tree. They looked like they were in heaven. The apple trees have more blossoms than I've ever seen before. I'm not sure how that will translate to fruit, but if bees polinating them is a good thing, then I might as well think positively! I don't use pesticides (because of the birds, etc.), so I never get a very good crop....sheep feed is about it. It will be interesting to see what happens this year. The pear trees didn't have as many blossoms, and my two peach trees look dismal. Rhubarb survived the sheep attack of last year, and is coming back. I think I'll leave it this year and not pick any, since the plants are definitely smaller than before last spring's sheep feast.
I actually bought new batteries for my camera so I can show knitting works and critters here, but now I can't find them. I'll blame it on the fact that I've had few full nights of sleep in the past month. The day before that old ewe lambed, I spend two hours walking the farm, trying to find her. I swear she was constantly moving to where I had just looked, sneaking around behind me, because it shouldn't take two hours to find a full grown sheep, off on its own, in a space that's only a total of about seven acres. She had been hiding the day before that, and I was worried that she'd have trouble lambing or the lambs would need help eating, so when I finally found her last night, I "herded" her a couple hundred yards back into the barn, where I gave her a big pen, hay, and fresh water. Since she lambed so early this morning, I'm glad she was in the barn and I didn't have to search again!
They're predicting dry weather for another four days or so....that will probably be the first solid week to ten days that it has not rained here this year. I'm afraid we're looking at very little rain this summer....not good for pastures or those of us who have to buy hay for next winter.
Enough! I can actually go to bed without first going out to the barn. Sigh. Bliss.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Where went April?
Lambs, lambs, everywhere, and every one does bleat! I'm beginnning to hear sheep in my sleep (and believe me, sheep farmers do NOT count ovines to fall asleep).
A month and more passed without me even noticing. That emphasises just how busy things are around here! And this week we did more shearing of Ron's flock.
A highlight of the month: A BIG THANK YOU to my Secret Pal. I received the most wonderful Rowan super bulky yarn and a pattern for a hat to make with it (a one-hour project, just my style!), needles, and a plethora of adorable sheep items: little notepad with pen, magnet, ornament (now hanging on my rear view mirror), farm puffy stickers, cute card, and all wrapped in pretty pink paper with fantastic sheep ribbon!! And the ribbon matched the notepad and magnet! I'm super impressed.
I've been working on various sock projects during the "waiting times" either at doc's offices or during lambing vigils. I even found one finished sock in an old bag that I'd forgotten completely. Now, if only I can find the matching 50 gram ball of yarn for its mate!
I bought new batteries for my Nikon, so I hope I can take a roll of film, have it put onto disc, and then post photos to this blog...knitting, sheep, etc.
I'll be having another minor surgery May 18th: Hope all the lambs have arrived before then! No big deal, but I won't feel like doing chores for a few days, so I'll find someone to feed the sheep...I hope. Maybe they'll be out on pasture by then.
Back out to check on the beasties....
A month and more passed without me even noticing. That emphasises just how busy things are around here! And this week we did more shearing of Ron's flock.
A highlight of the month: A BIG THANK YOU to my Secret Pal. I received the most wonderful Rowan super bulky yarn and a pattern for a hat to make with it (a one-hour project, just my style!), needles, and a plethora of adorable sheep items: little notepad with pen, magnet, ornament (now hanging on my rear view mirror), farm puffy stickers, cute card, and all wrapped in pretty pink paper with fantastic sheep ribbon!! And the ribbon matched the notepad and magnet! I'm super impressed.
I've been working on various sock projects during the "waiting times" either at doc's offices or during lambing vigils. I even found one finished sock in an old bag that I'd forgotten completely. Now, if only I can find the matching 50 gram ball of yarn for its mate!
I bought new batteries for my Nikon, so I hope I can take a roll of film, have it put onto disc, and then post photos to this blog...knitting, sheep, etc.
I'll be having another minor surgery May 18th: Hope all the lambs have arrived before then! No big deal, but I won't feel like doing chores for a few days, so I'll find someone to feed the sheep...I hope. Maybe they'll be out on pasture by then.
Back out to check on the beasties....
Thursday, March 22, 2007
What a week! Squeezed in a biopsy, a couple Dr. appointments, and shearing the sheep...and it's not quite Friday, yet.
Looks like there'll be more minor surgery (in and out the same day, we're hoping) on April 20, with a few appointments to take up time before then. At least right now it doesn't look like anything Big, which is good since the wee lambs will be popping next month! The biopsy didn't show anything really Bad but wasn't totally Normal either, so it will be a relief to have the procedure over with and, with luck, get back to "normal" for a middle-aged lady!
The fleeces on the CVM/Romeldale flock are beautiful this year. I guess all the corn I've been feeding helped. I managed to last through the 34 sheep here, but didn't make it over to Ron's in the afternoon when they did the rest of my 50 Border Leicester/Bluefaced Leicester/Cheviot ewes. I handed the guys boxes of big heavy bags to put individual fleeces in, but I have no idea what kind of mess I'll find when I open those sacks! Ron warned me that they had a lot of chaff in their fleeces.
I had about 28 of the sheep here covered with coats, so those fleeces are spotless. I'll have to give serious consideration to entering some in wool competitions this summer. I have lots of shades of gray and moorit, and some have exceptional crimp. They all feel soft, too. Fun!
I've been sore and tired since the biopsy on Monday, but I'm hoping that a prescription they phoned into the pharmacy for me today will get me back among the world of the living. I've been doing chores (more than I'm supposed to be tackling, but sheep gotta eat), then basically putting my feet up. Have not even done much knitting (except in the waiting rooms of doctor offices).
It's officially Spring: thunderstorms this a.m. had the dogs refusing to go outside until the sun came out around 10!
Looks like there'll be more minor surgery (in and out the same day, we're hoping) on April 20, with a few appointments to take up time before then. At least right now it doesn't look like anything Big, which is good since the wee lambs will be popping next month! The biopsy didn't show anything really Bad but wasn't totally Normal either, so it will be a relief to have the procedure over with and, with luck, get back to "normal" for a middle-aged lady!
The fleeces on the CVM/Romeldale flock are beautiful this year. I guess all the corn I've been feeding helped. I managed to last through the 34 sheep here, but didn't make it over to Ron's in the afternoon when they did the rest of my 50 Border Leicester/Bluefaced Leicester/Cheviot ewes. I handed the guys boxes of big heavy bags to put individual fleeces in, but I have no idea what kind of mess I'll find when I open those sacks! Ron warned me that they had a lot of chaff in their fleeces.
I had about 28 of the sheep here covered with coats, so those fleeces are spotless. I'll have to give serious consideration to entering some in wool competitions this summer. I have lots of shades of gray and moorit, and some have exceptional crimp. They all feel soft, too. Fun!
I've been sore and tired since the biopsy on Monday, but I'm hoping that a prescription they phoned into the pharmacy for me today will get me back among the world of the living. I've been doing chores (more than I'm supposed to be tackling, but sheep gotta eat), then basically putting my feet up. Have not even done much knitting (except in the waiting rooms of doctor offices).
It's officially Spring: thunderstorms this a.m. had the dogs refusing to go outside until the sun came out around 10!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Secret Pal10 "pals" have been assigned...
I received my SP10 "assignment" and also received a nice email from my secret pal. As somebody, myself, who is around yarns, etc. every day, it will be soooo fun picking out things for my SP. Marj, owner of the LYS, will be thrilled about it too, I'm sure. And it is always fun to share with "the gals" at the LYS not only the incoming but the outgoing packages! Let the shopping begin! (Oh, how I love shopping!) 
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