A Nice Day

...that isn't today :-o.

Yesterday was up in the 70s.  Tonight it's going down to 17.   (!)

Finally Fall

Fall finally arrived and we got one good rain that has helped regrow a little grass, but not what we really need going into late fall and winter.  We definitely could have used some more rain, but we are grateful for what we did get. The hay stash is going to be important again this year.  At least it's cooled off.

I can't type between the pictures for some reason, so you'll have to identify everyone by heart and memory.  

How about a new puzzle.  This is a fun and easy one :-).

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Murphy

As we drew near the end of the Solstice Sheep this week I started counting who was still out.  Five to go.  Who were they...Liddy, Tavia, Tessa, Burrnie and Murphy.  Then I was down to three and I drew Liddy and then there were just two.  Ooh, wouldn't it be fun if Murphy was the last one?

I fed Bea and the cats and put the kettle on and finally got up my nerve to pull today's tag...Dang it,  Murphy!  Wouldn't that have been a great story if the sheep who is best known for being the first out every dang day of the year turned out to be the very last sheep on the Solstice calendar?  Oh well, it's still a pretty good story.

I've been sharing everyone's favorite treats and at first glance this picture doesn't appear to be a treat picture, but it is.  Besides being the leader of the flock, Murphy's main claim to fame is opening gates.  So much so that there were some many times I toyed with sticking him in a big cardboard box with, or sometimes without, air holes and shipping him back to New York.

Murphy's motivation for opening gates is always food related and his main goal in life these days is to move into Easy Breezy (on the other side of this gate).  Oh, he doesn't want to move into a retirement home.  He just wants to steal their food.  

Murphy is obsessed with any treats, but is especially fond of the chopped alfalfa fed to the Easy Breezy sheep.  

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Mini Moose

Mini Moose is a sheep as nice as he looks.  And he's about as un-Mini as he can get, but he's also a lot of floof.  You can stick your hand down into his wool and there's not much hand left sticking out.  That floof is one of my all time favorite fleeces.

I have a wool post in the works that I just haven't had time to put together, but I'll tease you with a couple of pictures of Mini Moose's wool.  There's a whole lot more to the story though, so don't let me forget to come back to it.

I know you'll want to hear more about this.

That little hint of gray mixed in.

Mini Moose is one of the sweetest sheep we've had and I'm sure that's partly due to who his dad is, one of the Nistock rams.  He's a Rocky grandson.  He came over here from Final Frontier Farm with Cheeto and Big Moose back in 2019.  

Mini Moose got his name just after he was born.  We didn't get many gray lambs and after Big Moose arrived and he was So Big that I immediately called him Big Moose, the next gray lamb born was much smaller...hence Mini Moose.  Both boys were lambing shed favorites and I couldn't resist bringing them over here after they were weaned.  

Jacobs aren't large sheep, but standing next to Tessa really illustrates how un-Mini he ended up.  I would guess him at almost 300 pounds.  He definitely was when he was a year or two younger.  His fleece weighs in around 10 pounds each year.  I think you could pretty easily knit three sweaters from him every year and I have one in my queue.

Mini Moose's favorite treat is handfuls of the "good alfalfa" :-).

2023 Tour De Fleece Wrap Up

I didn't spin quite as much yarn as last year, but I'm not too far off.  I did spin at least 15 minutes every day, taking the Tour's two rest days when I needed them, and ended up with well over five hours of spinning in total.  I wish I could commit to 15 a day all year.  Or not "commit" to it, but just enjoy doing it without needing the structure.  

I ended up with a whole basket of yarn I really like. 

The red is the yarn from Blaze, my friend's sheep.  The dark gray is Tessa.  The creamy white is Ellie.

I love when the yarn looks just like the sheep.  Ellie is definitely round, soft and cuddly.

Murphy is quite a "sheep with too much character" most of the time, but he grows some beautiful wool.  This light gray skein is especially soft and I would bet most people would pick it as their favorite.

The beautiful medium gray is Mini Moose.  I spun a sample from him last year and it was one of my favorite yarns I've ever spun.  This skein did not let me down.

Another sheep who never lets me down is Muffin.  She's finally starting to get some gray hairs, but I actually like that better than her solid black lamb fleece.  I think it gives her yarn some depth. Can you believe she and Biscuit are six (!).  

I was going to link to the finished black and white sweater, but as I scrolled through the March posts looking for the best post, I decided 20 catching up with us on the trail might be my favorite.  Lots of reminders of what was going on and now that's over and I love my finished sweater, I have to admit it was all pretty fun :-).

I didn't get a great shot of Big Moose (the little dark gray skein), but it's too hot to go back out and try for a new one.  I took some "in process" shots while I was combing it, so he'll (hopefully) get some more attention in a day or so.

We are continuing on spinning this week in support of the women's race.  I decided I'd only spin ewes so I've spun a little bit of Emily and Annebelly for old times sake and am now working on a bobbin of Cheeto so Big Moose could bring his mom along for the ride :-).

Yarn Shots

First I was just going to quickly post the new and improved yarn shot, but then I thought it might be interesting to share the before and after pictures to show how different they actually were.  I loaded the big girl camera shot...

 ...and...that's not what it looks like on my camera and computer and in real life.  

Oh right, I'd forgotten that Blogger "auto enhances" our pictures to "improve" them.  There is a way to turn that "feature" off, but it's fairly complicated and involves services I don't really use, so...whatever.  Yeesh.  I'll post the picture directly to IG and see what happens there.

Here's a picture of a smiling Wool House :-).  This little fence has been used for way more than stopping chickens from digging up my flowers this summer.  I love hanging yarn on it and it's perfect for drying towels and sheets as well.  

The main Tour de France/Fleece is wrapping up this week, but there's still the women's race next week so our group is spinning on.  So far I've spun Tessa, Blaze, Murphy, Muffin and Ellie.  I'm counting Tessa even though she was technically a warm up spin.

If you've been spinning for the Tour, how's it been going? 

Meanwhile, Back To My Favorite Sheep...Of The Week

I started this post near the beginning of May in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  Their breed selection for this year was Jacobs, so I had picked Tessa to be our sheep of the week.

My favorite picture of Tessa is posted on IG somewhere, I'm thinking during Wovember or Fiberuary, but I haven't had time to scroll back through hundreds of pictures to find it.  That's my only real complaint about IG, that there's no good way to search my account.  The rest of that app I really enjoy and am so glad to have it.  It's such a fun diary of our daily life, especially when I can't seem to keep the blog current.

Tessa doesn't get much "press" around here, but none of the Jacobs do, really.  They prefer it that way.  In fact, other than Tabitha, who is happy to come up and jab you with one of her upright horns to make you give her whatever treats you are holding (but no touching!), they'd all prefer if no one noticed they were even here.  "Just toss us the cookies from a distance, please!"

Tessa (in the middle) is not super true to breed standard, fleece-wise, but she's always the one I choose for a fun spin.  Her color blend is gorgeous and her longer and while all good Jacob is easy to spin, her coarser wool practically spins itself.  I don't mind her extra texture at all.  While I might not put it right up next to my face, I wouldn't think twice about using it in any other application.

She's always been a bit, um, apple dumpling shaped and that also is not really breed standard...unless they are getting ready to have triplets ;-).  She's not a big treat eater and she would never stoop to walking up for a scratch, but if I have everyone penned up, she'll tolerate a little attention.

This is as close to a baby picture as I have.  If I stumble over the beautiful IG picture somewhere, I'll add it in.  And if not, I'll go take a new one in the fall.

Procrastination

I wanted to get a post written with some photography news, but I didn't think I had enough time so I threw together a quick puzzle...and then couldn't help working it...which was about the same amount of time it would have taken to write a blog post...

Get busy out there! 

* * * * *

Quick note:  the 2022 calendars are finally finished and have "gone to print".  I'll post more details tomorrow (No. Puzzles.)

The Christmas card painting is officially underway.  I'm not worried about that because if the calendars are just now printing then it must only be October at the latest....right?

Getting busy!

Romeo Or Knight In Shining Armor?

We've had some pretty snows this winter.  Some accompanied by grey wet skies and a couple (so far :-) with the brightest blues.  It can be way down in the single digits, but if there's no wind and the sun is shining, there is no place better than hanging out in the barn lot with the sheep.

The other morning I noticed Big Moose was the only sheep with snow covering his back.  That seemed a little odd, but as he frequently sleeps near the back of the barn or just outside keeping watch with Maisie some nights, I didn't really think anything about it.

And then I noticed one other sheep with snow on her back.  The only other sheep with snow on her back.  Ah ha, I thought I knew what was going on.

Kaala is one of the popular girls.  One that frequently attracts attention from a few of the boys.  Well, mostly just two boys these days, Jared and Big Moose.  There used to be other boys, but Jared has schooled on them pretty strongly about who the "wimmens" belong to...and it being Not Them.  

Big Moose is not a slow learner.  Quite the contrary and he's very well versed in the 'duck and run' any time Jared turns his attention to him.  However, if there is anything Big Moose aspires to, it's to be Big J when he grows up.  He idolizes Jared.

How Big Moose and Kaala ended up outside together, apparently unsupervised, all night...   Well, she's another sheep who frequently sleeps outside.  The weather was really pretty nasty.  Maybe Big J decided to stay cozy indoors and finally let the kid have a chance.  

But...it wasn't just snowing that night.  It was also really cold and windy.  Why would anyone want to stay out in that when they could stay indoors?  Was something wrong with Kaala?  No, she looks fine (and that is yet another boyfriend, Baaxter, with her above ;-).  Then I remembered the girl fight from the night before.

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I missed videoing the bigger fighting earlier.  This was the wind down.  Girl fights...  I am now wondering if Kaala had decided to remove herself from that crazy, hormone powered fist horn fight and Big Moose stayed out with her all night to protect and keep her company, much like he stays out with Maisie some nights.  

The next morning...note Tessa only has eyes for Big J, but Big Moose and Baaxter are still hopeful ;-).  

Always remember, boys...

Rule Number One - all the 'wimmens' belong to Jared.  

Rule Number Two...refer back to Rule Number One ;-).

Our 15 Minutes Of [Snow]

We enjoyed it while it lasted :-).

Mini Moose and Chocula

Big J aka Jared

Mini Moose and the little darlin' ;-).  

Big Moose.  He's just so fun to photograph.  What expression.  

Chocula, Tessa and Tabitha.  Chocula was picking hay of Tessa's back.  I'll have to up his pay :-).

Liddle

Petunia and Tessa

And a new puzzle!

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

By the time we got to the Jacobs on shearing day it was getting late, everyone was tired and they got shorted on pictures.  I love the sunbleached chocolate color of their full fleeces, but also love how black and white they look underneath.  We've had some lovely evening light this spring.

The T's.  Ts just looks wrong.  I'm in a grammar vortex :-o.

Sun to the camera face.

Sun to my back.

Billy Belly and Annabelly.  Both came through winter in good order.  I was relieved.  I was afraid they'd be thin.  They are both 13 I think.  Or, wait, Billy Belly is just 12.  Annabelly was the first Emily lamb.  Billy Belly and Baby Belly were her second lambs...

Time flies!

Checking In With The Ts

Tavia, everyone's little favorite.  Even though you shouldn't have favorites ;-).  What a sassy, inquisitive little lamb.  She'll come up and sniff a cookie...but no takers yet.

Interestingly, the two multi horn girls (Tavia and Tabitha) tend to hang out together...

...and these two two horns (Thelma and Tara) pair up as well.

Poor Tessa isn't really as left out as she looks here.  The whole group is a tight knit family.

They do mingle with the older Jacobs some, but the older Jacobs are, well, old...and boring.  Much of the day the girls are off on adventures of their own.  Today is the first cold rainy night since they moved into the side field.  After moving Heidi the Grouch back to the main flock, they feel much safer coming into the barn.  I'm getting ready to go check on them, just to make sure.

A Kate Appreciation Post

Even though I am very comfortable with farm the Ts came from, it's always a good idea to quarantine any new animals for a bit just to make sure, if nothing else, the stress of moving didn't cause any problems that would need addressing.

Normally I would just put new sheep in the side field, but for the winter I have the 'not quite as old as Jester and Ford' sheep in there.  The best option I could come up with was one of the horse stalls.  I didn't want to keep them locked up for week though with no grass and no room to play. so I decided I'd see if Kate and I could take them on excursions to the front yard.

Keep in mind that I am a complete rookie using a trained stock dog so I may be talking about things I don't know enough about to be talking about.  Still, from what I have picked up, Jacobs are not easy to herd, lambs can be tough and sheep that have never seen a working dog before need special handling.  We have the trifecta!

Our first trip out I cheated and carried a feed scoop in case we got into trouble.  The girls obviously had no idea that a dog could tell them what to do and were a little confused, but Kate was very kind and quietly approached them and everyone stayed calm, cool and collected and we made it out to the yard and safely back in.

Now, three times a day we go out for some grass and gamboling.  The first couple of days I stood out in the yard with them so when they started to get themselves in trouble, Kate could "bring the sheep back to me".  Today I sat on the porch, out of the wind, and let Kate run things on her own :-).

I don't really care where they go in the yard as long as they don't go to the house.  I'd also prefer they stayed out eating, rather than goofing around in the driveway.  Kate would prefer they stayed in the barn or a field because "Any idiot knows sheep should not be loose in the yard!"  

Once we get out of the stall, down the shed row, through the gate and somewhere in the yard, I ask Kate to stop.  As long as the girls are staying out of trouble, she should stay put.  Once they head off somewhere they shouldn't, I ask her to go bring them back (her favorite part :-).  You saw that on the video yesterday.

Here they are starting to work their way back up to the driveway.  She's watching them like a...Border Collie.

Tavia, Tessa, Tabitha, Thelma, Tara

Now she's brought them back to the grass.  Tessa, Tavia, Thelma, Tabitha.  I'm not sure where Tara is in this picture. I know she's close by, because they all stick together like glue, but if someone's going to be an explorer, it's Tara.

And here she is!  Kate is trying really hard to ignore her, hoping she'll do the right thing and back off.

You can tell Kate is really not happy about this situation, but is being patient and kind.

"SHEEP DON'T TALK TO DOGS!!!"

And Tara backed off ;-).  This whole scene was just a couple seconds long and I would never expect Kate to tolerate being disrespected.  I'm guessing she knew Tara was just being curious and not aggressive.  I've seen her handle a threatening sheep...much differently ;-).

I've had some questions about Kate, who trained her, why she's retired...  Kate came from Fetch Gate Farm in New York and a friend of a friend hooked us up after we lost Iris a few years ago.  Here is the post introducing her back in, yikes, 2014.  

As I mentioned above, I am not an experienced stock dog person.  I definitely needed/still need an experienced dog to bring me along rather than the other way around.  The plan for years was after Iris passed, I'd get a dog ready to slow down a bit and then we'd take lessons from one of the top trainers in the nation...who just happened to live right down the road.

Sadly, this never happened.  Vergil passed away a few months after we got Kate.  I'm sure we all knew that was going to happen, but Heather trusted me to take Kate anyway.  I will be forever grateful for that as Kate has far exceeded my greatest hopes and expectations as a friend and a working farm dog.

Working with Kate and these new sheep over the last few days has been a blast.  To have a job that needs doing and being able to put together a safe and sane way to do it (while sitting on the porch no less :-) well, it's an honor. If that makes sense.  I so appreciate the things people (and dogs, horses, sheep, cats, birds...) have done for me, shared with me, taught me.   

Today was fun.  Thank you.