Category: Blog

Sheep and Chicken Report

Tiny chickens transitioned to new living quarters this week! They are now out in the shed with the big chigs- though they have a separate area set up with their baby food that the grownups can’t get into. They seem to be adjusting well, and sticking together, so that’s cool.

First night they made some questionable decisions about where to sleep, but they are figuring things out now and mostly keeping out of trouble-

And on the sheep side, I made more shearing progress on Saturday-

Daphne was surprisingly cooperative, and I was able to get her tidied up quite nicely. But Dottie and Felix weren’t really into it. I got halfway done with Dottie and only about 1/3 through Felix, but at least they are started. For me the neck and chest is always the trickiest bit, so it’s good to have that part done on each of them.

Outside of Daphne fleece
Underside of Daphne fleece
Dottie locks- some almost 7 inches long
Felix fleece- really dirty tips
But check out that crimp!

And here is a cute photo that The Man took of Fiona this weekend-

So sweet. You’d never guess from this photo what a crazy little bugger she is. 🙂

Have good week everyone!

Robing & Disrobing

First the Robing- Dolores’ judicial gown and lace collar ala RBG!

I love how the pearl earrings complete the look. I’ve still got two other collars to finish, but she seems pretty happy with this one, so we’re good for now 🙂

And in the Disrobing category, we’ve got Esther, who gave up her fleece earlier this week-

And now she’s a white sheep again! I haven’t sorted her wool yet, but there is a whole lot of it- maybe 10 pounds?

Out in the hoophouse, seedlings are mostly potted up- and there are a lot of them!

Potato sprouts in the feed beds are starting to pop up too! Carrots, parsnips, snap peas are sown in the raised beds, and broccoli starts already planted out. Feels like things are moving really fast this spring-

Spring Things

Despite some recent crazy weather, including sleet/hail, Spring is definitely in the air!

Baby chickens are growing fast- now about 6 weeks old

(taken through chicken wire so they wouldn’t all run off and hide)

and Yellow Chig is keeping a close eye on them

She’s such a sweet old gal. Yesterday I dug back in my photos to figure out how old she is- I was thinking she was probably about 6 or so, but it turns out she’s 8 years old! And still laying the occasional egg. She loves to hang out in the hoophouse and dust bathe in the warm surface soil, and I like to watch her enjoying her retirement. 🙂

In the hoophouse, the seedlings are coming on strong

And on the pasture side, I’ve gotten one sheep sheared. This year, first haircut honors go to Fiona

I even got it all in one go- except for her belly, which will need to be cleaned up later.

And I’m striving to wash as I go, so I don’t have a lot of raw fleece hanging around-

Fleece plus Tiny Gus!

It’s a lovely creamy taupe color. Will be so fun to work with. Had some issues with felting along the mid-back, but those bits, with their curly tips, will make excellent toupees for future sock monkeys!

some of those lovely curly tips, alongside some newly spun Chone wool from 2018 (spun on Elsa, chain plied on Moto)

Not sure who will be next in the beauty salon, but there is a lot of fleece out there on the hoof right now. Check out Esther’s current style-

She’s a walking wool festival!

Have a good week everyone-

Darn It! (Again) or, The Tiniest Loom

Look what I got in the mail the other day!

If you’ve not seen anything quite like it before, it is a “SpeedWeve” type darning loom. With this little guy, you can weave a patch in place right over a hole or a tear in fabric.

So yesterday I dove in gave it a try. Here is the basic procedure:

Find yourself a hole of suitable size
Center the hole on the wooden disc and secure with rubber band
Attach the loom to the disc using second rubber band
Run the warp threads , anchoring them in the fabric beneath the hole and looping them through hooks above
Laying in the weft, tacking each row to the fabric beneath at the edges. Note that the hooks create a shed in the warp when they are flipped from side to side using the little tabs above
Weft all filled in!
wider view of my work site, with helpers Gus and Yellow Chig
panning to the right, Boo Kitten enjoying a hoophouse nap 🙂
Loom removed
top loops stitched down
view from the back
ends tucked in

And there you go! How cool is that?

Love this tiny loom. Such a clever design 🙂

Oh- and since it’s Easter, I thought I’d share some beautiful (naturally) colored eggs

I especially love the rosy brown of the eggs the new little Amberlink girls are laying. So pretty. Happy Spring everyone! 🙂