Headed to Madras

We are going here:

Madras, Oregon

to look at this:

and this:

and hopefully, not come home with any of these:

but, you never really know.  and we are bringing the horse trailer, (so that we can sleep out of the weather- but really, how convenient would that be...).

Yes, you guessed it- we are headed to the Small Farmer's Journal Auction this weekend.  Oh? you didn't guess that?  Well, now you know.

It is an awesome place for horsey types to co-mingle with others with common interests.  There are workshops and seminars on everything from horse training to blacksmithing to raising chickens.  There will be a sheep dog trial and a social event on Friday. Here is the link to the schedule: SFJ Auction Schedule.

Lots of neat horse-drawn vehicles for sale (these are all from last year):

Everyone needs a horse drawn hearse.

Water, anyone? That is the main man Lynn Miller in front of the water tank!

Coolest little dump-bed cart

And you see this all day:

And there is always a little political discussion:

In my mind, no truer words have ever been spoken...

Last year I met a wonderful couple from Halfway, Oregon who have Stonehaven Farm- a Shetland sheep farm!  I had to buy some of their beautiful roving (which I still haven't spun up-oops) and I think this year I will bring my wheel and sit and spin with them awhile.  I hope they are there again!!


So pack up yer wagons and head on down!  Sure to be enlightening and tons of fun!

See you next week! (and yes, I'll take pictures... geesh you all are demanding.)

Okay, it's gone

Yay!  the snow is mostly gone and green grass is peeking out everywhere.  In addition to the formerly crabby robins, I have now seen the bluebirds and swallows darting about.

And we have had gloriously sunny and dry days.

We took a trip back to Maryland to visit Brian's family.  We even got dressed up and went to a fancy event!

Yes, I do have high heels on...

 We had a good time, but I was ready to come back to the ranch.  It is very busy and hustly bustly back there...

In celebration of Spring (and in anticipation of our upcoming horse trip to Wyoming) we had our favorite veterinarian, Dr. Mike, come out.

Here is my good boy getting his teeth floated!

He took blood samples for running the Coggins test on everyone, gave vaccines and "floated" my horse's teeth.  In case you are unfamiliar with this procedure- the vet gives the horse a sedative and then takes this enormous rasp, called a dental float, and files off the sharp points.  Cheyenne is sooooo much happier with his new, not sharp teeth!  Dr. Mike uses a hand float, not an electric one, although I have just recently seen that in use at the horse clinic in Sandpoint, ID.

Here's some more action shots:

Don't I look more comfy in my Bogs and jeans?

As you can see, the snow is mostly gone!

Everybody is shedding out their winter coats right now. Hair is flying everywhere!














Hopefully we will get some riding in this weekend!







Of course, there are still sheep to be shorn, fences to repair, a checkbook that needs balancing and don't even talk to me about house work!  It is becoming the time of year that house work is more easily ignored (as if I am totally into it at other times... not.so.much.)

I hope all of you are enjoying your Springtime-  I know I can't wait for the warm, dry days of summer!!!

Crochet Mania!!! (as promised)

It all started with a mouse...

No longer so clean, as Smokey has been playing with it!

Actually it really all started with a newsletter from Joybilee Farms with a pattern for a crocheted rabbit.  It was soooo cute, but, alas, I did not know (or remember) how to crochet! Well I shared my lament with Chris (owner of Joybilee Farm) and she promptly posted a link to a "learn how to crochet" video.  If you "Facebook" (hmm... a new verb) you can see Joybilee's page HERE.

As it turns out, you can learn almost anything on You Tube... I followed through a 7 or 8 part "crochet a giraffe" series, learned the basic crochet stitches necessary for amigurumi (a fancy word for: crocheted toys), and started my new obsession craft endeavor. Mouse was the first product.  Stuffed with Greta wool and organic catnip from our garden, this mouse is one of Smokey's new favorites!
(on a side note: never, ever, ever plant catnip somewhere that you don't want it to take over. and if you let it flower, you can just forget about ever not having it. Just sayin')

Encouraged by my success, I quickly made mouse 2:(he even got facial features...)

Pretty cute, No?

The mouse pattern, BTW, is available (for free!!) from the Lion Brands Yarn website.  You have to register, but it doesn't cost anything and, so far, they haven't clogged my inbox with email messages.
Of course their pattern calls for using their yarn, but I actually used my very own hand-spun (it is okay to be super impressed). and I left off the bell from the end of the tail (Smokey just eats them anyway).

Now that I had successfully crocheted up some rodents, I was looking for a different little creature.  Enter "The Birds", not the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock release, but a blog with another free pattern: Birds of a Feather

Santa Bird (the hat was my idea!)

This one was crocheted with mill ends- wool singles. A little easier to work with than my handspun.  I learned something here: if you are planning on putting plastic safety eyes on your crochet toys, you need to do that before you stuff and close them.  Yeah, I know, sounds pretty basic, but I am speaking from experience here.  So Santa Bird got button eyes.  Still too cute.

Onward to... Bird #2:

Can you stand it?

 This little one was made with some handspun that I had in my stash. It was not spun by me, so it is a little more balanced and easier to work with.  He got a jaunty comb instead of a hat!

Then, since these last 3 were all going to sunny So Cal to live with my sister, niece and their 2 cats- I had to make mouse 3 (2 cats, 1 mouse, no good).  Alas, no photo of him (that's what happens when you have to do a rush job and get it mailed out!)

Bird Friends

Are you really going to need that hat in California?

Look this thing has his wings on his head!

Away we go!

Hey!!!! Wait for me!

The End.

 So there they are ~ Crochet Critters.  I have another bird done and am working on a sheep!  The rabbit I originally was interested in is a little more complicated, so I need to get some skills mastered first.  Apparently, winter is kinda slow around here LOL!

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year.  Personally, my 2012 is gonna rock!  I am going to 5 day horse camp!!!!!  I'll tell you how we managed it next time!

Bear Paw Spin In

Yay!

Ok, so the spin-in was almost 3 weeks ago.  What can I say?  I've been busy enjoying this beautiful fall weather.

For those who don't know, a "spin-in" is not like a "sit-in" or anything.  It is an opportunity to spend time with a bunch of other fiber fanatics doing whatever fiber activity you were able to cram into the car that brought you there.  Depending on the size of your vehicle, this ranges from knitting (you can even bring this on your bike!) to needle felting (also highly portable) to weaving (definitely need something a little bigger than a bike...) to the main featured activity at this event: spinning! Yay!

This is Kristie weaving on painted warp

Look at all the different kinds of wheels!

Oh yeah, shopping opportunities as well!

This yearly spinner's retreat is organized by the Pend Oreille Fiberarts Guild of Newport, WA.  It is super fun and is held at a camp (I told you I was going to summer camp!) right on the Pend Oreille river.  The setting is simply fantastic and you don't have to actually camp, there are cabins and dorms with bunk beds.  

You can stay for the whole weekend for $50!  This includes meals from Friday dinner (potluck) through Sunday brunch.  Yes, truly a screaming deal and sooooo worth it.  You do need to bring your own sleeping paraphernalia (I brought my summer weight sleeping bag and favorite pillow- worked perfectly) and the bathrooms are campground bathrooms (yes, hot showers!!) meaning communal. To clarify, the bathrooms are communal, not the actual showers.  Unless you want to share, but we don't need to talk about that here...

This particular spinning event also promised something mysterious:

PICKER THROW DOWN ON SATURDAY

with equally mysterious instructions:

SILVER, WHITE, AND PURPLE OR TWO SHADES OF BLUE-NO GLITTER

I had no idea what any of it meant, but imagine how delighted I was to find out it meant this:

silver, white and purple...

two shades of blue...

fluffing the fiber- I helped at this table for a couple hours and it was so delightful.

Isn't it lovely?

and finally- the picker!

 I found out the way the throw down works is you bring CLEAN, ready to spin fiber which gets weighed and added to the appropriate pile (purple/white/silver or blues).  Then the big piles are fluffed some more and the picker is used to gently blend them all together!

One of the many boxes filled between picker and scale.

Then everyone who put in some fiber, gets the same weight of mix back to spin.  Luckily, I had some freshly washed and picked white fleece from Snowball, so I was able to participate.  I have started to spin my take and it looks great (even if I do say so myself...)  I would show you a photo, but I forgot to take one (yeah, I know -BIG surprise)

I am not positive this is Snowflake (photo was taken at Skylines), but she looks just like this.  But dirtier now.

 All in all, it was a great weekend and I met lots of friendly and interesting women.  I would highly recommend this for anyone who has even the slightest interest in spinning or knitting or felting.  I am definitely going back next year!!

I love our sheep...

Really, how could I not?  They are the peaceful trimmers of lawn, providers of wool and they come when I call them. Such beautiful and elegant animals.  And sometimes silly too- sproinking around and fake head butting each other, they really are a delight.

We felt bad for them in the spring and fall with no run in to get out of the rain. They do have a small house (in which Jasper was born) and a small stand of evergreen trees, but the house is only big enough for one or two at a time and while the trees provide shelter from the rain, they are less effective at blocking the wind.  The snow seems much less of a problem for them- they can shake it off.  The rain soaks in.

Snowy sheep (that's their little house in the background)

So plans were launched to build a sheep shelter.  Nothing extravagant...

Hand built (by Brian) log hay barn

But somewhere they could get out of the weather.

Maybe a little better than that... (besides sheep get tired holding umbrellas)

How about this?

Northern side

Western side (actually the back) Brian cut these big planks on his sawmill!

Front- facing east

Keepin' it tidy!

He's so cute that he gets another photo!

Brian and I spent one day this summer augering holes and putting in the 4 enormous corner posts.  Then it sat for a few weeks.  It was kind of fun, because people kept asking "What is that?!"  Sheep toys...

Finally we put up all the roof timbers and plywood for the roof and side boards, and when I came home from work one day, Brian had all the big timbers in back and the plywood and wire for the feeders done!!!

So cool!

The next step was getting the tin for the roof and sides.

We chose white and green. Very pretty.

Here, Brian explains how to put the trim on, instead of standing there with a camera...

See?  Like this.

Well now it is all finished and the sheep LOVE it!!  Of course, now it is raining and I don't have a photo of them enjoying it...  When I get one, I will share.


Mud season Fall has officially begun with a 10 day forecast full of rain.  In celebration, I am taking the weekend off and going to the spin-in at Bear Paw Camp!  I feel like I am going to summer camp!!

Fiber Extravaganza!!

Even though it has been "hot, hot, sunny, bright, I can only stand to be inside after dark, summertime wonderfulness"... I still have a couple of fiber fun things to share!

First there is this:

Warp painting with Kristie!!

More photos can be found here: Blue Flag Handweaving Studio's Facebook page. 

This was a super way to spend a summer day.  We started at Kristie Sherrodd 's Studio, Blue Flag Handweaving Studio in Sandpoint, ID, where we talked about design, color wheels and looked at a bunch of painted warps. It is simply amazing how beautiful a scarf (or any fabric) can be with a painted warp.  Even simple plain weave can be transformed into a rhapsody of subtle color changes and depth. After some book work and planning, we measured off our own warp to paint and had lunch (as usual a highlight of my day!!)

After noontime sustenance, we reconvened in Kristie's carport to paint away.  Now, I always imagined that a painted warp entailed warping your loom and then painting the threads while they are on the loom.  Seems messy.  And, since a lot of dyes have to cure for 24 hours, time consuming.  There is, of course, another way: lay your warp chain out on a table to paint it.  Which is what we did.  So incredibly fun!!!  I highly encourage you to take a class with Kristie- she is a super teacher, uncommonly patient and exceedingly talented.

At the end of the day, we took our dyed warps home to cure and then wash.  Here is what mine looks like: (ok, I never took a photo of them, but Sharon's friend Al did at the Weaver's potluck and here is a link. Photo of my painted warp chain)


Which brings me to the next thing! The Third Annual Weaving Study Group Potluck - wahoo!
We had soo much fun- We ate, we talked, we toured, we drank, we spun.  Once again, I took zero photos, but here is a link (with permission) to Sharon's Flickr's photostream. 
Weave Study Group Potluck 
She and Al took a bunch of fantastic photos- they make our ranch look so beautiful.


ok, so lots of photos to look at, but none here... so here is one in parting!

Happy Chickens!

Next up...
The Bob.

Shearing day extraordinaire!

Finally, finally, finally!

SkyLines snowy driveway to the sheep barn

I have been wanting to write about our most spectacular experience at SkyLines Farms down in Harvard, Idaho. My first excuse was that I didn't have any photos (yes, it's true I forgot my camera and my darling husband is still using a 35 mm, and when he got his photos developed he didn't get a photo CD!!) then dear Melissa, owner and shepherdess at  SkyLines emailed me some, and then work got the best of me and then the dog ate my homework... oh wait, that's an excuse for a different time.  So here it is, at last.


As you can see it was still snowy, snowy when we ventured down.  In fact, we almost canceled as we had blizzard conditions the week before.  Our original plan was for me to take Friday off of work so that we could drive down and spend the night and be up bright and early for Saturday's shearing.  Well, the only part of the plan that didn't change was that I took Friday off of work...  Instead of spending a leisurely day driving, we spent the entire day pulling 24 inches (that's 2 feet!) of fresh wet snow off our less snow-worthy outbuildings.  I called and told Melissa not to expect us that night and then we both passed out on the couch, with big plans of getting up early to drive down (you know like in school where you tell yourself, I'll just go to bed now and get up extra early tomorrow and finish that report). Well to be there at 8am for the start of shearing, we had to leave about 4:30 am, which we did (I know, I know you are all shocked, yet impressed).


It's 4 am, the alarm goes off.  We wander outside with flashlights and blurry eyes, throwing hay at confused animals who are wondering why their crazy humans are out there in the middle of the night.

Driving commenced.  In the dark.  and little snow flakes started to fall. and then more, and more.  Suffice it to say we got about 25 miles from home to a cool little place called Hope, (honest it is called Hope) and we were, well, beyond hope. It was snowing so hard that Brian could barely see the road and when we stopped and opened the door to look out, ours were the only tracks.  It seemed ridiculous to drive 4 hours in a blizzard, work hard outside all day, and then turn around and drive 4 hours back home. We waited.  We conferred.  We decided to turn back and go home.  yes, we did.  We drove about 21 of the 25 miles back home and the snow stopped.  Completely. Well, guess what?  yes, we did, again.  We turned around and drove the 4 hours and boy am I glad we did!!  Super fun day with super fun people.  okay, okay!! here are some more photos:

The "men-folk" working hard

The "women folk" actually working :)!

 Although I poke fun at the men here, shearing is hard, hard work.  Melissa has a great set up, indoors with a small pen to section off the current group of sheep waiting to be sheared and then a big covered area where we did the skirting (taking undesirable, unmentionables off the otherwise beautiful fleece- as Melissa told us, the lady in uptown Manhattan, opening the box containing her long awaited fleece does NOT want to pull out a clump of sticky, wet sheep poop!)  If you have never been to a shearing, I highly recommend it.  The only thing I can compare the actual shearing to is a magic show.  


The fuzzy, unshorn sheep mill around baaahing and looking nervous.  One of the helpers grabs up the next candidate and escorts them to the shearing platform (aka a plywood sheet). Martin, the shearer (or Magician, depending on your perspective), deftly takes control of the sheep which instantly relaxes.  Using a tool that looks like something you could easily use to cut off your toe, Martin whisks off a year's worth of beautiful, luxurious wool.

The fleece, miraculously still all in one piece, is then carefully picked up and brought to the skirting table.  Melissa made the coolest skirting tables out of 2 x 4s and PVC- portable, so she can use them wherever they are needed.

Yes, Hartsong Ranch will be having one of these soon!

The fleece is then tossed onto the table, shorn side down, and the meticulous picking, pulling and general inspection begins.

Here Melissa is giving direction to one of the skirters.

Second cuts (the teeny short bits of fleece produced when a section of sheep is clipped twice) generally fall through the slats as the fleece is picked up, shook and dropped down. As skirters, we attempted to find the neck and corresponding butt ends, so that when we folded and rolled them we could do it in the proper order.  Then all the "icky" bits (dirty, matted, full of VM- a.k.a. vegetable matter) were pulled off and put in the scrap pile under the table.  Melissa composts the dirty wool- which is quite a pile because she wants her fleeces to go out to her customers as clean as possible!

Dixie with the skirting pile

The skirted fleeces are then folded, rolled and bagged.  The responsible sheep's name is put on the bag and the bag is piled in the truck bed with all the other bags!  Martin sheared and we skirted and bagged 47 sheep fleeces!  The bags are then transported to Melissa's wool shed, where they are weighed and then sent to their lucky new owners.  


We had a fantastic lunch and awesome conversation all day.  Such a fun, interesting, worthwhile day.  And, to top it off, there was this:

Rainbow! a perfect end to a perfect day.

So, it took me a while to post this story, but it was worth the wait, wasn't it?  Just like participating in shearing day was worth braving the snow storm and making the drive!  The best things in life aren't always the easiest things in life.

HAPPY SPRING!!!