Sunday Sweetness

Biscuit has not had a great week, but I'm hopeful we've got him on the right track now.  This part of the country is notorious for being selenium deficient and after some vague and confusing symptoms, he presented with a classic selenium behavior, so we are treating for that and he felt up to taking a short walk this afternoon.

I wish I'd thought to take the big camera.  These are iPhone shots, so they've captured the moment, but aren't what they could have been.  Still, they are precious and I'm glad I've got them.

Looks like Biscuit's ready to join the patrol team!

Festival Wrap Up

Honestly, the festival was a bit of a blur.  The weather leading up to it was mid summer hot and humid.  The weather the first day was mid summer hot and humid.  You know, being the "delicate flower" that I am, how well that all went.  Whining.  So Much Whining.  I'd like to add one of my irritating winking faces...but I can't.  

The weather wasn't quite as bad as the earlier in the week forecast, which was 87 and 88.  That's hot, especially under a tent.  I decided to not bring the normal "huggable" sheep for the Hug a Sheep feature.  Not that they are that old, but they are big, heavy sheep and heat is hard on them.  And me. (Please.  Stop with the whining.  Seriously.)

That left the young sheep.  They were bottle lambs.  That should make them even more huggable, right?  Yeah...only if you are me :-/.  Still, most of them were at least somewhat collar trained, so we could "force" them to be friendly to other people ;-).  Among the group, I knew Liddy would be the weakest link.  Heck, Liddy is too persnickety to talk to me some days.  

Guess who laid down in the front of the booth all weekend and let every kid, young and old, pat her, pet her, poke her, feel her ears, squeal (very loudly) with delight...  Liddy.  And when I realized what was going on, I wasn't at all surprised.  There are at least two more really amazing Liddy stories I have to share but just haven't had the energy/brain power to put the post together.  We are among something special here and I am not exaggerating.  

I will get them put down "on paper" as soon as I can.  My idea was to write up several short stories about the sheep on our farm (sort of a precursor to a book) while I was raising Biscuit.  Sort of like knitting the Purbeck Shawl with Liddy when she was a baby.  It hasn't happened.  Yet.  I think I might be getting too old to raise these bottle lambs.  It's not for the faint of heart, for sure.

So back to the festival.  As always, once it got going, I was glad I was there.  I made several new friends and put some faces and names together for some folks I felt were already old friends.  Thanks for stopping by and introducing yourselves!

Somehow I didn't take a single picture of the booth.  At the show where I completely changed up the set up to try and make it a little less labor intensive to set up and tear down (!).  It worked well.  Hope I can remember how we did it (!).  Don't ask me what I was thinking by not taking pictures (!).  Not thinking.  

Much of the wool is gone, but there are at least three fleeces left that I just can't believe are still here.  I'll post them to the Farm Shop as soon as possible.  I probably have some other things to update with the shop as well.  I need to get on that and start being a little more "professional".  

Lots of things to do.  But Biscuit comes first.  And maybe a nap :-o.

This Is Starting To Look Like A Theme...

The only picture I took of the booth today was just this picture of Baaxter staring longingly at the West Sixth Brewing Company truck.  I'm not sure if he was more interested in the cold beer or the fact that it looked like a hijack-able truck that would hold everyone to get them out of there haha...sort of...

It was supposed to start raining at 10:00 a.m., but it never did.  The sun blazed and the mercury rose and wearing wool was the last thing on anyone's mind.  Sales were pretty good though and several nice fleeces found new homes.  My favorite fleece is still there surprisingly and a few others I really like, too.  Maybe I didn't have them displayed well?

The forecast for tomorrow is not great.  The forecast for tonight is awful - storms.  We decided to bring everyone home for the night and I think that was a good call considering the first round that just blew through.  Whether we are able to talk anyone into getting back into the trailer in the morning remains to be seen ;-).  We are going to watch the weather and decide in the morning.  

In anticipation of a slower day tomorrow, Miss B and I are bringing our spinning wheels.  Two other spinners are going to join us and I'm looking forward to that.  SO, either I'll get some fun spinning done or, by anticipating a light day, I'll end up with lots of customers.  Either is a win :-).  

Bring your wheel, spindle, knitting, stitching...and join us!  There is a ton of good shopping throughout the festival and it's mostly all under cover.  Bill and Gavin are shearing under a big tent and could use some heckling ;-).  There is also a waffle truck!  How did I miss that this morning??? 

Fleece Fun

 Anyone who's been around lambs and ewes in the springtime knows that frantic "I CAN'T FIND MY MOM!!!" call.  It's nothing serious usually.  Kids get playing, moms go hide to smoke cigarettes and drink gin, kids can't IMMEDIATELY find them and the frantic crying starts.  

That's what's going on in my kitchen right now.  Except I'm just trying to use the computer...and just thinking about taking up drinking at 7:00 in the morning :-o.  So really quickly...

Someone emailed me about wanting Baaxter's fleece.  I have 1,168 emails built up in my inbox right now.  I did not know that was even possible (as she really starts thinking about maybe some Baileys for her coffee :-o).  I can't find that email.  Hopefully you'll see this and re-email.  I am so sorry!

Here are some quick shots (I'M RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER, BISCUIT!) of just a few of the fleeces We'll have at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival this weekend.  The forecast is looking "stellar" as usual :-/.  Sigh...  Pretty much everything is under cover though, so come on out!

Levi

Daniel on the left and Tavia on the right.  Daniel is reserved and I'm keeping Tavia, but I thought the difference in fleece size was fun.

Andy

Murphy

Woody - half is reserved

And don't forget all the cute fleece tags!  Remember why Burrnie is now Blindfold Burrnie? You'll be in on the joke if/when Bill pulls that this weekend ;-).  He'll be there shearing both days.  Please stop by the shearing area and give him a shout out and say thanks for taking such good care of our sheep.   

Wool Work

"...is boring."

"So boring."

"If you'd quit taking pictures of me you'd get done quicker!"

The Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival is this weekend!  I'm about as ready as I'm going to get.  I have a couple more things I'd really like to get done, but the fleeces are all skirted and weighed and the spindle kits are assembled and packed.  I've got some Punkin's Patch "swag" packed and, of course, Biscuit.  A few others will be coming as well, to work the Hug a Sheep pen.

I think we are going to bring the bottle lamb brigade - Biscuit, Bullwinkle, Liddy, Baaxter.  Or maybe Andy and Levi.  Andy's fleece is so pretty and Levi is a gorgeous color.  Not Maisie for sure although she's been on her best behavior lately.  You'll have to come see who ends up being dumb enough to get caught Saturday morning making the cut ;-).

Thanks for all the kind words about Keebler.  He was so loved by so many.  I remember taking him to the very first Lexington festival.  Kathy Meyer (who started the festival and where Keebler came from as a triplet lamb) couldn't believe the number of people who would walk past the sheep pen, look over to see Keebs and call him by name.  He was that sort of sheep, eh?

Sadly, if you start doing the math, there are a lot of old sheep in our flock.  We will treasure and enjoy everyone as long as we can.  Someone I'm especially enjoying right now is Jester.  If you haven't been following the Biscuit thread on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook you really should.  All I can say is Jester better live forever.  And it this point it looks like he might!

Because we can never have too many cute pictures of Biscuit and Jester ❤️. #Biscuit #Jester #jacobsheep #bottlelamb

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on May 17, 2017 at 6:31pm PDT

Come see us this weekend!  Buy wool!  Lots. Of. Wool. :-o

"What the heck is all this?" #fromthemouthsofbabes #Biscuit #wool #lotsofwool #gettingready #kentuckysheepandfiberfestival #thisweekend

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on May 17, 2017 at 12:14pm PDT

Fast Photo

Oh good grief, Biscut!  You are three weeks old today.  You can sit in the kitchen by yourself for a couple minutes.  :-o

I've got some pretty fleece pictures, some cute Biscuit pictures, Kate pictures...and while I *thought* I could handle him screaming in the kitchen...I apparently cannot :-o.  

Love the look on the planter's face.  Gotta go.  Baaaa :-o

Keebler

This is the internet's favorite picture of Keebler.  It shows up everywhere.

But this is my favorite picture of Keebler.  This is the picture my mind calls up when I search for a image of Keebler even though there were so many other good ones.  He grew from an adorable lamb into a handsome photogenic sheep.  This always remained my favorite.  

When the vet came on Saturday, I held his head in the crook of my arm like that and once again this picture came to mind.  Or maybe my heart.  I love all of our sheep, but some...  There is another big hole in the flock.

I'd like to say that Keebler would want to tell everyone to get up and take a walk every day.  Stay active so your legs hold up longer.  But he wouldn't.  He'd say "Meh. Enjoy life sitting in the shade in front of a fan or in the warm sun in the winter."  

I don't know what's the right answer.  But getting up and taking a walk every day probably wouldn't hurt anyone.

So The Basic Problem Is...

...if Biscuit's in the kitchen, even napping quietly on his and Betsy's shared/not shared bed, and I try to sneak into the office to use the computer, he immediately gets up and stands at the kitchen gate and cries his eyes out.  Which is really sort of sweet...but really not conducive to getting blogs posted.

Two funny stories about Biscuit's beds.  First off, he loves to make his bed himself.  Even sitting on the big dog bed next to this bed, he paws and paws and paws until it's "just right".  Then he lays down, checks it out, usually gets up once, sometimes twice, paws it all around again and gets it "just right" and then settles in.  There is nothing to arrange on a covered dog bed ;-).  

The messy makeshift bed under the (I have no idea what this red piece of furniture is called) that he and Betsy both love and fight over is a different story.  It can be pawed and pawed and pawed to really get it "just right".  It is here that I left him to sneak into the office.

Do you remember the story about Lila using her nighttime crate as a litter box?  How she peed on the kitchen floor one time and never did it again?  We never even had to keep towels on the floor.  She always ran into the crate.  Or would pee "on command" in the back of the car (rubber mat and bedding ;-) before we'd go inside.

Biscuit tries to never pee in his crate.  His bed.  When he gets up in the morning (or still the middle of the night :-o), he gulps down his baba and then pees and pees and pees.  I have to think he's holding it as long as he can.  Maybe this is why he doesn't sleep through the night.  Maybe he's not as hungry as just needs to pee.

It sounds like my five minute break from crying is over.  "Hang on Biscuit.  I'm coming."  Sigh...

Hardly Working

I've been working Biscuit pretty hard in the lavender garden.  That's a good new lamb project.  Plenty of room to explore and lots of good napping spots.  These pictures are obviously from the other day. The last couple of days of cold rain have been pretty shocking after the upper 80s :-o.  We've taken some good naps...indoors.

King Biscuit Flower Hour...Part One

There will be a couple days of Biscuit flower pictures.  Hope that's okay ;-).

Kate is being helpful as always.  Tilly is...her usual self.  Corgis... ;-)

"The weeds in this place are out of control!"

"Take time to smell the flowers."

"Or eat them!"

Trying a different puzzle format.  Let me know if this still makes the page load super slow.  Just click on the puzzle picture to get to the actual puzzle.

How many remember the King Biscuit Flower Hour?

Sneaking In

I just got home from picking up goat milk. I very, very quietly snuck in the front door so as not to let someone know I was home...and hearing all quiet, have now snuck into the office and onto the computer to quickly introduce... 

"Hi!  My name is Biscuit!"

"I'm the new lamb here.  Kate says you all knew it was gonna happen."

"I'm doing really well.  I'm super cute and a good baby to boot.  I like to go out in the yard and play in the lavender garden.  My mom took a bunch of pictures of me there yesterday and says she'll get them posted as quickly as she can, but 'baby before blogging'.  I agree!"

"It was really hot the last two few days, so we took lots of naps in front of a fan.  Today is cooler so we are both happier and feel more like bouncing around."

"I'm one of the triplets from the other day, but not the little girl that everyone thought would be chosen.  As soon as my new mom picked me up, I fell asleep in her arms.  She said that pretty well decided it, but when I played around in front of her and then curled up on her feet, that iced it."  

Guess who's still eating...and who's probably coming home with me tomorrow 😉. #LambCamp #finalfrontierfarm

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Apr 27, 2017 at 11:39am PDT

I'll keep posting pictures and hopefully short videos on Instagram.  They in turn auto-post to the Punkin's Patch Facebook page and Twitter, so if I have trouble sneaking off to update the blog, you can check there for updates.