Saturday Spinning

I left my Tour de Fleece goals pretty loosey goosey.  While spinning every day would have been ideal, I figured that getting anything done was better than what had been getting done.  I've washed several fleeces, wove the Daniel scarf, prepped some lamb fleece, spun a couple of small skeins.  Today I wanted to clock some mileage.  

I'm not sure why I grabbed Henri, but I'm glad I did.  I love spinning Jacob fiber and hers has always been a fun spin.  She had an almost silky fleece that practically spun itself.  I recently got Kate Davies' Book of Haps and decided Henri would make a nice hap.  Of course, half the fun is deciding which one...and spinning the yarn.

I don't remember when I did this, but found one ball of singles already finished.  Can't beat that. Now to look back through the blog to see if there's a note about when I spun that.  Surely not last year's Tour de Fleece...right?  Possibly :-/.

Pretty Henri

This was her last fleece (2015) and it has some quite a bit of VM (vegetable matter) mixed in.  Too much to think about selling it...and I doubt I would have anyway.  She was a favorite sheep and much missed.  I'll love having a cozy memento.

Henri had gotten too feeble to make the trek in and out of the Del Boca Vista annex this summer and this has not been a summer you would weather out in the little shed.  Yeesh, it's been hot!

So...

I was going to title this post "Saint Tim Saves Lamb Camp...Again" but since I hadn't shared "Saint Tim Saves Lamb Camp...The First Time" I figured there was too much back story needing to be caught up.  Suffice to say, a huge thank you to Saint Tim (twice) for making sure we could all enjoy adorable lamb pictures including Bullwinkle this spring.

I was thinking I could title this something about "Sheep Dreams" (can I have a show of hands for Dianne to revive her beautiful blog? ;-) but again, there is more to the story than just sweet Bullwinkle taking a good nappy on/in my lap and having a big dream about something, probably More Babas.

I could title it "Goodbye Dear Henri" but that's not the whole story either.  The whole story is good sheep friends that get old and feeble, their sheep friends who understand and don't understand, and people who understand that sheep understand and don't understand.  Good husbands who borrow equipment from good neighbors so they can bury good sheep while sad shepherds sit in the yard with sweet babies while grass grows, the sun sets, birds settle in for the night and bunnies hop across the driveway while good dogs sit and watch, having understood that we are all here to take the best care of each other that we can.

If you turn up your volume you can hear a little talking in his sleep :-).

How Hot Is It?

There are Jacobs in the aisleway of the barn!  Completely against the code of Jacobs.  Jacobs hang out in the outer stall (except Billy Belly who is always in the inner stall - maybe because he snores or something).   Jacobs, being a more "feral" breed than, say, any of the Nistock sheep, don't like to draw attention to themselves.  They stay "outside".  Yesterday they were "inside".  That's pretty darn hot.

Ford, Henri and Jester have learned to like being in the aisleway.  It took awhile.  That's Heidi and Allie standing up.  Look how many sheep are lined up along the wall.  

I'm not sure who's idea it was, momma Baby Belly or daughter Clover Belly (like Emily and Casper Belly, they are inseparable), but there they are, smack in the middle of the aisleway.  I took this through the gate because I knew if I got too close I'd spook them and they'd scatter.  Let 'em sleep.

Oh, and here comes Casper Belly with momma Emily behind her.  It's getting pretty crowded in there!

Uh oh, and now Hershey (cue duh duh duh duh music).  I'm not sure why he left his Number One Profile position in front of the outer stall's fan.  Possibly Murphy finally got one over on him.  Or maybe he came in to get a drink and saw I was in the barn.  He's the opposite of feral ;-).

Daniel has been ruling the left side of the aisleway fan.  Last year he had the outer fan.  Hershey pushed him out this year.  Is he making a move on the aisleway fan too now???  Can you tell how close he's standing over Daniel?

"Ready to say Uncle yet?"

"I can take whatever you dish out."

Actually, I'm not sure that's what's going on.  For some reason, the hotter it gets the closer sheep want to stand.  The physics of it probably work if everyone's a sheep, but if it's me they are all leaning on, usually at least four at a time...it's not at all cooling or comfortable.

But it could be a show of strength.  I think of Jester as being a pretty big sheep.  He's definitely big for a Jacob.  He's actually using the gate as a head rest (I think), but I wouldn't be surprised if he's was wishing he could get a couple licks in on Hershey.  

B. Willard just wishes everyone would go back inside.

Yesterday seemed to be the hottest day so far.  Today is supposed to be in the 90s too, but tomorrow there's a chance of rain and the high is just the upper 80s.  I can't believe I'm saying "just the upper 80s".  Sigh...

If You Are Having Trouble With Your Camera

The first thing I'm going to tell you to do is...all together now..."Read your owner's manual!"

What was the last thing I did today?  Yep...  

"Hahahahaha!"

Actually, sweet Kate would never laugh at me.  She's had plenty of opportunity, but I really don't think it's ever crossed her mind.  I think she's just yawning.  Or panting hard.  We are all panting hard.  It is way too hot and humid :-(.

I've moved the Del Boca Vista annex into the front half of the barn, opened up the back half of the barn aisleway to provide a little more shade and breeze for the rest of the sheep.  Several, especially Spud, are way too hot and I'm worried about them.

I also took quite a few really awful pictures this afternoon.  In fact, I've had a lot of frustrating camera shoots lately.  I FINALLY thought to look on a Nikon forum to see if anyone else had ever had their camera randomly change shutter speeds every freakin' shot.  They sure did!  And it was an easy fix...aka operator error.  Sigh...

Try to stay cool!

Portal Pics

I purposely took the boat/truck portal picture, but when I downloaded the other shots, I realized I had several portals :-).

Liddy's doing very well.  She's got Blossom and Lila with her.  Blossom is pictured here.  Lila had already headed in.  

I'm toying with adding Maisie to the mix today.  Liddy needs to get used to dealing with multiple sheep and while Maisie will probably punch on her some (the little darling ;-), she doesn't have horns and might be more apt to "play" a little.  The older aunties are pretty dull I'm afraid...which is also why they make great aunties.  Miss Ewenice would be proud :-).

Look at that smushy mouth sleeping on his foot.  Sweet Daniel :-).

Poor Kate has had a rough couple of weeks.  Between the never ending thunder storms and then days upon days of fireworks (don't get me started!) she's worn out.  On an interesting note, when Liddy is with her, she's much less stressed.  Or maybe she's as stressed, but if Liddy lays down, Kate does too and that makes us all feel better.

Del Boca Vista Summer Annex.  The storms and cloud cover kept things cooler last week, but now the sun is back out and Jester is really struggling.  He's in pretty good shape in the cool, breezy aisleway, but he sure complains about having to move in here every morning.  Of course, that's after he's complained about being outside first ;-).  Those opinionated Jacobs!

It's Tour de Fleece Time...And I'm Already Racing To Catch Up

One of the few things I look forward to each summer is the Tour de Fleece.    I have fun figuring out who our team mascot will be, how I'll portray them on our official team "ravatar", spend hours thinking about what I want to spin, what new technique(s) I'm going to try to learn, what my friends are going to work on...

This year I thought Buddy might like to be our mascot.  You know, give one of the older kids a chance to get back in the spotlight.  Buddy's a great (and loud ;-) cheerleader and a real team player. He'd be perfect!  Until he misunderstood about the whole bike thing.  Buddy doesn't like to go fast. He's made that perfectly clear.

Even though we all tried to get him to calm down and listen, explain that he didn't have to actually ride a bike, he just covered his ears and then his eyes and then his ears and yelled "ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba"...and then 20 stepped up and said he'd be happy to cover the mascot duties this year and we all agreed that was a good plan.

Of course, 20, realizing that the Tour de Fleece begins tomorrow morning with the start of the Tour de France, decided we all needed to quit messing around posing with a bike and get ready to actually start spinning.  He pulled out Petunia's roving from two years ago, Henri's from last year and helped me snip off the sunbleached ends of Baaxter's fleece so it's ready to wash.  I'm hoping to make a run to Ohio Valley Natural Fibers next week!

The Tour de Fleece is a fun spinning challenge for all spinners, even brand new spinners.  We follow the Tour de France bike race, try to spin every day, take official rest days the same days the racers do and, well, here are the official specs from the Ravelry page:

*        *        *         *         *

Welcome to our group for participants in the annual Tour de Fleece spin-along during the Tour de France. They spin, we spin. A real spinning-themed spin-along.

The concept is simple:

Challenge Yourself. 
Spin. 
Have fun.

This year, the Tour de Fleece starts on Saturday July 4 and runs until Sunday July 26th, 2015.

Guidelines (NOT RULES):

• Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday July 4 through Sunday July 26th. Days of rest: Monday, July 13th and Tuesday, July 21st. (Just like the actual tour.)
• Spin something challenging on the challenge day (usually the toughest high mountain stage: this year, it’s Stage 18, on Thursday, July 23rd, when they will climb 5 mountains, including the 1,924m high Col du Glandon).
• Wear yellow on Sunday July 26th to announce victory. Why not wear yellow on any day you feel particularly successful? (Yellow is the color of the race leader in the Tour - but here we are all ‘race leaders’) Other colors if desired: Green (sprinter - think FAST), Polka-dot (climber - as in uphill), and white (rookie).

Teams: Join one, or many, or none.

• Peloton (the main group)
• Rookies (first years)
• Sprinters (fast and/or high mileage, like lace, sweater quantities, etc)
• Climbers (conquer mountains, big personal challenges)
• Breakaways (textured “art” yarns)
• Lanterne Rouge (you will participate as much as possible but you may skip days here and there)
• Maillot Blanc (This team is intended for our younger participants. Anyone under the age of 18 who wishes to take part in the Tour is encouraged to participate in the Maillot Blanc team. This thread will be monitored and is required to be kept at the equivalent of a G/U rating.)
• Wildcards (This is for people who want to form their own team. This includes sponsored teams, like those affiliated with a specific fiber shop or people who live in the same town, etc.)

The teams are inspired by the actual Tour de France.

*        *       *         *         *

Doesn't this sound fun?  It is!  If you like to join Team MyFavoriteSheep, it's not too late.  Come join our group on Ravelry.  We are a laid back group, all very nice, very supportive, many are very knowledgeable and everyone's willing to help.  We even have prizes :-).

Happy Spinning!

Fleece Peeks

Spud

I normally don't like sunbleached tips, but I think his are stunning.

Woolliam

The longwools (Woolliam, Keebler, B. Willard, Buddy, Rebecca Boone, Hershey) have nine months growth instead of six this year, so the staple length is really nice.  Long, but not too long and no one had a heatstroke last summer :-).

Murphy

Henri

Baby Belly

I still can't get over how clean the fleeces are this year.  Finally!

Lila.  This is my sleeper favorite this year.  Lila just cruises along under the radar...

Buddy...the best curls...and the "best" lanolin producer ;-).  It really does wash out.  Just be prepared with super hot water!

Keebler - another grease ball, but we know how he cleans up :-).

Chocula on the left, Ford on the right.  Guess how much Chocula weighed!  Well, you'll never guess because the picture just doesn't really capture it.  13.5 pounds :-o.  Daniel weighed just over 13! That's a lotta sweaters!  I'd be willing to divide those two fleeces into two 6.5 pound fleeces...which is still a lotta sweaters :-D.

Liddy, working hard growing her first fleece :-).

The forecast is looking a bit damp for this weekend...so just dress appropriately and come have some fun anyway :-D.

Sleepy Sheepy Shots

When I went out at noon to check for frozen water in Del Boca Vista (no heated water out there :-/) everyone was so cute napping that I ran back for the camera. It might be dreary and drab out in the fields, but barn shots always look pretty cozy :-).

Woody, my favorite funny face.

Spudalicious and his comfy pillow - yikes!

Hershey and his big boy fleece.  Hard to believe that chocolate brown from the other day was him!

Pretty Petunia, always quick with a smile :-).

Baaxter and Murph in mid-chew.  Ford and Jester are out back grazing :-).  Henri's inside napping.

Wool Is Warm

Chickens aren't dumb ;-).

Lila makes a pretty cozy snuggle buddy when it's cold!

These chickens just don't seem as warm ;-).

Some of the sheep stayed in the barn this morning and some went out.  Jester was cold last night, but he was up and out grazing this morning.  Ford was with him, but Henri stayed in the shed.  I've got another series of cold shots to post in a bit. 

Snowy Vista

Ford looks pretty happy in Del Boca Vista :-).

With his buddy Jester close by and cousin Henri just inside.  

The Queen Is Dead, Long Live The Queen

I no longer remember who started everyone calling Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, but it's been a long enough time that when she passed this morning that was the first thing that came to mind and was corroborated by a friend as well.  

Being from the US, I don't have a firm grasp on the rules of royalty and had to look that interesting sentence up.  

"The [Queen] is dead" is the announcement of a monarch who has just died.  "Love live The [Queeen]" refers to the the heir who immediately succeeds to a throne upon the death of the preceding monarch.  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elizabeth was the second sheep I ever owned. Or maybe it was Jester who was second. Or Crazy Esther or Joshua or Jacob.  Those five Jacob sheep came together and I don't remember much about picking them out that day, but apparently we did a good job.

Those fine sheep were kindly given to me by a shepherd from Indiana who wanted them to have a good home.  She'd probably be amazed that Elizabeth lived so long...but we can't let her know because Elizabeth outlived her!

Jester is currently out with the rest of the flock, but knowing him, he'll want to go back in the small paddock this evening.  I think I'm going to see if Ford and Henri would like to move in with him as well as both are getting up there and not moving around as well as they used to.

Elizabeth was quite a character and I'm sure going to miss getting yelled at even as late as last night.  I am honored she was a part of my story here and her stories will live on as all the good ones do.